BGSU scientists, students to present water quality research and findings during International Association for Great Lakes Research Conference

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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - A group of Bowling Green State University scientists and graduate students will bring the University's expertise in water quality research to the international stage May 25-29 when they present at the joint conference of the International Association for Great Lakes Research and the Society of Canadian Aquatic Sciences in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

For BGSU graduate students like Nick Maleski, the conference presents the opportunity to not only gain experience and network, but to bring a new understanding of agricultural processes that can benefit scientists in adjacent fields or conducting similar research.

Maleski, working alongside associate professor of geochemistry Angelica Vazquez-Ortega, Ph.D., is contributing to an innovative research endeavor at BGSU that uses dredged sediment from Lake Erie as a fertilizer amendment - a possible avenue in curbing agricultural runoff that has shown promising early results for the Lake Erie watershed.

In Winnipeg, Maleski will present some of the project's findings to a larger community of researchers who are committed to improving conditions for bodies of freshwater.

"I'm going to be presenting research findings at an international conference, which is really exciting," he said. "It's a little bit nerve-wracking to speak in front of a large audience, but it's going to be a great experience. I'm going to be able to talk with some of the top professionals in the field and expand my knowledge."

As a national innovator in water quality research, scientists at BGSU have played an instrumental role in understanding and combating harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. But as researchers have found since 2014, when toxins from an algal bloom made Toledo's water temporarily undrinkable, solving freshwater issues rarely has a simple solution.

The issues facing freshwater are complicated and multifaceted: agricultural runoff contributes to algal blooms, but citizens depend on both farms and freshwater, especially in northwest Ohio. Researchers at BGSU have sought to better understand the full portrait of the watershed, studying better farming practices, improved filters, the implementation of wetlands in Ohio and commonalities between other major freshwater systems that experience algal blooms.

Geography professor Kefa Otiso, Ph.D., who will present virtually at the joint conference, is researching policy around blooms in Lake Victoria in Kenya, which, despite its climate differences from Lake Erie, shares a common issue.

"Our freshwater quality challenges are getting more complex by the day," Otiso said. "It thus takes the collaboration of many natural and social scientists to address them adequately."

The joint conference will bring together scientists from many different backgrounds, but with a shared goal of understanding the issues facing bodies of freshwater and using science to address them.

Vazquez-Ortega said conferences are a popular avenue in which researchers collaborate to devise stronger, more well-rounded projects that draw on expertise in many areas.

"You get to know the latest research, see new technologies and learn how others are engaging the same environmental issues," Vazquez-Ortega said. "Each researcher has their own area of expertise, but with that comes limitations, so collaboration keeps researchers up to date and establishes connections."

For graduate students like Maleski, the opportunity to present research not only puts them in a room with top-tier scientists but also demonstrates how their work can contribute to large-scale solutions.

"There's an experimental field we've set up where I am doing the edge-of-field monitoring to see how many nutrients are being exported, so knowing this research could potentially bring Lake Erie back to what it used to be is really exciting," Maleski said. "I hope this research really does improve the lake, so I want to stick around and see it happen."