Free lake ecology discussion at the Fairfield University Bookstore | Press Releases

Images: Jen Klug Jen Klug, Ph.D., associate professor of biology at Fairfield University, will take listeners into the fascinating ecological world of Lake Lillinonah, the state's second largest lake, at "Citizen Science and Algal Blooms: The History of Water Quality in Lake Lillinonah," a free discussion at the Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. The public is invited to join in the talk at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, May 3.

Dr. Klug, who recently won a Friends of the Lake Award for her dedicated research into algal blooms on "Lake Lilli," will present the history of the lake, which was created in 1955. She will discuss lake ecology and explain some of the work she's been with concerned citizens for the past five years along the 45 miles of serene shoreline from Southbury to New Milford.

"Lilli is a system with high nutrient concentrations and severe algal blooms during the summer months," Dr. Klug said, who has been instrumental in a volunteer water quality monitoring program. "I have been working with Friends of the Lake, a local non-profit organization, on several projects designed to help us better understand the causes and consequences of the algal blooms."

Algal blooms can pose a threat to wildlife and make fishing, water skiing and other recreation difficult for lakeshore homeowners and the thousands of visitors who enjoy Lilli's waters.

Dr. Klug earned a B.S. in geology from Indiana University and completed her M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied algae in northern Wisconsin lakes. She joined the Fairfield faculty in 2001 and teaches courses in general biology, freshwater ecology and environmental science. She is a member of the Ecological Society of America, the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, and the Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network.

This event is presented by Fairfield's Learning for a Lifetime program. For more information, contact Elizabeth Hastings, the University's director of Community and Lifetime Education, at ehastings@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4000, ext. 2688.