The Paerl Lab is back in the Bay Delta, CA this week, and the 2023 California Bioassay is well underway!
Haley Plaas and Leah Nelson are working to continue Haley’s dissertation research which focuses on assessing the linkage between nutrient enrichment, phytoplankton community composition, cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom toxin production, and aerosol formation in the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuarine ecosystem. This research has been accomplished by completing a combination of aerosol measurements and nutrient addition bioassay experiments.
Despite a few minor hiccups, everything is going great. Haley and Leah have had lots of help from our awesome interns, Cheyenne and Deborah!
The aerosol samplers are all up and running now at both Discovery Bay and Stockton and the bioassay experiment will be completed tomorrow. We look forward to seeing the results from both the bioassay and aerosol samples! We will be sure to keep you updated as we analyze the data in the weeks to come.
Thanks for all your help, Cheyenne and Deborah, as well as to all of our collaborators at CA-DWR, USGS, and Restore the Delta (and more)!