Preventing doom from bloom

Although they may sound pretty, algae blooms can be toxic and render affected lakes unusable for both recreational and drinking purposes and may potentially have harmful effects on the wildlife who use these lakes as their water source.

An aspiring veterinarian, second-year Animal Science student Alexandra Warren will spend her summer on Dal’s Agricultural Campus studying algae blooms in lakes in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Under the supervision of Tri Nguyen-Quang, head of the Biofluids and Biosystems Modeling Lab, Alexandra and the research team will be looking into how toxins can affect the wildlife that use these lakes as a water source, determine the causes behind the algae blooms and produce a mathematical model to predict future bloom patterns.

“All of the research we are targeting can be converted to mathematical models,” explains Dr. Nguyen-Quang (left). “Predictions mean that you can save time and money, and it can help you better prepare for the future; mathematical modelling can do that.”

“The idea is to find a solution to these blooms as algae blooms are a world-wide phenomenon that has worsened in recent years,” says Alexandra. “Though not all algae are ‘bad’ certain types of algae, such as cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, can produce toxins. It’s amazing to be able to do actual research on an issue that has such widespread effects.”

Alexandra was one of three Ag Campus students to receive an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) this summer. She recently completed her second year at the Faculty of Agriculture with a major in Animal Science and a double minor in Genetics & Molecular Biology and Mathematics.

“I’ve always known I wanted to work with animals so the Animal Science major was an easy decision for me,” she says

Global perspective

Originally from Calgary, Alta., Alexandra was 10 when she moved to Houston, Texas for 18 months. She then lived six years overseas in the Middle East, spending her last three years of high school in the Sultanate of Oman before repatriating to Canada for university. Alexandra has definitely been influenced by her travels in the choices she’s made towards her career goals and those that she will make in the future.

“I am very interested in methods of slaughter and animal treatment, for both pets and feedstock, because of what I was exposed to overseas. In the Middle East there is little education about animals and that leads to a lot of abuse when it comes to pets and feedstock.”

For the past two years, Alexandra has been a tutor at the Math and Physics Help Centre where she received the Outstanding Tutor Impact Award this year for her work. Some of her other favourite campus memories include playing with the lambs in the RAC and laughing with friends in Jenkins and residence.

In the fall, Alexandra will be attending Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon. She says that afterwards she’d like to go into research, in some capacity.

“I knew I made the right decision in coming to the AC pretty much as soon as I got here,” she says. “Everyone was really friendly and the professors were all willing to help you out. The AC has always felt more like a family than a school to me.”