WATER SCARCITY IS AN EMERGING PROBLEM ACCELERATED BY GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND GROWING WORLD POPULATION. WATER RESOURCES ARE THREATENED BY THE INCREASING OCCURRENCE OF HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS (HABS) WHEN SUDDEN GROWTH OF CERTAIN SPECIES OF CYANOBACTERIA LEADS TO INTENSE BLOOMS APPEARING ON THE WATER SURFACE. THE TOXINS ASSOCIATED WITH HABS DEPLETE DRINKING WATER RESOURCES, ENDANGER FISH FARMS AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF ALL LIFE FORMS IN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS. ALTHOUGH THE CAUSE OF HABS IS KNOWN TO BE THE RUN-OFF FROM AGRICULTURE AND URBANIZATION, THE ONSET CONDITION OF HABS IS LARGELY UNKNOWN. THIS IS BECAUSE CURRENT ASSAYS FOR HABS RESEARCH, POND AND TEST TUBE, ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR LARGE SCALE PARAMETER TESTING. AS SUCH, THERE IS NO SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION TO DIAGNOSE, PREVENT OR DISRUPT HABS. ACCORDINGLY, THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO GAIN A QUANTITATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF ROLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH HABS OCCUR, AND TO GENERATE DATA BASES THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE TO STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE SMART MANAGEMENT OF HABS. WE WILL DEVELOP A HIGH THROUGHPUT NANOLITER HABITAT SYSTEM, WITH WELL DEFINED CHEMICAL (E.G., NITROGEN CONCENTRATION) AND PHYSICAL (E.G., TEMPERATURE) CONDITIONS; AND INVESTIGATE THE CYANOBACTERIAL GROWTH KINETICS, COLONY FORMATION AND TOXIN PRODUCTION UNDER CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. THIS WORK WILL LEAD TO A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THE CAUSE FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF HABS, AS WELL AS A WEB SEARCHABLE DATA BASE AVAILABLE TO STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF HABS.