Project: Development of diatoms as indicators of water quality in Delaware’s Inland Bays (R/BT-2)

Principal Investigator: Kathryn Coyne, University of Delaware

Scientist Kathy Coyne addresses the effects of pollution from sources such as residential or agricultural runoff on Indian River, Little Assawoman, and Rehoboth bays, the waterways collectively known as Delaware’s Inland Bays.

Coyne is working to identify specific types of microscopic algae called diatoms that can serve as indicators of water quality. Certain diatom species do better than others in polluted waterways; therefore, the species found in a particular area can tell scientists a lot about environmental conditions there.

Once armed with the new information, Coyne plans to provide the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and monitoring groups such as the UD Citizen Monitoring Program with training on how to incorporate diatom indicators into their monitoring efforts.

“It’s really important for us to involve citizens. They are our eyes on the bays,” she said. Water quality monitoring, she added, benefits not only the ecosystem, but it also helps to protect the health of people using the waterways.

See below for the full project abstract.