The 2025 Gulf of Maine HAB Science Symposium will be held March 11-12 at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services office located at 222 International Drive (Suite 175) in Portsmouth, NH. Directions to the facility and a map are available HERE.
Registration for this meeting is now open and will close on Wednesday, March 5: https://whoi-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAkdO-pqD4tE9wC-WF-7yqZ9cl9qJGULJnj. Please be sure to register in advance, regardless of whether you plan to attend in person or remotely.
The main meeting will be held on March 11, with space reserved on the morning of the 12th for group meetings and a Pseudo-nitzschia identification workshop led by Kate Hubbard and colleagues (FWC FWRI). The goal of this Symposium is to facilitate discussion of ongoing issues, priorities, and concerns, and to share information that supports our understanding of HABs in this region.
This meeting is supported by the Community Engagement Core of the WHCOHH through grants from the National Science Foundation (OCE-2418297) and the National Institute of Environmental Health (P01ES028938).
We welcome your feedback on the meeting agenda and format! Please send suggestions & questions to Mindy Richlen.
March 11, 2025
| 8:30-9:00 am | Coffee & breakfast |
| 9:00-9:10 am | Introduction Welcome & agenda review Mindy Richlen, Don Anderson, Mike Brosnahan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) |
| 9:15-9:45 am | Inshore Alexandrium bloom event in Nauset Estuary and Pleasant Bay Chrissy Petitpas, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MA DMF); Mike Brosnahan (WHOI) |
| 9:45-10:05 am | Data needs for estimating shellfish consumption exposure Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Boston University |
| 10:05-10:30 am | Determining the pace of seasonal phytoplankton community evolution in the Gulf of Maine with PACE (NASA's Plankton Aerosol Cloud and ocean Ecosystem mission) Collin Roesler, Bowdoin College |
| 10:30-10:40 am | Novel genetic tools for toxic Pseudo-nitzschia detection - recent activities and updates Matt Harke, Gloucester Marine Genomic Institute |
| Break | |
| 11:00-11:30 am | Emerging HAB technologies and monitoring updates Harmful Algal Bloom Observing Network – New England (HABON-NE) Mike Brosnahan (WHOI) |
| 11:30 am-12:30 pm | Regional Updates & Observations |
| 1. Biotoxins and Shellstock Monitoring Components of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP) Joe Boutilier, Chantal Surette (Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CFIA) |
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| 2. Spatial and temporal patterns of HABs and toxicity in ME Bryant Lewis, Maine Department of Marine Resources (ME DMR) |
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| 3. Spatial and temporal patterns of HABs and toxicity in NH Sara Smith (University of New Hampshire & New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, NH DES) |
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| 4. Pseudo-nitzschia observations and dynamics in the Gulf of Maine. Kate Hubbard (FL FWRI) |
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| 12:30-1:30 pm | Lunch |
| 1:30-2:15 pm | Regional Updates & Observations (continued) |
| 5. Spatial and temporal patterns of HABs and toxicity in MA Brooke Dejadon and Emma Gallagher (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, DMF) |
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| 6. Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) surveys Scott Libby (Battelle) and Chris Goodwin (MWRA) |
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| 7. Rhode Island 2024 HAB Update David Borkman (Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, RI DEM) |
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| 2:15-2:45 pm | Regional Forecasting: 2024 review and 2025 outlook |
| PST Index update for 2025 Don Anderson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
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| 2024 Hydromet Review; 2025 Outlook & NWS Future Plans William Leatham (NOAA NWS) |
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| Q&A; Break | |
| GOM regional retrospective for 2024 and updates for 2025 Yizhen Li, Rick Stumpf (NOAA NCCOS) |
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| 3:30-3:45 pm | Overview of HAB Event Response program Sarah Pease, Marc Suddleson, Maggie Broadwater NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | HAB Science Updates |
| Effects of emerging harmful algal toxins yessotoxins, pectenotoxin-2, and azaspiracids on Crassostrea virginica and C. gigas larvae Nour Ayache (WHOI) |
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| Linked time partitioning of division and mating in Dinophysis acuminata Serena Sung-Clarke (WHOI) |
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| Recent insights into Pseudo-nitzschia variability in the Western Subpolar North Atlantic Serena Negroni (WHOI) |
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| 4:30 pm | Group discussion, Q&A |
| 4:45 pm | Review workshops and team meetings on March 12; Adjourn |
March 12, 2023
| Meeting room A | Meeting room D |
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| 8:30-9:00 am | Coffee & snacks | Coffee & snacks |
| 9:00-11:00 am | Workshop on Pseudo-nitzschia identification and morphotypes - Kate Hubbard (FL FWRI) and Colleagues | N/A |
| 11:00-1:00 pm | FlowCam User Group Discussion - Savannah Stresser, Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies | HABs Team Meeting TBD |