Algae Growing Under Lake Erie Ice Spur Dead Zones

Clarkson University biologist Michael Twiss and other Great Lakes scientists have discovered there is a lot going on under Lake Erie's ice. Among the things he discovered in his research, which is funded by the New York and Ohio Sea Grant programs, is a high concentration of algae in Lake Erie during the winter. That’s unlike spring when there are almost no algae present. And it is an important discovery because algae growth has been linked to the creation of Lake Erie dead zones devoid of oxygen.

The Canadian Coast Guard provides Twiss and his team with an ice breaker. Each year the team loads the ice breaker with supplies. The journey begins in Amherstburg, Ontario, and ends at Lake Erie’s eastern basin not far from Buffalo.


New York Sea Grant @ 40 in 2011

New York Sea Grant, which marked its 40th year in 2011, is a statewide network of integrated research, education, and extension services promoting the coastal economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness about the State's marine and Great Lakes resources.

One of 32 university-based programs under the NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program, NYSG is a cooperative program of the State University of New York and Cornell University.

Throughout 2011, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) extension staff, educators, researchers and administrators engaged a variety of its stakeholders in a number or events that allowed the program to reflect on it's 40 years of “Bringing Science to the Shore.”