Baylor University Professor Gives Public Lecture on Biological Threats to Lake Waco

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Contact: Tonya B. Lewis, Assistant Director of Media Communications, (254) 710-4656
WACO, Texas (Oct. 16, 2012) - Owen Lind, Ph.D., professor of biology in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor University, will give a special lecture on "Northern Invasion of a Tropical Toxic Algae: Lake Waco and Beyond." This event will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, at the Lake Waco Wetlands, 1752 Eichelberger Crossing Road. The lecture is hosted in part by the Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research (CRASR), a collaboration between Baylor University and the City of Waco.
Lind came to Baylor in 1966 and began the university's program of limnology, the study of inland waters. His research primarily focuses on biological factors that determine aquatic productivity in lakes and reservoirs in the U.S. and Mexico. He also started a program with the Center for Tropical Research at the University of Veracruz to research factors governing the unusual productivity of tropical toxic algae, a cause of human and livestock deaths in the tropics and U.S. In recognition of his extensive work in the field, Lind was named the 2009 Texas Distinguished Scientist by the Texas Academy of Science.
"Over the past 10 years, we've had an increasing awareness of 'harmful algal blooms' (HABs) in North American lakes and reservoirs," said Robert Doyle, Ph.D., the director of CRASR. "Dr. Lind will speak about a toxic-forming algal species he has been studying in Mexico. We recently became aware that the species actually exists in many places, including our own Lake Waco. So far it hasn't caused any known problems, but of course it is something we are keeping an eye on."

This free lecture is geared toward a general audience and is open to the public. For more information, contact Nora Schell at the Lake Waco Wetlands by calling (254) 848-9654.

by Brent Salter, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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