Coronavirus and Summer Research

Currently, the faculty, staff, undergraduate summer interns, and especially our graduate students at AWRI are champing at the bit to get out of their residences and out in the field or into the lab to continue our research, education, and outreach efforts.  Assuming that shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted in the near future, here are some of the exciting projects awaiting us:

Continuing the monitoring of Muskegon Lake, the Macatawa watershed, and Great Lakes coastal wetlands
Assessing lake sturgeon growth, reproduction, and health
Examining the effectiveness of “bacterial augmentation” on muck accumulation in inland lakes
First year graduate student Megan Mader will focus on diel fish migration in Great Lakes coastal wetlands (advisor: Carl Ruetz)
First year graduate student Billy Mulligan will be looking at phosphorus sources causing algal blooms in Higgins Lake (advisor: Mark Luttenton)
First year graduate student Emily Neuman will be looking at the growth of an invasive alga that is becoming a major problem in MI lakes: the starry stonewort (advisor: Sarah Hamsher)
First year graduate student Meg Sanders will test airborne eDNA techniques to monitor the invasive insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid, which is decimating hemlock trees in MI (advisor: Charlyn Partridge)
First year graduate student Katy Sheets will compare the ecology of natural interdunal lakes and those formed by sand mining (advisor: Al Steinman)

Please contact us if you have questions about any of the research initiatives listed above, or our other ongoing work, which we encourage you to follow on our website (www.gvsu.edu/wri) or on Facebook. 

Bopi Biddanda participated in a virtual planning meeting of NOAA’s Lakebed Mapping Workshop for Lake Huron 2020, and voted on his mapping preferences on April 7^th. 

Rick Rediske led the Rockford Community Advisory Group’s virtual meeting on April 16^th.

Carl Ruetz, Travis Ellen, and Al Steinman remotely attended the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership virtual meeting on April 7^th.

Al Steinman virtually attended board meetings for the West Michigan Symphony (4/15), Goodwill Industries of West Michigan (4/20), and the Community Foundation for Muskegon County (4/27).

Al Steinman was an invited panel member on a webinar, sponsored by the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. The topic was to discuss opportunities to promote clean energy, climate resilience, clean water, and a circular economy as part of the COVID-19 economic recovery.  This webinar took place on April 21^st.

Al Steinman is on the steering committee for an NSF-funded Regional Collaborative Network grant led by folks at UM-Duluth (R. Bergstrom, L. Johnson, R. Sterner). The title is “The Complexity of Social-Ecological Systems in the Great Lakes Basin”.

Kevin Strychar was appointed as Guest Editor for a special edition in the Journal Water. The special edition is called Climate Change studies of Coral Reefs.

Janet Vail announced that Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) has been re-branded to “Water Education Today” and there is a new logo.  Janet is working on updating the Michigan Project WET materials to reflect this.

Janet Vail attended a number of virtual meetings such as the Groundswell Advisory Council (April 2), the GLOBE U.S. Partner Forum (April 6), Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership (April 7), Project WET Digital Media team (April 8), and the Groundswell Professional Development Committee (April 13).

Janet Vail has been engaged in numerous webinars hosted by GVSU CMS 201 (April 1), GLOBE (April 3, April 17, April 24), NOAA (April 7), Project WET (April 8), MIT, Michigan Science Education Leadership Network (April 9), North American Association for Environmental Education (April 9, April 16), NSTA (April 14), and Groundswell Professional Development Workshop (April 16).

Anthony Weinke (Bopi Biddanda’s graduate student), attended the GLOS Smart Great Lakes Webinar on April 8^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 Anthony Weinke were co-authors of a letter in the journal Science.
Biddanda, B. and Weinke, A.**  2020.  Abrupt continental ice loss and sea level rise.  eLetter.  Science, March 30, 2020.
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6484/1316/tab-e-letters

Emma Rice, graduate student who worked with Jim McNair, has had the second paper from her thesis formally accepted by IPSM. A pre-proof version is posted on the journal website.
Rice, E.K.**, Leimbach-Maus, H.**, Partridge, C., and McNair, J.N. In Press. Assessment of invasive Gypsophila paniculata control methods in the northwest Michigan dunes. Invasive Plant Science and Management.

Al Steinman and Emily Kindervater have a paper accepted with minor revisions to the journal Inland Waters:
Steinman, A.D. and E. Kindervater**. Ecosystem restoration in the Everglades and Great Lakes ecosystems: past, present, and future preventive management. Inland Waters.

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

Alex Florian, Charlyn Partridge’s 2019 Student Summer Scholar (S³) student, presented a virtual poster based on his research from last summer at GVSU’s Student Scholars Day on April 8^th. This poster was titled, “Alternative reproductive tactics in Lake Michigan populations of invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus): How fish increase fitness by doing less”.

Jasmine Mancuso, graduate student working with Bopi Biddanda, was selected for the Graduate Dean’s Citation for Academic Excellence in the Degree Program in the Winter 2020 semester. An award ceremony will not be held this semester; however, Jasmine will be honored in a special awards booklet.

Paige Kleindl, graduate student working with Alan Steinman, was selected for the Graduate Dean’s Citation for Outstanding Master’s Thesis in the Winter 2020 semester.  An award ceremony will not be held this semester; however, Paige will be honored in a special awards booklet.

Mark Luttenton received an award for two studies on the AuSable River.  The project is titled: “Evaluation of macroinvertebrate abundance and habitat quality on the north branch Au Sable River”  and is funded by three awards.  Anglers of the AuSable River are providing $15,000, the AuSable North Branch Area Foundation is providing $12,000, and the Mason Griffiths founders of the Chapter of Trout Unlimited is providing $10,000.  The project began January 1 and ends December 31, 2021.

Megan Mader, graduate student working with mentor Carl Ruetz, received $5,000 for her graduate research project “Coastal connectivity and fishes” from Michigan Space Grant Consortium.

Emily Neuman, Sarah Hamsher’s graduate student, received the Michigan Chapter of the North American Lake Management Society’s Annual Student Grant for her project on Starry Stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa).

Katy Sheets, graduate student working with advisor Al Steinman, received $5,000 for her graduate research project “Mining Matters: Predation Pressure and Water Quality in Young Sand Mine Lakes”.

Ian Stone, undergraduate student working with mentor Bopi Biddanda, received $3,000 for his research project “Hypoxia causes and consequence” from Michigan Space Grant Consortium.

Sean Woznicki is a collaborator on a grant funded by GVSU’s CSCE Collaborative Grant.  Other collaborators are Amanda Buday (Sociology/ENS, PI) and Dani DeVasto (Writing) for $10,000.  The title is “Connecting cities and citizens: Assessing community perspectives on lakeshore use and restoration.”

AWRI In The News

“Studies from GVSU further understanding of water science technology"
Ecology Daily News, April 1, 2020
Molly Lane’s recent publication on standard methods for quantifying E. Coli is discussed.

“April 21: Will the recovery from COVID-19 be green?: This webinar will highlight opportunities to promote clean energy, climate resilience, clean water, and a circular economy as part of the COVID-19 economic recovery.”
MITechNews.com, April 19, 2020
Al Steinman was one of four panelists in this webinar held on April 21^st.

“Linking land and lakes: Protecting the Great Lakes coastal wetlands”
WCML (PBS), April 23, 2020
Al Steinman is one of the experts interviewed about the Great Lakes coastal wetland research project that has been going on for almost 10 years, funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. AWRI is one of the
partners in this research.

“COVID-19 disrupts Great Lakes research”
Spartan Newsroom, April 24, 2020
Al Steinman was interviewed regarding the cancellation of the spring season of the GVSU research vessel education program.

LMC Events

No events were held at the Lake Michigan Center this month.