Chris Filstrup

Biography

 Chris is a lake scientist with the Minnesota Sea Grant and the Large Lakes Observatory at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He studies lake response to nutrient enrichment, environmental conditions favoring toxic cyanobacteria (i.e., blue-green algae) blooms, and nutrient recycling within lakes. Human activities within watersheds contribute to large amounts of nutrients moving from land to streams and lakes, which can cause low water clarity, green surface scums, fish kills, and accumulation of cyanobacteria toxins in lakes. Chris and colleagues seek to develop strategies to prevent these water quality issues in pristine lakes and reverse these processes to restore lakes with poor water quality to their natural state.

Research Interest

  Phytoplankton ecology Factors promoting the development and toxicity of harmful algal blooms Biogeochemical nutrient cycling Eutrophication of aquatic resources Management of aquatic resources Watershed and lake modeling