Fifth Annual Harmful Algal Bloom Virtual Symposium Call for Abstracts

by Announcements

January 9–10, 2025

Deadline: October 22, 2024, 11:59 pm Central Time

The Algal Bloom Action Team, a collaboration of water professionals, researchers, and educators from 12 states in the North Central Region of the United States, invites you to submit an abstract to the Fifth Annual Harmful Algal Bloom Virtual Symposium. The symposium will feature emergent harmful algal bloom (HAB) research and provide opportunities to discuss community outreach efforts.

The Algal Bloom Action Team includes the national network of Water Resources Research Institutes (WRRI), the North Central Region Water Network, and university Extensions within each state in the North Central Region. The Algal Bloom Action Team was the recipient of the Outstanding Regional Collaboration Achievement Award from the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals for its first Annual Harmful Algal Blooms Symposium in 2021. The 2024 Harmful Algal Bloom Symposium featured 6 presentations on a variety of HAB-related topics and brought together over 600 water professionals from across the United States.

For more information on the Algal Bloom Action Team, see our website:
https://northcentralwater.org/habs/

Presentation Abstract Information

The Symposium Planning Committee is specifically interested in science-based presentation abstracts that address harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the North Central Region of the United States, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

To be considered for acceptance, presentation abstracts must address at least one of the following topic
areas related to HABs:

  • Monitoring, Forecasting, and Detection
  • Prevention and Treatment
  • Human Dimensions*
  • Climate Change Impacts

*Particularly interested in citizen scientist opportunities or monitoring/communication methods

Upon acceptance, presentations should be limited to 30 minutes.
Presentations should be research or outreach focused. Product promotion is discouraged.

Review Criteria

Presentations will be reviewed based on one or more of the following criteria:

  • Is the abstract a science- or data-driven approach to understanding HABs?
  • Does the abstract address HABs topics in the North Central Region? (See states listed above.)
  • Does this topic have interest or applicability to Extension and other HABs-related professionals?

Abstract Submission

Proposals should be submitted using this Google form. No submissions will be accepted via email to
conference organizers. Incomplete submissions or submissions sent directly to planning committee
members will not be considered.

For questions regarding the program or submitting an abstract, please contact:
Amy Weckle, aweckle@illinois.edu.

Logos for Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium, and Council of the Great Lakes Region.

Great Lakes Freshwater Symposium: Economic and Health Impacts of Algal Blooms, 9/10/24

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Blue-green algae can have harmful effects on humans and pets. Unfortunately, there’s no quick way to determine if an algal bloom is dangerous. Laboratory testing may take several days, and algal blooms can appear and vanish within hours, making beach closures difficult to manage. Join us for a webinar that highlights the challenges of monitoring and responding to blue-green algae blooms and their economic and public health impacts. The panel includes: 

  • Gina LaLiberte, Statewide Harmful Algal Bloom Coordinator and Inland Beach Monitoring Coordinator, WDNR
  • Todd Miller, Associate Professor, UW-Milwaukee’s Zilber College of Public Health
  • Amy Weckle, Assistant Director, Illinois Water Resources Center
  • When: Septemeber 10, 2024, 12 PM to 1 PM Central Time
  • Register here

This event is part of a quarterly water symposium series sponsored by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium and Council of the Great Lakes Region. These events seek to encourage and advance collaborations, share science across borders, encourage students in research and career opportunities and present research that is solving real-world problems.

Logos for Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium, and Council of the Great Lakes Region.

NGWA Offers Free Student Memberships

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As the fall semester begins, the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) is offering free student memberships to those studying in groundwater-related programs (in both undergraduate and graduate programs), whether in a university, community college, or a drilling school.

NGWA student member benefits include:

  • Access to NGWA’s educational programs including, Develop Your Professional Skills: Young Professionals and Students Virtual Conference on October 13th
  • Digital access to current, and all past, issues — as well sneak peeks of yet-to-be-published papers — of Groundwater® and Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation® via the Wiley Online Library
  • A subscription to monthly NGWA member e-newsletter, Groundwater Matters
  • Use of NGWA’s online Career Center

There are also special benefits available to students at our biggest annual event, NGWA’s Groundwater Week, where students can:

  • Present academic papers and posters
  • Compete in a scholarship competition
  • Network with industry professionals.

If you are interested in joining NGWA, all you need do is complete and submit a brief online application to https://www.ngwa.org/members/join-ngwa/Students.

Using Bioavailability to Assess Pyrethroid Insecticide Toxicity in Urban Sediments

by Announcements

The ecotoxicological effects of hydrophobic organic compound (HOC) contamination in sediment are often assessed using laboratory exposures of cultured invertebrates to field-collected sediment. The use of a sediment holding time (storage at 4 °C) between field sampling and the beginning of the bioassay is common practice, yet the effect of holding time on the reliability of bioassay results is largely unknown, especially for current-use HOCs, such as pyrethroid insecticides. Single-point Tenax extraction can be used to estimate HOC concentrations in the rapidly desorbing phase of the organic carbon fraction of sediment (i.e., bioaccessible concentrations), which relate to sediment toxicity and bioaccumulation in invertebrates. In this study, repeated measurements of bioaccessible concentrations (via Tenax), were made as a function of sediment holding time using pyrethroid-contaminated field sediment, and Hyalella azteca 10-d survival and growth was measured concurrently for comparison. Similarly, bioaccessible concentrations and 14-d bioaccumulation were measured in Lumbriculus variegatus as a comparison using the legacy HOCs, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). While the bioaccessible and bioaccumulated PCB concentrations did not change significantly through 244 d of holding time, the bioaccessible pyrethroid concentrations were more varied. Depending on when pyrethroid-contaminated sediments were sampled, the bioaccessible pyrethroid concentrations showed first-order loss with half-lives ranging from 3 to 45 d of holding, or slower, linear decreases in concentrations up to 14% decrease over 180 d. These findings suggest that at least for some contaminants in sediments, holding the sediments prior to bioassays can bias toxicity estimates.

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Call for Abstracts: The Harmful Algal Bloom Symposium is Returning in 2023!

by Algal Bloom Action TeamAnnouncementsEventsNews
North Central Region Water Network Logo
The Harmful Algal Bloom Research Symposium is coming back in 2023! The Algal Bloom Action Team’s popular Harmful Algal Bloom Research Symposium will return for it’s third year this January 5-6, 2023! The symposium is free and will be held entirely virtually. Over the last two years, the event has brought together over 600 water professionals annually from across the North Central Region to hear about the latest Harmful Algal Bloom Research, discuss examples of effective bloom management, and learn about the latest technologies tackling this global issue.

Our call for abstracts is now open!

The Harmful Algal Bloom Symposium is a great opportunity to share your work with fellow water professionals. Be sure to submit an abstract of your work today!
 
Research and case study abstracts are encouraged!

Abstracts are due at 11:59 PM CT on Friday, November 4th.