Using citizen science to track harmful cyanobacterial blooms through crowdsourcing and crowdfunding - Adopt a Lake project
Start Date
25-5-2022 2:30 PM
End Date
25-5-2022 2:45 PM
Abstract
The proliferation of waterborne cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs), some of which can produce potent toxins, poses serious risks for environmental and human health. Academic and governmental monitoring efforts may be constrained by budget, time, and staff, and thus miss otherwise significant pollution events. Here, we report on the implementation of a citizen science project to track CyanoHABs in lakes and waterways across Canada. Through both crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, Adopt a Lake aimed to document the potential presence of cyanobacteria and toxins with the assistance of citizens, altogether improving public awareness to the issue of water quality preservation. Diverse water ancillary parameters were measured, combining in situ analyses by volunteers for basic water physico-chemical parameters. Samples were sent to the laboratory for more complex analyses including nutrients analysis, multiclass cyanotoxins (microcystins, anabaenopeptins, cylindrospermopsin and anatoxins) using online SPE-UHPLC-HRMS and sequencing the 16S rRNA gene as a taxonomic marker for bacteria. Data analysis of four years of sampling revealed problematic lakes that could be used to further the study of HAB occurrence.
Using citizen science to track harmful cyanobacterial blooms through crowdsourcing and crowdfunding - Adopt a Lake project
The proliferation of waterborne cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs), some of which can produce potent toxins, poses serious risks for environmental and human health. Academic and governmental monitoring efforts may be constrained by budget, time, and staff, and thus miss otherwise significant pollution events. Here, we report on the implementation of a citizen science project to track CyanoHABs in lakes and waterways across Canada. Through both crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, Adopt a Lake aimed to document the potential presence of cyanobacteria and toxins with the assistance of citizens, altogether improving public awareness to the issue of water quality preservation. Diverse water ancillary parameters were measured, combining in situ analyses by volunteers for basic water physico-chemical parameters. Samples were sent to the laboratory for more complex analyses including nutrients analysis, multiclass cyanotoxins (microcystins, anabaenopeptins, cylindrospermopsin and anatoxins) using online SPE-UHPLC-HRMS and sequencing the 16S rRNA gene as a taxonomic marker for bacteria. Data analysis of four years of sampling revealed problematic lakes that could be used to further the study of HAB occurrence.