On the State of Great Salt Lake, with Bonnie K. Baxter, Ph.D.

Professor Baxter will share her expertise on the current state of Great Salt Lake and benchmarks to track as we approach the 2034 Olympics. Dr. Baxter is the Director of Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster University where she studies the photobiology of halophiles (salt-tolerant bacteria) and microbial diversity of Great Salt Lake (GSL) with her undergraduate students. She is interested in the astrobiology applications of extremely hypersaline ecosystems, in particular resistance to ultraviolet light and desiccation by halophiles. Dr. Baxter has published a trove of scientific articles on Great Salt Lake, the first academic book on its biology, and the first children's book centered on the lake. Dr. Baxter has become a "spokescientist" explaining the water crisis at the lake to government representatives, the media, and the community.