when i was growing up, one of junie’s favorite spots to explore was the hike-and-bike trail around lady bird lake in downtown austin. of course, every visit ended in a trip to the water. junie’s dusty paws would bound down the familiar paths as she glanced back every few yards to make sure i was following behind. she would approach the lake’s edge warily, then gingerly step in to cool off from the scorching texas sun and gulp down a refreshing mid-afternoon drink. when heading home she would leave a trail of muddy paw prints in our wake, refreshed and happy.

today, though, a visit to the water may end differently. 

in 2019, austin’s lakes saw a sudden increase of harmful algae blooms (habs) that tragically resulted in several dogs’ deaths and led to residents avoiding any contact between their pets and local bodies of water. no deaths — dog or otherwise — have been reported in austin since 2019, but hab events continue to occur across the city and pose a major threat to public health.

austin’s habs involve blue-green algae called cyanobacteria. this algae is naturally occurring but proves toxic in certain forms. in humans, the health effects of cyanotoxins may first appear as common cold or flu symptoms like fever, headache, and vomiting. indicators in dogs include weakness, and respiratory paralysis, which can lead to death.

in late september of this year, toxic levels of cyanobacteria were found in one part of barton creek, a popular local swimming area. though levels have since dropped to safer amounts, both lady bird lake and lake austin, which sits northwest of the city down the colorado river, have recently displayed concerning levels of toxic algae. 

as human-induced climate change continues to threaten our day-to-day lives, habs like austin’s will only happen more often. cyanobacteria thrive in environments with warm waters and high concentrations of carbon dioxide — two major consequences of global warming.

increased water temperatures lengthen the growing season and widen the geographic range of algal blooms. texas has already seen a 1 to 2 degree f increase in annual average temperature since the early 20th century. scientists project that annual average temperatures in the southern great plains will further increase 3.6 to 5.1 degrees f over the next 30 years, potentially worsening the effects of habs over time.  

nutrient pollution is another related factor. this phenomenon occurs when nutrients mix with rain runoff and seep into bodies of water. phosphorus and nitrogen are the most common pollutants and can result in excessive algae growth and enhanced toxicity. in turn, overgrowth of algae causes low oxygen levels in the water, affecting the entire ecosystem by killing fish and inhibiting aquatic plant growth.

in june, the austin city council unanimously voted to launch a pilot project to mitigate the effects of harmful algae using phoslock, a material that chemically binds the phosphorus in water and sediment into a mineral form so that blue-green algae cannot obtain its nutrients. this five-year-long, $1,484,000 contract with the sepro corporation includes water collection and analysis as well as three phoslock applications across 20 acres of water around lady bird lake. city officials have not disclosed the status of the project since it was first announced.

austinites should remain wary of areas displaying blue- or bright green-colored algae and stay up-to-date on the fluctuating risks of local bodies of water via the city’s monitoring systems. now, on my visits home, i can’t explain to junie why i now steer her away from the water’s edge on our walks, but at least i can take comfort in the fact that i’m doing my best to keep her — and myself — safe.

sediment, runoff, and nutrients all deposit into the gulf of mexico, sometimes originating as far north as minnesota. the large number of pollutants entering the outlet causes massive problems, sometimes in ways that one would not expect. for example, it might be surprising to learn that a large inflow of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus have adverse consequences for the ecosystem of the gulf of mexico.

when an excess of nitrogen and phosphorus enter a large body of water, an algal bloom occurs. as these algae blooms grow, two things happen: the algae on the surface prevent light from reaching aquatic plants below the surface, causing these plants to die, and the algae also die. bacteria break down the dead organisms, a process that requires the use of oxygen. this results in a deficit of oxygen, creating a dead zone where plants and animals cannot exist.

such a dead zone exists in the gulf of mexico, and it is at its largest size since measuring began in 1985 — roughly the size of new jersey. the large size is concerning considering the massive impacts the dead zone has on the gulf of mexico and the gulf coast area.

besides disrupting the ecosystem, the dead zone poses economic problems to the area. seafood is a large industry in the region, and fish kills represent a major threat to this industry.

the dead zone is projected to grow, and it certainly will not shrink without some sort of change occurring.

one way to reduce the amount of nutrients that reach waterways is to implement nutrient removal techniques in wastewater treatment facilities.

in washington, d.c., dc water has introduced enhanced nitrogen removal facilities that allow the blue plains treatment plant to significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen discharged into the potomac river; they claim that these new facilities have prevented over 144 million pounds of nitrogen from entering the potomac river.

dc water is also constructing a new tunnel system that will prevent sewer overflows from being flushed into waterways without first being treated. with rising concerns over excess nutrients in water ecosystems, wastewater treatment facilities around the united states are facing pressure from local, state, and federal governments to implement nutrient removal processes similar to those utilized by dc water.

besides discharges from wastewater treatment plants, runoff also represents a major source of nutrients in waterways. phosphorus and nitrogen are the main components of fertilizers and make their way into rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water as a part of agricultural runoff. runoff is classified as a non-source pollution and is therefore unregulated, so it has been difficult to track and prevent the amount of nutrients entering waterways through this route.

however, this does not mean that it is impossible to reduce the amount of runoff that reaches bodies of water.

investing in green infrastructure can prevent an abundance of nutrients in waterways and has other benefits like reducing flooding. green infrastructure includes rain gardens, bioswales, permeable pavements, and rainwater harvesting. incorporating green infrastructure alongside traditional infrastructure can help reduce the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus reaching waterways.

—

citations:

“gulf of mexico ‘dead zone’ is the largest ever measured.” national oceanic and atmospheric administration. august 2, 2017. https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-largest-ever-measured.

“removing nitrogen from wastewater protects our waterways.” dc water. 2017. https://www.dcwater.com/nitrogen-reduction.

“tunnel dewatering pump station and enhanced clarification facility.” dc water. 2017. https://www.dcwater.com/projects/tunnel-dewatering-pump-station-and-enhanced-clarification-facility.

“what is green infrastructure?” environmental protection agency. july 03, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/what-green-infrastructure.

brigitte has been trying to implement changes with her local neighborhood association in order to keep algae levels in check to no avail. no one was listening.

hopefully this video sheds some light on the issue of algae blooms and on one natural solution: brigitte’s small but mighty friends, water fleas (daphnia). 

sources:

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/algae-bloom-lake-erie-toxins-spd/

https://www.cdc.gov/habs/illness-symptoms-freshwater.html

https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/harmful-algal-blooms

https://www.epa.gov/nutrient-policy-data/control-and-treatment

https://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/plants/factsheets/copperfactsheet.pdf

“lady daphnia’s world.” for love of lakes, by darby nelson, michigan state university press, 2012, pp. 72–80. 

some of the ways humans degrade water quality in coastal areas is through nutrient pollution, land-use change, and industrial contamination. the delaware bay and its tributaries are not only affected by activities in the immediate area, but from those that might occur at the far reaches of the watershed. these upstream inputs of pollution eventually work their way downstream to the bay where they are accumulated and compounded.

“one of the largest sources of pollution is from fertilizers that lead to nutrient pollution and eutrophication within our waterways,” said taylor deemer, a master of science student in marine biosciences at the university of delaware, lewes campus. 

deemer explains that farmers anticipate losing a portion of the fertilizer that they put down on their fields to runoff from rain events. as a result, to ensure that their crops receive the proper amount of nutrients, they often put down extra. these nutrients are not just useful for promoting the growth of terrestrial plants, but also promote the growth of aquatic ones as well, such as phytoplankton. eutrophication is when these excess nutrients reach the bay, leading to what is known as algal blooms, which are proliferations of various phytoplankton species.

phytoplankton is generally a good thing in aquatic systems, as it provides much of the oxygen that aquatic organisms need to survive. these bloom events, however, lead to bacterial growth that draws down the oxygen levels and lead to fish kills for those organisms that can’t escape the area.

options to combat nutrient pollution would be to simply use less pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. an additional option is to find methods of application that incorporate the fertilizers into the soil, rather than just spreading them across the surface where they run off more easily.

another issue that promotes these blooms is land-use change. changing the usage of land is especially problematic when coastal salt marsh environments are removed and used for other purposes, like home developments, shopping centers, and industrial properties. salt marshes, when present, act as buffers between the mainland and the estuaries. they absorb runoff pollution from the mainland, trapping it in the sediments. these systems also mitigate coastal flooding events by acting as a drainage area during times of increased water level, such as major storms or extreme tidal events.

deemer added: “they also provide a nursery habitat for many species of fish and invertebrates, acting as a safe space for the young to grow and mature.”

i, personally, have spent countless hours educating the public on the importance of these wetlands as the creative director of a team of ud students. as a team, we constructed a display on vernal pools for the 2018 philadelphia flower show. with this display, we illustrated how crucial ephemeral pools and wetlands are to the reproduction and development of aquatic species. 

when speaking with deemer, i asked whether building berms to combat nutrient pollution would be effective. but he said, “it would be really difficult to intercept all of the water by building berms. it would be much easier and more environmentally friendly to promote wetland habitat protection and restoration.”

wetland restoration was the focus of the university of delaware’s piece at the flower show. the exhibit urged attendees to contact their local department of natural resources to find out if there are certification programs in their areas. some states even have programs where citizens document vernal pools so they are protected. and you can do the same from your home, and your state. just look up your local department of natural resources, or check for a local extension office. 

the biology department of the kalu yala institute looks a little different from a traditional research lab. bare feet and gym shorts suffice instead of lab coats and goggles. rather than scalpels or x-acto knives, students pick up machetes to make their way through the brush and pluck up specimen samples. and, in place of a classic laboratory space filled with spotless counters and sanitized equipment, the “classroom” consists of open-air wooden ranchos in the heart of panama’s rainforest.

out here among the towering fronds and scurrying iguanas, selah phillips is taking advantage of one of the natural resources that abounds in the humid environment: algae. the 20-year-old plant enthusiast, on a semester abroad at kalu yala from millersville university in pennsylvania, has made it her mission to take the green filaments and turn it into green energy. by extracting oil from the organisms, which grow freely on the rocks in the nearby pacora and iguana rivers, she believes she can produce a source of biodiesel to serve as an alternative to polluting fossil fuels.

“on a global scale, research on biodiesel enables us to deindustrialize, decentralize, and bring more income back to the community,” she says during a presentation for other kalu yala students. “just save our environment in the long term.”

those at kalu yala have taken it upon themselves to create a fully sustainable eco-city that can serve as a model for a more environmentally friendly future. the city in the making also hosts an “institute,” which enrolls students — many of them on a semester abroad from colleges and universities — to work on projects from tiny house architecture to agroforestry. they’re hoping to find solutions to the biggest environmental issues of our time, all in the span of 10 weeks.

phillips and her fellow “kalu yalans,” as they are fond of calling themselves, may miss out on some of the resources and credibility they’d find at a more standard university. but the unique nature of the program gives them unprecedented independence and access to the riches of the surrounding environment, a wellspring of biodiversity that often goes ignored by international researchers and underutilized by a national government that is decreasing its spending on research and development.

this past spring semester, kalu yala’s biology department consisted of three people: two students and program director ryan king, who serves as lecturer, lab adviser, mentor, and everything in between. all of them had come from u.s. universities. and, during their time in the jungle, all had created projects uniquely suited to the setting, which could have real implications for the future of sustainability.

if, that is, they can successfully bring their ideas with them in their return to the “real world.”

fueling the future

for phillips, the social media-savvy kalu yala had been on her online radar long before she ever decided to make the journey there herself. an earlier project to create sustainable ponds for growing tilapia had put the eco-city on her map as a place where innovative environmental work was happening. after following kalu yala’s work for three or four years, phillips said she decided to head to the jungle to see it for herself.

the journey, she said, represented an opportunity to challenge herself and be out in the field without the regular guidelines of the university curriculum.

and the project she picked out put her adaptability to the test. though the algae was free for the taking, the makeshift jungle “laboratory” lacked a lot of the supplies and equipment she took for granted at her university. so, with king’s help, phillips found ways to make do with what she could find.

to get the coveted vegetable oil out of the algae for biodiesel, king said he and phillips needed a chemical solvent to break the oil from the cells it was locked inside. the two decided to start with methyl alcohol, already available as a waste product from the onsite rum distillery, and combine it with homemade chloroform.

“that was really awesome and really exciting because as far as research that we know of, it’s the first time using house-made solvents — like solvents that we actually made in house, on our own — to produce biodiesel,” phillips said

eventually, king said he wants to work on growing “massive amounts” of algae and phase out some of the diesel power being used at kalu yala, like in the backup generator and possibly vehicles as well.

on her end, phillips plans to try to get the research published and see if she can continue the project at her university. king says there’s still research to be done in figuring out the most efficient way to produce oil, streamlining factors like the algae species and extraction methods. phillips said she’s also considered returning to kalu yala as a teaching assistant.

no matter where her plans take her, though, phillips said she is dedicated to the pursuit of a greener tomorrow. to create a sustainable future, she said new technology has to be based in an understanding of biological science.

“that’s all chemistry. that’s all biology that’s being understood to create those things,” phillips said. “so i think it’s at the base of reversing climate change and implementing sustainability, because sure, sustainability might seem more like a practical idea, more applicable. but i think it takes knowledge of science and the earth and the ecosystem to apply.”

sustainable soldiers

while phillips was looking to the river for resources, her fellow biology intern jules hart had her eye to the sky.

hart, a 20-year-old biology student from the university of nevada, is the animal lover of the bunch. her project took on sustainability from the other end: while phillips’ natural biodiesel aimed to prevent waste, hart’s focused on breaking it down more efficiently. and the tools she used to accomplish that? a colony of living, breathing — and, most of all, eating — black soldier fly larvae.

“basically in the developmental stage, like when they’re larvae, their sole purpose is to eat decaying matter,” hart said of the species. “so they’re perfect for eating rotting food.”

the larvae act as decomposing machines, effectively devouring even the tough scraps that won’t compost easily. after weeks of trying in vain to attract enough flies for a functioning system, hart said she finally was able to establish a colony near the end of her semester, and since has collected thousands of larvae in a wooden structure into which she periodically dumps buckets of kitchen scraps.

though she realizes the teeming mass and putrid garbage smell might put others off, hart says the flies — which she often refers to as her “babies” — are a beautiful discovery for sustainable waste disposal. adult flies don’t carry disease vectors, she said, and since they only live long enough to reproduce (about a week), they won’t mess with the ecosystem or become a nuisance to the community. also, once the larvae reach the pupation stage, they become a “little bite of protein” that can be fed to kalu yala’s chicken or tilapia.

hart said the project and her entire stay at kalu yala were transformative for her. she came into the experience a little bit unfocused — she hadn’t been fully applying herself to her studies at school, she said, and living thousands of miles from her family and boyfriend took a toll on her emotional state.

but the time in the jungle, in addition to giving her insight into sustainable systems, also taught hart a lot about herself – like the fact that she wants to be a teacher (she called her school from kalu yala to add a major in education). and while she’s not sure of how to implement the moisture-loving larvae back in her hot and arid hometown of reno, nevada, hart said at the very least she’ll be taking home a renewed passion for her studies.

“being here and being in the nature and just really being in the middle of the biodiversity and just in the jungle, it’s totally rekindled my love for biology,” hart said. “out here traveling alone, getting here alone, being that emotionally vulnerable … it just helped me get to know myself and my limits and my strengths and weaknesses.”

keeping the momentum

despite the wealth of biological resources in the rich rainforest ecosystem, king said he and his students are part of only a small group of researchers working in the panamanian jungle and similar tropical regions.

“biodiversity tends to go up near the equator,” king said. “there’s a lot of issues all over the world and in other parts in the tropics. … not many people pay scientists or researchers to go out and document species.”

for an institute focused on sustainability, though, kalu yala hasn’t always succeeded at sustaining its own progress. as students come and go every 10 weeks, projects can get left behind; hopeful innovations fall into disrepair as new cohorts of students bustle in with their own ideas.

hart said her black soldier fly colony was actually in part a reincarnation of a project that had been attempted in prior years. the structure she uses to house her larvae had been built by a former kalu yalan with a similar plan, but the concept had been abandoned once its originator moved on from the jungle. she’s created a detailed manual for maintaining the black soldier fly colony, which she said will involve only minimal effort. still, the fate of her passion project lies in the hands of future interns, who will likely be preoccupied with their own big goals.

and when students leave, projects that at the time seem to have promising futures tend to stop maturing at 10 weeks. king said none of his former students have gotten published with the work they began at kalu yala, though he hopes that will change with phillips’ algae research.

tara mclaughlin, the president of the kalu yala institute, said continuity has been an issue in the past. she and other leaders are working to provide more support for interns so they can grow their projects beyond their brief semesters in the jungle.

“we’re going to start pushing into publication, trying to get accreditation (in partnership with a university),” mclaughlin said. “i would like to start opening up a more research station facility type thing, so getting independent researchers from universities down to be doing research and publishing and getting our name out there as a real academic powerhouse.”

even for those far from the lush canopy of the rainforest, hart said there is still work to be done. while the natural world might be more obvious at a place like kalu yala, she said biodiversity can and should be noticed anywhere in the world. if we as a species truly want to move toward a more sustainable lifestyle, hart believes it’s essential that we pay more attention to the richness of life that is everywhere we go.

“biodiversity is all around us. i mean, it is nature. it’s every plant, every animal, everything that you’re hearing and smelling and seeing is life and biology,” hart said. “so, of course it has to be considered when we’re trying to think about living in this type of environment and … living with the earth rather than living off it.”

about the author: medill student maddie burakoff can be reached at mburakoff@u.northwestern.edu and on twitter @madsburk.

the world will have to feed two billion more people by 2060 by producing a staggering 70 percent more food. alexander mathy, a food technologist at the institute of food, nutrition, and health at eth zurich, and other researchers studying microalgae explained why these tiny photosynthetic cells could be the solution during a feb. 18 session at the american association for the advancement of science (aaas) annual meeting.

algae are a broad category, including single-celled organisms that harvest the sun’s energy and turn it into oils, proteins, and carbohydrates. growing them in a bioreactor — a tank-like apparatus where the complex biological processes of algal growth are optimized — can result in zero waste and limited land and water use, unlike traditional food production. smaller-scale production compared with commodity crops leads to challenges such as low efficiency and high investment costs. but if the technology for scaling up production and increasing efficiency can be developed, algae have the potential to be integrated into food sources worldwide.

if current consumption patterns continue, in just over 40 years the food system will support a mere 5.4 billion people – much less than today’s population, according to the united nations’ food and agriculture organization and eth zurich university’s institute of food, nutrition, and health.

“we need to rethink our food system and need to significantly innovate,” said mathys at the aaas annual meeting to an audience of about 30 scientists and journalists. “we need to team up to tackle such big challenges.”

putting those words into action, mathys and others are exploring ways to increase the efficiency of growing algae as food.

just like turning up the heat on a stove, mathys has developed a system that measures different nutrients at increasing temperatures. the process extracts proteins first, which are the most sensitive to heat. more intense heat extracts the lipids and antioxidants, which are less heat sensitive. such information can help fine-tune algae as a food source that provides the nutrition particular to communities’ needs.

to determine the actual operating cost to produce one kilogram of algae, researchers have developed a system that determines patterns of electricity use, light intensity, and social factors, such as attitudes towards eating algae and demand for foods grown by local farmers. maria barbosa, director of algaeparc, a multidisciplinary research program, and microalgae biotechnologist at wageningen university in the netherlands led this effort. “it is a tool to look what are the patterns that most impact in order to create a viable process,” she said during the presentation at the aaas annual meeting. 

advances are being made in bioreactor design as well. algal growth requires several key inputs: water, sunlight, nutrients, and carbon dioxide. in traditional designs like algae pools, evaporation and precipitation affect water levels. and pools can’t be moved in response to seasonal changes in sunlight.

tube-shaped bioreactors control evaporation and are mobile but may be inefficient if carbon dioxide and nutrients are not evenly distributed. so, ezra noon-song, the technology director at energaia in bangkok, thailand, is developing a simple, new design aimed at minimizing these problems.

energaia’s design looks like a large plastic rainwater collection bin with a cone-shaped lid. the lid keeps the elements out and the transparent plastic allows sunlight to reach algae on all sides. bubbles pumped in through bottom ensure that carbon dioxide is evenly distributed. the simple technology encourages farmers to readily implement the system, which is essential for community adoption.  

algae’s use in high-end health supplements is already profitable because they are often sold at a premium to consumers. yet, feeding growing populations, especially in developing countries, means more than western scientists creating a pre-packaged algal chip or a bag of algal protein powder. noon-song emphasized that algae is a versatile kitchen ingredient that can be grown locally and combined with traditional foods to add nutrition.

the algae chip, green and salty, that noon-song provided attendees at the aaas meeting was made from spriulina, a highly nutritious blue-green alga already sold worldwide and recognized for its nutritional properties. the chip was grown in a bioreactor on the roof of a hotel in bangkok and produced locally. and it is only the beginning. algae are a promising supplement to an increasingly sustainable and efficient food system that will need to feed the world’s growing population.

washington – global warming will fuel the overgrowth of harmful algal blooms in lakes and reservoirs, affecting the northeast and southeast most significantly, according to a new study.

using a detailed modeling framework, steven chapra, a tufts university environmental engineering professor and the lead author of the study, said he and his team predicted that the northeast would sustain the greatest increase in harmful algal blooms and recreational regions in the southeast would suffer the biggest economic consequences. the study was published in the august issue of environmental science & technology.

warm waters and increased nutrients allow cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms, which occur in freshwater bodies and estuaries, to thrive.

when temperatures increase, precipitation patterns change and storms become more extreme, chapra explained. increased precipitation leads to more erosion and more nutrients in freshwater bodies, particularly in rural regions, he said.

according to the environmental protection agency, exposure to harmful algal blooms can cause health problems ranging from vomiting to pneumonia. in 2014, residents of toledo, ohio were banned from using tap water as a result of toxins produced by harmful algal blooms.

“the most dangerous impact of these cyanobacteria is when they become toxic and pose significant health risks to both drinking water supplies and recreational use of the water,” said don scavia, professor of civil and environmental engineering, at the university of michigan.

since the freshwater systems in the northeast region have historically been cooler, climate change will cause the region to have the greatest increase in harmful algal blooms.

but in the southeast, more people rely on freshwater systems for commercial and recreational purposes, including fishing, hunting and swimming, chapra said. the study estimates that between $57 and $110 million may be lost annually in the southeast by 2090 due to the loss of recreation days alone.

“some of the biggest cyanohab impacts will occur in more rural regions, such as those in the southeast and midwest – areas that don’t often come up in conversation about unavoidable effects of climate change,” he said in a news release.

homeowners with property on water are likely to see decreases in the value of their homes if the waters are crowded with “unsightly” blooms, chapra said. and because fish can’t eat the blooms, they end up on the shoreline, affecting air quality because of their sulfuric smell.

in studying the economic impact of the blooms, he and his team only looked at the number of recreation days lost due to harmful algal blooms. although drinking water impacts were excluded from the study, the authors noted that those are likely to be important, particularly for regions without advanced water treatment systems.

tim davis, associate professor of biological sciences at bowling green state university, said that although the study focuses on the u.s., harmful algal blooms have the potential to damage water supply all around the globe. he cited a 2007 crisis in wuxi, china, when millions of residents were unable to access clean water for a week.

“the potential impacts become much greater because these blooms are occurring in more places, and becoming more severe, which just increases the chance of humans or animal health being impacted,” davis said. “it’s going to negatively impact the economy, people’s health, people’s lives, and it’s going to continue to grow as a problem.”