Algae Blooms at Lake Tahoe: TERC, Tech, and You

On Thursday, March 21, 2024, UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) proudly hosts a lecture about Algae Blooms at Lake Tahoe: TERC, Tech, and You. This special event will feature a panel of TERC experts including Staff Research Associate Brandon Berry, PhD candidate Samantha Sharp, and Education and Outreach Director Heather Segale. The in-person event will be held at Sunnyside Restaurant and Lodge in their Emerald Room. Dinners will be 20 percent off for interested guests.

Algae or phytoplankton are a naturally occurring simple plant that makes up the base of Tahoe’s (and any lake’s) aquatic food web. Recently, there has been a shift in Tahoe’s algae composition with cyanobacteria dominating algae collected from mid-lake. Though cyanobacteria are a normal part of most lakes' algae, under some circumstances, they can form harmful blooms that are toxic. High abundance or harmful algal blooms (HABs) of cyanobacteria can be toxic to humans and animals.

The initial thinking is that this shift may be from wildfire smoke inputs from the Caldor fire and has resulted in the closures of a few popular Tahoe beaches for the last two summers. To better analyze this shift and to create a more predictive and responsive program, UC Davis TERC has recently been working on growing its Nearshore Monitoring Network to utilize drones, helicopter aerial surveys, and other new technologies to create an extremely comprehensive algae monitoring and detection program.

Concurrently, at Clear Lake, a lake with consistent HABs, TERC is working to refine algal monitoring using remote sensing satellites, AUVs, drones, and ground truthing water sampling work to measure cyanobacteria blooms in new ways.

Throughout this ongoing research, TERC also seeks to crowd-source data from the Citizen Science Tahoe program. Through citizen science, TERC engages visitors and residents with the research and technology used to monitor the growing algae issue at Lake Tahoe and seeks to create a more resilient community through education and outreach.

Admission is $10 and free for students with a student ID. Appetizers and a no-host bar will be available from 5 - 6 p.m. The lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the Mountainside Bar at Sunnyside Restaurant and Lodge, 1850 West Lake Boulevard, located just south of Tahoe City.

For more information call 775-881-7560 or visit http://tahoe.ucdavis.edu/events/. For tickets, visit HERE.