Mote hires experienced red tide researcher for new institute

SARASOTA — Mote Marine has hired a researcher to direct its new Red Tide Institute who has decades of laboratory and field experience under her belt studying red tide and other harmful algae.

Cynthia Heil comes from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine, where she developed an independent research program focused on water quality, harmful algal blooms and ecosystem management.

Read more: Complete coverage of red tide in Southwest Florida

She will join Mote on Jan. 1 at the institute, which focuses on studying and testing Florida red tide mitigation and control technologies to improve quality of life for coastal communities affected by the blooms. It was launched in October through a $1 million investment from its founding donor, the Andrew and Judith Economos Charitable Foundation.

By accepting the new position, Heil renews her long-term focus on Karenia brevis (red tide) research in Florida, where she previously served as senior research scientist and administrator and Harmful Algal Bloom Group Leader for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Earlier, she performed algal bloom research at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science.

Heil’s new mitigation research program will complement five ongoing and diverse Mote research programs working on Florida red tide. She also brings new expertise in mitigating a major Florida red tide impact: airborne toxins that cause respiratory irritation in humans. Working with both Karenia brevis and the freshwater cyanobacteria Microcystis, Heil and a collaborator at Bigelow are investigating substances that alter water surface tension and bubble formation with the goal of reducing algal toxins entering the air.

“I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the world-class Mote scientists on Karenia research again,” Heil said in a statement. “Through Mote’s new Red Tide Institute, I hope we can begin finding practical solutions to alleviate the impacts of Florida red tide and to safeguard human health and our marine environment.”

“Dr. Heil is internationally renowned in the field of harmful algal bloom science, and her landmark contributions to the peer-reviewed research, including studies co-authored with our other world-class Mote scientists over the years, have helped the field advance to where it is today,” Mote CEO Michael P. Crosby said. “Now we are launching the Red Tide Institute at Mote, armed with the knowledge, the experience, and the philanthropic support to focus on developing, testing and deploying mitigation and control technologies much more systematically, strategically and comprehensively than ever before.”