U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Dr. Keith A. Loftin received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water's Achievement in Science and Technology Award for his contributions to the National Wetlands Condition Assessment.
USGS scientist, Dr. Keith A. Loftin, received the EPA Office of Water's Achievement in Science and Technology Award. Dr. Loftin was recognized for development of pioneering methods and metrics related to algal toxins that were used in the first qualitative condition assessment of the nation's wetlands.
The assessment was presented in the EPA report National Wetland Condition Assessment 2011—A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Wetlands. Dr. Loftin and the scientists at the USGS Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory in Lawrence, Kansas, assisted the EPA with study design, methods development, and sample analysis of microcystins (toxins produced by cyanobacteria). The report is the first national evaluation of wetlands for microcystins. The team of scientists determined that microcystins were only present at elevated levels in a few cases in fresh, brackish, and coastal wetlands.
The USGS is doing national and regional scale assessments of the presence of algal toxins in lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, and wetlands. The broader research goals include determination of factors related to cyanotoxin production and factors that may affect or create new environmental pathways of cyanobacteria that lead to human and ecological exposure.
Reference
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2016, National Wetland Condition Assessment 2011—A collaborative survey of the Nation's wetlands: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA-843-R-15-005, 105 p.
See below for related research.
Toxins and Harmful Algal Blooms Science Team
Algal and Other Environmental Toxins — Lawrence, Kansas
Program Scientist Receives Meritorious Service Award
Two Scientists Receive Early Career Excellence in Leadership Award
Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins
New Study on Cyanotoxins in Lakes and Reservoirs Provides Insights into Assessing Health Risks
Importance of Lake Sediments in Removal of Cyanobacteria, Viruses, and Dissolved Organic Carbon
U.S. Geological Survey Scientists Complete First Systematic Regional Survey of Algal Toxins in Streams of the Southeastern United States
Remote Sensing Provides a National View of Cyanobacteria Blooms
Algal Blooms Consistently Produce Complex Mixtures of Cyanotoxins and Co-Occur with Taste-and-Odor Causing Compounds in 23 Midwestern Lakes
- Overview
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Dr. Keith A. Loftin received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water's Achievement in Science and Technology Award for his contributions to the National Wetlands Condition Assessment.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Dr. Keith A. Loftin in the USGS Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory. Dr. Loftin is standing in front of a triple quadrupole liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) system. (Credit: Ariel Donovan, USGS. Public domain.) USGS scientist, Dr. Keith A. Loftin, received the EPA Office of Water's Achievement in Science and Technology Award. Dr. Loftin was recognized for development of pioneering methods and metrics related to algal toxins that were used in the first qualitative condition assessment of the nation's wetlands.
The assessment was presented in the EPA report National Wetland Condition Assessment 2011—A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Wetlands. Dr. Loftin and the scientists at the USGS Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory in Lawrence, Kansas, assisted the EPA with study design, methods development, and sample analysis of microcystins (toxins produced by cyanobacteria). The report is the first national evaluation of wetlands for microcystins. The team of scientists determined that microcystins were only present at elevated levels in a few cases in fresh, brackish, and coastal wetlands.
The USGS is doing national and regional scale assessments of the presence of algal toxins in lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, and wetlands. The broader research goals include determination of factors related to cyanotoxin production and factors that may affect or create new environmental pathways of cyanobacteria that lead to human and ecological exposure.
Reference
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2016, National Wetland Condition Assessment 2011—A collaborative survey of the Nation's wetlands: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA-843-R-15-005, 105 p.
- Science
See below for related research.
Toxins and Harmful Algal Blooms Science Team
The team develops advanced methods to study factors driving algal toxin production, how and where wildlife or humans are exposed to toxins, and ecotoxicology. That information is used to develop decision tools to understand if toxin exposure leads to adverse health effects in order to protect human and wildlife health.Algal and Other Environmental Toxins — Lawrence, Kansas
About the Laboratory The Environmental Health Program collaborates with scientists at the Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory (OGRL) in Lawrence, Kansas, to develop and employ targeted and non-targeted analytical methods for identification and quantitation of known and understudied algal/cyanobacterial toxins. The laboratory contructed in 2019 is a 2,500 square foot modern laboratory facility...Program Scientist Receives Meritorious Service Award
Dr. Isabelle M. Cozzarelli received the U.S. Department of Interior's second highest honorary award—the Meritorious Service Award—for her numerous contributions to understanding the biogeochemical controls of contaminant degradation in groundwater and near-surface environments.Two Scientists Receive Early Career Excellence in Leadership Award
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 2016 Early Career Excellence in Leadership Award was given to Dr. Denise M. Akob and Dr. Karl B. Haase. Drs. Akob and Haase have demonstrated outstanding leadership through their scientific accomplishments and service to the USGS.Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins
Freshwater and marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) can occur anytime water use is impaired due to excessive accumulations of algae. In freshwater, the majority of HABs are caused by cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae). Cyanobacteria cause a multitude of water-quality concerns, including the potential to produce taste-and-odor causing compounds and toxins that are potent enough to poison...New Study on Cyanotoxins in Lakes and Reservoirs Provides Insights into Assessing Health Risks
Newly published study provides new evidence of the widespread occurrence of cyanotoxins in lakes and reservoirs of the United States and offers new insights into measures used for assessing potential recreational health risks.Importance of Lake Sediments in Removal of Cyanobacteria, Viruses, and Dissolved Organic Carbon
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists determined that the colmation layer (top 25 centimeters of lake sediments) was highly effective in removing cyanobacteria, viruses, and dissolved organic carbon during water passage through the lake bottom to aquifer sediments.U.S. Geological Survey Scientists Complete First Systematic Regional Survey of Algal Toxins in Streams of the Southeastern United States
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists detected microcystin—an algal toxin—in 39 percent of 75 streams assessed in the southeastern United States. These results will inform and become part of a larger, systematic national survey of algal toxins in small streams of the United States.Remote Sensing Provides a National View of Cyanobacteria Blooms
Four Federal agencies, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), are collaborating to transform satellite data into information managers can use to protect ecological and human health from freshwater contaminated by harmful algal blooms.Algal Blooms Consistently Produce Complex Mixtures of Cyanotoxins and Co-Occur with Taste-and-Odor Causing Compounds in 23 Midwestern Lakes
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists studying the effects of harmful algal blooms on lake water quality found that blooms of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) in Midwestern lakes produced mixtures of cyanotoxins and taste-and-odor causing compounds, which co-occurred in lake water samples. Cyanotoxins can cause allergic and/or respiratory issues, attack the liver and kidneys, or affect the... - News