Study your local pond to help track algal growth around the world

Join a growing number of volunteers who are helping to monitor the health of the environment by sampling diverse aquatic ecosystems through the Algal Bloom Monitoring project, says Layal Liverpool

By Layal Liverpool

LEANING over the water’s edge, I spot what I am looking for. I take out my tweezers and tug, pulling off a small piece of algae and transferring it into a plastic tube. I top my sample off with a few drops of pond water, squeezed up through a little pipette.

I am one of a growing number of international volunteers helping to monitor the health of the environment by sampling diverse aquatic ecosystems through the Algal Bloom Monitoring project, a citizen science initiative run by the US-based Open Field Collective (OFC).

Before I head home, I snap a …