#microcystis

Cyanobacteria are so fucking old and scary and pretty and cute and I love them.

I got the travel grant! Got about a month to get the rest of my housing, food, etc etc covered (Ko-fi in bio if you feel like it).

And my poster. Oh god.

Contest pursues solution to algae, and the prizes are dollars, in millions

[USA] Calling all entrepreneurs: If you have what it takes to stop the world’s growing algae menace, you could win $10 million. The unusual bounty is being offered by the Everglades Foundation of Palmetto Bay, Fla., near Miami. Applications will be accepted starting next June, with another six years of review. In addition to the grand prize, the foundation is dividing up another $1.2 million in…

The giant algae bloom turning the Great Lakes GREEN: Scientists warn of ‘severe’ threat from toxic bacteria

[USA] For at least fifty years, phytoplankton and algae blooms have been a regular occurrence in summer on Lake Erie. However, researchers say this year the toxic blooms could reach record levels. The bloom is visible as swirls of green in western Lake Erie and in Lake St. Clair, and researchers warn that it is set to be ‘severe’, raising fears it could harm the health of holidaymakers and even…

Colorado River algae blooms could be research priority at ASU Havasu

[USA] You may have driven through the green slime while on your boat, or you may have seen it washing up on the shores of Lake Havasu. “The Rise of the Green Slime,” is what Doyle Wilson, Lake Havasu City’s Water Resources Coordinator dubbed the microcystis algae blooms at a Lake Havasu Marine Association meeting on Tuesday night. Wilson spoke on the subject because it would be a top research…

115 scientists gathered to discuss lake management

BOWLING GREEN — Meet Rick Stumpf.

He’s a mild-mannered East Coast scientist who a few weeks from now will give the federal government’s 2015 western Lake Erie algae forecast, based on the best available science developed to make such predictions.

“We’re getting close, but it’s too early right now,” Mr. Stumpf, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanographer, told The Blade during…

Algae seminar aims to expand global attention

BOWLING GREEN — With the help of federal grant money, Bowling Green State University is holding a two-day symposium in April that will shed some light on how algae is becoming a greater problem worldwide as the Earth’s climate warms, its population increases, and land-use pressures intensify.

The university said Monday it will announce the April 13-14 event later this week.

Participation in the…

Increasing Toxicity of Algal Blooms Tied to Nutrient Enrichment and Climate Change

As nutrient enrichment, or "eutrophication" increases, so will the proportion of toxin-producing strains of cyanobacteria in harmful algal blooms, scientists said.

Researchers from Oregon State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill outlined recent findings in an analysis in the journal Science.

A particular concern is Microcystis sp., a cyanobacterium that thrives in warm, nutrient-rich and stagnant waters around the world. Like many cyanobacteria, it can regulate its position in the water column, and often forms green, paint-like scums near the surface.

In a high-light, oxidizing environment, microcystin-producing cyanobacteria have a survival advantage over other forms of cyanobacteria that are not toxic. Over time, they can displace the nontoxic strains, resulting in blooms that are increasingly toxic.

Hans W. Paerl, Timothy G. Otten. Blooms Bite the Hand That Feeds Them. Science, 25 October 2013: Vol. 342 no. 6157 pp. 433-434 DOI: 10.1126/science.1245276