Learn more about ongoing SAFL research projects

Summer is always a busy time for research at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. Read more below about some our several ongoing research projects:

Flex Your Mussels: This summer SAFL researchers are using our Outdoor StreamLab and our indoor 24-inch flume to monitor the response of native freshwater mussels to varying environmental conditions (flow volumes, flow velocities, and suspended sediment concentrations) to help quantify the complex interactions between native mussels and their habitat.

Ahoy Buoy! SAFL researchers recently deployed a custom data collection buoy on Madison Lake in Madison Lake, Minnesota to catalogue the water quality conditions that give rise to blue-green algal blooms that can make water toxic to both humans and animals.

Pump It Up: SAFL builds a physical model of a proposed pumping station in Minot, North Dakota to test station performance under various flow conditions. The pumping station is part of an overall plan to help manage future flood and storm water events.

Do You Hear What I Hear? As development of utility-scale wind energy projects has increased in Minnesota, so have concerns regarding wind turbine noise. This study looks to analyze and characterize the different noise types associated with our own wind research turbine as well as a Minnesota wind farm.

NEW VIDEO: Take a virtual tour of our Eolos Wind Research Field Station!