Ohio State’s Ohio Sea Grant program hosts the third annual Understanding Algal Blooms: State of the Science Conference — featuring scientists’ latest findings about algal blooms, their causes and the best ways to prevent them — on Sept. 13 in Toledo. Experts from CFAES will be among the dozen or so speakers.
Focus on balance and solutions
The agenda features 14 sessions under three tracks titled “Global to Lake Erie: Lessons Learned From Their System,” “Agriculture: Environmental and Economic Balance” and “Moving Toward Solutions: Unknowns and Ongoing.” There also will be an agriculture panel discussion.
Details and registration
Registration, which is open to the public and includes lunch, is $30 by Aug. 3, $40 after Aug. 3 and $10 for students. Find the full list of topics and speakers and a link to register online.
Harmful algal blooms, or HABS, have been plaguing western Lake Erie and other water bodies in recent years, hurting tourism, recreation, real estate values and ecosystems, and threatening people’s health and drinking water safety.
Phosphorus runoff from fertilizer and manure, washed off of farm fields by rain, is a major cause of the blooms.
Many of the current studies and new or changed practices are aimed at reducing that runoff.