15 HEADLINE #WATERHEROES FOCUS on ALGAE EXO Total Algae Smart Sensor, measures both chlorophyll and the blue-green algae pigment phycocyanin Q. What inspired you to work in the water field? Dr. Smith: Around 10 years ago, I attended a few talks at the WEFTEC conference in Chicago. One in particular was about the water-energy nexus and it focused on how water and energy are inextricable industries and concepts. Sustainable energy, food shortages and world hunger are all global issues, but all of these things are tied to one limited resource, water. That conference was a turning point for me and I decided that my career would always be about water. So a company like Xylem, with the motto "Let's Solve Water," certainly seemed like a great fit! Q. Did you know microbiology was your calling from the beginning or did it find you? Dr. Smith: It was quite accidental because as an undergraduate I worked more in wildlife biology and mammalogy. I continued those studies with my master's thesis project focusing on armadillos. Armadillos were beginning to migrate into Missouri, which we know now was an early sign of climate change. We were investigating their digestive physiology to better understand feeding habits and the microbiology of the gut was a central component to the project. I’d never taken a microbiology class at that point, so my master's thesis work really led me there. I realized I had a knack for microbiology and so did one of my advisors, who suggested that I go on for a Ph.D. Some of the best advice I ever got! Q. Why do algae get a bad rap these days? Dr. Smith: Because of toxic algae and harmful algal blooms. Algal blooms such as red tides have always been with us, but they never occurred with the frequency and intensity we see today. The frequency and intensity of freshwater harmful algal blooms has never occurred the way we see it now, either. So, all algae get a bad rap, but, really, we're to blame for creating such an imbalance in the environment. Q. What are some of the negative impacts of freshwater algal blooms and what impact do they have on our communities? Dr. Smith: People always talk about the toxins in freshwater environments, but modern drinking water treatment largely limits our exposures to these toxins. Much of the focus is on the toxins because the word itself inspires fear and helps to get press and eyes on the issue. However, my opinion is that other effects of freshwater algal blooms are not adequately being talked about. Anoxia is the big one. With rapid blooms, there’s a significant level of algal growth and then that biomass dies off almost as fast as it sprung up. When those algae die, heterotrophic degradation of the dead algae consumes the oxygen that was dissolved in that water at a rate much faster than oxygen can dissolve naturally back into the water from the atmosphere. So, you get an anoxic environment in short order, leading to fish kill and the noticeable odors that result from dead fish washing up on the shore. Homes, hotels and restaurants located by lakes are also affected by the overwhelming stench of rotting algae (or fish), hurting the local real estate market, businesses, and tourism. In addition to these economic impacts, the environmental impact of anoxia is significant, as we’ve observed with the hypoxic zone where the Mississippi River spills into the Gulf of Mexico. Restoring balance to these hypoxic or anoxic zones in our waterways is a great need, but it’s a hard one to explain to the public. The economic impacts I described are easier to communicate, and create the opportunity for us to address the environmental impacts at the same time.