News

This week, Lake Futures highly qualified personnel (HQP), including PhD students, Master's students, postdoctoral fellows, and undergraduate students, had the opportunity to attend the Lake Futures summer retreat on Lake Erie, in which they were able to see the effects of their research first-hand. Dr. Mark Servos, lead investigator of Work Package 3: Ecosystems, organized the two-day excursion.

Professor Mark Servos, Canada Research Chair in Water Quality Protection and professor of Biology, Nandita Basu, professor in the Departments of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering, and post-doctoral fellow, Kim Van Meter, were prominently featured in Kitchener-Waterloo’s local newspaper.

For many Canadians, summer time means time at the lake, swimming, fishing, boating, and relaxing. Nothing can spoil this experience like blue-green mats of muck, caused by algal blooms. These blooms negatively affect not only recreational activities – but also put drinking water source, property values, wildlife, and human health at risk. In the 1970s, scientists discovered that the nutrient phosphorus caused algal blooms, which led to new regulations and improved sewage treatment. Nevertheless, blooms continue to plague many Canadian lakes.