Oceans and Human Health: The Great Lakes Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health at Bowling Green State University

The Great Lakes Center for Fresh Waters and Human Health at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) was funded by the NIEHS/NSF program COHH3: Impacts of Climate Change on Oceans and Great Lakes program. Owing to the need to protect our recreational freshwaters and drinking water from the expansion of cyanobacterial HABs, the Center supports three research projects, a Facilities Core providing water chemistry and cyanotoxin analyses, and a Community Engagement Core (CEC) aimed at engaging participant scientists and stakeholders to communicate research findings and establish future priorities. The CEC also provides a collaborative connection to the CECs from the other OHH Centers. In total, senior personnel from eight participating institutions (BGSU, University of Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, University of Toledo, NOAA, University of Tennessee and SUNY ESF) participate in Center activities, allowing an expansion of existing research collaborations established in the wake of the 2014 Toledo Water Crisis. Specifically, the Center research projects address the following issues: first, the environmental drivers that yield different types of cyanobacterial blooms (e.g. Microcystis vs. Planktothrix vs. Dolichospermum); second, characterization of novel cyanobacterial secondary metabolites; and third, determination of best methods for bloom and toxin detection. The research project focus on ‘omics approaches allow a detailed examination of cHAB formation, persistence and decline.