Ohio Sea Grant reports gains from algal bloom research
Jon Stinchcomb
COLUMBUS - Ohio Sea Grant’s Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative, which consists of more than 50 science teams studying the issue, released its third-year findings report this week.
The report, released on behalf of the Ohio State University, the University of Toledo and the Ohio Department of Higher Education, lists of numerous benefits resulting from the research conducted as part of the initiative, or HABRI.
List of benefits:
• Early warning systems and forecasts of bloom size and location are giving water treatment plants a high-resolution picture of what could be affecting the drinking water they draw from Lake Erie.
• Researchers are working directly with water treatment plant operators to provide practical guidance about producing safe drinking water for cities and towns dealing with algal toxins.
• The Ohio EPA modified its permit procedure to better safeguard Ohioans when HABRI projects showed that crops might take in microcystins from water treatment residuals used on farm fields.
• The Ohio EPA listed the open waters of the western Lake Erie basin as impaired based on NOAA data and has plans to update it based on HABRI researchers’ recommendations.
• The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has changed the way that information is collected on algal toxin concentrations in sportfish fillets to better understand how harmful algal blooms affect them.
• More than 200 farmers worked with OSU Extension to collect samples of soluble phosphorous in their fields over the 2015-2017 seasons.
• HABRI has driven information sharing and priority setting between universities and agencies, positioning Ohio to better prevent and manage future crises through ongoing collaborations.
Chris Winslow, director of Ohio Sea Grant and OSU’s Stone Laboratory, said the HABRI is focused on four main areas: producing safe drinking water, human health risks of exposure to HAB toxins, how the blooms behave, and addressing nutrient runoff.
Winslow said $4.5 million in research through the initiative has been completed to date, and about $3.5 million is ongoing.
“We just awarded a whole batch of projects,” he said. “And there’s more to come. We have about $2.5 million in hand.”
Agencies such as ODNR, Ohio EPA, Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Department of Agriculture, help select the direction for the HABRI dollars and what the research should next address.
“We’re not funding research for research sake,” Winslow said. “All of these projects have been driven by agency identified priorities.”
Winslow said the agencies not only help craft the request for proposals, but they also sit on the review panel, working one-on-one with researchers on topics such as methodology so results can be used right away.
“Having the collaboration with our sister agencies to coordinate research priorities and funding is critically important,” said Craig Butler, director of the Ohio EPA. “Likewise, having, through HABRI, a consortium of university experts to take our priorities and quickly do critical, practical research, with conclusions that we can immediately use to inform policy and the public, is invaluable.”
The full Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative Year 3 Report can be found on the Ohio Sea Grant website at
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