Award: IRES-1953468

Our project,IRES Track II: Advanced studies institute on water quality and harmful algal blooms in Lake Victoria (NSF1953468), focused largely on understanding the threats posed by toxic cyanobacterial blooms in the Kenyan waters of Lake Victoria, West Africa. An additional component of the work examined persistent contaminants in Lake Victoria fish (mostly Nile Perch). Together, these studies provided insights into the safety of consumable resources obtained from the Lake, ranging from drinking water to dietary protein. To carry out this research, the IRES II program funded two cohorts of North American graduate students over two trips (June/July 2022 and June 2023) to work with cohorts of Kenyan graduate students, yielding a team in which the Kenyan students educated the Americans on the ecological challenges documented for Lake Victoria, and the Americans trained the Kenyans on novel analytical procedures to measure toxins and contaminants. Students were selected following an application process in which each student submitted a brief description of his/her research plan. In all, students from ten different North American universities worked with students from four Kenyan institutions. Water samples and fish were collected throughout the Kenyan waters of the Lake, mostly within the Winam Gulf region. Access to the Gulf utilized cruises aboard the research vessel R/VUvumbuzifrom the Kenyan Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI, see photo attached). Guiding the student projects were the Principal and co-Principal investigators, along with Kenya faculty from KMFRI, Kisii University and the Technical University of Kenya. This complementary approach, combining Kenyan experience and North American technical support, successfully detected the presence of cyanobacterial toxins that threaten the drinking water supply to rural communities. Notably, the cyanobacterial toxin cylindrospermopsin was detected for the first time in sub-Saharan Africa, identifying a new threat to humans and livestock in the region. Levels of toxin rose to concerning levels (1.3 micrograms per liter, nearly twice the EPA advisory) in some samples, indicating that the water may be unsafe in soem areas for at least part of the year. Awareness of this potential risk will enable monitoring efforts aimed at informing the public when elevated levels of the toxin are detected. Analysis of the fish harvested from the Lake revealed good news, as levels of mercury were low enough to show the fish were safe to eat and bring to market for sale. Last Modified: 07/22/2024 Submitted by: GeorgeSBullerjahn