GOOD MOORING: A SERVICE STATION ON THE WATER

In early June 2022, the Biddanda Lab (consisting of undergraduate student Jillian Greene, graduate student Nate Dugener, technical call-ins Janelle Cook, Ian Stone, and Tony Weinke, and Principal Investigator Dr. Bopi Biddanda), was on-board a specially equipped buoy-servicing Pontoon boat (R/V Buoy Pontoon) snugly docked up to the Muskegon Lake Observatory buoy in the middle of Muskegon Lake (www.gvsu.edu/buoy/). Muskegon Lake (~17 km²), is an urbanized Great Lakes estuary impacted by eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and bottom water hypoxia. For the 12^th year in a row, the observatory is acquiring and providing open-access weather and water quality data, helping keep track of ongoing ecosystem changes in this troubled body of water undergoing restoration.

However, environmentally sensed data by field-deployed instrument arrays are only as good as the people minding the data flow. As shown in the photo, the Biddanda Lab is attending to a malfunctioning sensor that measures phytoplankton pigment concentrations at a water depth of 2m– a problem aggravated by biofouling (the slimy film that attaches to submerged objects). While moored to the buoy (housing the weather observation tower and power source in the background), they winched the subsurface buoy and sensor cluster through the vessel’s moon pool, to repair sensors. Acting quickly, the group lowered the subsurface buoy before the fast-approaching storm across Lake Michigan could catch up with them. Though they made it back to land safely with time to spare, it was good to know the buoy was still there chronicling what happens to a lake ecosystem during a storm – which is more than a storm in a teacup!

 

FACULTY, STAFF, AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES

AWRI hosted staff from the John Ball Zoo (JBZ) on June 28^th. The group took a cruise on the research vessel W. G. Jackson, and then had lunch at the Lake Michigan Center. The purpose was to develop a relationship between AWRI, the GVSU Biology Department, and the JBZ.  Mark Luttenton, Charlyn Partridge, Rick Rediske, Carl Ruetz, Al Steinman, and both Eric Snyder and Janet Vigna from GVSU’s Biology Department were in attendance.

The Biddanda lab carried out a one-week field campaign exploring Lake Huron Sinkholes together with University of Michigan and Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary colleagues. They are currently continuing experiments here at AWRI with samples obtained from the field.

Bopi Biddanda’s field campaign last week in Lake Huron Sinkholes was covered by the Japanese Film company NHK/Cenemic as background for the 2021 Nature Geoscience paper linking Earth’s oxygenation to increase in daylength over geologic time and the diel vertical migration of mat microbes. This Planet Science documentary is scheduled to be released in the fall.

Sarah Hamsher participated in an Institutional Biosafety Committee meeting on June 7^th.

Sarah Hamsher is serving on the committees of two graduate students, Paris Velasquez and Taylor Suttorp; they each successfully completed their qualifying exams on June 7^th and June 10^th, respectively.

Charlyn Partridge continues to attend weekly Zoom meetings to discuss the COVID wastewater project and the summer beach sampling project.

Charlyn Partridge attended Paris Velasquez’s (Steinman graduate student) qualifying exam on June 7^th.

The Partridge lab has an abstract, based on her graduate student, Maggie Petersen’s, research, accepted for the joint Ecological Association of America/Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution meeting to be held in Montreal, Canada in August.

The Rediske lab continues to test wastewater samples for the SARS-CoV-2 virus; the levels are going down.

The Rediske lab is monitoring local beaches for Public Health Muskegon in June; they have listed several advisories so far this year.

Rick Rediske attended a meeting of the Wolverine Community Advisory Group on June 16^th. Rick led a discussion reviewing the revised “House Street Disposal Site Capping Plan”, and also led a discussion on notifying the public for the PFAS Citizen Advisory Work Group of MPART. This group has submitted comments and suggestions for revision of the State PFAS website.

The science instructor team held a post season meeting on June 17^th to reflect on the spring season and look ahead to the fall.

Matthew Silverhart, Carl Ruetz’s Graduate Assistant, passed his qualifying exam on June 2^nd.

Al Steinman hosted a CIGLR-funded summit on use of mesocosms around the Great Lakes in Ann Arbor from June 22^nd – 24^th.

Al Steinman gave a tour of AWRI to U. S. Representative Peter Meijer on June 20^th.

Al Steinman continues his work with the National Academy of Science on Everglades Restoration.

Al Steinman continues his service on the Goodwill Industries of West Michigan Board as Vice Chair.

Al Steinman continues his service on the Governance Committee for the West Michigan Symphony.

Janet Vail attended the monthly Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership meeting on June 7^th.

Janet Vail co-facilitated the Groundswell Professional Development Committee meeting on June 14^th.

Janet Vail completed the Summer Algae Science Institute held at Kellogg Biological Station on June 20^th.

Janet Vail has been asked by the EPA to submit an abstract for the education session at the State of Lake Michigan conference to be held in Traverse City in October.

Janet Vail has been attending weekly meetings of WMEAC’s Muskegon Area Climate Action Task Force facilitated by Tanya Cabala.

Paris Velasquez, Al Steinman’s Graduate Assistant, passed her qualifying exam on June 7.

Jon Walt, Sean Woznicki’s graduate student, successfully defended his thesis on June 28^th.

Presentations and Publications

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 others from his lab are co-authors of an article in Eos:
Biddanda, B., I Stone, A. Weinke, J. Cook, N. Dugener**, D. Fray**, Sarah Hamsher, P. Hartmeyer, S. Gandulla, J Bright, R. Green, T. Smith and S. Ruberg. 2022. Mat microbes dance to the sun’s beat. Eos, July 2022 (p. 48). https://eos.org/ Mat Microbes Dance to Sun’s Beat. Eos July 2022 (link).

Al Steinman was a co-author of an article in Journal of Environmental Sciences:
Cheng, C., A.D. Steinman, K. Zhang, Q. Lin, Q. Xue, X. Wang, and L. Xie. 2022. Risk assessment and identification of factors influencing the historical concentrations of microcystin in Lake Taihu, China. Journal of Environmental Sciences, 127:1-14.

Sean Woznicki is a co-author of a manuscript accepted in Science of the Total Environment:
Tijjani, S.B., S. Giri, and S.A. Woznicki. 2022. Quantifying the potential impacts of climate change on irrigation demand, crop yields, and green water scarcity in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. Science of The Total Environment, 156538. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156538

 

Presentations - (Presenter listed first):

Carl Ruetz submitted an abstract for the State of Lake Michigan Conference to be held in Traverse City in October.

Sean Woznicki gave an oral presentation titled “Water scarcity in the Serbian Danube: Agricultural land use and irrigation” at the South-Central European Regional International Network (SCERIN-8) annual meeting on May 30^th. SCERIN is a NASA-affiliated collaborative organization focusing on remote sensing of ecosystem change.

Sean Woznicki was a co-author on a poster presented at the American Geophysical Union Frontiers in Hydrology meeting held on June 23^rd:
Hopkins, K.G., A. Bhaskar, R. Fanelli, N. Hall, D.K. Jones, M. Metes, C. Stillwell, B. Williams, and S.A. Woznicki. Poster. The Clarksburg Special Protection Area in Maryland, USA: Impacts of suburban development and distributed stormwater control on stream functions.

Grants, Contracts, Awards, and Recognition

GRANTS & CONTRACTS:

Al Steinman and Carl Ruetz have an approved contract from the Office of the Muskegon County Water Resources Commissioner for $41,000 to monitor the sediment and fish communities in the Mona Lake celery flats in anticipation of eventual restoration.

Al Steinman is a collaborator, along with John Austin (Michigan Economic Center) and Amanda Weinstein (University of Akron), on a grant for $50,000 from Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to do a social and economic evaluation of the Great Lakes Way. The Great Lakes Way is a proposed 160-mile greenway and blueway from southern Lake Huron to western Lake Erie.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION:

Jasmine Mancuso, former graduate student in the Biddanda lab, received the Elsevier Early Career Scientist Award for the 2021 Most Notable Paper in JGLR (Journal of Great Lakes Research) that was part of her thesis work (Mancuso et al. 2021. Cold and wet: Diatoms dominate in a year of anomalous weather in a Great Lakes Estuary. JGLR 47: 1305-1315) by IAGLR at their annual awards ceremony on June 15^th.

Jacquie Molloseau, summer intern in the Steinman lab, has received a Kindschi Fellowship for the fall 2022 semester.

AWRI News and Events

AWRI IN THE NEWS

“Safer winter roads but at a cost to water quality”
Downtown Newsmagazine, Birmingham/Bloomfield, June 1, 2022
Ellen Foley, graduate student working with Al Steinman, was interviewed regarding her thesis work on Church Lake, and the impact of road salt on the water quality of the lake.

“Muskegon Lake cleanup milestone creates ‘greater energy’ around future developments”
MiBiz, June 5, 2022
Al Steinman was interviewed about the delisting of Muskegon Lake as an Area of Concern. He discussed AWRI monitoring efforts.

“Slow rotation of Earth paved way for life to flourish by increasing oxygen levels: Study”
The Weather Channel, June 16, 2022
Bopi Biddanda was interviewed regarding his Lake Huron sinkhole work. The low oxygen conditions at the sinkhole depict conditions that existed during the Earth’s early years.

LMC EVENTS

June 6 – CPR Training for AWRI Research Vessel Staff

June 20 – Congressman Peter Meijer Tour and Visit

June 23 – Hooker DeJong Architects Staff Meeting

June 24 – MSU Extension – ServSafe Manager Training

June 28 – John Ball Zoo Staff Visit