Incoming Graduate Students at AWRI

Graduate students are a vital and critical part of our mission at the Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI). We welcome 4 new graduate students joining us this fall. 

Billy Mulligan grew up in Almont, Michigan and later moved to Alma, Michigan where he graduated from Alma College in 2017 with a B.S. in Biology. At Alma, Billy was a member of the Alma College Choir and completed four summers of research in Dr. John Rowe’s lab. While a part of Dr. Rowe’s lab, Billy had the chance to study the spatial and thermal ecology of common snapping turtles and northern water snakes in Vestaburg, Michigan and lava lizards in Ecuador. At GVSU, Billy will be working with Dr. Mark Luttenton, studying the water quality and invasive species of Higgins Lake, Michigan. 

Megan Mader is a northern Wisconsin native.  She attended Northland College on the shores of Lake Superior where she obtained her B.S. in Water Science and Ecological Restoration with a minor in Writing.  In her time at Northland, she interned at the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation working on the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program and also played softball.  She will be working with Dr. Carl Ruetz on the impacts of shoreline development on fish communities in Michigan lakes.

Katy Sheets grew up in West Michigan, and graduated from GVSU in 2018 with a B.S. in Biology and an emphasis in ecology and evolutionary biology. During her undergraduate summers she was a land management and research fellow at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute. Katy is working with Dr. Alan Steinman to study trophic interactions in a sand mine lake at Ottawa Sands County Park.  

Emily Neuman is from Becker, Minnesota.  She attended St. Cloud State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in ecology and field biology in 2019. While at SCSU she worked in a phytoplankton lab as a research assistant helping with a graduate student project, and performed her own experiment on dietary habitats of fishes using diatoms. She will be working in Dr. Sarah Hamsher’s lab on a bio-monitoring project dealing with an upcoming invasive species, Starry Stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa), and monitoring changes in benthic communities during control methods in Michigan lakes. 

AWRI was represented the week of September 16^th at various events throughout the week to kick off the “Making Waves Initiative”, highlighting water and its importance in the world.  AWRI faculty and staff prepared posters, which were displayed in Grand Rapids on September 16^th and in Allendale on September 19^th.  AWRI was represented at a table during the Making Waves Mingle held in Grand Rapids on September 18^th.  AWRI also hosted Peter Annin, one of the featured speakers, on September 19^th. Charlyn Partridge, Carl Ruetz, Al Steinman, Janet Vail and Sean Woznicki participated during the week.

Rick Rediske, Senator Winnie Brinks, and Representative Rachel Hood participated in a Democracy 101 panel discussion about PFAS at the Pew Idema Library in Allendale on September 18^th.

Michele Smith and Tom Jackson represented AWRI at the Salmon Festival in Grand Haven on September 14^th.

Al Steinman attended the University of Michigan Water Center Advisory Board meeting in Ann Arbor on September 9^th – 10^th.

Al Steinman attended a Grand Valley Metro Council meeting on September 19^th to discuss the Lower Grand River TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) project.

Al Steinman attended the CIGLR (Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research) annual meeting in Ann Arbor on September 24^th – 25^th.

Al Steinman hosted the Presidents of Community Foundations from west Michigan at AWRI and then took a cruise on the W. G. Jackson on September 27^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 and members of his lab reviewed a book.  The review was published in GVSU Regional Math & Science Center’s monthly newsletter InterChange:
Stone, I.*, Mancuso, J.**, Knapp, K.**, Weinke, A.**, Ratliff, R.* and Biddanda, B. 2019. Human civilization: Shaped by the ever-changing earth. A book review of “Origins:  how the earth made us” by Lewis Dartnell. 2019. In: InterChange, Connections for the Stem Classroom, September 2019. https://www.gvsu.edu/rmsc/interchange/connections-for-the-stem-classroom-299.htm

Dan Myers, former graduate student who worked with Rick Rediske, had a manuscript based on the third chapter of his thesis accepted to the journal Water:
Myers, D.T.**, Rediske, R.R., and McNair, J.N. 2019. Measuring streambank erosion: a comparison of erosion pins, total station, and terrestrial laser scanner. Water 11:1846. doi: 10.3390/w11091846

Al Steinman is a co-author on an article about Lake Taihu in China in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety:
Wan, X., Steinman, A.D., Shua, X., Cao, Q., Yao, L. and Xie, L. In Press. Combined toxicity effects of microcystin-LR and phenanthrene on growth and antioxidant system of Lemna gibba. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.

Kevin Strychar and his former graduate student Nick Gezon have a manuscript accepted to Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Gezon, N.R.**, Haywick, D.W., Sanders, J.M., Hewson, I., and Strychar, K.B. In Press. Surveying the Circular Rep Encoding Single Stranded (CRESS) DNA viral consortium in quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) and sediment from the central Lake Michigan benthos.

Sean Woznicki has a manuscript accepted to Hydrological Processes.
Hopkins, K.G., Bhaskar, A.S., Woznicki, S.A., and Fanelli, R.M. 2019. Changes in event-based streamflow magnitude and timing after suburban development with infiltration-based stormwater management. Hydrological Processes.

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

Al Steinman presented to the Muskegon Realtors Association on September 19^th.

Al Steinman presented to the Muskegon Chamber’s “Muskegon in Focus” group on September 26^th.

Al Steinman presented to GVSU’s Grand Forum at GVSU’s downtown Grand Rapids campus on September 30^th. He talked about climate change.

Janet Vail and Amanda Syers presented a Project WET workshop at the annual conference of the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education.  The conference was held in Tustin, MI on September 27^th.

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

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

“Human civilization: shaped by the ever-changing earth” 
InterChange Newsletter (GVSU’s Regional Math and Science Center), September 2019
Bopi Biddanda and members of the Biddanda Lab all read and wrote a review of the book : Origins: How the earth made us, by Lewis Dartnell. 2019.

“How sinkholes are raising levels of Great Lakes, feeding rare life forms”
The Detroit News, September 3, 2019
Bopi Biddanda was interviewed regarding sinkholes in Lake Huron.

“AWRI assists with threatened juvenile sturgeon”
GVNext (publication of Grand Valley State University), September 10, 2019
Carl Ruetz was interviewed regarding the holding of juvenile sturgeon while pesticides were put into the Muskegon River to remove sea lamprey.

“PFAS discussion kicks off Democracy 101 series”
GVNext, September 13, 2019
Rick Rediske was one of the invited panelists for this PFAS discussion.

Michigan Radio, September 16, 2019
Charlyn Partridge was interviewed regarding her Baby’s Breath research.

“Democracy 101 event discusses PFAS”
Grand Valley Lanthorn, September 23, 2019
Rick Rediske was one of the invited panelists for this PFAS discussion.

LMC Events

Sept 12
Fifth grade students from St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary (Ingham County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

Sept 16 & 18
Sixth grade students from Orchard View Elementary (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

Sept 17
AP Environmental Science students from Montague High School (Muskegon County) enjoyed a presentation by Brian Scull and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

Sept 19
Seventh grade students from Crestwood Middle School (Kent County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson.

Sept 19
A group called “Realtors Promoting Muskegon” enjoyed an informative presentation about AWRI by Al Steinman at the LMC.

Sept 26
The Muskegon in Focus group held its annual luncheon presentation and vessel trip on the W.G. Jackson.

Sept 27
The Presidents of Community Foundations from west Michigan held a meeting at AWRI and then took a cruise on the W. G. Jackson.

Sept 27
Goodwill Industries of West Michigan held a Professional Development Day for their staff at the LMC.