Wigdahl-Perry named to governor’s steering committee focusing on algae blooms

Dr. Courtney Wigdahl-Perry of the Department of Biology has been selected to be a member of one of the governor’s steering committees devoted to preventing and responding to algae blooms. As a component of the Governor’s Harmful Algae Blooms (HAB) Initiative, the steering committee will meet on Monday, March 26, at Monroe Community College.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines a HAB as occurring “when colonies of algae…grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds.”

The summit will include discussion guiding the development of a “HABs Action Plan for Chautauqua Lake,” according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Members will focus on how to stop the growth and spread of HABs.

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s project, the “Protecting New York’s Water Quality” initiative, comes from the 12th proposal of his 2018 State of the State Address. The Western New York summit is one of four meetings happening in the state. The other three were scheduled earlier in February and March and took place (or are set to take place) in Hudson Valley, Central New York and in the North County.

The steering committees were assembled by the Water Quality Rapid Response Team, as part of Governor Cuomo’s plan. Experts from around the state and nation-wide were invited, as well as specialists from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, Cornell University and those with vested interests in local water bodies.

Cuomo said at the opening of the Hudson Valley meeting on Feb. 27, “This summit brings together experts from across the country, the state and the Hudson Valley community to develop new and innovative strategies to safeguard our water for future generations.”

This is where Dr. Wigdahl-Perry’s area of study comes into play.

“My research focuses on algae that live in lakes and generally understanding what controls their growth and why we find certain kinds of algae across different lakes,” she said.

Wigdahl-Perry is currently measuring changes in Chautauqua Lake’s algae and water quality through the use of a monitoring buoy. The Chautauqua Aquatic Monitoring Project, (ChAMP) takes readings on variables such as algae, pH and oxygen, among others, every 15 minutes.

“We're still in the early stages of the project, but I hope that we can use this to understand patterns of algae growth and what might trigger a bloom,” she said.