Great Lakes Research Consortium Project Updates Announced

SUNY Brockport researcher Jacob Straub, Ph.D., releases a banded diving duck as part of his GLRC-funded project in 2020. Photo: Abigail Weigel

OSWEGO COUNTY –  The Great Lakes Research Consortium (GLRC) has announced an update on the five projects receiving a total of $121,907 in small grants funding in 2020.

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport; the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, N.Y.; SUNY Oneonta; and the University of Buffalo received 2020 GLRC small grants funding for projects that are addressing:

  •  how microplastics may influence harmful algal bloom (HAB) development and spread,
  • how nitrogen-phosphorus dynamics may drive differences in blooms as a way to improve HABs prediction,
  • thiamine deficiency as a potential cause of diving duck and sea duck population declines on Lake Ontario,
  • a genetics approach to restoring the American beachgrass plantings native to the Great Lakes region and critical to its ecosystem sustainability, climate change resiliency, and invasive species management; and
  • the impact of two invasive species: emerald ash borer and hemlock wooly adelgid on the loss of woody species and water quality in Bergen Swamp in the Genesee River drainage basin that empties into Lake Ontario in the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern.

“The Great Lakes ecosystem is a critical environmental, cultural, and economic resource for New York State and for the states and provinces that border the system. These Great Lakes Research Consortium small grants project initiate innovative investigations that advance our science-based understanding of the complexities, interactions, and attention this unique ecosystem needs,” said GLRC Director Gregory L. Boyer, Ph.D., a nationally-recognized algal bloom researcher.

The Great Lakes Research Consortium is an organization of 18 colleges and universities in New York state, plus nine affiliate campuses in Ontario, Canada, all dedicated to collaborative Great Lakes research and science education.

Nearly 400 faculty, with student support, are conducting research in every fact of Great Lakes science. The GLRC also supports student research and internships. The GLRC is housed at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, N.Y. Learn more at www.esf.edu/glrc.

This small grants program is made possible through the New York State Environmental Protection Fund Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act. missing or outdated ad config

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