Big data, artificial intelligence to support research on harmful blue-green algae

A team of scientists from research centers stretching from Maine to South Carolina will develop and deploy high-tech tools to explore cyanobacteria in lakes across the East Coast. The multi-year project will combine big data, artificial intelligence and robotics with new and time-tested techniques for lake sampling to understand where, when, and how cyanobacterial blooms develop. The research team brings together experts in freshwater ecology, computer science, engineering and geospatial science from Bates College, Colby College, Dartmouth, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Rhode Island and the University of South Carolina. "It is rare to have teams from so many different specialties converge to study a problem like this," said Alberto Quattrini Li, an assistant professor of computer science at Dartmouth and the overall project lead. "By working together, we can increase the amount of data that can be collected and increase prediction capabilities."