Lake Erie Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health

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The Lake Erie Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health is a five-year, multi-institutional effort aimed at understanding the environmental factors and ongoing changes that influence the growth and toxicity of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) in Lake Erie. The Center will support three research projects. Specifically these projects address the following aims: first, how environmental cues promote or constrain the proliferation of cHAB species in mixed populations; second, how environmental cues influence toxin production by cHAB species; third, how other member of the microbial assemblage influence cHAB growth and toxicity. The Center will provide a Community Engagement Core to lead outreach activities that will inform the general public on the effects of cHABs by efforts that include: (1) a community engaged scholarship training for scientists associated with the Center, (2) community-engaged scholarship training for practitioners or community members associated with the Center, and (3) a stakeholder needs assessment for Great Lakes and environmental health literacy to inform general outreach information needs. A citizen science engagement with charter boat captains will further develop a near real-time database on cHAB severity in Lake Erie, and the Facilities Core will provide metadata that not only serve the three stated research projects, but also yield a database available to all Great Lakes scientists. The outcomes are to involve community stakeholders and researchers in the Great Lakes on issues regarding human health, climate change and awareness of threats to our fresh water resources. The Center is jointly supported by NSF and by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.