Midges, Barbara Hayford Interview, Part 1

Dr.Barbara Hayford is an expert on midges—those very small, two-winged flies that sometimes hover around one’s head at the water’s edge. Her expertise has taken her from Wayne State College in Nebraska all the way to Mongolia’s Lake Hovsgol, to Crater Lake in Oregon, and now, Lake Tahoe. The composition of midge species in a lake can indicate the state the lake is in, for example, whether a lake has a lot of nutrients or a little.

photo: Lake Tahoe Shoreline, by Michelle Sweeney