THUNDER BAY -- Researchers will take to the air in the hopes of identifying microscopic dangers in lakes and waterways throughout the region.
The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation announced Tuesday a $1 million investment to create a five-year research chair position at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine to research waterborne microbes, primarily blue green algae.
According to Dr. Greg Ross, principal investigator and faculty member at NOSM, blue green algae is appearing more frequently in regional waterways due to rising temperatures.
Blue green algae, or cyanobacteria, is found in water that is high in nutrients and grows aggressively in warm temperatures.
It has a foul odor and can cause rashes if exposed to skin. If ingested, it may cause vomiting and diarrhea and can be dangerous to people with existing health problems.
“Being able to identify the problem in the first instance and then be able to monitor what the remediation is doing is critical to us,” Ross said following the announcement.
The research chair will be partnering with Discovery Air Fire Services to develop remote sensing technology to identify blue green algae from the air, which will allow them to cover hundreds of thousands of hectares.
“The sensors that we are developing with Discovery Air is going to allow us to differentiate blue green algae from green algae, which allows us to identify a health risk from not a health risk,” Ross said.
“That is absolutely essential. You don’t want to be treating water to try to prevent green algae blooms. That’s not necessary and not healthy for the environment.”
The sensors will be attached to Discovery Air planes that monitor forest fires throughout the region.
The new sensors use infrared wavelengths to detect the specific pigments of blue green algae in lakes and waterways.
“Discovery has the capacity to monitor hundreds of thousands of hectares and thousands of lakes quite easily,” Ross said.
“They have a large fleet of aircraft already looking for forest fires and we are able to tag along.”
Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle, who made the announcement at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine at Lakehead University, said the investment is about creating a healthy environment in Northern Ontario.
“There is an economic benefit to it as well,” Gravelle said.
“We look at tourism, we look at our economy in Northern Ontario, our greatest assets are our lakes, rivers and our streams and we need to keep them clean and that is becoming a larger challenge. When the application came in to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund board members, there was enthusiasm and strong support for this.”
