October 2015, Earth and Environmental Science Assistant Professor Silvia Newell, Ph.D., met with the Environmental Monitor regarding her labortory studies on the chemical relationships found in marine environments. Currently her work focuses on hypereutorphic Lake Taihu in China, Lake Erie, and Ohio waterways. These environments are extreme nutrient-rich with frequent algal blooms and low transparency. "When you look at the state as a whole, the majority of nutrients that are being added through runoff are coming from farms," said Newell. "And wastewater treatment plants are a smaller percentage of that." Graduate student Lee Slone (pictured with Newell above) is interested in nitrogen levels in the Lower Great Miami River and how they are affected by water treatment plants. Specifically, if the nutrients are released naturally or are the nutrients linked to the treatment plants. Slone explains that identifying the source is important before requiring costly retrofits to the treatment operations.
Daniel Hoffman, a doctoral student in Newell's lab, is leading another study on ammonium and relies on data collected north of Dayton. Hoffman (pictured with Slone below) explains that ammonium are the most reduced form of nitrogen regarding its oxidation state so it is the easiest to grab. Ammonium favors the nutrients that is currently blooming in western Lake Erie. Their work is in the beginning stage yet promises to yield useful information to aid those working on the health of the Lower Great Miami River. 
Since the 2014 toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie water quality has held the media spotlight as clean, safe water is a key factor in health and economic growth. This attention has created opportunities for politicians and scientists to share data for the development of protection regulations. April, 2015 Ohio passed its first law regulating the use of fertilizers in the western Lake Erie Basin along with other measures to reduce the amount of phosphorus flowing in to the area over the next 10 years. It also establishes new monitoring regimes for phosphorus testing by publicly owned treatment operations. "What's happening in Taihu and what's happening in Erie, I think are especially important for water regulations across the nation and in Ohio" said Newell. "We don't have nitrogen regulations across the board...I think understanding how nitrogen is cycled and moves in the different kinds of lakes and different systems is very important, and there's been very little work done on it."
Read more about this exciting research in the full article. (Photo Credit: Nate Christopher / Fondriest Environmental)
