Dr. Steve Morton provides microscopy training to citizen scientists. Credit: Steve Morton.

NCCOS's Steve Morton and staff from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation recently led an EPA webinar on harmful algal blooms (HABs) that explored volunteer monitoring opportunities open to the public. Four hundred and twenty participants from academia, industry, and government learned more about NOAA's Phytoplankton Monitoring Network, which uses volunteers to monitor for potentially toxic algal species and to collect data from their local water bodies to support local, regional, and national environmental decision-making.

The continuing webinar series is part of an EPA effort to build awareness of the impact nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms have on the environment.

For more information, contact Steve.Morton@noaa.gov.