Environmental Lecture Series: The Role of Ditches & Rivers for Lake Erie

Join Dr. Jim Hood for his presentation, “The Role of Ditches & Rivers in Shaping Phosphorus Exports to Lake Erie,” as part of the Environmental Lecture Series at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 18 in Orchestra Hall.

Harmful cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Erie have resulted in considerable ecological, cultural and economic losses for the region. The primary cause of these cyanobacteria blooms is dissolved phosphorus loading from the Maumee River basin.

Agricultural lands are likely largely responsible for the recent increase in phosphorus exports to western Lake Erie. However, we know little about whether ditches, streams and rivers amplify or mitigate phosphorus loading to Lake Erie. This presents a potential challenge for managing phosphorus exports to Lake Erie.

In his presentation, Hood will talk about research focused on developing a better understanding of the role of rivers in magnifying or mitigating phosphorus exports to western Lake Erie and harmful algal blooms. He will wrap up with a discussion about potential management tradeoffs (pollution from suspended sediment vs. dissolved phosphorus and cyanobacteria bloom vs. fisheries management) and how an Ecosystem Management approach can and should be used to negotiate those tradeoffs.

Hood is an ecosystem ecologist who studies the influence of climate change and nutrient pollution on freshwater organisms, food webs and ecosystems. He’s an associate professor at Ohio State University in the Department of Evolution, Ecology & Organismal Biology and is a core faculty member in the Translational Data Analytics Institute.

He teaches introductory courses on climate change and conservation biology and more advanced courses on freshwater science. Hood earned a PhD from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, a master’s from Miami University and a bachelor’s from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

He did postdocs at Montana State University and the Icelandic Institute of Freshwater & Marine Fisheries. Hood has two daughters and enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing and other outdoor activities.