My Watermark is Lake Erie, Ohio.

Even though I do research on Lake Michigan, I’m a little biased because my waterbody is Lake Erie. I grew up on Lake Erie, when I was a kid we’d use to go out to Maumee Bay State Park, hang out on the beach. Even my earliest memories I can still remember this summer there being pea-green water because even back then we were having algal blooms. Then in my first year of graduate school in 2014 the big toledo water crisis happened.

Growing up in Toledo has given me a perspective. Lake erie has been experiencing these algae blooms as long as I’ve been alive. I wanted to really do something and do work that could help people and help the rest of Toledo have access to better water quality.