Press Herald Cites Former UMaine Student’s Water Clarity Study

Former University of Maine graduate student Ian McCullough’s study of water clarity in Maine lakes was cited in a Portland Press Herald story about lake quality decline. The paper covered the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s report titled “Troubled Waters” that indicates programs to protect lakes have been eliminated due to cuts in staffing and funding at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. McCullough, who earned his master’s in ecology and environmental science at UMaine, is a graduate student researcher at University of California, Santa Barbara. His study indicated the worsening of lake clarity may indicate a trend toward eutrophication — a process in which excess nitrates and phosphates, generally due to fertilizers and sewage, stimulate growth of algae, which depletes oxygen in the water.