On a chilly morning in late September, I met a team from the Science Museum of Minnesota between the lakes, where boat ramps face each other across a gravel road. The scientists are in the first year of an intensive investigation of eight lakes across northern Minnesota. East and West Twin lakes sharply illustrate the questions being considered. Roughly the same size and appearing similar to the naked eye, one lake has seen big blooms of harmful algae, and the other has not. 

The crew included Drs. Adam Heathcote and Lienne Sethna and technician Amelia Wilson-Jackson. Also joining for the day was Amanda Weberg, a Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District staffer and Grand Marais resident, to give a hand, share local knowledge, and learn more about the condition of these lakes. The project is funded by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources.