The Division of Water Monitoring and Standards (DWMS) and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) has recruited a team of lakes management and cyanobacterial HAB experts to address the second component of the Governor’s HAB initiative focusing on enhancing scientific expertise and building the state’s capacity for HAB response. The HAB Expert Team’s primary objective is to provide guidance to DEP on HAB prevention, mitigation and management for NJ lakes and other waterbodies. The team will complete a comprehensive literature review on the prevention and treatment of HABs, review HAB and water quality data, and develop guidance documents for lake management in New Jersey. Guidance documents will include best management practices (BMPs) for the prevention and management of HABs to be used by NJ lake managers.
The team will also provide technical advice and reviews on proposed mitigation technologies for NJ lakes and review the progress of DEP-funded HAB mitigation grant projects. Additionally, the team will develop a HAB lake management training program for DEP staff and interested stakeholders and conduct a minimum of three one-day training workshops at various locations in the state.
Expert Team Resource Guide. A list of publications as a resource for lake managers, environmental consultants, lake organizations, municipal officials, non-profit organizations and other similar groups working to identify, monitor and manage HABs in New Jersey.
Team Members:
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Biology Department, Monmouth University and the Urban Coast Institute
instagram.com/monmouth_phab_lab
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
I chose to serve on the HAB expert team because, since starting to work on HABs in NJ coastal lakes (2018), I have enjoyed meeting and working with colleagues from NJDEP, private firms, and other universities. Serving on this team seemed like a great way to learn more about HABs in other parts of NJ and how to contribute to finding solutions.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
My area of expertise is phytoplankton ecology: understanding how physical / chemical environmental drivers affect things like HABs and other phytoplankton dynamics. By understanding what causes HABs in different areas we can better adapt appropriate management actions to stop HABs.
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Naiad Consultants
twitter.com/NEAPMS1
facebook.com/neapms.neapms.7/
twitter.com/NALMStweets
facebook.com/NALMS1980/
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
As a proud lifelong resident of the Garden State, I consider it to be an honor to be able to channel my passion for managing aquatic resources and serve on this Team.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
I'm a firm believer in active and proactive algae management, based on sound scientific data, for the protection of drinking water and recreational aquatic resources. The use of algae control or preventative methods should only be considered following a detailed review of all of the available data.
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Civil & Environmental Engineering, Rutgers University
sites.google.com/site/nicolefahrenfeld/home
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
I'm pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to solving water quality issues in NJ. Protecting our water resources is important for many reasons which I appreciate professionally as an engineer and personally as someone who grew up swimming in Upper Greenwood Lake.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
I am an environmental engineer leading a research lab studying water quality issues and treatment technologies. Our work monitoring nutrient-cycling microbes in waste treatment systems and source tracking fecal pollution are relevant to HABs.
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U.S. Geological Survey
Jennifer L Graham, Ph.D. (usgs.gov)
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
I have over 20 years of experience in the study of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in waterbodies throughout the United States. The overarching theme of my research is the spatiotemporal distribution of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins with respect to changing physical, chemical, and biological conditions in both lentic and lotic ecosystems. I believe that my expertise lends itself well to the goals of the New Jersey Harmful Algal Bloom and Lakes Management Expert Team.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
Throughout the course of my career, I have applied my expertise on harmful algal blooms to a diverse range of leadership and advisory positions, including other States, and I represent the U.S. Geological Survey on the Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia. I bring the unique perspectives and approaches from these experiences to the Team.
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Founder/President/Applied Limnologist – Ecosystem Consulting Service, Inc.
www.EcosystemConsulting.com
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
Because it is important. Cyanobacteria, and the toxins they can produce, have become an increasingly important public health concern. I understand the importance of both watershed loading and managing the internal structure and function of lakes and reservoirs. Both the watershed and the waterbody can be effectively managed. Climate change has complicated cyanobacteria management, and New Jersey is experiencing those effects more than most geographic locales. We need to adapt management to our changing climatic conditions.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
I've been diagnosing causes of blooms and developing remediation plans since the 1970s. My academic training, research, restoration method development, and diagnostic experience over the past 40+ years has dealt with improving water quality, habitat, ecosystem integrity, and reducing cyanobacteria blooms. I've developed a number of innovative restoration techniques, and developed quantitative watershed management approaches using nutrient allocation (a predecessor to TMDL Programs). I've worked on a number of lakes and water supply reservoirs in New Jersey for over three decades.
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Princeton Hydro, LLC
Facebook.com/PrincetonHydro
linkedin.com/company/princeton-hydro-llc/
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
I believe the knowledge and experience I have gained over the last 27 years as an environmental consultant will be useful in addressing questions and problems associated with HABs and lake management in general. I look forward to contributing any way I can in addressing issues associated with HABs and lake management in New Jersey.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
My specific areas of expertise include algae ecology and lake / watershed management. Thus, knowing how algae (both desirable algae and the undesirable HAB algae) behave in various environmental conditions is extremely useful in the successful management of lakes and other waterbodies. Additionally, my practical experience in watershed management, as well as teaching a class on the subject at Delaware Valley University for the last five years, has also contributed toward the protection of New Jersey watershed from HABs.
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Research Assistant Professor -
Department of Environmental Science and Policy
George Mason University
linkedin.com/in/ling-ren
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
Under the climate change and continuous expansion of population pressure, controlling and mitigating HABs becomes increasingly challenging due to the complex nature of HABs and changing environmental drivers. Being on the HAB Expert Team gives me the opportunity to apply my knowledge and experiences on HABs and contribute to the prevention and mitigation of HABs in New Jersey waterbodies.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
My expertise includes taxonomy and ecology of phytoplankton and harmful algae, nutrient dynamics, effects on anthropogenic eutrophication on phytoplankton and HAB development, water quality index, experimental designs, and modeling. With my experiences in water quality and HABs, I can help in 1) providing consultation and training on identifying the species of blooms in waterbodies, HABs vs. non-HABs; 2) understanding the development of HABs and their environmental drivers specific to NJ waterbodies; 3) assisting local scientists developing localized methods in detecting and predicting HABs. I will work closely with other members of the Team and make contributions to developing and providing guidance for the prevention and mitigation of HABs in NJ waters through literature and data review, active collaboration, and communication.
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Department of Biological Sciences, Rowan University
works.bepress.com/nathan-ruhl/
researchgate.net/profile/Nathan-Ruhl
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
I chose to serve on the HAB Expert Team in order to share my knowledge about the ecological function of impounded streams (reservoirs), especially those of southern New Jersey, where I live and work.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
Most of the state of New Jersey's cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) occur in man made lakes that have been created by damming streams to create reservoirs. I am an expert in the ecological function of reservoirs, have studied cHABs in Ohio in the past, and am currently studying cHABs in the reservoirs of southern New Jersey.
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Owner - Clean Waters Consulting, LLC
linkedin.com/in/steve-souza-b8b9118/
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
My professional career, which spans 30+ years, has been dedicated to the restoration and management of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. I feel that I have a lot to share with the team based on my work on over 300 waterbodies, both in terms of assessment and the design and implementation of sustainable measures demonstrated to successfully prevent and mitigate HAB related impacts.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
I think that my biggest contribution is in the proactive approach I have taken to HABs. This is best exemplified in the PARE program that I created in 2012 while President of Princeton Hydro. PARE (Predict, Analyze, React and Educate) is a science based approach to forecasting and dealing with HABS that centers on data collection and the sharing of that information through public education and outreach. I have developed a similar approach for drinking water purveyors aimed at protecting source water and utilizing a systematic approach that reduces reliance on treatment plant measures to address evolving or existing HAB impacts to drinking water.
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Director of New Jersey Center for Water Science and Technology
Professor of Biology at Montclair State University
montclair.edu/profilepages/view_profile.php?username=wum
linkedin.com/in/meiyin-wu-a9449824/
- Why did you choose to serve on the HAB Expert Team?
In recent years, more frequent harmful algal blooms of increased duration and magnitude have been documented in New Jersey. As a member of the Expert Team, I plan to provide my expertise in cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms, water quality and lake management to advance the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s capacity for HAB prevention, mitigation and management.
- How does your area of expertise help protect NJ waterbodies from HABs?
As an aquatic ecosystem ecologist, my research focuses primarily on the effects of human activities on aquatic ecosystems and studies the impact of human-induced pollution, climate change, and land use change on aquatic ecosystem processes, structure and dynamics. My experience and expertise on HAB, water quality and lake management can help direct science-based, data-driven policy decisions for HAB and lake management in NJ.
Official Site of The State of New Jersey
