Last September, a toxic bloom of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, covered a 636-mile stretch of the Ohio River like a rancid, reeking green carpet.

With toxic blue-green algae seeming to appear with greater and greater frequency both regionally and across the country, we invited Dr. Miriam Kannan, Regents professor of NKU in the Department of Biological Sciences, as well as Dr. Michael Waters, assistant professor in NKU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, to teach us about cyanobacteria—when it’s dangerous, why it’s becoming more common around the region and across the planet, how can to identify it using a new mobile app they are creating.