Lisa Reynolds Fogarty

Executive SummaryAlgal blooms in water, soils, dusts, and the environment have captured national attention because of concerns associated with exposure to algal toxins for humans and animals. Algal blooms naturally occur in all surface-water types and are important primary producers for aquatic ecosystems. However, excessive algae growth can be associated with many harmful effects ranging from aes

The open waters of large lakes can sometimes become so depleted in important metals that phytoplankton communities become either growth limited or limited in some metabolic function. Metals such as Fe, Ni, Mo, and Zn are used as co-factors for enzymes by phytoplankton in core metabolic functions, as well as metabolic pathways that allow phytoplankton to use less preferred forms of N and P (e.g. ni

Lake St. Clair Metropark Beach (LSCMB) in Michigan is a public beach near the mouth of the Clinton River that has a history of beach closures for public health concerns. The Clinton River is designated as a Great Lakes Area of Concern, and the park has a Beneficial Use Impairment for beach closings because of elevated Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooper

In 1998, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Geological Survey began the Water Chemistry Monitoring Program for select streams in the State of Michigan. Objectives of this program were to provide assistance with (1) statewide water-quality assessments, (2) the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting process, and (3) water-resource management decisions.

Although cyanotoxins released during algal blooms have become an increasing concern in surface waters across the United States, the presence of cyanotoxins in northern Michigan lakes had not been evaluated in detail. The U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service (NPS) led a 2-year study (2012 and 2013) to determine the presence of microcystin and other algal toxins in several inland lakes a

Deposition of the macroalgae Cladophora spp. was monitored on 18 beaches around Lake Michigan during 2012 at a high temporal frequency. We observed a high degree of spatial variability in Cladophora deposition among beaches on Lake Michigan, even within local regions, with no clear regional pattern in the intensity of Cladophora deposition. A strong seasonal pattern in Cladophora deposition was ob

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a threat to human health worldwide, and although detected at marine beaches, they have been largely unstudied at freshwater beaches. Genes indicating S. aureus (SA; femA) and methicillin resistance (mecA) were detected at 11 and 12 of 13 US Great Lakes beaches and in 18% or 27% of 287 recreational water samples, respectively. Eight beaches had

Manure spills to streams are relatively frequent, but no studies have characterized stream contamination with zoonotic and veterinary pathogens, or fecal chemicals, following a spill. We tested stream water and sediment over 25 days and downstream for 7.6 km for: fecal indicator bacteria (FIB); the fecal indicator chemicals cholesterol and coprostanol; 20 genes for zoonotic and swine-specific bact

In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey Great Lake Science Center (USGS-GLSC) and the USGS-Michigan Water Science Center partnered with the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) to conduct a series of four workshops with coastal practitioners and managers across the Great Lakes basin to highlight the need for, and get input on, a Great Lakes regional coastal science strategy. To this end, this report is intend

Quantitative assessment of bacterial pathogens, their geographic variability, and distribution in various matrices at Great Lakes beaches are limited. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to test for genes from E. coli O157:H7 (eaeO157), shiga-toxin producing E. coli (stx2), Campylobacter jejuni (mapA), Shigella spp. (ipaH), and a Salmonella enterica-specific (SE) DNA sequence at seven Great Lakes bea

Antibiotics are still widely applied in animal husbandry to prevent diseases and used as feed additives to promote animal growth. This could result in antibiotic resistance to bacteria and antibiotic residues in animals. In this paper, Enterobacteriaceae isolated from four integrated fish farms in Zhongshan, South China were tested for antibiotic resistance, tetracycline resistance genes, sulfonam

This study examines the use of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) as a predictor of the presence of Helicobacter spp. A combination of standard culture and molecular techniques were used to detect and quantify FIB, Helicobacter spp. and H. pylori from five North American rivers of different size and with different land use characteristics. Primers designed to amplify genes specific to Helicobacter spp