Linking Land and Lakes: Protecting Great Lakes’ Coastal Wetlands

The Great Lakes are under constant threat, and coastal wetlands are on the front lines. Follow the work of Great Lakes researchers as this documentary travels 5,000 miles and talks to more than 40 experts on the vital role coastal wetlands play in keeping the Great Lakes healthy. Learn more about this small but mighty ecosystem and the importance of preserving them for future generations in “Linking Land and Lakes: Protecting Great Lakes’ Coastal Wetlands”, produced by WCMU.

AWRI is a partner in this coastal wetland consortium project, which is funded by the Great Lakes Research Initiative, and led by Don Uzarski at CMU, who was formerly a professor at AWRI. Several AWRI faculty are involved in this coastal wetland initiative, including Drs. Carl Ruetz and Al Steinman.  Steinman and current graduate student Megan Mader were interviewed for this documentary, and other GVSU personnel, including Carl, are included in the film performing research.

Below is the link to watch the program.
https://www.pbs.org/search/?q=linking+land+and+lakes

Sarah Hamsher volunteered for the “Laker Experience Day” held on the Allendale campus on November 2^nd.

Charlyn Partridge met with the Gun Lake Tribe and representatives of Pierce Cedar Creek to discuss restoration of native Michigan wild rice on November 13^th.

Carl Ruetz attended a Biology Graduate Committee Meeting to discuss the potential for a Biology BS/MS program on November 22^nd.

Rick Rediske chaired a meeting of the Wolverine Community Advisory Group held on November 21^st.

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, Anthony Weinke, and summer intern Ian Stone were co-authors of a Postcard from the field in Eos:
Hartmeyer, P., Gandulla, S., Stone, I.*, Weinke, A.**, and B. Biddanda. 2019. Earth lakescapes as a model for life in extraterrestrial waters. Postcards from the field. November 18, 2019. Eos, American Geophysical Union. https://americangeophysicalunion.tumblr.com/tagged/postcards+from+the+field

Anthony Weinke and Bopi Biddanda are co-authors of an article accepted to the Journal of Great Lakes Research:
Weinke, A.**, and B. Biddanda. In Press. Influence of episodic wind events on thermal stratification and bottom water hypoxia in a Great Lakes estuary. Journal of Great Lakes Research.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-great-lakes-research/articles-in-press

Sean Woznicki is a co-author of a paper accepted to Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal:
Hernandez-Suarez, J.S., Woznicki, S.A., and A.P. Nejadhashemi. In Press. Multi-site watershed model calibration for evaluating best management practice effectiveness in reducing fecal pollution. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal.  DOI: 10.1080/10807039.2019.1680526

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

Emily Kindervater and Al Steinman attended the 39^th annual meeting of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) conference held in Burlington, Vermont from November 11^th – 15^th. They took a production copy of Al’s new book, in which Emily is a chapter lead author, to the meeting. Al gave a presentation.
Steinman, A.D., M.E. Oudsema, E. Kindervater**, and M.C. Hassett. Oral. Restoring a Degraded Watershed Using a Public-Private Partnership Model.

Jim McNair attended the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah November 4^th – 6^th.  He also gave a presentation while there. 
McNair, J.  Oral.  Estimating components of stream metabolism by the free-water dissolved-oxygen method: Where did the oxygen come from?

Rick Rediske gave two presentations about Careers in Science at Reeths Puffer Schools on November 20^th.

Al Steinman gave a presentation at the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership held at AWRI on November 7^th.

Al Steinman was a guest lecturer for BIO 610 on November 18^th.

Al Steinman was a guest lecturer for Mark Luttenton’s Limnology class, BIO 440, on November 20^th.

Al Steinman presented at the Ottawa County Water Quality Forum on November 21^st.
Steinman, A.D., M.E. Oudsema, E. Kindervater, R. Rediske, J. Scott. Are microplastics a vector for contaminants in Muskegon Lake?

Amanda Syers presented information on the GLOBE program to the GVSU National Science Teachers Association chapter on November 18^th.

Janet Vail was a guest lecturer for an Environmental Studies 201 class on the Allendale campus on November 12^th.

Sean Woznicki was a guest lecturer for two HST 101 classes, Introduction to World Civilizations, held on October 30^th and on November 1^st.  The title of his presentations was “A history of dams and their ecological impacts”.

Sean Woznicki was a guest lecturer for GPY 410, Landscape Analysis and Green Infrastructure, on November 12^th.  The title of his presentation was “Mapping the benefits: green infrastructure and ecosystem services in practice”.

None this month. Please check again next month!

Rick Rediske’s lab was awarded $26,435 by the Ottawa County Conservation District for a 3-year study of Bass River and Deer Creek.

Sean Woznicki received a Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence catalyst grant in the amount of $7,000 for a proposal titled “Quantifying fecal pollution in the Grand River Watershed using spatial stream network models”.

“Recent findings from Grand Valley State University has provided new information about environmental water research (two-stage agricultural ditch sediments act as phosphorus sinks in west Michigan.” 
Agriculture Daily/NewsRx, October 31, 2019
This article is a summary of the article Emily Kindervater authored about two-stage ditches that was recently published in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA).

“Researchers discover natural toxin fatal to invasive mussels”
WOOD-TV 8 and woodtv.com, November 25, 2019
Al Steinman was interviewed regarding the use of algae to kill off invasive mussels in the Great Lakes. 

“The Green Room: PFAS Part V – Policies and Politics”
WEMU 89.1/NPR, November 26, 2019
Rick Rediske is one of several people interviewed concerning PFAS.

“Presidential Ponderings...”
Michigan Chapter North American Lake Management Society, Fall 2019
Jasmine Mancuso, graduate student working with Bopi Biddanda, is noted as the recipient of the 2019 McNALMS funding for her thesis project. Paige Kleindl, graduate student who worked with Al Steinman, were recognized as the 2018 recipient for McNALMS funding, and for successfully defending her thesis in October.

LMC Events

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

Nov 8
Seminar Speaker: Casey Godwin, Ph D, Assistant Research Scientist, Nutrient Stoichiometry, University of Michigan, Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, presented “Blasting heavy metal in Lake Erie – a summer tour featuring ‘Manganese Flux’ and the ‘Dead Zone’” was held in the Multi-purpose Room of the Lake Michigan Center.

Nov 13
A Girl Scout troop visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom to learn about water quality.

Nov 18
Two sessions of the State of Michigan Retired Employees/Blue Cross Blue Shield meeting were held at the Lake Michigan Center.