AWRI Researcher Receives Environmental Award

Rick Rediske, a researcher at Grand Valley's Annis Water Resources Institute, received the 2018 C.R. Evenson Award from the West Michigan Environmental Action Council.  Rediske was formally honored at the West Michigan Environmental Action Council’s Annual Meeting on October 25.

The award recognizes an individual for long-term dedication and contribution to environmental protection in Michigan.  Rediske was one of the first individuals to connect the PFAS levels in fish from the Rogue River to the historic use of Scotchgard at the Rockford Tannery and raised concerns over the adverse environmental effects of onsite and offsite disposal of waste materials.  His work has been featured in the New York Times and local media.  Dr. Rediske is a frequent speaker locally and regionally about the technical challenges of PFAS issues and the need to develop community based responses.  Dr. Rediske also has been involved with the Area of Concern Program and has worked with the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership and White Lake Public Advisory Council for 25+ years to identify environmental issues, develop restoration criteria, and monitor progress for the removal of beneficial use impairments. 

"I am honored to receive the CR Evenson Award. It has been a pleasure to work with the environmental groups and stakeholders in West Michigan to identify issues and restore the environment," Rediske said. 

A new website dedicated to improving access to information about PFAS contamination was recently launched by researchers at the Annis Water Resources Institute. Learn more at https://www.gvsu.edu/pfas/.

Igor Mrdjen participated in a qPCR training held in Cincinnati, Ohio the week of October 29^th.

Charlyn Partridge represented AWRI at GVSU’s annual Undergraduate Research Fair on October 2^nd.

Rick Rediske gave expert testimony about PFAS at an EPA meeting held in Kalamazoo on October 5^th.

Rick Rediske participated in a Water Forum held in Kalamazoo on October 5^th.

Rick Rediske participated in a community meeting held at Oakridge Schools on October 8^th.  The discussion was about PFAS, EPA’s acceptable levels of PFAS, and what, if anything, local government should be doing to provide safe drinking water.

Rick Rediske, Igor Mrdjen and Matt Allen attended a Little Flower Creek stakeholders meeting on October 9^th.  They received useful feedback for moving forward with the project.

Carl Ruetz, Travis Ellens, and graduate student Alan Mock attended the third annual meeting of the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative in Traverse City on October 29^th.  Alan gave a research update on their collaborative work with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians on the use of streamside egg incubators.

Al Steinman has been working with the Music and Dance Departments of GVSU to create a performance titled “Raising Water Awareness through Science, Music, and Dance”. Performances of this piece were shown at The Block in Muskegon on October 19^th and in Allendale on October 20^th.

Al Steinman hosted a GVSU-MSU Water Summit held at AWRI on October 26^th.

Kevin Strychar was interviewed by WZZM, TV 13, on October 3^rd regarding the Line 5 report recently released; he was one of the authors of that report.

Janet Vail gave a program for two classes of 2^nd grade students from Central Elementary at the Lakeshore Museum on October 10^th.

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 was a co-author of an article published in Eos:
Medina-Sanchez, J., M. Villar-Argaiz., G. Herrera, P. Carrillo and B.A. Biddanda. 2018. Postcards from the Field: A view from Spain’s Lagunas de Ruidera, a site facing multiple human-induced stressors. Eos. 99 (10), p. 49. October 2018. https://eos.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Oct-18_magazine.pdf

Kim Oldenborg and Al Steinman are co-authors of an article published in Science of the Total Environment:
Oldenborg, K.** and A.D. Steinman. 2019. Impact of sediment dredging on sediment phosphorus flux in a restored riparian wetland. Science of the Total Environment 650: 1969-1979.

Kevin Strychar was lead author of an article accepted to CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International):
Strychar K.B. and P.W. Sammarco. In Press. An overview with discussions on freshwater and marine ecosystems in North America. In: Climate Change and Non-infectious Fish Disorders (CCNFD). Eds: P.T.K. Woo and G.K. Iwama. CAB International (www.cabi.org), Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

AWRI was represented at the Michigan Inland Lakes Conference held in Grand Rapids on October 4^th and 5^th.  AWRI presentations given follow:
Igor Mrdjen***.  Oral.  PFAS: Current and Potential Future Impacts to Michigan Lakes.
Maggie Oudsema.  Oral.  Long-term monitoring of phosphorus in a grassroots initiative to improve and restore a watershed.
Al Steinman.  Oral.  Effects of an alum treatment in Spring Lake, MI.
Janet Vail.  Oral.  Onboard education as a way of communicating lake science.

AWRI was represented at the annual Great Lakes Beach Conference, held in Cleveland, Ohio from October 22^nd – 25^th.  Molly Lane, Igor Mrdjen, and Brian Scull attended the conference; Molly and Brian presented posters:
Molly Lane**.  Poster.  Do tributaries impact E. coli concentrations at Lake Michigan beaches when measured using Colilert™ versus qPCR methods?
Brian Scull.  Poster.  Comparison of Colilert and qPCR Methods for monitoring inland lake beaches in Muskegon County, MI.

Members of the Biddanda Lab gave presentations to Coopersville High School students who visited AWRI on October 19^th.
Bopi Biddanda presented on “Climate change and the shifting carbon cycle”.
Jasmine Mancuso presented on “Experimental demonstration of Lake mixing and stratification”.
Manuel Villar-Argaiz presented on “High mountain lakes as sentinels of local and global change”.
Anthony Weinke presented on “Muskegon Lake Observatory tracking changes in weather and water quality”.

Sarah Hamsher gave an invited guest lecture on Marine Phytoplankton in Bopi Biddanda’s BIO 370 Marine Biology class on October 15^th.

Charlyn Partridge gave a seminar titled “Bridging the old and the new: Understanding plant invasions by combining herbarium and molecular data” at Albion College on October 25^th.

Rick Rediske gave presentations to three different classes of BUS 350 students regarding Business Ethics and PFAS on September 26^th.

Rick Rediske presented at an event titled “Michigan Distilled – PFAS – Grand Rapids” held at City Built Brewing on October 10^th.

Carl Ruetz and Mark Luttenton were panelist as part of community book reading of “The Muskegon: Majesty and Travesty of Michigan’s Rarest River” at the Big Rapids Public Library on October 30^th. The event was in conjunction with the Smithsonian exhibit Water/Ways. The title of Carl’s presentation was “The Muskegon River: majesty and travesty of two fishes” and Mark’s presentation was “A brief history and ecology of the Muskegon River.”

Al Steinman presented at the Community Foundation for Muskegon County Donors Meeting on October 10^th.  The title of his presentation was “History of the Environmental Committee”.

Al Steinman presented at the Tri-Cities Garden Club in Grand Haven on October 11^th.  The title of his presentation was “Current and emerging water resource issues facing the planet”.

Al Steinman presented at the Muskegon Chamber of Commerce on October 26^th.  The title of his presentation was “Water Quality 101”.

Janet Vail traveled to Big Rapids to present a workshop and meet with docents at the Water/Ways Exhibit at ArtWorks on October 3^rd.

Janet Vail presented a Project WET workshop at the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education annual conference in Port Huron on October 7^th.

Janet Vail presented a lunch talk on Michigan’s water resources at the Water/Ways exhibit in Big Rapids on October 25^th.

Rick Rediske received the 2018 C.R. Evenson Award at WMEAC’s annual meeting held in Grand Rapids on October 25^th.  The award recognizes an individual for long-term dedication and contribution to environmental protection in Michigan.

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

WZZM, TV 13, October 3, 2018
Kevin Strychar was interviewed regarding the Line 5 report that was recently released to the public.  He was one of the authors of the report.

“Inland from oceans, plastic pollutants are terrors tinier than straws”
WMEAC (West Michigan Environmental Action Council) monthly newsletter, October 11, 2018
Al Steinman was interviewed regarding his microplastics project.

“GVSU researcher receives environmental award for PFAS work”
GV Now, October 18, 2018
Rick Rediske received the C.R. Evenson Award from the West Michigan Environmental Action Council in recognition of his long-term dedication and contribution to environmental protection in Michigan.

“GVSU researcher awarded for PFAS work”
myZeeland, October 28, 2018
Rick Rediske received the C.R. Evenson Award from the West Michigan Environmental Action Council in recognition of his long-term dedication and contribution to environmental protection in Michigan.

LMC Events

Oct 2
The Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership held a public meeting at the Lake Michigan Center.

Oct 9
The City of Muskegon held staff training sessions at the Lake Michigan Center.

Oct 11
The Grand Haven Chamber of Commerce held their “Lakeshore Youth Program” at the Lake Michigan Center.

Oct 12
Seminar Speaker: Dr. Dean DeNicola, Professor of Biology at Slippery Rock University presented: "A stochastic model of epilithic algal succession and patch dynamics in streams".   

Oct 26
AWRI hosted a Water Summit in collaboration with MSU researchers at the Lake Michigan Center.

The following schools visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson:

Oct 1
Okemos High School (Ingham County)

Oct 4 & 5
Reed City Elementary (Osceola County)

Oct 8, 9, 11 & 12
Fruitport Middle School (Muskegon County)

Oct 15, 16, 17 & 18
East Grand Rapids Middle School (Kent County)

Oct 19
Coopersville High School (Ottawa County)