Consumers Energy Foundation Grant Supports AWRI’s Muskegon Lake Observatory

AWRI-GVSU has received a $30,000 grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation to operate the Muskegon Lake Observatory Buoy and advance community education and outreach. Muskegon Lake is designated as a Great Lakes Area of Concern, which remains on the list because of several impairments, including the annual appearance of nuisance algal blooms and loss of habitat. The grant funding will allow us to leverage the power of the time-series data on weather and water quality from the Observatory Buoy to monitor growth of these blooms and share this information with community partners who are working on lake restoration. Historical observatory data (2011-2019) is available, free of charge, to all on the observatory website: www.gvsu.edu/buoy/.  Funding from the Consumers Energy Foundation will provide partial support for operation of the buoy in years 2020-2022.  

AWRI-GVSU faculty, staff, and students will specifically examine temperature and changing nutrient concentrations that are linked to harmful algal blooms, which in turn impact the socio-economic value of the Lake. The time-series data from the Observatory will be integrated into AWRI-GVSU’s ship-board Education and Outreach Program, which educates >3000 participating K-12 students from West Michigan per year. Additionally, project findings will be shared and disseminated through the observatory website, bookmarks, publications, presentations, and in land- and ship-board classrooms – bringing modern lake-observing science to all ages.

Sarah Hamsher volunteered as an interviewer on January 19^th for the GVSU Awards of Distinction.

Carl Ruetz was interviewed by students from Troy Athens High School on January 24^th for a documentary they are producing regarding the effort to reintroduce Arctic grayling to Michigan.

Brian Scull gave a lab tour and instrument demonstration at the Lake Michigan Center on January 13^th for Neil MacDonald’s NRM 330, Environmental Pollution class.

Al Steinman was interviewed by Joe Boomgaard, editor of MiBiz, on January 21^st, on the future of outdoor recreation in Michigan.

Al Steinman was interviewed by Anna Gustafson of Muskegon Times on January 28^th on shoreline erosion.

Janet Vail attended the Groundswell Dinner & Dialogue in Grand Rapids on December 5^th.  She presented an award to a long-term Groundswell supporter from the Kent Intermediate School District.

Sean Woznicki volunteered as an interviewer on January 4 for the GVSU Awards of Distinction.

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

Nick Gezon, former graduate student working with Kevin Strychar, has a paper accepted for publication:
Gezon N.R.**, K.B. Strychar, I. Hewson, C. Partridge, J. McNair, and D. Haywick. In Press.  Surveying the circular rep encoding single stranded (CRESS) DNA viral consortium found in invasive quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) and sediments of the central Lake Michigan benthos.  Journal of Great Lakes Research.

Al Steinman is a co-author on two papers currently in press:
Xue, Q., Steinman, A.D., Xie, L., Yao, L., Su, X., Cao, Q., and Cai, Y. In Press. Seasonal variation and potential risk assessment of microcystin in the sediments of Lake Taihu. Environmental Pollution.
Lei, Y., Steinman, A.D., Xiang, W., Xiubo, S., and Xie, L. In Press. A new method based on diffusive gradients in thin films for in situ monitoring microcystin-LR in waters. Scientific Reports.

Kevin Strychar is co-author of an article accepted for publication:
Antonelli, P., S. Rutz, and K.B. Strychar.  In Press.  Heat stress on scleractinian corals: its symbionts in evolution.  Nonlinear Analysis: Real World Applications.

Kevin Strychar has a book chapter now in print:
Strychar K.B., and Sammarco P.W.  2019.  Tropical marine and brackish ecosystems. In: Climate change and non-infectious fish disorders. Eds: Patrick TK Woo and George K. Iwama.  CAB International (www.cabi.org), Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK Publisher. CABI Contact: Emma McCann. https://www.cabi.org/bookshop/book/9781786393982/

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

Bopi Biddanda gave an invited webinar titled “Sinkholes to Stars: Exploring Microbial ecosystems in Lake Huron’s sinkholes” for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries on December 5^th. Webinar Archive Link:  https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/education/teachers/sinkholes-to-stars.html

Maggie Oudsema presented a Project Clarity update for the Steinman lab at the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council annual meeting in Holland, MI on December 5^th.

Maggie Oudsema presented about the field of Aquatic Biology to science students at Reeths-Puffer High School in Muskegon, MI on January 30^th.

Charlyn Partridge gave an invited talk at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting in Austin, TX.  A special session was held, honoring the work of Rosemary Knapp titled “Hormones and Hearts” on January 5^th.

Rick Rediske gave two lectures titled “Environmental and Public Health Issues of PFAS Contamination in Northern Kent County” for Public Health 520 on January 21^st and 23^rd.

Al Steinman gave a presentation titled “Restoring a degraded watershed using a public-private partnership model” at the annual meeting of the North American Lake Management Society in Burlington, Vermont.  Maggie Oudsema, Emily Kindervater, and Mike Hassett were co-authors.

Rick Rediske received the Outstanding Community Service Award from GVSU.  He will be presented with the award at the Faculty Awards Convocation to be held on the Pew Campus in Grand Rapids on February 11^th.

Bopi Biddanda received a grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation in the amount of $30,000 to address the problem of nuisance algal blooms in Muskegon Lake and to advance community outreach.

“Annis Water Resources director to speak about role of government in environmental protection” GVNext, December 4, 2019

Al Steinman was one of the speakers on a panel at an event hosted by FLOW (For the Love Of Water) held at the Grand Rapids Public Library on December 5^th.

“AWRI partners with Project Clarity: researchers study phosphorus runoff, impact on inland waterways"
Grand Valley Magazine, Fall 2019, p. 4-5
The Steinman lab is featured in an article about their work for Project Clarity.

“Alumnus on surgical team performs groundbreaking in-utero surgery”
Grand Valley Magazine, Fall 2019, p. 26-27
Rick Rediske was interviewed about former student Dr. Kaine Onwuzulike, who was part the surgical team performing ground-breaking surgery.

“EGLE to take public comment on tighter PFAS standards”
WOOD-TV 8, January 7, 2020
Rick Rediske was interviewed regarding these proposed PFAS standards.

“Findings from Grand Valley State University provide new insights into freshwater research (Influence of episodic wind events on thermal stratification and bottom water hypoxia in a Great Lakes estuary)”
Ecology Daily News, January 17, 2020
A recent article published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research is discussed.  Anthony Weinke, former Masters student and current technician in the Biddanda lab, is the lead author.

“Flow cytometry market revenue to surge to US $5,650.9 million by 2023”
Zionmarketresearch.com, January 26, 2020
The article mentions that a researcher at GVSU-AWRI (Kevin Strychar) was awarded a grant to test for E. coli in food using imaging flow cytometry.

“Sustainable Lakeshore January: advancing energy innovations”
West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (online)
AWRI is mentioned as the site for the January 2020 Business Forum.

“Convocation ceremony recognizes outstanding faculty members”
Forum: a newsletter for the Grand Valley State University community, January 27, 2020

Rick Rediske will be awarded the “Outstanding Community Service Award” at the Faculty awards Convocation on February 11^th.

LMC Events

December 18
The Grand Haven Chamber of Commerce held their “Lakeshore Youth Program” at the Lake Michigan Center.

Jan. 10
Seminar Speaker:  Eric Snyder, PhD, Biology Professor, GVSU, presented, “Ecology of Mountain Streams in Ecuador:  Identifying Threats and Modeling Resilience” at the Lake Michigan Center.

Jan. 14
The Little Flower Watershed group held a meeting at the Lake Michigan Center.

Jan. 28
The Sustainable Muskegon Forum held a luncheon in the Multipurpose Room, at the Lake Michigan Center.