- Success Stories, Uncategorized
- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Monitoring Algal Blooms for Harmful Toxins
CSS employee owners support NOAA’s 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’s 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’s high sample capacity ESP for deployments.
CSS 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. CSS 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 Pacific Northwest HAB Bulletin. 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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Hurricane Helene One Year Later: Shedding Light on the Impact
It’s been one year since Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage throughout the southern Appalachia region, especially Tennessee and North Carolina, where several rivers experienced above-record flooding. CSS employee owners (previously Riverside Technology, inc.) supporting NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) helped develop a Hurricane Helene StoryMap, Helene in Southern Appalachia, a dynamic tool that integrates diverse…
Planning, Preparing for, and Participating in a Major Partner Workshop
The Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) team with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science attended a team meeting at the Wicker Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. CSS employee owners supporting this team (as part of our joint venture with RPI) participated in the meeting January 26-29. The objective of this workshop was for project managers, advisors, and partners to discuss 2025 accomplishments and plan next steps for 2026 and…
Assisting with Design and Validation of Mobile Chemical Analysis Laboratory
Portable High-throughput Integrated Laboratory Identification System (PHILIS) is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) suite of mobile laboratories designed to provide on-site analysis of chemical agents. CSS employee owners support the PHILIS team with on-site responses and chemical analysis. CSS PHILIS teams recently supported the technical design and integration of state-of-the-art emergency response mobile laboratory units engineered for the rapid detection and quantification of hazardous materials. CSS PHILIS teams in…