Monitoring Harmful Algae

In 2017, shellfisheries in New England shut down operations for the first time due to elevated levels of a neurotoxin called Domoic Acid in the Gulf of Maine and Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.

Domoic Acid is produced by a group of marine algae called Pseudo-nitzschia. Pseudo-nitzschia are common to coastal waters around the world, and toxic blooms have been recorded frequently on west coast of the United States, though they rarely occur in New England.

In 2017, a research group at the University of Rhode Island started a long-term research project to better understand what environmental conditions were responsible for the recent New England shellfish closures. I joined the group in 2021 and participated in the leadership and management of our time series until 2024.

After 5 years of continuous data collection, we identified specific Pseudo-nitzschia species and environmental conditions that were unique to the toxic blooms of 2017, and have determined what species and conditions are typical in Narragansett Bay. This data can be used to improve the prediction of Pseudo-nitzschia HABs in east coast estuaries like Narragansett Bay.