- Time:Jul 22 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm, 2026
- Event Organizer:Jill Jentes Banicki
- Event Category:Webinars | Show Similar
Excess nutrients coming from agricultural fields are a major concern for the Maumee River watershed and Lake Erie. While grassy buffer strips along fields are meant to slow water and trap nutrients, research shows that runoff often cuts through these areas in narrow channels, allowing pollution to slip through instead.
Two projects from The University of Toledo’s Kevin Czajkowski, funded by the Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative, are looking into where and why these buffers fail and how to find better places to stop nutrient runoff before it reaches streams and rivers. Using detailed aerial imagery, Lidar data, and field measurements, researchers mapped how water flows across fields, roadsides, and drainage networks. The team then combined this information with cost and land use data to pinpoint the most effective locations for improved buffer strips, wetlands, and other restoration projects. The result is a smarter, more targeted approach to nutrient reduction that helps farmers and agencies get the most environmental benefit for their investment.The webinar is free, but registration is required to receive log-in information.
About the Speaker
.Dr. Kevin Czajkowski is a Distinguished Professor of Geography and Planning at The University of Toledo. His main areas of interest are remote sensing, physical geography and K-12 outreach. He leads a large research group investigating the use of remote sensing in water quality and urban heat island effect as well as reaching out to K-12 teachers and students. Dr. Czajkowski is primary investigator of a K-12 educational outreach program called GLOBE Mission EARTH funded by NASA’s Science Activation Program bringing authentic science experiences to K-12 students through teacher professional development and student research symposia.
