AWRI Summer Student Interns

One of the joys of summer at AWRI is our student intern program. This summer, we welcome 9 student interns to the Institute. These students are funded by a variety of sources and work with different principal investigators.

Three interns are being funded through the R.B. Annis Foundation: Sarrah Adamy will be working with Sarah Hamsher; Leona Addie (not pictured) will be working with Charlyn Partridge; Mason Tolonen will be working with Rick Rediske.

Two interns are being funded through the AWRI Undergraduate Internship: Ian Stone will be working with Bopi Biddanda; Autumn Taylor will be working with Janet Vail.  

One intern is being funded through the Herbert L. VanderMey Endowment: Monica Van Til will be working with Jim McNair.

Three interns will be working at AWRI this summer, funded through various research projects: Alex Florian (not pictured) will be working with Charlyn Partridge; Jane Johnston will be working with Al Steinman; Steve Smit will be working with Charlyn Partridge.  

A special welcome to all of these bright, young researchers for their hard work and dedication, and a heartfelt thank you to our generous funders!

Bopi Biddanda shared lake insights with visiting GVSU faculty connected with the Making Waves Initiative onboard the research vessel W. G. Jackson when they visited on May 1^st.

Bopi Biddanda staffed a table showcasing the Muskegon Lake Observatory at the Frauenthal Theater in Muskegon on the occasion of the screening of the new documentary “Back from the Brink” on May 15^th.

Rick Rediske was a panelist at a town hall meeting hosted by State Senator Winnie Brinks regarding PFAS in the Cascade area and at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport on May 16^th.

Rick Rediske and his graduate student Molly Lane attended the International Joint Commission meeting in Ann Arbor on May 21^st.  The topic of the meeting was molecular source tracking and bacterial loading in the Great Lakes.

Al Steinman attended a meeting via phone of the technical committee of the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership to discuss next steps on May 7^th.

Al Steinman introduced the “Raising Water Awareness” performances at Loosemore Auditorium in Grand Rapids on May 13^th. The afternoon performance was for students from the Grand Rapids Public Schools and the evening performance was open to the general public.  Emily Kindervater ran the AV system.

Al Steinman was a member of a discussion panel following the preview of the film “Back from the Brink”, which was held at the Frauenthal Theater in Muskegon on May 15^th. Bopi Biddanda, Carl Ruetz, and Janet Vail were also in attendance.

Janet Vail has been asked by EGLE (Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, formerly Department of Environmental Quality) to be on an advisory committee that will oversee the updating of two of the Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support (MEECS) Units for educators.

Janet Vail participated in the annual Michigan Project WET Community Water festival held in Big Rapids on May 29^th.  Nestle Waters provided funding for the festival.

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 author of a Postcard from the Field page in Eos:
Biddanda, B. 2019. Who is observing the observatory?  Featuring GVSU visiting Scholar, Prof. Manuel Villar Argaiz, Technician Anthony Weinke and Graduate Student Jasmine Mancuso.  Postcard from the Field.  Eos, American Geophysical Union, May 6, 2019.  https://americangeophysicalunion.tumblr.com/tagged/postcards+from+the+field

Emily Kindervater has a paper accepted to Journal of the American Water Resources Association:
Kindervater, E.** and A.D. Steinman. In Press. Phosphorus retention in West Michigan two-stage agricultural ditches. Journal of American Water Resources Association.

Rick Rediske and a citizen’s group he was part of were featured in an article in Science dated May 17, 2019.  The article is about uncovering PFAS contamination in the Rockford area with U.S. implications.
Talpos, S. 2019. They Persisted. Science, 364(6441), 622-626 DOI: 10.1126/science.364.6441.622.

Marisa Yang, 2017 REU student who worked in the Charlyn Partridge Lab, had an article accepted to the journal PeerJ – the Journal of Life and Environmental Sciences.  Charlyn and two other former AWRI graduate students were also authors:
Yang, M.L.*, E. Rice**, H. Leimbach-Maus**, and C.G. Partridge. In Press. Identification and characterization of Gypsophila paniculata color morphs in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MI, USA. PeerJ.

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

AWRI was represented at the Midwest Ecology & Evolutionary Biology meeting held at Indiana State University from April 26^th – 28^th.  Ben Giffin and Andrew Pyman, both graduate students working with Charlyn Partridge, attended and presented at the meeting:
Ben Giffin**. Oral. Differentiating live and dead bacteria during beach water monitoring with the use of propidium monoazide (PMA) and qPCR.
Andrew Pyman**. Poster. Assessment of harmful algal blooms (HABs) using qPCR.

AWRI was represented at the Society for Freshwater Sciences conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah from May 19^th – 24^th. Mike Hassett, Emily Kindervater, Paige Kleindl, Rachel Orzechowski, Maggie Oudsema, Andrew Pyman, and Carl Ruetz attended. Below are presentations given at the conference:
Hassett, M.C., M.E. Oudsema, and A.D. Steinman. Oral. When the problem doesn’t wash away: phosphorus budget of internal and external loading studies and nutrient bioassay identify watershed restoration goals for Spring Lake, MI.
Kindervater, E. and A.D. Steinman. Oral. Meta-Analysis on internal phosphorus loading in lakes and reservoirs: results and recommendations.
Kleindl, P.M.** and A.D. Steinman. Oral. Impacts of shoreline restoration and source of nutrient enrichment on macrophyte and epiphytic algal communities.
Mock, A.**, C.R. Ruetz III, D. Mays, and A. Martel. Poster. Evaluating remote site incubators to support Arctic Grayling restoration in Michigan.
Orzechowski, R.M.* and A.D. Steinman. Poster. Using macroinvertebrates as bioindicators: an assessment of the ecological restoration of Muskegon Lake, Michigan.
Oudsema, M.E., M.C. Hassett, A.D. Steinman, D. Callam, and R. Truer. Oral. In situ turbidity sensors: the problem, the solution, and beyond.

Tyler Harman, graduate student working with Kevin Strychar, attended and presented a poster at the Benthic Ecology meeting held at Memorial University at St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 3^rd - 6^th.
Harman, T.E.**, K.B. Strychar, D. Barshis, S. Hamsher, and B.H. Hauff-Salas. Poster. Symbiosis and immunology of the northern star coral under future climate change impacts.

Tyler Harman attended and presented a poster at the Astrangia Workshop held at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island on May 30^th – 31^st.
Harman, T.E.**, K.B. Strychar, D. Barshis, S. Hamsher, and B.H. Hauff-Salas. Poster. Symbiosis and immunology of the northern star coral from future climate change impacts.

Rick Rediske presented at the Michigan Lake Stewardship Association conference on May 3^rd.

Rick Rediske presented about PFAS at the Ecology Center annual meeting on May 14^th.

Rick Rediske presented on the topic “What would Nature do for Earth Day?” at the Pfizer Lunch and Learn hosted by the Kalamazoo Nature Center on May 15^th.

Al Steinman presented to the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers in Lansing, MI on May 2^nd.

Al Steinman was the keynote speaker at the Michigan Lake Stewardship Association conference held in Thompsonville, MI on May 3^rd.

Al Steinman gave a presentation about the collaboration “Raising Water Awareness” at the Spring Lake Library on May 14^th.

Kevin Strychar and his graduate student Cassidy Gilmore attended the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean held in the Dominican Republic from May 20^th – 24^th. Kevin presented the work of one of his former graduate students, John Skutnik, who was unable to attend; Cassidy Gilmore presented a poster. Kevin was also a judge for both the oral and poster presentations.
Skutnik J.E.**, S. Otieno, S.K. Khoo, and K.B. Strychar. Oral. Multi-stressor impacts to the mesophotic coral Montastraea cavernosa.
Gilmore C.**, and K.B. Strychar. Poster. On the brink of extinction: Staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis.

There were no new awards and recognition for this issue.  Check again next month!

Al Steinman received $5,000 from the Frey Foundation to fund two performances of the “Raising Water Awareness” collaborative project.

Al Steinman and Carl Ruetz have a grant through West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission (WMSRDC) for Ecological Monitoring of Muskegon Lake in the amount of $83,136.

Michigan Lake Stewardship Association hosts conference in Benzie”
Benzie County Record Patriot, May 8, 2019
Al Steinman and Rick Rediske were both presenters at this conference.
This was also carried by NewsEdge, an internet news source.

“Sen. Brinks hosting PFAS town hall in East Grand Rapids”
Fox 17 West Michigan, May 16, 2019
Rick Rediske participated in a town hall meeting hosted by Senator Winnie Brinks on May 16^th.
This was also picked up by WZZM 13

“Researcher’s work with PFAS citizen’s group featured in Science Magazine”
GV Now, May 16, 2019
Rick Rediske is a member of a citizen’s group that brought the PFAS issue in the Rockford, MI area to light.

“’We need more people’ for PFAS blood testing say health officials”
MLive.com, May 17, 2019
Rick Rediske is quoted regarding this ongoing testing of Kent County residents for PFAS in their blood.

“Citizen sleuths exposed pollution from a century-old Michigan factory, with nationwide implications”
PrimeTimes.IN, May 17, 2019
Rick Rediske is a member of a citizen’s group that brought the PFAS issue in the Rockford, MI area to light.

“They persisted”
Science Magazine, May 17, 2019
Rick Rediske is a member of a citizen’s group that brought the PFAS issue in the Rockford, MI area to light.

“Muskegon Lake recovery highlighted in documentary by alumnus”
GV Now, May 23, 2019
AWRI is mentioned as assisting in the clean-up and pollution remediation efforts on Muskegon Lake in the documentary “Back from the Brink”, produced and directed by GVSU alumnus David Ruck.

“GVSU, MSU team up to tackle important water issues across Great Lakes region”
MiBiz, May 28, 2019
Al Steinman is quoted regarding AWRI and the new partnership with MSU’s Institute of Water Research.  The partnership will share resources and work together on water-related issues.

LMC Events

May 1
AWRI hosted a GVSU “Making Waves” Event at the Lake Michigan Center.

May 1 & 9
Students from Ada Vista Elementary School (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation   Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 2
Students from CA Frost Elementary School (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation   Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 6 & 7
Students from Pinewood Middle School (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 7
The Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership held a public meeting at the Lake Michigan Center.

May 13 & 14
Students from Murray Lake Elementary School (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation   Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 15
Students from Westside Christian Elementary School (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 16
Students from Grant Christian Elementary School (Newago County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 20 – 23
Students from Daisy Brook Elementary School (Newago County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 21
The Sustainable Muskegon Forum held an event at the Lake Michigan Center.

May 28
Students from Alto Elementary School (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 30
Students from Dutton Elementary School (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

May 31
Students from Scott Elementary School (DeWitt) County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.