EAGER: CITIZEN SCIENCE BASED WATER QUALITY MONITORING IN UTAH LAKE

渴望：基于公民科学的犹他湖水质监测

• 批准号: 1743412
• 负责人: Ramesh Goel
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1743412&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; CITIZEN; SCIENCE; BASED; WATER

Cyanobacteria are a type of bacteria that can be found in almost every land and water environment, including oceans, lakes, and soils, and they are known to form extensive blooms in both freshwater and saltwater environments. Cyanobacteria are a growing concern for drinking water utilities, so understanding why cyanobacteria form blooms is a major focus of lake and ecological research. These blooms are termed harmful algal blooms (HABs), and in many cases, the prediction of HABs is not possible because of the unavailability of good data sets. Involving a large number of citizens in scientific data collection has the potential to help address this problem. In this project, a citizen science-based water quality program is being developed with Utah Lake, Utah as a model water body. The specific objectives of this citizen science project are to select and train citizen scientists in water quality data monitoring, to engage trained citizens in water quality data collection, to gather and validate the data collected by citizen scientists, and finally to develop a plan for a long term and sustainable citizen science-based water quality monitoring program. In this research project, a citizen science-based water quality monitoring program is being established to increase public participation in decision making and to enable sustainable management of surface water quality. The scientific hypotheses are; (1) Utah Lake is phosphorus limited and the magnitude of internal and external phosphorus loads are similar over space and time, (2) genetic tools based on DNA sequencing of environmental samples can provide an improved resolution of cyanobacterial ecology (including novel species) in the lake under different environmental factors and elucidate the active role of other flanking bacterial communities during HABs events, and (3) participatory education and outreach approaches can be used to develop management strategies that are embraced by stakeholders throughout the watershed and thus implemented on a broader basis. The most significant broader impact of this research is the training and involvement of citizen scientists in water quality research that may aid regulatory decision making. Graduate and undergraduate students are also being trained in this project.

蓝藻是一种细菌，几乎可以在所有陆地和水环境中找到，包括海洋、湖泊和土壤，并且已知它们可以在淡水和咸水环境中形成广泛的藻华。蓝藻越来越受到饮用水公用事业的关注，因此了解蓝藻为何形成水华是湖泊和生态研究的主要焦点。这些水华被称为有害藻华 (HAB)，在许多情况下，由于缺乏良好的数据集，HAB 的预测是不可能的。让大量公民参与科学数据收集有可能有助于解决这个问题。在该项目中，正在以犹他州犹他湖作为模型水体制定一项基于公民科学的水质计划。该公民科学项目的具体目标是选择和培训水质数据监测方面的公民科学家，让经过培训的公民参与水质数据收集，收集和验证公民科学家收集的数据，最后制定一个计划长期且可持续的公民科学水质监测计划。在该研究项目中，正在建立一个基于公民科学的水质监测计划，以提高公众对决策的参与度，并实现地表水质量的可持续管理。科学假设是； (1) 犹他湖的磷含量有限，内部和外部磷负荷的大小在空间和时间上相似，(2) 基于环境样本 DNA 测序的遗传工具可以提高蓝藻生态学（包括新物种）的分辨率。不同环境因素下的湖泊，并阐明其他侧翼细菌群落在赤潮事件期间的积极作用，(3) 参与式教育和推广方法可用于制定整个流域利益相关者所接受的管理策略，从而在更广泛的基础。这项研究最重要、更广泛的影响是对公民科学家进行培训和参与水质研究，这可能有助于监管决策。研究生和本科生也在该项目中接受培训。