Andrew Zepp, founder and Executive Director of the Finger Lakes Land Trust, talked with us about the objectives of the land trust and what they have accomplished in terms of land and water conservation in the Finger Lakes region. I am from Cleveland, Ohio, which sits on Lake Erie and it seems like, with every summer, the number of warnings about swimming in the lake due to toxic algae seems to continually increase. Zepp explained that due to climate change, the frequency of intense rainfalls has increased in many areas. This intense rainfall leads to soil erosion in watershed regions and therefore, increased nutrient dropoff in lakes. This overloading of nutrients is what leads to toxic algae and bacteria in lakes. I am really happy that I was able to learn more about the issues our environment currently faces and the efforts we can take to conserve our resources.