Recorded January 24, 2017 2:00pm-3:30pm ET

The webinar focuses on the theories of interactions between Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and invasive mussels, and the possible environmental influences these interactions may have. While nutrient loading is widely accepted as the primary driver behind HABs, recent research has indicated that secondary interactions and relationships may exist between HABs and invasive mussels. This joint webinar was hosted by the Harmful Algal Blooms Collaboratory and the Invasive Mussel Collaborative.

Presenters:

• Dr. Donna Kashian, Wayne State University: HABs and dreissenid mussel reproduction
  • Dr. Kashian is a visiting scientist with NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and is a professor at Wayne State University. Her research focuses on the impacts of disturbance on water quality, encompassing both natural disturbances such as algal toxins and sedimentation, as well as those caused by humans, including contaminants, climate change, and introduced species. Centered in the largely urban center of Detroit, Michigan, her lab’s research has been implemented into community-based educational programs to better inform the public of environmental health threats associated with many water quality disturbances.
• Dr. Henry Vanderploeg, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: HABs spatial influence and palatability 
  • Dr. Vanderploeg is a Research Ecologist and Ecosystem Dynamics Branch Chief at NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, where he has spent most of his career studying the lower food web, invasive species, and spatial interactions of the food web. His research interests include food web interactions, particularly feeding mechanisms and life cycle strategies of plankton and benthos; and spatial distribution and interactions of all food web components.
• James Larson, U.S. Geological Survey: HABs as a source of nutrition
  • Dr. Larson is a Research Fisheries Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, where he studies biogeochemistry and food web dynamics in rivers, lakes and the nearshore zones of the North American Great Lakes.

Presentations:

• Effects of cyanobacteria on quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) reproduction-Dr. Donna Kashian
• The mussel-HAB collaboration: biophysical and nutrient interactions lead to toxic Microcystis dominance-Dr. Henry Vanderploeg