Newswise — Colleen Mouw has helped bring oceanography to the Great Lakes, for which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) nominated her for a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She will be in Washington, D.C. during early May for the reception.

Specializing in remote sensing, Mouw is an assistant professor of oceanography in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences at Michigan Technological University and a scientist in the Great Lakes Research Center. Mouw's work focuses on the big picture of some of the world's smallest life forms.

"I've done quite a bit of work determining phytoplankton functional types from space," she says, explaining different photosynthesizing free-floating plants that make up the bottom of the food chain produce nearly half of the world's oxygen and affect global carbon and nutrient cycles.

Mouw's research spans toxic algae blooms in the Great Lakes to peering under ice in the Bering Sea. Read more about her work on mtu.edu/news.

Mouw is available for interviews during and after her Washington D.C. trip.

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