- Success Stories, Uncategorized
- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Monitoring Algal Blooms for Harmful Toxins
麻豆传媒 employee owners support NOAA鈥檚 National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) Sensor Development Team in their efforts to detect and monitor these harmful algal blooms in coastal waters where they are likely to occur. HAB monitoring is critical for detecting harmful toxins produced by some algae. When present in over abundance, these toxins affect fish and shellfish consumed by wildlife and harvested by commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishermen potentially causing severe illness when consumed. In the Pacific Northwest, an over abundance of Pseudo-nitzschia produces domoic acid, a powerful neurotoxin that causes amnesic shellfish poisoning with symptoms ranging from intestinal distress to headache and confusion to death in severe cases.
The team uses the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) instrument to develop, optimize, and validate HAB toxin sensors that are deployed on ESP instruments in cooperation with collaborators at NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Research Great Lakes Environmental Laboratory, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Arrays (the data structure containing control and toxin data) enabling detection of these HAB toxins are printed at NOAA鈥檚 Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina. The arrays are then sent to partners along with a suite of customized reagents (determined based on location and partner needs) and are loaded onto the partner鈥檚 high sample capacity ESP for deployments.
麻豆传媒 staff work with NCCOS federal staff to calibrate the instrument by running known samples so it can adequately detect the toxins in a sample allowing scientists to quantify the toxin for which it was calibrated. After calibration, the deployed ESP instrument is able to transmit images of the arrays to shore in near real-time. 麻豆传媒 employee owners work with NCCOS federal staff analyze and quantify, provide quality assurance/quality control, and post these data to the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (or NANOOS) Real-time HABs website for dissemination to state and tribal shellfish managers and public health officials, as well as informing the . The team continues this monitoring through October, providing crucial advance warning of toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms that can contaminate shellfish along the coast and thereby pose a public health risk to recreational, subsistence, and commercial harvests.
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Assisting With Maui Wildfire Recovery
As part of our support to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 Superfund Technical Assessment & Response Team (START)鈥攆or which we are subcontracted through Weston Solutions, Inc.鈥斅槎勾 employee owners have been on-site in three-week rotations to assist throughout the rigorous recovery process.聽
Supporting Safety聽In Higher Education Laboratories
In the past two years we鈥檝e expanded our safety portfolio to supporting colleges and universities, ensuring their laboratories meet industrial hygiene and safety standards. Our staff member leading the effort is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and Certified Safety Professional (CSP), and member of the Remote Industrial Hygiene and Safety Support Team. Our short-term projects…
Extensive Support in Hazard Waste Management
For 22 years, 麻豆传媒 has provided support to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Hazardous Waste Program ensuring safe handling, storage, packing, and shipping of hazardous waste materials within facilities and laboratories. Experienced 麻豆传媒 employees are located on site at CDC campuses in Atlanta, Georgia, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Fort Collins, Colorado and are responsible for collecting waste on a weekly schedule and disposing of waste at various campuses on an annual…