National HABs symposium co-convened by SCCWRP attracts more than 300 participants

A special national scientific meeting on harmful algal blooms (HABs) that was co-convened and co-facilitated by SCCWRP attracted more than 300 researchers, students and managers over a three-day period in May.

The virtual meeting, titled the 10.5 U.S. Symposium on Harmful Algae because it was held between the National HAB Committee’s 10th and 11th biennial symposia, covered numerous managerially relevant HAB topics, including approaches to monitor, manage and mitigate HABs, HAB ecophysiology, and diversity and the impacts of HABs on human and wildlife health.

More than 20% of registrants were from state management agencies, and 45 U.S. states and 10 countries were represented among attendees.

Multiple SCCWRP staff and SCCWRP member agencies presented on ongoing projects, including the HABs element of Bight ’18, cyanotoxin surveys in Los Angeles-area recreational lakes, cyanobacterial diversity in Clear Lake in Northern California and predictive domoic acid modeling.