Studying CyanoHABs in Urban Lakes

In the fall of 2021, a dense and toxic cyanobacteria bloom covered a network of lakes within the city of Providence's largest green space; Roger Williams Park.

Environmental chemistry researchers at the University of Rhode Island sampled the bloom to study how the toxin compounds changed over the course of the bloom. I was invited to college biological data on the cyanobacteria species, in order to compare the toxin data with the biological communities that created said toxins.