FGCU conducts more sampling to study blue-green algae impact

More sample collection is coming to Southwest Florida to continue to gather data on blue-green algae and monitor its presence.

FGCU Water School professor Dr. Mike Parsons conducted more air sampling, which could hold the answers to blue-green algae’s impact on our health.

Dr. Parsons sits on the state’s blue-green algae task force and installed more samplers in Cape Coral on Monday.

It’s part of his ongoing research related to our water quality crisis.

Parsons said he is “working with the CDC and Florida Department of Health on those, but with COVID going on, we haven’t been able to have those samples analyzed yet, so we’re basically just taking advantage of the time where we can collect some more data. We’re just doing the air samples and water samples today.”

The goal is to conduct this research during dry and wet seasons while looking at the East Coast, West Coast, and the middle of Florida.