Vail wins 2016 Informal Science Educator Award

We congratulate Dr. Janet Vail, the vessel education coordinator and research scientist at AWRI, who was awarded the 2016 Informal Science Educator Award by the Michigan Science Teachers Association (MSTA). 

Vail was selected for the award for her contributions to the improvement of non-school-based science education, as well as scholarly contributions. Janet has provided environmental education for schools, teachers, students and businesses for more than 25 years, including 20 years with the innovative research vessel education program. More than 5,000 students and teachers take part in the hands-on science programs each year as they learn about Lake Michigan and environmental stewardship. 

Rick Rediske was interviewed about the Flint water crisis by Pledge Radio on January 13.

Al Steinman testified before the House Oversight Committee, Subcommittee of the Interior, on invasive species and the Great Lakes.  December 2.
 

Al Steinman was interviewed by Patrick Center (GVSU Newsmakers) on invasive species on January 14.

AWRI staff are bolded, undergraduate students are denoted with a single asterisk*, graduate students are denoted with two asterisks**, and post-doc researchers are donated with three asterisks ***.

Publications

Bopi Biddanda and post-doctoral researcher Dirk Koopmans are co-authors on an article accepted to the GVSU Regional Math & Science Center publication InterChange:
Biddanda, B. and D. Koopmans***.  In Press.  Freshwater Furnace: Global significance of the changing freshwater carbon cycle.  InterChange.

Rick Rediske is a co-author on an article published in Environmental Science & Technology:
Gerig, B.S., T.C. Dominic, D.J. Janetski***, R.R. Rediske, J.P. O'Keefe, A.H. Moerke, G.A. Lamberti.  2016.  Congener patterns of persistent organic pollutants establish the extent of contaminant biotransport by Pacific Salmon in the Great Lakes.  Environmental Science & Technology 50(2):554-63.

Rick Rediske is a co-author on an article published in PLoS One:
Madenjian, C.P., O.P. Jensen, R.R. Rediske, J.P. O'Keefe, A.R. Vastano, S.A. Pothoven.  2016.  Differences in energy expenditures and growth dilution explain higher PCB concentrations in male summer flounder.  PLoS One 11(1):e0147223.

Carl Ruetz is a co-author on an article now in print in the Journal of Great Lakes Research:
Bhagat, Y.***, C.R. Ruetz III, and A.L. (Koster)Akins*.  2015.  Differential habitat use by the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and Dreissena spp. in coastal habitats of eastern Lake Michigan.  Journal of Great Lakes Research 41:1087-1093. 

Carl Ruetz is a co-author on an article accepted to Transactions of the American Fisheries Society:
Rutherford, E.S., J. Allison**, C.R. Ruetz III, J.R. Elliott, J.K. Nohner, M.R. DuFour, R.P. O’Neal, D.J. Jude, and S.R. Hensler.  In press.  Density and survival of walleye (Sander vitreus) eggs and larvae in a Great Lakes tributary.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.

Al Steinman is a co-author on a manuscript that is now available online:
Nogaro, G.***, A. Harris*, and A.D. Steinman.  2016.  Alum application, invertebrate bioturbation and sediment characteristics interact to affect nutrient exchanges in eutrophic ecosystems.  Freshwater Science.

Al Steinman and Mary Ogdahl (formerly at AWRI) are co-authors on a USGS publication:
Brennan, A.K., C.J. Hoard, J.W. Duris, M.E. Ogdahl, and A.D. Steinman. 2015. Water quality and hydrology of Silver Lake, Oceana County, Michigan, with emphasis on lake response to nutrient loading, 2012–14. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2015–5158, 75 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20155158.

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

AWRI was represented at the Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference held in Grand Rapids from January 24 – 27.  Several of our personnel attended, and some gave presentations.

Chorak, G.M.**, C.R. Ruetz III, D.J. Koopmans***, A.D. Weinke**, D.J. Janetski***, and B. Biddanda.  Poster.  Hypolimnetic hypoxia across a gradient of Lake Michigan drowned river mouth lakes.

Giffin, B.** and C.G. Partridge.  Poster.  The use of propidium monoazide (PMA) and qPCR to differentiate E. coli cells on beaches.

McNair, J.N., C.R. Ruetz III, and A. Carlson**.  Oral.  Reducing effects of dispersal on the bias of 2-sample mark-recapture abundance estimators.

Wegner, J.**, G. Zaparzynski**, and M. Luttenton.  Poster.  Brook trout movement, behavioral thermoregulation, and habitat use in a disturbed Michigan stream system.

Weinke A.**, C. Ruetz, D. Koopmans***, and B. Biddanda.  Poster.  Out of Breath: Hypoxia and its effects on fish species composition and abundance in the bottom waters of Muskegon Lake, Michigan, with lake-wide implications.

Whitten, A.L. and C.R. Ruetz III.  Oral.  Littoral fish assemblages in two Lake Michigan drown river mouths:  preliminary results.

Zaparzynski, G.**, J. Wegner**, and M. Luttenton.  Poster.  Quantifying the selectivity of brook trout toward available prey items in a small Michigan stream.

Tony Fiore presented highlights of the first 10 years that our research vessel D.J. Angus has been at Harbor Island to the Grand Haven City Council on December 7.

Delilah Clement gave a presentation about her thesis research findings at the Michigan Ag Business Association in Lansing on January 12. Her presentation was titled “Tile Drains as a Source of Bioavailable Phosphorus in the Macatawa Watershed”.

Delilah Clement, Emily Kindervater, and Maggie Oudsema each presented on AWRI Project Clarity research at the annual Macatawa Area Coordinating Council meeting on December 4 in Holland.

Charlyn Partridge was lead author on a poster presented at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology conference in Portland, Oregon on January 4.
Partridge, C.G., M.D. MacManes, R. Knapp (presenter), and B.D. Neff.  Poster.  Brain transcriptional profiles of male alternative reproductive tactics in bluegill sunfish.

Rick Rediske gave a presentation to a Rotary group about Outdoor Education on January 14.

Carl Ruetz and Andrya Whitten presented at the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership meeting at AWRI on January 28.  They discussed their findings based on the first year of sampling fish and water quality at Veterans Memorial Park.

Al Steinman gave a presentation to the Muskegon Rotary Club on December 3. He spoke on Michigan’s Blue Economy.

Al Steinman was a guest lecturer for a Mark Luttenton’s Limnology course on December 9.

Al Steinman presented at the CLAS Research Colloquium on Michigan’s Blue Economy on January 21.

Janet Vail was awarded “Science Educator of the Year” by the Michigan Science Teachers Association.  She will officially receive the award at an MSTA meeting in Lansing in March.
https://lanthorn.com/59269/news/news-awri-faculty-award/

https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2016/vail-wins-2016-informal-science-educator-award-9128.htm

There were no new grants or contracts for this issue.  Check again next month!

AWRI In the News

“First Movement: Rapid motility of modern sunlight-seeking mat-forming cyanobacteria hold clues to oxygenation of early earth”
InterChange Newsletter (GVSU Regional Math & Science Center), Connections to the STEM Classroom, November 2015
Bopi Biddanda wrote this article about cyanobacteria.

“Floating classroom provides an up close look at local waters”
Sea Grant Michigan, West Michigan Fish Notes, Fall 2015
The article is about our educational cruises aboard the research vessel D. J. Angus.

“Hamilton 8^th graders tackle water quality”
The Holland Sentinel, November 25, 2015
Bopi Biddanda was on a panel of water quality experts at Hamilton Middle School to discuss water quality.

“Macatawa Watershed Project to hold annual meeting Dec. 4”
Holland Sentinel, December 1, 2015
Delilah Clement, Emily Kindervater, and Maggie Oudsema each presented information on Project Clarity at this meeting.

State News Service, December 3, 2015
Al Steinman gave testimony at a hearing in Washington D.C. on December 2.

“Local farm experts awarded at Macatawa Watershed Project meeting”
Holland Sentinel, December 4, 2015
Delilah Clement, Emily Kindervater, and Maggie Oudsema each presented information on Project Clarity at this meeting, and were mentioned in the article.

“Guest Post: A ticking time bomb/pipeline (Dire Straits)”
Eclectablog, December 7, 2015
The Blue Economy Report that Al Steinman worked on was mentioned in this article.

“Grad students receive Dean’s Citation Awards”
GV Now (a publication of Grand Valley State University), December 8, 2015
Michael Snider, Graduate student who worked with Bopi Biddanda, got an award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis.  Jared Homola, Graduate student who worked with Carl Ruetz, had his thesis nominated to go to the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Thesis competition.

“Student research in the Macatawa Watershed”
Macatawa Watershed EXPLORER, Winter 2015
The article discusses the research projects Delilah Clement and Emily Kindervater are working on for their thesis.

“Al Steinman: Michigan’s Blue Economy”
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Special Faculty Research Colloquium on Water, January 21, 2016.
Al Steinman gave a presentation on Michigan’s Blue Economy.

LMC Events

Dec 11
Seminar Speaker: Dr. Emily Grman, assistant professor of biology at Eastern Michigan University, presented: “Beta Diversity in Restored Prairies: Causes and Consequences”.

Jan 15
Seminar Speaker: Dr. Steven Wilhelm, professor of microbiology at the University of Tennessee, presented:  “Measuring moments in cyanobacterial ecology – using big data to deal with big blooms”.

Jan 26
The Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership held a public meeting at the Lake Michigan Center.