Posted: March 21, 2023
A new story map explores algal blooms, created by a Youth Water Leader!
As the 2022-23 cohort of Youth Water Leaders comes to a close, we’re excited to share some of the incredible community action projects that participants have created this year, including several educational resources.
Kaia is completing her last year of high school and was already a seasoned environmental activist when she joined the Youth Water Leaders Program. Kaia spoke at the climate strike in September 2022, and has continued to use her voice to advocate for the Ottawa River.
For her service project, Kaia chose to create a story map of Ottawa Riverkeeper’s chlorophyll-a and total phosphorus Community Based Monitoring (CBM) data, which are key indicators of harmful algal blooms. These blooms often occur in late summer and appear as fluffy green masses or opaque paint-like slicks on the water. Not only are they an eyesore, but algal blooms like these can damage ecosystems and be acutely dangerous to humans and their pets. Kaia’s story map does a fantastic job of demystifying the science of algal blooms for a wide range of audiences, and offers some great advice that everyone can follow to help reduce their occurrence in the watershed.
“I first heard about algal blooms in my 9th grade science class and realized that not many people understand their impacts. Through working on this project I hoped to inform others in an approachable way about the dangers they can pose. Throughout my research, I came to understand that phosphorus (which at high levels causes algal blooms) is still a vital nutrient and can even be lacking in some ecosystems. Understanding this balance that must be maintained is an important piece of the puzzle for preserving aquatic ecosystem health!”
Additional thanks to Ottawa Riverkeeper Biologist, Katy, for her expert support with this project.
Be sure to check out Kaia’s story map and learn more about Ottawa Riverkeeper’s Watershed Health Assessment and Monitoring program!
The Youth Water Leaders Program is funded by the Canada Service Corps, a national movement that empowers youth aged 15–30 to gain experience and build important skills while giving back to their community.
Learn more at Canada.ca/CanadaServiceCorps.
Hello, my daughter just turned 14 and has been interested in algae (last years science project).
She would love to volunteer and learn more.
How does she get involved?