Stephanie Moore is the research lead. Her primary research focus is creating new frameworks and methodologies to better understand and manage outbreaks of harmful algal blooms that threaten seafood safety, public health, and the economic values of fisheries. Specifically, she investigates linkages of climate and weather patterns to variations in the timing and magnitude of toxin-producing harmful algal blooms in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

John Stein is the project management lead. Dr. Stein is the acting Science Director of NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

Don Anderson pioneered the study of A. fundyense in the Gulf of Maine and has led numerous research programs to determine the biological oceanography of A. fundyense blooms. These efforts culminated in the development of a coupled physical-biological model of A. fundyense that is used to provide early warning of HAB events to shellfish growers and managers. He is working with the research team to transfer this knowledge to Puget Sound.

Eric Salathé has extensive experience in global and regional climate change. His research concerns the interface of science and decision making, including regional modeling experiments to examine the consequences of climate change for human health, air quality, and urban flooding. Prof. Salathé is currently a Principal of the UW Climate Impacts Group responsible for regional climate scenario development.

Nate Mantua has championed efforts to include climate information in resource management decision in the Pacific Northwest. He will be responsible for guiding the use of downscaled IPCC projections of climate change from a regional climate model to drive the numerical model of Puget Sound circulation, to determine the impacts of climate change on favorable habitat.

Neil Banas, a biophysical coastal and estuarine oceanographer at the UW Applied Physics Lab, directs the oceanographic modeling component of this program and also of the ECOHAB PNWTOX program on the Washington-Oregon outer coast, examining oceanographic controls on Pseudonitzschia HABs.

Cheryl Greengrove has led numerous research cruises from Washington to Alaska. She and Associate Researcher Julie Masura will lead and participate in the cruises to conduct the annual cyst surveys in this project.

Brian Bill has extensive experience identifying and culturing harmful algal species for NOAA NWFSC’s Biotoxins Program. Bill will conduct laboratory experiments to determine the effect of temperature and salinity on vegetative growth of A. catenella using local isolates from Puget Sound.

Vera Trainer is the lead of NOAA NWFSC’s Biotoxins Program and is a primary contact for HAB issues on the West Coast of the United States.