Sarah Yenesel

State University of New York at Fredonia graduate student MaryAnn Mason, left, takes notes on the surrounding conditions while Assistant Professor Courtney Wigdahl-Perry uses a multi-probe sonde to test the water temperature, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen levels and other measurements on July 22, 2019 in a deep pocket of Chautauqua Lake near the Miller Bell Tower. Mason and Wigdahl-Perry are studying the different temperature layers of Chautauqua Lake this summer. Together, they are looking to better understand the impacts of algae mixing between layers in hopes to help the community understand algae growth in the lake and to provide data for use in managerial decisions on environmental legislature.

Center, Mason pours water retrieved from the bottom of the lake into a sample bottle while Wigdahl-Perry, left, seals the containers Monday July 22 on Chautauqua Lake. They will later use the samples for laboratory analyses of phosphorus and chlorophyll.

Wigdahl-Perry looks for algae in water samples she collected with a phytoplankton net July 22 at the Heinz Beach dock. She used the samples as a demonstration for others to look at during the Bird, Tree & Garden Club Week Five Lake Walk, and for studying at the lab.

From left, Mason works with Chautauquans during the Week Five Lake Walk as they look at water samples from Chautauqua Lake that show live algae under a microscope July 22 at the Youth Activities Center.

Mason begins the filtering process of the Chautauqua Lake samples by using a syringe that forces lake water to pass through a filter and into a sample bottle July 23 at SUNY Fredonia's Science Center. This allows the water to be tested and measured for dissolved phosphorus levels because the filter removes all particulate materials and only leaves the phosphorus that is available for algae growth.

Mason, left, and Wigdahl-Perry study a microscope image displayed on a computer screen of algae in a sample retrieved from the water near Heinz Beach July 23 in SUNY Fredonia's Science Center.