Justin Chaffin

Justin is the research coordinator for Stone Laboratory and conducts his own research on cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Erie. Justin’s duties as research coordinator include arranging visiting researchers’ visits to Stone Lab, coordination of Stone Lab’s REU program, upkeep of Stone Lab’s analytical equipment, maintenance of the lab’s atmospheric mercury monitoring system, and serving as the Lab’s chemical and laboratory safety officer. Justin is also a licensed captain by the United States Coast Guard.

Justin’s research interest is Lake Erie phytoplankton ecology with particular interest in cyanobacterial blooms (cHABs). His recent and ongoing research projects include linking experiments and models to predict cHAB toxicity, investigations into central basin cHABs, determining drivers of benthic algal blooms, the effectiveness of data buoys at measuring cHAB biomass, rapid microcystin tests, and saxitoxin production in inland lakes. Since 2013 Justin has coordinated with charter boat captains who collect water samples once a week for his lab to analyze, and then the captains get a weekly update on Lake Erie water quality.

Justin has worked at Stone Lab since 2012 after graduation from The University of Toledo with his PhD degree.