Previous Meetings and Other Initiatives

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Click the tabs below to learn more about each of the past Blue-Green Algae Task Force meetings.

OTHER INITIATIVES

2023 Florida Blue-Green Algae State of the Science Symposium II 

The task force recommended that the state redouble efforts to improve our collective understanding of the blue-green algae challenge the state faces. Based on that recommendation, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sponsored an invitation-only workshop where managers and academics at the forefront of harmful algal bloom management and research shared updates on new findings and ongoing efforts. This 2023 Florida Blue-Green Algae State of the Science Symposium II (BGASOS II) built upon the framework of the first symposium, the 2019 Harmful Algal Bloom State of the Science Symposium. 

BGASOS II took place in Maitland, Florida May 15-16, 2023. The symposium was coordinated by Florida Sea Grant and the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences with funding from DEP. Goals of BGASOS II were: 

  1. Identify what progress has been made since the inaugural symposium in 2019, what knowledge gaps still exist, and prioritize new research needs to inform and improve cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom management in Florida.
  2. Efficiently share updates on new findings and ongoing efforts to ensure that the most current best practices are being employed statewide and that ongoing efforts are not being duplicated. 

The consensus report, State of the Science for Cyanobacterial Blooms in Florida, summarizes and synthesizes the findings from the symposium.