Saros Involved in Groundbreaking Research on Impact of Pollution
University of Maine ecologist Jasmine Saros provided research for a groundbreaking finding about the long-term effects of pollution published in the Dec. 16 issue of the journal Science.
The research team, led by Gordon Holtgrieve, a University of Washington postdoctoral researcher, found that nitrogen derived from human activities has polluted lakes throughout the Northern Hemisphere since the late 1800s, and the fingerprint of these changes is evident even in remote lakes located thousands of miles from the nearest city, industrial area or farm. The findings are based on samples taken from 36 lakes ranging from the southern United States to northern Europe.
Saros is the associate director of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute and an associate professor in the School of Biology and Ecology.
Other collaborators involved in the study were from the Science Museum of Minnesota, National Marine Fisheries Service, University of Alberta, University of Regina, McGill University, Yunnan Normal University, Idaho State University, Lund University, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mountain Studies Institute and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Funding came from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alberta Water Research Institute, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the National Science Foundation and Canada Foundation for Innovation.
A University of Washington news release has more information.
Contact: Jasmine Saros, (207) 581-2112 or jasmine.saros@maine.edu; Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777 or jessica.bloch@umit.maine.edu