Director, Great Salt Lake Institute

Westminster College

Bio:

Dr. Bonnie K. Baxter is a Professor of Biology at Westminster College. She has spent more than two decades studying microbial life of Great Salt Lake, including DNA damage, repair and photoprotection in halophilic microorganisms. She has a long-standing interest in preservation of life in salt and has also explored salt tolerance. Baxter and her students have identified salinity as a driver to shift microbial diversity. This is especially crucial in the Lake’s microbialites which are coming perilously close to their salinity threshold. Baxter founded and directs the Great Salt Lake Institute to connect people to the Lake through research and education.

Title: A Salinity Matrix to Assist Lake Management and Support the Great Salt Lake Ecosystem

Abstract: The Great Salt Lake Salinity Advisory Council (GSAC) developed a matrix to interpret the impact of changing salinity on the Lake’s ecosystem, industries, and recreation with the goal of providing guidance and recommendations to state agencies (FFSL and DWQ). The GSAC collected resources, standardized procedures, dissected the literature, and identified data gaps. We also investigated salinity stratification issues and the potential of using the breach in the causeway to control salinity. Since salt concentrations in the brine may influence changes in the various uses of the Lake as well as the biology, we created the matrix overlaying a salinity gradient with positive to negative outcomes. The Great Salt Lake Salinity Matrix is focused largely upon the open water systems of GSL, including Farmington Bay and Bear River Bay, but with a primary focus upon Gilbert Bay (South Arm) and Gunnison Bay (North Arm). We expect it will evolve as a valuable tool for effective adaptive management of the Lake.