AWRI Invited to Submit 4 Proposals as Finalists to Receive GLRI Funding

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) included a request for grant proposals; EPA received more than 1,000 proposals, requesting more than 1 billion dollars, aimed at restoring and protecting the Great Lakes. Out of those submitted proposals, 270 finalists were selected to submit applications to receive a total of $161 million dollars.

AWRI is involved in 4 of those final applications, 3 as the lead organization and 1 as a partner, for a total of $1.4 million dollars. These projects include: 1) the installation of a data "observatory" to measure ecosystem changes in Muskegon Lake. This $550,000 project will be led by Dr. Bopi Biddanda; 2) a coordinated Lake-specific Onboard Education & Outreach project, involving AWRI, MSU's Sea Grant Extension Program, Inland Seas Education Association, and BaySail. This $400,000 project will be directed by Dr. Janet Vail, and will deliver onboard educational experiences for the general public, public officials, educators, and K-12 students on Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River; 3) a project to study hydrology and sediment transport within the Ruddiman Creek subwatershed, and select appropriate best management practices to reduce storm flow volume, velocity and sediment loads. Led by Dr. Al Steinman and assisted by Dr. Rick Rediske, this $247,000 project will generate information to be used by the State of Michigan to develop an implementation-ready total maximum daily load (TMDL); and 4) the monitoring of coastal wetlands throughout the Great Lakes. Led by former AWRI research scientist Dr. Don Uzarski, now at Central Michigan University, AWRI is a partner in this $10 million project. Dr. Carl Ruetz will be assisting with the monitoring of fish populations in these coastal wetlands.

AWRIs success in this extremely competitive grant process not only validates the rigor of our research and outreach programs, it provides additional funding for new students and technicians, and perhaps most important of all, will help in restoring the greatness to the Great Lakes.

 

AWRI Events

June 1 Amanda Potter, graduate student working with Rick Rediske, passed her qualifying exam.

June 1 Four students from Daisybrook Elementary from Fremont received instruction in the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom and trips on the W. G. Jackson research vessel.

June 2 Field Reichardt, a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, hosted an event in the Multi-purpose Room. Governor and former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman was the featured guest.

June 8 GVSU's Padnos International Center held a staff retreat.

June 10 Muskegon River Watershed Partnership meeting.

June 11 IMAGIN Board of Directors meeting.

June 15 Whitney Nelson, graduate student working with Al Steinman, passed her qualifying exam.

June 17 Great Lakes Workshop for Teachers.

June 19 Indiana Science Fair Winners and their chaperones were part of the annual D. J. Angus/Scientech cruise on the W. G. Jackson on June 19. The group also had lunch and a tour of the Lake Michigan Center.

June 24 Au Sable Institute tour and instruction in the AV Classroom.

 

AWRI Activities

John Koches hosted a Regional Sustainability meeting in Allendale on June 2.

Carl Ruetz attended a Habitat Committee Meeting of the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership on June 17 at the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission in Muskegon.

Al Steinman is serving on the search committee for Associate Director of Research and Technology at the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) and attended the 1st meeting of the committee on June 9th.

Janet Vail attended an environmental roundtable in Grand Rapids on June 2 where former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman was a guest.

Janet Vail attended the annual Project WET Coordinators Conference at McCormick's Creek State Park in Indiana from June 7 - 10.

Janet Vail and Shirley McIntire represented AWRI at an event held by the Lakeshore Yacht Harbor as a fundraiser for AWRIs Education and Outreach Program on June 19. Janet provided a display for this event.

Janet Vail attended a Biotechnology Workshop in Livermore, California on June 21 - 23.

The W. G. Jackson vessel had a very successful Making Lake Michigan Great tour to Milwaukee and Port Washington, WI on June 12 and 13. Over 300 people participated in cruises and open houses.

 

AWRI Presentations

AWRI was represented by Mark Luttenton, Jim McNair, Whitney Nelson (graduate student), and Carl Ruetz at the joint American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and North American Benthological Society (NABS) conferences held in Santa Fe, New Mexico from June 6 - 11.

(First listed is presenter; AWRI staff/students in bold.)

McNair, J. Oral. Applying the Local Exchange Model to stream seston and benthic macroinvertebrate data.

Nelson, W. A. and A. D. Steinman. Poster. Composition and toxic sensitivity of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in Muskegon Lake, a Great Lakes Area of Concern.

Ruetz, C. R., III, and M. J. Breen. Oral. Intraspecific variation in leaf litter quality: importance of leaf size.

AWRI was represented at the Annual Joint Meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution, the American Society of Naturalists, and the Society for Systematic Biology held in Portland, Oregon from June 25  29.

(First listed is presenter; AWRI staff/students in bold.)

Tavalire, H. F. and R. A. Thum. Poster. Genetic impacts on invasive potential: a pilot study in Myriophyllum species.

Thum, R. A. and M. Zuellig. Poster. Diversification and species boundaries in endemic North American watermilfoils.

Zuellig, M. and R. A. Thum. Poster. A genetic survey of invasive Myriophyllum spicatum in North America.

Nichol DeMol taught 3rd graders about using macroinvertebrates as water quality indicators as part of the Twin Lake Watershed Fair held on May 26.

John Koches presented the Spring Lake Watershed Integrated Assessment Project for Stormwater Management and Wetlands Project at the LGROW Watershed Management Plan Public Participation Event in Walker on June 17.

Rick Rediske presented at a Water and Environment Laboratory Practices Conference in Lansing on June 15. The title of the presentation was "Should term limits be applied to analytical detection and quantitation?"

Al Steinman gave a presentation to Muskegon/Lakeshore donors at a GVSU event held at MAREC on June 14.

Al Steinman presented at a Tri-lake Association meeting in Grand Rapids on June 16.

Amanda Syers and Amanda Maycroft presented three programs to Girl Scouts in Jenison on June 17. They will be presenting a program at the White Lake Library on July 8.

Kurt Thompson made a presentation to the D. J. Angus/Scientech group on GVSU's Allendale campus on Friday, June 18th.

Ryan Thum demonstrated use of the gene sequencer and using molecular tools for conservation and natural resources management to a class from Au Sable Institute at the Lake Michigan Center on June 24. Tim Evans, Biology Department at GVSU, is the instructor for this group.

 

AWRI Grants and Contracts

Bopi Biddanda has secured a grant from the EPAs Great Lakes National Program Office (pending final approval): Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Observatory for Ecosystem Changes in Muskegon Lake Area of Concern.
PI: Biddanda; Co-PIs: Kendall, Rediske, Thompson, Fiore, McNair, and Vail.

Mark Luttenton received funding from the Michigan Botanical Foundation to update current information on distribution and abundance of cattails in non-coastal wetlands.

Carl Ruetz has secured a grant from the EPAs Great Lakes National Program Office (pending final approval): Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Monitoring of coastal wetlands throughout the Great Lakes.
PI: Don Uzarski (formerly at AWRI, now at CMU); Co-PIs include Carl Ruetz.

Al Steinman has secured a grant from the EPAs Great Lakes National Program Office (pending final approval): Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Hydrology and sediment transport within the Ruddiman Creek subwatershed and select appropriate best management practices to reduce storm flow volume, velocity, and sediment loads.
PI: Al Steinman; Co-PI: Rick Rediske

Janet Vail has secured a grant from the EPAs Great Lakes National Program Office (pending final approval): Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: Coordinated lake-specific on board education and outreach project.
PI: Janet Vail; Co-PIs: MSU Sea Grant Extension Program, Inland Seas Education Association and BaySail.

Matt Zuellig and Hannah Tavalire, graduate students working with Ryan Thum, each received travel grants from the GVSU Academic Conference Fund.

 

AWRI Publications

Bopi Biddanda is co-author on a paper published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research:

Nold, S. C., H. A. Zajack and B. A. Biddanda. 2010. Archaeal and eukaryal diversity in a submerged sinkhole ecosystem influenced by sulfur-rich, hypoxic groundwater. Journal of Great Lakes Research 36: 366-375.

Three papers from Al Steinmans lab are currently in press:

Steinman, A. D., J. R. Nicholas, P. Seelbach, J. Allan, and F. Ruswick. 2010. The role of science in developing policy for the use of groundwater in the state of Michigan. Water Policy.
Steinman, A. D., M. E. Ogdahl, and C. R. Ruetz III. 2010. An environmental assessment of a small, shallow lake threatened by urbanization. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. DOI 10.1007/s10661-010-1381-z.
Isely, E. S., P. Isely, S. Seedang, K. Mulder, K. Thompson, and A. D. Steinman. In Press. Educating local policy makers on the values associated with green infrastructure in west Michigan: Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services Tool (INVEST). Journal of Great Lakes Research.

 

AWRI In The News

Former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman: BP oil spill a "teachable moment"
Muskegon Chronicle, Wednesday, June 2, 2010 The event at which Ms. Whitman spoke took place at the Annis Water Resources Institute.

$1 million dollars in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding earmarked for West Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner, June 16, 2010 Al Steinman is interviewed about the 3 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative projects AWRI has received approval for.

Alan Steinman PhD. with Annis Water Resources Institute answer questions about the BP Oil spill.
Global Press Release Distribution, June 18, 2010. Al was interviewed regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. You can listen to this broadcast at https://kmrmedia.podbean.com

Cooperation convener: Jon VanderMolen, Grand Valley State University
MiBiz, June 21, 2010, Third quarterly TBL: Triple Bottom Line Jon is interviewed about his job at AWRI.

"Educational trips planned on D. J. Angus research vessel"
MLive.com, June 25, 2010 Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission is offering trips onboard the D. J. Angus research vessel.

"All hands on deck for water resource study: Ottawa County, GVSU join to offer hands-on research trips."
The Grand Rapids Press, June 26, 2010 Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission is offering trips onboard the D. J. Angus research vessel.

"Key factor in Asian carp battle: can they survive in rivers?"
Muskegon Chronicle, June 26, 2010 Al Steinman is interviewed regarding the possible invasion of Asian carp into Lake Michigan and its connecting rivers.

"Test the waters: educational trips planned on D. J. Angus research vessel"
NOW: North Ottawa Weekly, June 26-27, 2010. Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission is offering trips onboard the D. J. Angus research vessel.