Ecological Puzzles & Passion: Tales of Cyanos, Sensors, & Community Science

Freshwater ecosystems have long inspired human interest, passion, and investment. They are essential to our economic, environmental, and personal wellbeing. Freshwater lakes around the globe, however, are degrading. Especially concerning are the toxic cyanobacterial blooms that are on the rise worldwide. Until recently, cyanobacterial blooms were thought to be prevalent only in high-nutrient systems. However, beginning in the 2000s, in northern New England, community members noticed cyanobacterial blooms in clear, nutrient-poor lakes - precisely the ecosystems where scientists would not have predicted they would occur.

Over the past decade and a half, in collaboration with a global, grassroots network of scientists and community scientists, the “Gloeo Gang” has been piecing together the puzzle of what, when, where, why, and how “surprising” cyanobacterial blooms are burgeoning in nutrient-poor, clear-water lakes. The research stemmed from local curiosity and has global implications; it is a story of a 21st-century experiment involving scientists, community members, cyanobacteria, sensors, and socioecological systems.

Speaker: Kathleen Weathers, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

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