MEDIA ADVISORY: NOAA’s Lake Erie harmful algal bloom forecast

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Reporters are invited to a briefing at Ohio State University for NOAA’s 2016 harmful algal bloom forecast for Lake Erie on Thursday, July 7. The briefing, hosted by Ohio Sea Grant Program and Stone Laboratory, will also offer laboratory demonstrations and a boat trip to conduct water sampling on Lake Erie.

A public webinar to follow will explain the forecast, the recommendations of the Annex 4 nutrient panel of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement; and the university’s Field to Faucet Initiative, which seeks to ensure safe drinking water while keeping farms productive and profitable. The webinar will have expert commentary, the history of this issue in Lake Erie, how government agencies and their partners respond to blooms, and possible strategies to address the problem.

WHAT:
Media briefing, water quality lab demonstrations, Lake Erie water sampling boat trip, and public webinar led by regional and national experts to explain NOAA’s 2016 Lake Erie HAB forecast.

WHEN:
Thu., July 7, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. EDT
Reporters should take the Miller Ferry departing from Catawba Point at 9:00 a.m.
Stone Lab staff will meet the ferry and transport participants to the lab. A box lunch will follow.

  • 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.: Media briefing

  • 11:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.: Interviews with researchers

  • 12:00  - 1:00 p.m.: Box lunches and continued interviews

  • 1:00-  2:00 p.m.: Hands-on research cruise and photo opportunities

  • 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.: Public webinar (register at http://go.osu.edu/habsforecast2016)

WHO:

  • Chris Winslow, Ph.D., interim director, Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory

  • Laura Johnson, Ph.D., research scientist, National Center for Water Quality Research, Heidelberg University

  • Rick Stumpf, Ph.D. oceanographer, NOAA

  • Jeff Reutter, Ph.D., special advisor, Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory and U.S. co-chair for the Objectives and Targets Task Team of Annex 4

WHERE:
Stone Laboratory at OSU’s Ohio Sea Grant Program, Gibraltar Island, Put-in-Bay, Ohio 43456

MEDIA RSVP:
RSVP by 3 p.m. July 6 to Jill Jentes via email at jentes.1@osu.edu or by calling 614-937-0072 for further details and directions.

Located on the 6½-acre Gibraltar Island in Put-in-Bay harbor, Stone Laboratory is Ohio State University's island campus on Lake Erie and the education and research facility of the Ohio Sea Grant College Program. The program is part of NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 33 programs dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. For information on Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab, visit http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu. 

Contacts:
Jill Jentes, jentes.1@osu.edu, 614-937-0072
Ben Sherman, ben.sherman@noaa.gov, 202-253-5256

 

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