Cafe Scientifique

Thursday, June 29, 6-7:15pm ET: “Toxic Algal Blooms – There are No Local Problems”
by Tracy Fanara, PhD.,Coastal Modeling Portfolio Manager, NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

About the Talk: Everything is connected through earth systems. In 2018 Florida declared a State of Emergency due to a dual toxic algae blooms which caused mass wildlife fatalities, threats to public health and quality of life, and caused economic turmoil. Even after decades of research, there were still many scientific questions regarding these phenomena but the public demanded answers right away. Dr. Tracy Fanara entered uncharted territory as she was called on as an expert on local to international stages. This presentation will describe a journey in combating chaos through communication, collaboration, and community, and the path toward answering local questions globally.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Tracy Fanara is an environmental engineer, research scientist, and communicator with a BS, ME, and PhD from the University of Florida’s College of Environmental Engineering. In research, Tracy has developed water treatment technology, designs and models for hydrologic and coastal restoration, and citizen science programs with over 1.6 million users to obtain publicly available environmental data. Tracy has international media recognition due to her expertise in hydrology and harmful algae blooms during the Florida Water crises. Tracy is now the Coastal Modeling Manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) where she manages coastal ocean modeling efforts to gain a better understanding of our earth systems and threats to human lives and livelihoods in a changing world. Tracy co-produces a STEM comic book called “Seekers of Science” and runs the STEM Camp, Mission: Tampa Bay. You may have seen Tracy on Science Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Weather Channel, Fox or CBS; in Marvels Unstoppable Wasp, or as Xylem YSI’s Mission Water, Water Hero.

Feel free to contact us with questions and suggestions for speakers, and please forward this email to anyone who might be interested.

Hope to see you in person at 49 West (or online) on THIS Thursday, May 25th!

Yours in Science,

Tracy Gill, Andy Loftus, Roz Kleffman, and Paul Gruner
Co-hosts of Annapolis Café Scientifique at 49 West