2nd Public Swim in Charles River

On Saturday I jumped into the Charles River … again. This is a now annual event organized by the Charles River Conservancy. Last year there was one swim day. This year there were two scheduled, but the first one had to be cancelled because of a cyanobacteria bloom. Hopefully next year we will have even more and eventually a permanent beach or dock. Here is a link to CRCs web site: http://www.thecharles.org/projects-and-programs/swimmable-charles/

Summer Sampling Under Way

Our summer sampling program has started. This year, PhD student Frank Schellenger and YSP students Mia Kobs and Mindy Wu are exploring the role of phosphorus loading from lakefront septic systems to lakes. An interesting aspect of this problem is the time dimension. Because phosphate sorbs strongly onto the solids in the ground a lot of it remains there and does not reach the lake. But P is conservative, so it will get there (“break through”) eventually. When do we expect this to happen? Here is a picture of Frank, Mia and Mindy at the lake and a link to more pictures.

https://plus.google.com/photos/106451974855194253783/albums/6031449257339362673