BOPI BIDDANDA SERVES AS A FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR RESEARCHING LAKES AND WETLANDS IN SPAIN

Bopi Biddanda, Professor of Water Resources at AWRI, received a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship to go to Spain and work with collaborators at the University of Granada (UGR) on a project titled “Exploring Earth’s Changing Freshwater Cycle with the University of Granada”.

During his tenure in Spain, Bopi worked together with his UGR co-hosts Drs. Manuel Villar-Argaiz and Juan Manuel Medina-Sánchez on southern Spain’s watershed including high mountain lakes of Sierra Nevada and coastal wetlands. This collaboration has already led to several exciting products:

Status of Spain’s Wetlands, Frontiers in Ecology and Environment Oct. 2022
Mountain Water Towers: Case of Sierra Nevada, Eos, AGU September 2022
Sierra Nevada’s Laguna Caldera turns Chocolate. AGU Tumblr (June 2022
What goes up…Massive Desert Dust Plume over Mediterranean. Eos April. 2022
Rios de Vida: Students as Citizen Scientists. Eos Feb. 2022

 

FACULTY, STAFF, AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES

October:

The Biddanda lab continues to monitor the operation and maintenance of the Muskegon Lake Observatory buoy. They are preparing for end-of-season retrieval of the buoy in November.

Nate Dugener, graduate student working with Bopi Biddanda, successfully defended his master’s thesis titled: Running out of oxygen: Revealing the interannual and intra-annual dynamics of bottom water hypoxia in a Great Lakes estuary using time-series observations, experiments, and analyses.

Sarah Hamsher is taking an online course entitled the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project. This is funded by the National Science Foundation and hopes to promote the use of inclusive teaching practices in the classroom.

Sarah Hamsher volunteered at the GVSU Undergraduate Research Fair held on the Allendale Campus on October 4^th.

Mark Luttenton attended the Wild Trout Conference held in West Yellowstone, Montana the week of September 25^th.

Mark Luttenton attended the Great Lakes Beach Association Conference held in Muskegon from October 31^st – November 2^nd.

Jim McNair and Kevin Strychar represented AWRI at the GVSU Undergraduate Research Fair on October 4^th.

The Partridge lab will host Victoria Fewster from the Canadian Forestry Service on October 27^th and 28^th. The CFS tested Charlyn’s HWA eDNA traps around Niagara this summer and would like to learn how to do the DNA processing.

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

The Rediske lab has begun work on the Crockery Creek/Sand Creek grant with the Ottawa County Conservation District. They are also working on the Two Rivers Coalition project for the Paw Paw and Black Rivers. Both projects involve MST work to determine the source of E. coli.

Members of the Rediske lab attended the Great Lakes Beach Association Conference on October 31^st - November 2^nd. They have 2 posters and 6 oral presentations during the conference.

Students in the Ruetz lab (Tyler Hoyt, Nick Vander Stelt, and Brianne Siple) attended an electrofishing workshop sponsored by the Michigan Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (MI-AFS) on September 27^th – 28^th. Tyler received a Workshop Travel Grant from MI-AFS to attend the workshop, which included a $150 award plus a waiver for the $50 workshop fee.

Carl Ruetz attended a webinar on grant funding opportunities on the Michigan Coastal Management Program on October 4^th.

Carl Ruetz participated in an open-house event at Kindschi Hall on the Allendale campus for prospective undergraduate students on October 7^th.

Carl Ruetz hosted Molly Williams, a prospective graduate student, at AWRI on October 10^th.

Carl Ruetz was interviewed by Brian Vernellis, University Communications, about his research that supports the effort to re-introduce Arctic Grayling to Michigan on October 12^th.

Al Steinman attended (virtually) an EGLE Public Meeting on Adelaide Point on October 18^th.

Al Steinman attended (virtually) an IJC Great Lakes Ecosystem Services Valuation workgroup meeting on October 25^th.

Al Steinman attended (virtually) a CIGLR All-partners meeting on October 31^st.

Al Steinman will be a Review Editor for the journal Frontiers in Environmental Sciences (Freshwater) beginning in January 2023.

Sean Woznicki attended the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences program meeting on October 14^th.

Sean Woznicki attended the NASA Land-Cover/Land-Use Change Program Science Team Meeting & Silver Jubilee held in Bethesda, Maryland from October 18^th – 20^th.

November:

Bopi Biddanda coordinated the preparation and submission of all GVSU proposals to NASA- Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC). Bopi is GVSU’s affiliate representative to MSGC and serves on the MSGC Executive Board.

Christina Catanese held an end-of-the-year debrief and visioning meeting for all vessel instructors on November 11^th.

Sarah Hamsher is making information posters for Women in STEM and the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences undergraduate major for the Biology Department.

Sarah Hamsher completed an online course entitled the “Inclusive STEM Teaching Project” that is run by the National Science Foundation; she hopes to promote the use of inclusive teaching practices in the classroom.

Sarah Hamsher is on a postdoc search committee as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Rhopalodiales project. She met with four postdoctoral candidates, one of which will likely be hired by her colleagues at University of Colorado, Boulder.

Sarah Hamsher will be teaching an algae field course in Colorado from July 9-23, 2023, as part of an NSF sponsored project.

Sarah Hamsher volunteered at a Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (FAS) majors table in Allendale on November 14^th. She is a member of the FAS committee.

Sarah Hamsher attended the International Society for Diatom Research annual business meeting via Zoom on November 17^th.

Sarah Hamsher met with the Biology Department Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access and Belonging (DEIAB) committee on November 17^th and the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences committee on November 18^th.

Sarah Hamsher participated in the “Entering Mentoring and Aligning Expectations” mentoring training run by GVSU’s Faculty Teaching and Learning Center on November 18^th.

Mark Luttenton participated in a GVSU group visit to Northwestern Michigan College to discuss possible collaborations on November 1.

Mark Luttenton attended a meeting for the CLAS cluster hire on November 8^th.

Mark Luttenton attended the Au Sable River Resilience and Sustainability Project workshop in Grayling, MI on November 18^th.

Mark Luttenton participated in the monthly conference call for the Muskegon River Watershed Management Plan update on Nov 17^th.

Charlyn Partridge met with Ali Locher (GVSU Biology Department) and Larry Burns who runs the “Adopt the Hemlock” program in Grand Haven to determine if a citizen science group could use the eDNA traps designed in the Partridge lab to monitor for Hemlock Wooly Adelgid infestations on their properties.

Charlyn Partridge met with Corey Jerome from the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians regarding the potential to conduct genetic analysis sturgeon tissue samples collected at their stream-side rearing facility. They have about 10 years of samples that could be analyzed. Charlyn sent him a projected workplan and price estimate.

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

Charlyn Partridge attended meetings for the CLAS cluster hire on November 8^th and November 18^th.

Charlyn Partridge attended Erika Forest’s MS thesis defense on November 16^th. Erika is a Biology graduate student; Charlyn is a member of her thesis committee.

Rick Rediske played a major role in The Great Lakes Beach Association Conference held in Muskegon from October 31^st - November 2^nd.

Rick Rediske attended the Michigan PFAS Community Advisory Work Group on November 11^th and presented the draft of the Public Notification Guidelines for PFAS investigations involving residential well contamination.

Rick Rediske moderated the November 17^th meeting of the Wolverine Community Advisory Group where he led the discussion of the House Street Waste Site Cap and the Wolverine Notice of Violation for the former Tannery site.

Carl Ruetz attended an open house for the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (FAS) undergraduate major at Kindschi Hall of Science on the Allendale campus on November 14^th.

Al Steinman participated in a meeting with Eric Hecox and Jamie Cross, and Hannah deFrond from the University of Toronto to discuss coordination of beach plastic protocols on November 2^nd – 4^th.

Al Steinman attended CIGLR’s Council of Fellows meeting in Ann Arbor on November 3^rd.

Al Steinman continues to work with University Development and the President’s Office on a case statement for an AWRI mini campaign to raise funds to create endowments for a permanent director, postdocs, GAs, undergraduate interns, and programming.

Al Steinman attended board meetings for Goodwill Industries of west Michigan and the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

Al Steinman is assisting the Provost on the search process for the Permanent Director of AWRI.

Al Steinman is serving on the search committee for the Aquatic Chemist position at AWRI.

Amanda Syers attended the GLOBE Midwest Partner meeting on November 15^th.

Amanda Syers is serving as the coordinator mentor for the new Illinois state coordinator for Project WET.

Sean Woznicki attended the NASA Land-Cover/Land-Use Change Program Science Team Meeting from October 18^th – 20^th, held in Bethesda, MD.

Sean Woznicki attended the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences expo on November 14^th, and a FAS program meeting on November 18^th.

Sean Woznicki attended the Biology Graduate Committee meeting on November 18^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 was a co-author of an article published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment:
M. Villar-Argaiz, J.M. Medina-Sánchez, and B.A. Biddanda. 2022. National Parks in Spain are failing to protect wetlands. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 20(8):450-451. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2559

Bopi Biddanda is a co-author of this “Postcards from the Field”:
Medina- Sánchez, J.M. and B. Biddanda. 2022. Lakes Effect: Multitude of meltwater lakes on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Postcards from the Field, Eos, American Geophysical Union, October 2022, p. 49. https://eos.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Oct22.pdf

Tyler Harman (previous graduate student with Kevin Strychar), has a manuscript accepted to Diseases of Aquatic Organisms:
Harman T.E.**, D.J. Barshis, B. Hauff Salas, S.E. Hamsher, and K.B. Strychar. 2022. Indications of symbiotic state influencing melanin-synthesis immune response in the facultative coral Astrangia poculata. Dis Aquat Org 151:63-74. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03695

John Hart, (Rick Rediske’s GA), was co-author of a paper, based on his undergraduate research, accepted to ACS ES&T Water:
Jamison, M.N., J.J. Hart**, and D.C. Szlag. In Press. Improving the identification of fecal contamination in recreational water through standardization and normalization of Microbial Source Tracking. ACS ES&T Water. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.2c00185

Mike Hasset was lead author of an article published in the journal Land:
Hassett, M.C. and A.D. Steinman. 2022 Wetland restoration through excavation: sediment removal results in dramatic water quality improvement. Land, 11(9): 1559. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11091559.

Jim McNair is the lead author of a manuscript accepted to the journal Water Research:McNair, J.N., M.J. Lane, J.J. Hart**, A.M. Porter, S. Briggs, B. Southwell, T. Sivy, D.C. Szlag, B.T. Scull, S. Pike, E. Dreeling, C. Vernier, B. Carter, J. Sharp, P. Nowlin, and R.R. Rediske. 2022. Validity assessment of Michigan’s proposed qPCR threshold value for rapid water-quality monitoring of E. coli contamination. Water Research, 226:119235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.119235

Charlyn Partridge’s recent graduate student Meg Sanders had the first data chapter of her thesis accepted to the Journal of Economic Entomology.
Sanders M.**, R. Tardani, A. Locher, K. Geller*, and C. Partridge. In Press. Development of novel early detection technology for hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsuegae (Hemiptera: Adelgidae). Journal of Economic Entomology.

Al Steinman’s summer intern Jacquelyn Molloseau is lead author of a manuscript that is in preparation for submission to Lake & Reservoir Management:
Molloseau, J*., A.D. Steinman.  Chloride and phosphorus retention and release in salt-contaminated soils.
Biddanda, B., A. Weinke, and I. Stone. 2022. Extant mat world microbes synchronize migration to a diel tempo. Journal of Great Lakes Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2022.10.006
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0380133022002337

Biddanda, B., and S. Ruberg. 2022. Submerged sinkholes of Lake Huron: Two decades of exploring underwater geoparks. Lakes Letter p. 6-7, Fall 2022.
https://iaglr.org/lakesletter/contents/2022-fall/

Al Steinman is a co-author of a manuscript submitted to Aquatic Toxicology:
Cheng, C., Steinman, A.D., Xue, Q. and Xie, L. Submitted. The disruption of calcium and hydrogen homeostasis of Vallisneria natans (Lour.) Hara caused by microcystin-LR. Aquatic Toxicology.

Al Steinman is a co-author of an article published in Journal of Environmental Planning and Management:
Fergen, J.T., Bergstrom, R.D., Twiss, M.R., Johnson, L., Steinman, A.D., and V. Gagnon. 2022. Community capacity in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin: The importance of social, human, and political capital for community responses to climate-driven disturbances. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. Doi: 10.1080/09640568.2022.2144164.

Al Steinman is a co-author of a publication to The National Academies Press:
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In Press. Progress toward restoring the Everglades: The Ninth biennial review – 2022. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. (authors: Wardrop, D.H., Boggess, W.G., Brown, C., Burke, C.B., Dixon, P.M., Driscoll, C.T., Reddy, K.R., Reed, D.J., Saiers, J., Steinman, A.D., Sutula, M.A., Walters, J.R.

Whittaker, A.*, J. Greene*, I Stone, N. Dugener**, J. Cook, A. Weinke and B. Biddanda. 2022. The story of water. Book review of Boccaletti, G., Water: A biography, Pantheon Books, 2021.  Lakes Letter p. 12, Fall 2022.

https://iaglr.org/lakesletter/contents/2022-fall/

 

Presentations:

Dugener, N.**, I. Stone, A. Weinke, and B. Biddanda. Poster. Running out of oxygen: Revealing the dynamics of bottom water hypoxia in a Great Lakes estuary. Fall MSGC Conference, October 26, 2022, UM, Ann Arbor, MI.

Charlyn Partridge gave an invited talk at Daemen College in Amherst, NY on October 6^th. The title was: Microplastics and Microbiomes: Impacts of weathered microplastic ingestion on fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas).

Rick Rediske, Alexis Porter, and John Hart gave presentations at the West Michigan Industrial Hygiene Association virtual meeting on October 6^th:
John Hart**. Microbial Source Tracking applications in West Michigan watersheds.
Alexis Porter. Wastewater Monitoring for the SARS-CoV-2 Virus.
Rick Rediske. PFAS Local and National Issues.

Rick Rediske was a guest lecturer for WRT 120; he spoke about PFAS.

Rick Rediske attended the Michigan PFAS Community Advisory Work Group on Oct 11 and will attend the Wolverine Community Advisory Group meeting on October 20^th.

Carl Ruetz attended the Wild Trout Symposium in West Yellowstone, Montana held from September 27^th – 30^th. He presented a poster titled: Remote site incubators: recommendations for managers. (Ruetz was first author and Jim McNair was second author on the poster.)

The Great Lakes Beach Association Conference was held in Muskegon from October 31^st - November 2^nd.

Posters presented at the Great Lakes Beach Conference included:

Tyler Chlystek (MPH Intern): The Utilization of the ArcGIS Survey123 App for Sanitary Surveys among Muskegon County, MI Beaches in 2021-2022
John Hart: Improving Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Through Microbial Source Tracking Normalization
Hava Topolski (MPH Intern): Public Health Beach Standards and Predictive Models
 

Oral presentations given at the Great Lakes Beach Conference included:

John Hart: Using Watershed Characteristics for Improving Fecal Source Identification
John Hart: Pathogens in Water: A New Conceptual Fecal Impairment Framework
Alexis Porter, Renee Tardani, Tyler Chlystek, and Kate Anderson: Sanitary Survey Workshop.
Alexis Porter: Muskegon County Beach Monitoring: A Review and Application of Beach Closure Decision Matrix Utility
Rick Rediske, Matt Flood (MSU) and Tami Sivy (SVSU): Molecular Source Tracking Workshop
Rick Rediske: Conference Opening and Welcome to Muskegon
Rick Rediske: Using MST Markers to Determine the Source of Fecal Indicator Bacteria on 3 Great Lakes Beaches
Rick Rediske: Cyanobacteria: New Problems from Old Organisms|
Brian Scull: Implementing molecular testing methods in a water quality laboratory: A Lab Manager’s perspective.
Renee Tardani: Algal Bloom Impacts on Beach Monitoring: Exploring 2018-2022 Trends in Climate and Harmful Algal Bloom Presence on Public Beaches in Muskegon County, Michigan

Jim McNair gave an oral presentation on November 1^st titled “Validity assessment of Michigan’s proposed qPCR threshold value for monitoring E. coli contamination” at the Great Lakes Beach Association 2022 Conference held in Muskegon from October 31^st - November 2^nd.

Charlyn Partridge gave an invited talk for Northern Michigan University, Department of Biology, on November 11^th. The title was “Microplastics and Microbiomes: Impacts of weathered microplastic ingestion on fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas)”.

Rick Rediske gave a presentation at the American Public Health Association Conference in Boston, MA on November 8^th titled: “PFAS contamination in drinking water: how we are addressing regulatory challenges and empowering impacted communities”.

Carl Ruetz gave a guest lecture titled “Arctic Grayling conservation in Michigan” to HNR 151, Water in a Changing World, on November 10^th on the Allendale campus.

Carl Ruetz gave an invited oral presentation titled “Fish assemblages in drowned river mouth lakes” at the Lake Michigan Fisheries Workshop hosted by the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant held in Whiting, Indiana on November 16^th.

Al Steinman gave a presentation on Great Lakes issues to a group as part of a silent auction gift for the benefit of the West Michigan Symphony on November 16^th at AWRI.

Al Steinman gave a presentation on the topic of microplastics to the Board of Directors and staff of the Alliance for the Great Lakes at their Board meeting in Chicago on November 19^th.

Kevin Strychar presented two talks at the Great Lakes Beach Association Conference, held in Muskegon from October 31^st – November 2^nd. Kevin is also chairing a session called "New Methods" at the conference. Link to conference activities: https://egle.idloom.events/great-lakes-beach-association-2022/pages/Agenda

 

Grants, Contracts, Awards, and Recognition

GRANTS & CONTRACTS

AWRI received a $20,000 gift from the R.B. Annis Foundation from the Chuck Angus discretionary account.  

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Al Steinman shared that a paper by Emily Kindervater, Mike Hassett, Maggie Oudsema, Charlyn Partridge, and Al Steinman (Assessment of the effectiveness of muck-digesting bacterial pellets) has been nominated for the 2022 Jim LaBounty Best Paper Award in Lake and Reservoir Management. The winner will be announced in December.

AWRI News and Events

AWRI IN THE NEWS

“Grand Valley student chalks up a research success”
Great Lakes Echo, November 1, 2022
AWRI summer intern Jacob Yingling’s research this summer is highlighted.
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/11/01/grand-valley-student-chalks-up-a-research-success/

“Exploring Lake Huron sinkholes may help find life on other planets”
Great Lakes Echo, November 29, 2022
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/11/29/exploring-lake-huron-sinkholes-may-help-find-life-on-other-planets/

 

 

LMC EVENTS

October:

Oct. 11 – EDEN Annual Meeting, 3:00 – 4:00 pm
Oct. 14 – GVSU Flu Shot Clinic, 9:00 – 10:00 am
Oct. 14 – AWRI Seminar – Dr. Susan Rosenberg, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Oct. 26 and 27 – Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee

November:

November 2 – Lake Shore Climate Action Network, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
November 4 – MSU Extension, ServSafe Training, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
November 5 – West Michigan Symphony Board Retreat, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.
November 10 – GVSU Citizen Social Science Training – 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
November 16 – Al Steinman Presentation and Discussion Group – 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
November 28 – Nick VanderStelt (Carl Ruetz’s Graduate Assistant), presented his thesis defense, 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm