Can you tell us a little bit about the researchers who are studying this? Was there a specific incident, you know, some case that got them wondering about this?

I interviewed Dr. David Kennedy from the University of Toledo.

He's a medical professor, and he told me that there have been quite a few instances of people who encounter harmful algae bloom toxins then becoming hospitalized or very sick.

But he said that they have found by looking through emergency room data that there were even more symptoms than we typically think of.

That come along with encountering these toxins, like people might have respiratory issues like coughing or wheezing or difficulty breathing.

And he said that that sort of enlightened them about like, oh, we need to think more about the broader range of symptoms that people might experience.

come to the hospital with that come from algae blooms.

Do you have any sense of how firm their theories are about this right now? Do they feel like they really can say how it happens?

The first story was when you decided to go get a vintage camper

and you drove by yourself all the way to Asheville, North Carolina.

Yeah, I did.

And you were driving back.

You actually asked me to go with you and I said, no, sorry about that.

But then you brought it home and you called me up and you said, okay, Carol, I want to go on one girl trip.

And I want you to come with me.

I actually remember, can I tell you a story about a girl? Sure,

Can even small wetlands like that that are amidst other kinds of development serve an important role?

Yes, and I would guess that those wetlands you're seeing were part of the trade-off for getting to build a strip mall or some other development.

Developers often have to apply for permits to impact a wetland, and as part of that, they do.

have some kind of mitigation process where they might build their own wetlands to replace what they destroy.

But what biology professor and wetland expert Don Uzarski told me, he's with Central Michigan University, he said that often the wetlands that are developed or the ones that are easiest to develop are swamps and other upland kinds of wetlands.

And then the easiest ones to build are like marshes that have cattails in them and they're just sort of like what you and I would call ponds.

And that means that even if you replace the wetland, you're never really replacing a swamp.

For those of us who are a little bit more mosquito-averse, Carol, are there things that you would like to open our eyes to about wetlands in our communities and maybe the value that you can come to see as you spend time in them?

Thank you.

My name is Carol Thompson.

I'm an early childhood educator, and I believe that if we invest in all children between the ages of zero to five, we can change the world.

I was really lucky in education.

My parents really valued education.

They sent me to great schools and great teachers.

I was super lucky.