Author: Holly Bowers

U.S. National Office for Harmful Algal Blooms at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Releases National Science Strategy for Harmful Algal Research and Response

As part of our ongoing partnership with collaborators at Cawthron in New Zealand, our new paper is out in
Methods in Ecology and Evolution!

EBL has been monitoring phytoplankton, with an emphasis on Harmful Algal Bloom species, at the Monterey Wharf for over a decade! These data feed into the larger HABMAP initiative that provides a weekly snapshot of HAB activity along the California coast. We are part of The Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System which has received a 5-year renewal from NOAA’s U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) Office to continue this work and expand monitoring capabilities.

https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-awards-41-million-for-ocean-observing

As part of our ongoing partnership with collaborators at Cawthron in New Zealand, our new paper is out in
this special issue of Toxins updating Pseudo-nitzschia species!

Sophia Newton is so excited to be a virtual intern from York, Maine this summer. Usually, she spends her whole summer on the ocean teaching sailing – but this summer she’s switching it up! Sophia will be working with Dr. Bowers on a qPCR assay for a harmful algae species, Akashiwo sanguinea. In the Fall, Sophia will return to the University of Michigan as a junior to continue her studies in mechanical engineering. She is extremely interested in engineering and scientific applications in the unexplored regions of the ocean.

Jason and Holly recently served on the scoping committee for a series of workshops (under the auspices of the Alliance for Coastal Technologies) aimed at discussing the early stages of sample collection for eDNA analysis. This is a rapidly growing area, and these discussions are important for understanding the challenges, consensus thoughts, and paths forward.

Click here for the workshop report!

With all the craziness, our US HAB meeting was pushed to Fall 2022. We realized this would affect student, postdoctoral, and early career members of our community so we created a meeting to specifically highlight this group. “Emerging Voices and Blooming Careers” was a 3-day event packed with talks, poster presentations, career panels, plenaries, and happy hours!

Click here to get all the details!

Who doesn’t love phytoplankton? Holly teamed up with past MLML student Melinda Nakagawa to lead nearly 40 people of all ages in a relaxing Sunday online Nature Journaling session. We had visitors from all over the world, including London and a gentleman Zooming in from his boat off of Cape Cod. The focus was on patterns, symmetry and swimming behavior as we cruised through a variety of mesmerizing videos and still shots. It was fun to introduce folks to what lurks beneath – to a world that supplies 50% of our oxygen!

Just published in a special issue of ‘Water’: Towards the Optimization of eDNA/eRNA Sampling Technologies for Marine Biosecurity Surveillance

This paper is the result of a collaboration between H. Bowers and collaborators in New Zealand and Australia.
Molecular techniques know no boundaries!