Jennifer Smith (Page 2)

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/new-wri-fellow-finds-path/

Sea Grant aquaculture fellow begins two-year position in Bayfield to boost research capacity

On: November 6, 2020

In: aquaculture, burbot, Chris Hartleb, Fellows, Greg Fischer, NADF, Pat Blaufuss, Patrick Blaufuss, recirculating aquaculture systems, saugeye, UWSP NADF, walleye

Aquaculture, or fish farming, is a $21 million industry in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Sea Grant has a long history of nurturing the growth of aquaculture through research and public outreach. Coupled with Sea Grant efforts related to Great Lakes commercial fishing, these activities help Wisconsin producers offer consumers a sustainable, domestic alternative to imported fish and seafood.

A fresh chapter in this history is the Wisconsin Sea Grant Keillor Fellowship in Aquaculture, created in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (NADF), where the position is based. The Bayfield facility is a national leader in aquaculture research.

Dr. Patrick Blaufuss (submitted photo)

The inaugural fellow, Dr. Patrick Blaufuss, began his two-year position in September. He holds a doctorate in animal physiology from the University of Idaho, where his research focused on nutrition and physiology in rainbow trout. He’s also a graduate of North Dakota State University and Southern Illinois University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in zoology, respectively.

One of his greatest satisfactions, said Blaufuss, is seeing laboratory research provide useful results for fish farmers. “I’m excited to get experience with the aquaculture industry in the Great Lakes region… and to get more experience with commercial producers and the commercial setting, helping them refine what they do. Applying what we do in the lab out in the real world is very important,” said Blaufuss.

One of his top priorities will be analyzing data from past and current NADF projects and preparing manuscripts for publication in scientific journals.

Said Greg Fischer, NADF assistant director and research program manager, “Having Patrick on board as our new Sea Grant fellow will directly impact getting our completed research projects analyzed and published in a timely manner, which allows us to share results with the aquaculture industry and scientific community more rapidly, and to move aquaculture forward with confidence.”

Dr. Chris Hartleb, a UW-Stevens Point professor of fisheries biology and NADF co-director, echoed those thoughts. “Pat’s background and knowledge will assist us with completing past projects, restructuring current projects and expanding our ability to provide assistance to many aquaculturists with new projects.”

Blaufuss’ prior experience includes restoration aquaculture work with burbot in Idaho, where that species was almost extirpated from the Kootenai River watershed due to the operation of a dam that led to increased water temperatures (burbot need very cold water to spawn successfully). The recreational burbot fishery there had been closed since 1992. As part of the restoration work, Blaufuss served as a consultant to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, which runs a commercial-scale fish hatchery. Employing results from University of Idaho lab research, Blaufuss helped the tribe with its first season of burbot aquaculture. Subsequent years of restocking efforts by the Kootenai Tribe have succeeded in restoring burbot populations to a level that recreational fishing is once again possible for anglers.

Commented Blaufuss, “I came out there [to the tribal hatchery] regularly throughout their first season, since there are multiple steps in burbot culture, and you have to be aware of them.” Burbot are extremely carnivorous, so cannibalization can be an issue, and they also have a longer larval rearing period compared to some other species. “It was very fulfilling to help them through each stage of the culture, and to see how our smaller-scale research data could be applied to a full-size commercial setting.”

Blaufuss kayaking on Lake Erie near Gibraltar, Mich. (submitted photo)

Currently, Blaufuss is writing a manuscript about previous NADF work on commercial diets for larval walleye and saugeye (a walleye-sauger hybrid that also occurs in the wild). “It’s so important that producers know the best diet to feed these larval fish,” he said. (Wisconsin Sea Grant funded this research in its 2018-20 grant cycle; read more about it here.)

He’s also working on a nanobubble oxygenation project, a novel way of introducing oxygen into aquaculture systems. “We’re looking at how it affects fish health, growth and other parameters,” said Blaufuss. The National Sea Grant Office is supporting the nanobubble work; read more about it here.

While much of his work is remote at the moment due to the ongoing pandemic, Blaufuss said that the two-year commitment at NADF gives him a good chunk of time to work with fish species and aquaculture systems that are new to him, as well as boost the facility’s research output.

It’s all part of Sea Grant and NADF’s broader goals to train professionals—from undergraduate students to postdoctoral fellows like Blaufuss—and support sustainable aquaculture that is backed by cutting-edge science. When the public health crisis abates, said Hartleb, Blaufuss will be able to get out to conferences, workshops and farms to enhance connections and share NADF information.

Said Fischer, “Wisconsin Sea Grant has been a great partner in all that we do, and we look forward to the future and continued partnership and cooperation.”

The post Sea Grant aquaculture fellow begins two-year position in Bayfield to boost research capacity first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grant-aquaculture-fellow/

Great Lakes Aquaculture Day to highlight regional fish farmers, chefs and extension specialists

On: September 18, 2020

In: aquaculture, Emma Wiermaa, fish farming, GLAC, Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, Titus Seilheimer

All welcome at this free, virtual event

The first Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Day will be held Saturday, October 10. The online event will showcase the region’s potential for fish and seafood production and include a culinary competition.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Activities begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. central time with the cooking challenge, in which culinary students will test their creativity and flair.

The day will feature a variety of panel discussions and presentations on aquaculture. Those presentations will be targeted at a variety of audiences, from beginning and current farmers to consumers interested in learning more about preparing and cooking seafood.

The event is hosted by the Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, a project of Sea Grant programs across the region—including Wisconsin Sea Grant—that are working to share resources and promote best practices in the aquaculture industry.

Emma Wiermaa of Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (NADF) will be one of the presenters at Great Lakes Aquaculture Day. She is pictured with NADF Assistant Director and Research Program Manager Greg Fischer. (Photo: Narayan Mahon)

Wisconsin Sea Grant outreach specialists Emma Wiermaa—who holds a joint position with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility in Bayfield, where she is based—and Titus Seilheimer, a fisheries specialist, will participate in the event.

The day will conclude with a cooking demonstration featuring Chef Jeff Igel of the Wisconsin Technical College System, followed by a competition between three culinary students from the Great Lakes region. Each student will be required to use a key ingredient and local aquaculture products in his or her dish.

The Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative is currently accepting applications from post-secondary students for the competition. The three students selected will each receive a $250 stipend to cover ingredients costs and time.

All Great Lakes Aquaculture Day attendees will be able to interact with other participants throughout the event and during breakout lunch gatherings.

As the fastest-growing sector of agriculture worldwide, aquaculture now accounts for more than 50% of world seafood production, surpassing that from wild-caught fisheries. However, aquaculture growth in the U.S. has been stagnant, and seafood supply from U.S.-based, wild-caught fisheries is not enough to meet nationwide demand. One result of that is a $14 billion seafood trade deficit.

The U.S. aquaculture industry has potential for growth, particularly in the Great Lakes region, where abundant inland freshwater resources have enabled a handful of state-based aquaculture operations to employ a local workforce and produce sustainable, healthy and tasty fish.

For more information about the Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Day 2020 event and registration, visit the Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative website or contact Michigan Sea Grant Extension Educator Elliot Nelson. For information about the Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, contact Minnesota Sea Grant Extension Educator Amy Schrank.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/great-lakes-aquaculture-day-announced/

Wisconsin Sea Grant to host virtual “Lake Talks” this fall

On: August 31, 2020

In: AIS, Brandon Falish, Cadie Olson, Chris Litzau, Eat Wisconsin Fish, Green Bay, Lake Talks, Molly Bodde, public events, Titus Seilhimer

Topics include aquatic invasive species, eating local fish and Green Bay’s ecosystem

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s “Lake Talks” series of free, public events will return this fall—in cyberspace. Four virtual events in the series will take place on Thursdays at 7 p.m. between Sept. 10 and Nov. 12.

The series was launched earlier in 2020 with an in-person event in Green Bay in early March. However, remaining spring events were canceled due to public health concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Now, because of ongoing health concerns and university policy, the series will move to a virtual format this fall. Wisconsin Sea Grant is headquartered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Lake Talks cover topics of special interest to residents in communities along or near the Lake Michigan shoreline—though anyone is welcome to attend.

Fall speakers and topics are:

Sept. 10: Molly Bodde of Kenosha, Wisconsin Sea Grant aquatic invasive species outreach specialist for southeast Wisconsin, will present “But It’s So Pretty: Combating Purple Loosestrife with Look-a-likes.”

Sept. 24: Chris Litzau of Racine, Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps director.

Oct. 22: University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate students Cadie Olson and Brandon Falish will speak about “Green Bay: A Saga of Life, Destruction and Restoration.”

Nov. 12: Titus Seilheimer of Manitowoc, Wisconsin Sea Grant fisheries specialist, will offer “How to Eat Wisconsin Fish.” Seilheimer will talk about his favorite fish, the benefits of eating Wisconsin fish—both wild-caught and farmed—and how you can incorporate local fish into upcoming holiday celebrations.

Zoom will be used as the online event platform. Each event will last one hour and include time for Q&A after the presentation.

While web links and other technical details for the sessions are still being finalized, those interested can get more information when it is announced by following Wisconsin Sea Grant on social media (at the handle @UWiscSeaGrant on both Facebook and Twitter), or by going to the Wisconsin Sea Grant website at seagrant.wisc.edu (search for “Lake Talks”).

Questions about the series may be directed to Wisconsin Sea Grant science communicator Jennifer Smith at smith@aqua.wisc.edu.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-sea-grant-to-host-virtual-lake-talks-this-fall/

Training videos for fisheries managers cover techniques for sampling invasive carp species

On: August 18, 2020

In: AIS, aquatic invasive species, Asian carp, bighead carp, carp, silver carp, Tim Campbell

A series of online videos for fisheries managers who need to sample for invasive carp species like bighead and silver carp is now available. This unique resource—a collection of 17 videos that can be watched on YouTube—grew out of a workshop that took place in spring 2019 at Lake Barkley State Resort Park in Kentucky.

The partners behind the workshop and the resulting video series are the Mississippi River Basin Panel on Aquatic Nuisance Species (MRBP), Wisconsin Sea Grant, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. The videos can be found on Wisconsin Sea Grant’s YouTube channel.

Duane Chapman of the U.S. Geological Survey discusses an ichthyoplankton net and its use for silver, bighead, grass and black carp sampling. (Photo: Bonnie Willison)

The April 17-18, 2019 workshop on invasive carp species featured experts from around the country, who presented to about 65 attendees.

The MRBP funded the event, and Wisconsin Sea Grant Video Producer Bonnie Willison filmed on location in Kentucky to create the training videos, working in cooperation with Sea Grant Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Tim Campbell. Campbell also serves as the Wisconsin representative on the MRBP.

Said Campbell, “This workshop was a one-of-a-kind interagency effort to train people in the methods needed to sample for bighead and silver carp.” Those methods can be different from standard ones familiar to most U.S. fisheries professionals. For example, different gear may be needed, and the video series covers different types of gear and how to use it, among other topics.

“I’m so glad that workshop organizers had the forethought to capture this event so this knowledge could be preserved and shared with more people,” added Campbell.

The effort as a whole is aimed at more effective management of these invasive species in the waters of the Mississippi River basin, a vast watershed covering about 40% of the continental U.S. The methods demonstrated at the workshop can be used for a combination of monitoring (to know where the fish are) and control (to remove the unwanted species).

Emily Pherigo of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discusses the paupier boat and gives an overview of the equipment. (Photo: Bonnie Willison)

Bighead and silver carp are problematic because they eat a lot, grow rapidly and become quite large, with silver carp exceeding 60 lbs. and bighead carp exceeding 100 lbs. If left unchecked, they become abundant and make recreational uses of lakes and rivers difficult due to their sheer numbers. They also pose a significant threat to the Great Lakes, where they are not yet established.

The training videos may be viewed on YouTube.

Questions may be directed to Campbell at 608-263-3259 or tim.campbell@wisc.edu.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/training-videos-for-fisheries-managers-cover-techniques-for-sampling-invasive-carp-species/

Secretion system is key to understanding the bacterium causing columnaris disease, a woe for freshwater fish

On: August 5, 2020

In: aquaculture, columnaris, columnaris disease, David Hunnicutt, Flavobacterium columnare, Jhonatan Sepulveda Villet, Mark McBride, St. Norbert College, UW-Milwaukee, yellow perch

One of the barriers to developing an aquaculture industry around yellow perch—popular in Wisconsin for its starring role in fish fries—has to do with columnaris disease, caused by Flavobacterium columnare, a naturally occurring bacterium affecting both wild and farmed freshwater fish.

Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded researchers have spent several years gaining a deeper understanding of F. columnare and working towards a vaccine that could prevent columnaris disease in farmed fish—and not just yellow perch, but other freshwater species as well.

In Sea Grant’s 2020-22 research cycle, professors Mark McBride and Jhonatan Sepulveda Villet of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and David Hunnicutt of St. Norbert College in De Pere are joining forces to understand just how F. columnare wreaks its damage.

“This is one of the top disease-causing organisms for freshwater aquaculture anywhere in the world,” said McBride, a microbiologist in UWM’s Department of Biological Sciences.

One of his discoveries—made in tandem with a group in Japan approaching the same problem from a different angle—is that many bacteria in the Flavobacterium family have a novel way of secreting proteins out of the cell. F. columnare’s secretion system is, it seems, a key to combating the disease it causes.

In earlier work that McBride and Hunnicutt conducted together, they found out that F. columnare’s secretion system secreted at least 40 different proteins from the cell, some of which were suspected to be involved in virulence, though it was not yet possible to determine which of those 40 proteins was the culprit.

At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, graduate students Nicole Thunes and Rachel Conrad assist with the research. (Submitted photo)

What they did find, however, was that knocking out the secretion system and creating a “mutant” without it made the bacterium unable to cause disease in fish.

Part of the current research focuses on which of those several dozen secreted proteins are the important ones in causing disease.

The secretion system also performs at least one other critical function: it helps F. columnare move, crawling over surfaces with a treadmill-like system. “These bacteria move kind of like a tank,” said McBride, “with moving treads along the surface of the cell.”

As he summarized, “The secretion machine has two jobs: it secretes proteins out through the cell surface, and it’s also the motor that moves those treads along the cell surface. Both may be needed to cause disease in the fish.”

Hunnicutt, the St. Norbert biology professor, brings expertise in fish and fish immunology and has known McBride for years, having completed a postdoctoral fellowship in McBride’s lab. Experiments for the current Sea Grant project will take place at both UW-Milwaukee and St. Norbert College.

Sepulveda Villet, an expert on yellow perch aquaculture at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences, also plays a critical role in this work. In Milwaukee, McBride and Sepulveda Villet have the assistance of graduate and undergraduate students, and in De Pere, this work has proven to be a prime learning opportunity for Hunnicutt’s many undergraduates.

Said Hunnicutt, “I have run three immunology lab courses using the vaccine trial as our central project, meaning something like 70 students have been exposed to the immunology and microbiology of aquaculture almost without knowing it.”

The research has also provided learning opportunities for Prof. David Hunnicutt’s undergraduates at St. Norbert College in De Pere. (Submitted photo)

Continued Hunnicutt, “A lot of my students are interested in [human] medicine and want to do infectious disease research, but they’re undergraduates.” Working with fish gives them a safe chance to get their feet wet because none of the disease-causing systems they encounter in Hunnicutt’s lab will cause illness in people.

Funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is also playing a role in the research because USDA—like Sea Grant—has an interest in research that aids the U.S. aquaculture industry. With that additional funding, similar experiments will be performed using rainbow trout.

USDA research scientist Brian Shepherd serves as the principal investigator for the rainbow trout work, with McBride as a cooperator, in the agency’s terminology. “The USDA and Sea Grant-funded projects are dovetailing,” said McBride. “There’s a synergism between them.”

That synergy stands to benefit the aquaculture industry broadly, recognizing that there may be differences in how bacteria interacts with one type of fish versus another, given the varying temperatures at which fish species grow and other factors.

Said McBride, “We need to have our eye on not just one fish species. If we’re going to make generalizations that are useful for freshwater aquaculture around the world, we need to have our eye on multiple fish to see where the generalities are in how this bacterium causes disease.”

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/secretion-system-is-key-to-understanding-columnaris-disease/

Report evaluates effectiveness of watercraft inspectors’ AIS prevention actions

On: July 22, 2020

In: AIS, aquatic invasive species, CD3, Molly Bodde, Tim Campbell

A research project recently completed by Wisconsin Sea Grant found that there was no statistical difference between an experienced watercraft inspector removing aquatic plants and small-bodied invertebrates from a watercraft using hand removal or using a CD3 waterless watercraft cleaning system. There was also no difference related to cleaning treatment duration. Study results are available in a recently finalized Wisconsin Sea Grant report authored by Tim Campbell, Molly Bodde and Titus Seilheimer.

A CD3 waterless watercraft cleaning system is used to clean a small boat during an experimental trial. (Photo: Molly Bodde)

Experimental trials consisted of a researcher placing a known amount of Eurasian watermilfoil or a mixture of spiny water fleas and wetland plant seeds on a watercraft. Then the inspector used each cleaning treatment for 90 or 180 seconds. The researcher then collected the removed specimens and recovered the remaining specimens to determine the percentage of specimens removed for each trial.

The same inspector completed every trial—a trained Wisconsin Clean Boats, Clean Waters inspector with two summers of inspection experience. The inspector did not have any previous experience with the CD3 cleaning system.

A key finding from the study was that a trained, experienced inspector can be very effective removing plants and small-bodied organisms from watercraft, with the inspector removing between 93 to 99 percent of aquatic plants and 80 to 92 percent of small-bodied invertebrates with the treatments, with no statistical difference between the methods.

Compared to a previous, similar study that also used a trained inspector (but not a CD3 system for comparison), these new results show a slightly higher removal effectiveness. Future research should investigate the roles that training and experience have in the ability of inspectors and boaters to remove aquatic plants and small-bodied invertebrates from watercraft.

For more information, contact Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Tim Campbell or Southeast Wisconsin Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Molly Bodde.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/report-compares-ais-prevention-actions/

Report evaluates effectiveness of watercraft inspectors’ AIS prevention actions

On: July 22, 2020

In: AIS, aquatic invasive species, CD3, Molly Bodde, Tim Campbell

A CD3 waterless watercraft cleaning system is used to clean a small boat during an experimental trial. (Photo: Molly Bodde)

For more information, contact Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Tim Campbell or Southeast Wisconsin Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Molly Bodde.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/report-compares-ais-prevention-actions/

Sea Grant announces 2021 finalists for the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program

On: July 21, 2020

In: Knauss Fellows, Knauss Fellowship, Stephanie Houser

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Sea Grant are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2021 class of the Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program. Two of those finalists, Stephanie Houser and Rachel Johnson, applied to the program through Wisconsin Sea Grant; learn more about each of them at the end of this story.

The one-year fellowship places early career professionals in federal government offices in Washington, D.C. The 74 finalists in the 2021 class represent 27 of the 34 Sea Grant programs, including Wisconsin. Since 1979, over 1,400 fellows have completed the program, becoming leaders in science, policy and public administration roles.

Knauss finalists are chosen through a competitive process that includes several rounds of review at both the state Sea Grant program and national levels. Students who are enrolled in or have recently completed Master’s, Juris Doctor (J.D.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs with a focus and/or interest in marine and coastal science, policy or management apply to one of the 34 Sea Grant programs. If applicants are successful at the state program level, their applications are then reviewed by a national panel of experts.

The 2021 finalists are a class with diverse experiences that go beyond completing rigorous academic programs. Many have held campus leadership positions and served their communities as volunteers and mentors. Others have worked with a variety of federal agencies, such as the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These finalists have received impressive awards and scholarships (including ones from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic and Fulbright Program), speak multiple languages and have traveled or worked in 47 countries outside of the U.S. The class includes NOAA scholars, fisheries observers, former delegates for the U.N. Climate Change Conference of Parties, marine animal rescuers, outdoor adventurers, science communicators and an Olympic athlete.

“We are excited to welcome the 2021 class of Knauss fellows and look forward to the skill and perspective that they will provide towards addressing critical marine policy and science challenges,” said Jonathan Pennock, director of the National Sea Grant College Program. “As the government and the sciences adapt to new norms for working driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Knauss fellowship will create novel opportunities for the fellows to redefine how government and science interact and operate for the benefit of society.”

This fall, the 2020 finalists will participate in a virtual placement week to get to know each other and interview with potential host offices. Following placement, they will begin their fellowships in February 2021.

Executive appointments for the 2020 Knauss fellows included placements throughout the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as well as with the Department of State, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Navy and other agencies. Legislative placements included the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (Minority), the House Committee on Natural Resources (Majority), Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Majority and Minority), and several placements in both majority and minority personal offices (House and Senate).

The 2021 Knauss finalists will become the 42nd class of the fellowship and will join a group of over 1,400 professionals who have received hands-on experiences transferring science to policy and management through one-year appointments with federal government offices in Washington, D.C. For many fellows, this opportunity helps launch their careers at NOAA and other federal agencies, like alumni Emily Larkin and Stuart Levenbach.

Want to learn more about the Knauss fellowship? The Knauss blog shares stories from the 2020 Knauss class on fellowship experiences and their journeys to D.C.

Placement of 2021 Knauss finalists as fellows is contingent on adequate funding in Fiscal Year 2021.

Wisconsin Sea Grant 2021 Knauss finalists

Stephanie Houser

Stephanie Houser (submitted photo)

Houser completed her bachelor’s degrees at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, earning both a bachelor’s of science in civil engineering and a bachelor of arts in international relations. Next, she earned a master’s in environmental engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Currently, she’s nearing completion of a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Iowa.

Houser, who is from Orchard Park, New York, said she first became interested in the intersection of public policy and engineering while an undergraduate at Bucknell. “This sparked an interest in the economic and political challenges that we face in solving environmental challenges. It also points to the need for strong policy to use science to save our environment and promote the public’s health,” she said.

While at the University of Iowa, she learned more about policy issues through her coursework. Now, with the expected completion of her doctorate a few months away, she is ready to begin her next chapter. “All of my experiences led to the decision that I wanted a career in the [policy] field and, as a result, I searched for opportunities that allowed me to gain firsthand experience in the policy sector,” she said. “The Knauss Fellowship is a perfect fit to bring together my policy interests, my science and engineering background, and my career goals.”

Rachel Johnson

Rachel Johnson (submitted photo)

Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree at Carleton College in Minnesota, majoring in geology and minoring in Spanish. She then continued her education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she completed a master’s in water resources management earlier this year and will soon complete a second master’s in biological systems engineering.

She is also a Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellow in Water Resources and has served on the executive committee of Water@UW-Madison, a group that connects water-related activity and research across campus, since 2017.

Originally from Woodbury, Minnesota, Johnson said that “research on land management and water quality for both of my master’s degrees has shown me how we live today with decisions made decades ago, and how policies–or the lack thereof–have long-lasting and far-reaching influences on our aquatic ecosystems.”

Looking ahead to her Knauss experience, “I’m excited to gain experience at the federal level in translating science into policy decisions,” Johnson said.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grant-announces-2021-finalists-for-the-john-a-knauss-marine-policy-fellowship-program/

Sea Grant announces 2021 finalists for the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program

On: July 21, 2020

In: Knauss Fellows, Knauss Fellowship, Rachel Johnson, Stephanie Houser

Want to learn more about the Knauss fellowship? The Knauss blog shares stories from the 2020 Knauss class on fellowship experiences and their journeys to D.C.

Placement of 2021 Knauss finalists as fellows is contingent on adequate funding in Fiscal Year 2021.

Wisconsin Sea Grant 2021 Knauss finalists

Stephanie Houser

Stephanie Houser (submitted photo)

Rachel Johnson

Rachel Johnson (submitted photo)

Looking ahead to her Knauss experience, “I’m excited to gain experience at the federal level in translating science into policy decisions,” Johnson said.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grant-announces-2021-finalists-for-the-john-a-knauss-marine-policy-fellowship-program/

Research on pyrite oxidation and native microorganisms has implications for groundwater quality in western Wisconsin

On: July 16, 2020

In: Eric Roden, groundwater, Jay Zambito, Lisa Haas, Matthew Ginder-Vogel, pyrite, Trempealeau County, Tunnel City Group, Wonewoc Formation

July 16, 2020

By Jennifer A. Smith

Pyrite, the mineral commonly known as fools’ gold for its luster and yellowish hue, can be found in the sandstone formations of Wisconsin, including in Trempealeau County.

Water Resources Institute-funded researchers are now examining what happens when that pyrite meets oxygen and microbes deep below the surface, particularly at circumneutral pH, a situation that has not been well understood up to this point. This intermingling could affect groundwater quality.

The research team’s two-year project (“Microbially mediated oxidation of trace element-bearing sulfide minerals in sandstones of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin”) began in summer 2019.

The team consists of University of Wisconsin-Madison professors Eric Roden and Matt Ginder-Vogel, along with geoscience graduate student Lisa Haas and Beloit College professor Jay Zambito.

Zambito was formerly with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey and, while there, worked on an earlier WRI-funded study with hydrogeologist Mike Parsen (also at the survey) that established some of the basis for the current study in terms of the presence of pyrite in two geologic units.

Haas and Roden visit a sand mine in Trempealeau County to collect freshly excavated Wonewoc sand and Tunnel City overburden for microcosm experiments. They are discussing the thin, intermittent clay sequences of the Wonewoc Formation. (Photo: Lisa Kamal)

The current study focuses on material found in the Tunnel City Group and Wonewoc Formation. While these rock units underlie much of the state, in Trempealeau County they are close to, or exposed at, the land surface and, depending on the amount of oxygen in the subsurface, have been observed to possess a notable amount of pyrite.

Roden described it: “In these sandstone formations, the pyrite is present in a state that you might call disseminated; it’s basically spread throughout the aquifer sand,” with the distributions varying in size and precise location.

What happens is that “when the pyrite in the sandstone is exposed to oxygen in groundwater, it reacts with the oxygen and that causes two things. One is that the mineral gets destroyed, if you will. It becomes oxidized,” he said. That results in a lowering of the groundwater’s pH. In turn, that increased acidity can lead to the release of toxic trace elements into the groundwater—things such as iron, arsenic, cadmium, zinc and lead—that have the potential to negatively affect groundwater quality.

The researchers believe this reaction is being sped up by the presence of microbes deep below the surface. “We’ve been working with the possibility that microbes, through their metabolism, can accelerate the reaction of oxygen with pyrite—and this is what’s crucial—at neutral pH,” said Roden.

Ginder-Vogel summarized, “It’s the microbes, water and minerals, and it’s this really interesting interface that is super dynamic and constantly changing. It’s really interesting from a broad groundwater perspective.”

The role of frac sand mining

The study bears a connection to industrial sand mining, also called frac sand mining, in this part of the state. When companies scrape off material known as “overburden”—in this instance, the Tunnel City Group rock—they set it aside in order to get to the sand (here, the Wonewoc Formation) they seek underneath. They later use the excavated overburden and low-quality sand for reclamation. However, the geologic material that was isolated in the subsurface is now disturbed and exposed to atmospheric levels of oxygen and rain at land surface. If pyrite was present in the rock, it will oxidize.

The team will examine whether this excavation and piling of materials help lead to the release of trace elements as a result of pyrite oxidation, which could have implications for the water quality of homeowners in the area. In experiments, they are working with collected samples of overburden and non-valuable geologic material and will be able to compare those with material collected from rock core of the geologic units of interest.

Haas, the graduate student, is running the lab experiments. A native of Mount Horeb, she completed her bachelor’s degree in the geoscience department in 2016 and then spent a few years with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey before beginning graduate school. As an undergraduate, she served as a research assistant to Zambito and Parsen on the earlier, related study.

For the current project, she is wrapping up the first set of experiments capturing pyrite oxidation and subsequent metal release from subsurface rock samples of the Tunnel City Group and Wonewoc Formation in unfiltered groundwater samples with the native aquifer microorganisms—the microorganisms thought to be accelerating the pyrite oxidation reaction.

Four vials contain pulverized Wonewoc Formation rock, with a natural abundance of pyrite, in groundwater. The vials with red tape are the abiotic, or killed, controls. The live microcosms (without red tape) were sterilized and then inoculated with groundwater with live aquifer microorganisms. After 213 days following the start of the experiment, enough pyrite in the live microcosms oxidized to render the groundwater acidic (pH ~4). However, minimal pyrite was oxidized in the abiotic microcosms and the solution stayed circumneutral (pH ~8.5). (Photo: Lisa Haas)

As Haas described the process, “What we did is collect groundwater with some of those native microorganisms, and I put them in a vial and monitored chemical compounds that are produced as a result of this mineral dissolving and found that, with the native microbial communities, pyrite will dissolve faster than abiotically. So microorganisms are…significant drivers to this reaction.”

The next set of experiments will investigate pyrite oxidation in Tunnel City Group overburden and unprocessed sand from the Wonewoc Formation as described previously.

A kind of universality

While this experimental, analytical study is not designed to survey impacts to groundwater or surface water in Trempealeau County, it lays a foundation for possible future work.

“Our findings have a kind of universality,” said Roden. “Microbes are everywhere. And whatever we find, I can guarantee that that would apply in other environments where the lithology and also the hydrology were similar… All the details of what happens where on the landscape are determined by geology, but the microbes and the chemistry are always there.”

Ginder-Vogel echoed that thought: “These are reactions that are occurring everywhere. [Frac sand] mining may accelerate some of the reactions, and that’s where fundamental types of science—and what Eric and I do—comes in. We can understand these reactions and start to think about what types of processes might push them one way or push them another way, and then bring in some smart hydrologists to help us model what actually happens.”

The post Research on pyrite oxidation and native microorganisms has implications for groundwater quality in western Wisconsin first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/pyrite-oxidation-in-western-wi/

In praise of Midwestern flavors: Amy Thielen’s “Give a Girl a Knife”

On: July 7, 2020

In: Amy Thielen, burbot, cooking, Eat Wisconsin Fish, eelpout

I’m a memoir junkie and also a fan of cooking shows (though I don’t cook much myself—go figure). These interests dovetail in books written by chefs, food critics and others chronicling their personal journeys to and through the professional world of food.

Along these lines, I greatly enjoyed Amy Thielen’s 2017 book “Give a Girl a Knife,” her tale of growing up in the small town of Park Rapids, Minnesota, and, for the latter part of high school, the Twin Cities suburbs. After finishing college in St. Paul, she headed to New York for culinary school and spent several years in the trenches of high-end restaurants there, eventually returning to her home state and the even smaller town of Two Inlets.

More precisely, though: even during her New York years, Thielen and her artist husband bounced between Brooklyn and the Northwoods, where, over the years, they improved on a rustic home he had begun building. Eventually, they found their nomadic lifestyle too unwieldy—and the lure of home too strong—and committed full-time to Minnesota.

I first became aware of Thielen from her former Food Network program, The Heartland Table, and later stumbled upon her blog post about the joys of eelpout (aka burbot or lawyer, an often underrated fish) after finally getting to try some at a fish market in northern Minnesota.

Not only is Thielen a vivid and engaging narrator whose willingness to follow her passions has paid off, I appreciate her resolute pride in the traditions and flavors of the Upper Midwest. While there is some truth to the jokes about gloppy casseroles and Jello salads, the Midwest does have rich and varied food traditions of its own—including many surrounding the freshwater fish found here—that reflect the heritage of its people, from original inhabitants to immigrant populations.

Baskets of crispy coated whitefish and eelpout on a summer’s day in northern Minnesota, 2019. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)

Here at Wisconsin Sea Grant, one of our efforts is the Eat Wisconsin Fish project, which encourages consumers to think local when they buy fish, whether that means wild-caught in the Great Lakes or sustainably farmed by Wisconsin fish farmers. (And, of course, we support those who like to catch their own fish!)

As someone who eats fish often and prefers it over many other proteins, I have found that Eat Wisconsin Fish has nudged me to shop more carefully and seek out Wisconsin (or other Great Lakes states’) products when possible. I even find that I now try more carefully to buy other local food products, too, from eggs to local coffee roasters. Especially in a volatile economy, I like knowing my choices are supporting regional companies and jobs.

In “Give a Girl a Knife,” Thielen offers a thoughtful approach to the flavors and landscapes of the Upper Midwest. Even better, she’s just plain entertaining to read. (For more from Amy Thielen, check out her James Beard award-winning cookbook, “The New Midwestern Table: 200 Heartland Recipes“, or find some of the recipes from her Food Network show online, like this one for Crispy Trout with Kitchen Butter Sauce.)

Happy reading and eating!

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/amy-thielens-give-a-girl-a-knife/

The “global garage sale”: Thoughts on Adam Minter’s “Secondhand”

On: June 30, 2020

In: Adam Minter, recycling, Secondhand, secondhand goods, Waste

While I’ve seen numerous articles stating that the COVID-related stay-at-home orders in many states prompted a flurry of spring decluttering—followed by trips to thrift stores to unload the excess goods—my own streamlining process began before the pandemic hit.

“Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale” by Adam Minter (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019)

A couple of years had passed since I last did a serious purge. So, over the winter, I began neatly folding and bagging ill-fitting and unwanted clothes, pondering where to donate them once my reorganization was complete.

Then, in mid-March, life shifted rapidly. By March 16, we Sea Grant staffers were working from home. Work attire and comfy at-home attire became one and the same. Nationwide consumer spending on clothing took a hit (down by a whopping 78% for the month of April). Not only were people not going places, but their consumer confidence had tumbled.

It was in this environment—my own personal tidying project and this larger global picture—that I read Adam Minter’s book “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale” (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019) in April.

Minter is a Great Lakes native, a Minnesota-raised journalist who specializes in recycling and the global trade in used goods. He grew up around his family’s scrap business in the Twin Cities. His book takes the reader to places as varied as Japan, Ghana and the more prosaic settings of the Minneapolis suburbs. One chapter focuses on an antique mall in Stillwater, Minnesota, just across the St. Croix River from Wisconsin.

Minter looks at where the things we no longer need—clothes, furniture, electronics and more—wind up, especially if they don’t sell at places like Goodwill. What are the next stops on their journey? Where do they eventually land? And how can durable, repairable, high-quality used goods play a vital role in the global economy? The author offers a detailed look at a world that goes unseen by many.

Personally, I have always been interested in the life of things. I wondered how to integrate the issues we address here at Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Water Resources Institute, what I learned from Minter’s book, and my evolving thoughts on consumption brought about by the pandemic.

One possible thread is this: water is an integral part of our consumption decisions, whether we realize it or not.

I thought back to a lecture Sandra Postel gave in Madison in 2013. Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project, is an internationally known speaker on water issues. I helped organize her talk on behalf of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, where I worked at the time.

One of most vivid examples in Postel’s talk has stuck with me over the years: it takes 700 gallons of water to make a single cotton T-shirt, mostly due to the large amount of water it takes to grow the cotton. How many of us have closets full of T-shirts, some of which are seldomly worn?

Just two of the bags of clothes awaiting their trip to a local thrift store. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)

While I’m far from being an exemplary eco-conscious consumer, it’s stories like these that sometimes give me pause and avoid buying something I don’t need—as well as knowing that, someday, I will just have to get rid of it.

As Postel said in her talk, “Our choices as consumers can make a difference, especially if we multiply those choices many times.” If the top billion of the world’s consumers bought just two fewer cotton T-shirts each year, she noted, it would save enough water to feed five million people. (Food production also makes up a major part of our water footprint.)

And, as Minter points out, while we’d like to think our no-longer-needed items will hold value for someone else and find a second use, perhaps even right in our own community, this is often not the case. While secondhand markets do seek high-quality goods, including repairable items like electronics, a flood of low-quality goods is not needed.

The world of “stuff” is a complex place, both economically and environmentally (and, as the pandemic has reinforced, in terms of worker safety as well). I’m thinking more carefully about my role in that life cycle of stuff.

While having the range of consumer choices that I do is a mark of privilege, it is also a chance for me to evaluate what I do and don’t need and how my choices affect other people and our planet. “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale” is a worthwhile and informative read for challenging times.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/the-global-garage-sale/

Findings from two Sea Grant-funded aquaculture projects now published

On: June 22, 2020

In: aquaculture, Atlantic salmon, Bret Shaw, consumer opinion, Emma Wiermaa, Greg Fischer, Kristin Runge, NADF, RAS-N, saprolegnia, saprolegniasis, social science, UWSP NADF

Two Sea Grant-funded aquaculture studies have borne fruit with new publications. One aids the growing industry surrounding Atlantic salmon raised in land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). The other looks at Wisconsin residents’ views of aquaculture (often called fish farming) and related public policy.

Both tie in with the broader goals of Wisconsin Sea Grant and the National Sea Grant Office in terms of supporting a sustainable, domestic supply of fish and seafood and closing the trade gap in this sector of the economy.

In this 2018 photo, Greg Fischer and Emma Wiermaa handle a fish at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility, located in Bayfield. (Photo: Narayan Mahon)

The Atlantic salmon paper appears in the June/July issue of Aquaculture Magazine (Vol. 46, No. 3). Its authors are Greg Fischer, Emma Wiermaa, Chris Good, John Davidson and Steve Summerfelt. Fischer and Wiermaa are based at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (NADF). Located in Bayfield, NADF is a frequent partner with Wisconsin Sea Grant and Wiermaa’s position as an aquaculture outreach specialist and research associate is co-supported by Sea Grant.

The Aquaculture Magazine article looks at some of the issues affecting the growing of the land-based salmon industry in the U.S., such as saprolegniasis (commonly called “fungus”), which can affect both farm-raised and wild fish. (For more information, see our previous story here.)

The piece also looks at methods for preventing “off flavor” in the fish. Often described as a musty or earthy taste, it can be off-putting for consumers.

Fischer, Wiermaa and their collaborators are also participants in a broader initiative funded by the National Sea Grant Office called RAS-N, for Recirculating Aquaculture Salmon Network. A large-scale effort between three Sea Grant programs—Wisconsin, Maryland and Maine—and numerous private and nonprofit research entities, RAS-N aims to support the growth of sustainable, land-based salmon production in the United States. That collaboration kicked off with a December 2019 meeting in northern Wisconsin.

The second paper hot off the digital press, so to speak, springs from social science research conducted by Bret Shaw, Kristin Runge, Laura Witzling, Shiyu Yang, Chris Hartleb and Deidre Peroff. On June 16, it was published online in the journal Environmental Communication.

The paper focuses on insights gleaned from a survey of 3,000 randomly selected Wisconsin households. While consumer views on aquaculture have been widely studied in Europe, the topic has received less attention in the U.S. The team looked at emotions and opinions about Wisconsin aquaculture—which, they found, were generally favorable among those surveyed.

The team also looked at predictors of support for environmental policy in nuanced situations: individuals may want policy to help an industry grow, to regulate it, or both at the same time.

The paper, “Predictors of Environmental Policy Support: The Case of Inland Aquaculture in Wisconsin,” may be found online.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/findings-from-aquaculture-projects-published/

Undergraduate research scholars tackle issues relevant to Great Lakes communities

On: May 29, 2020

In: brook trout, brown trout, Celeste Gunderson, Climate change, David Hart, Rykia Amos, stormwater, Undergraduate Research Scholars

As participants in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Undergraduate Research Scholars (URS) program know, it’s never too soon to gain exposure to the kind of research that goes on at a large university.

The URS program is designed as a two-semester course aimed at first- and second-year students. Participants take a weekly seminar and are paired with a research mentor who guides them as they conduct an original research project. Near the conclusion of the academic year, students present their research at a symposium.

While the COVID-19 pandemic meant that students finished out this spring semester at their permanent homes rather than on campus—and that the typical in-person symposium was replaced by virtual presentations—it still proved to be a valuable experience for two students mentored by Wisconsin Sea Grant Assistant Director for Extension David Hart.

Rykia Amos of Washington, D.C., and Celeste Gunderson of Milwaukee each zeroed in on challenging topics. We checked in with both to hear about their experiences.

Rykia Amos

Topic: A process to prioritize where to plant trees to decrease future stream temperatures to protect brook trout in the Black Earth Creek watershed

Rykia Amos (Submitted photo)

A wildlife ecology major, Amos went into her trout project as someone more focused on mammals. Yet, she said, “I realized I was a lot more interested in looking at fish than I expected.”

Trout fishing is a popular activity that also carries significant economic value in Wisconsin. Yet climate change projections and warming streams are worrisome. Said Amos, “They’re (brook trout) a very vulnerable species because most of them currently live in cold-water conditions.”

If the climate continues to warm as current scientific projections say, what will that mean for fish like the brook trout and brown trout?

Amos focused on the role played by tree cover and whether that can help mitigate warming temperatures in certain stream segments, to the benefit of the fish. “Data shows that tree planting is a cost-efficient and effective way to help temperatures decrease,” said Amos.

She used data from a U.S. Geological Survey program called FishVis to populate a spreadsheet of stream segments in the Black Earth Creek watershed, located west of Madison. She looked at both present conditions and projected conditions for the period 2046-2065.

Important variables that she considered were where the stream was projected to change from a colder to warmer temperature regime and where brook trout populations were being replaced by brown trout, which can tolerate warmer temperatures. She concluded by assessing the existing tree canopy and developing a formula to prioritize the variables.

At semester’s end, Amos presented her research first to Hart and Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer. She then gave a separate presentation to Matt Mitro, a research scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Mitro had given input earlier in the semester, suggesting to Amos that she compare brook and brown trout.

Even though she’d prefer to focus on hands-on fieldwork in the future, Amos said, the computer modeling she undertook for her research gave her a window into a real-life challenge posed by climate change in our region. This work has relevance for the protection of ecosystems as well as the recreational fishing that many Wisconsinites love.

Said Hart, “I think there’s a lot of promise for this prioritization of the areas where you could plant tree cover and it would make a difference to decrease stream temperatures. As far as methods went, it was a great proof of concept.”

Going forward, this work could be expanded upon by adding more variables to the modeling, such as land ownership (which could impact the feasibility of tree planting). Hart has begun to look into a tool for constructing 3D tree canopy models from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data and thinking about how that could come into play. “I wouldn’t have thought of this if I hadn’t worked with Rykia on this project,” he said.

Celeste Gunderson

Topic: Geodesign to guide green infrastructure practices for stormwater management in a changing climate

Celeste Gunderson (Submitted photo)

Gunderson, a resident of Milwaukee’s east side, examined an issue that is literally close to home for her: the impacts of climate change on residents of Great Lakes communities, and how increased precipitation events and severe weather affect lives and property.

It’s an issue her family faced in 2008, when Milwaukee endured widespread flooding caused by heavy precipitation. “It had a lot of effects on the foundation of our house,” said Gunderson, “and we had to get construction done… We’ve already felt the effects of increased precipitation and severe weather events.”

Gunderson is double majoring in environmental studies and people-environment geography. She explored mitigation strategies using a tool called GeoPlanner for ArcGIS, a geographic information systems product that allows users to create and analyze various planning scenarios.

With guidance from Hart and graduate project assistant Kayla Wandsnider, said Gunderson, “We looked at how geodesign—which is a process using GIS technology to look at different planning scenarios—could be used to then guide green infrastructure practices for stormwater management” in the part of the UW-Madison campus that drains to Willow Creek, specifically with an increase in precipitation.

She gave her stakeholder presentation to UW-Madison’s Rhonda James, a senior landscape architect, and Aaron Williams, an assistant planner and zoning coordinator. Both are with the campus Division of Facilities Planning and Management.

Gunderson will continue working on this topic over the summer as a Wisconsin Sea Grant intern.

Said Hart, “Celeste will be a real help. She made a great connection with Kayla, and together they will be able to bounce ideas off of each other and it will also magnify Kayla’s work” as a graduate student with a double focus on urban and regional planning and water resources management. “I think that the methods developed out of this [project] will be really useful for coastal communities.”

Continuing to focus on this area will also be gratifying for the Milwaukeean. Concluded Gunderson, “Sometimes you learn the science behind climate change, and this project explores the direct impacts and ways we’re going to have to adapt in the future… It felt very relevant and important, and that made it a very fulfilling experience.”

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/undergraduate-research-scholars-tackle-issues-relevant-to-great-lakes-communities/

Introducing “Introduced,” Sea Grant’s newest podcast

On: May 20, 2020

In: AIS, aquatic invasive species, Bonnie Willison, podcasts, Sydney Widell

Once niche, podcasts have gone mainstream. According to figures cited in Forbes, 62 million Americans now listen to podcasts each week.

Sea Grant’s Yael Gen designed the cover art for the new podcast.

While Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute have been involved in podcasting for years—from the current series Wisconsin Water News to older programs like Earthwatch Radio—there’s a new kid on the block: a podcast called “Introduced” that will be devoted to aquatic invasive species (AIS). Its tagline is “aquatic invaders and stories from our changing waters.”

“Introduced” is the brainchild of Sea Grant Video Producer Bonnie Willison and student employee Sydney Widell, a UW-Madison geography and geosciences major from Shorewood, Wis.

The series will span seven episodes, with one per week released beginning May 27. Listeners can find it on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and on Sea Grant’s website.

While the simple name for the series conveys a bit of mystery, it also makes perfect sense. Said Willison, “As Sydney and I started learning more about invasive species, we noticed that there is a tendency for people to villainize these species. But we also noticed that humans are the ones introducing all these species to new environments. The title for our series puts the agency on people, which is something that we focus on in the podcast.”

Sydney Widell, one of the creators of the new podcast, on a visit to an electric fish barrier in Illinois in February. The barrier helps keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. (Photo: Bonnie Willison)

Guests interviewed in the series include representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Geological Survey, UW-Madison, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and a rescue organization focusing on exotic animals. Several Sea Grant staff also make appearances.

Topics are wide-ranging, from Asian carp to the trade in invasive species on the Internet. Because the AIS field is so rich, Willison anticipates doing a second season of the “Introduced” podcast. Stay tuned!

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/introducing-introduced-sea-grants-newest-podcast/

Wisconsin’s Knauss Fellow broadens horizons through policy and communications work on ocean issues

On: May 7, 2020

In: Brookfield, Fellows, Joe Naughton, Knauss Fellow, Knauss Fellowship, SOST

Joe Naughton is broadening his horizons even while working from his Washington, D.C., apartment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Originally from Brookfield, Wisconsin, Naughton is one of 68 fellows in the 2020 class of the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program. The prestigious program places early-career professionals in one-year fellowships working in federal government offices. The program is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Sea Grant Office.

Joe Naughton at home in Washington with his work-at-home buddy, Suki, his roommate’s dog. (Submitted photo)

After being chosen through a competitive state and national process last July and then receiving his placement in the fall, Naughton began his post in early February 2020. Like many, he shifted from days spent in the office to telework in mid-March.

Naughton serves as the Interagency Ocean Policy Coordinator within NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). His role is a mix of science and communication, and his primary responsibility is as Executive Secretary of the Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (SOST).

Explained Naughton, “The SOST is a federal coordinating body that sits under the NSTC (National Science and Technology Council), so it’s under White House purview. It coordinates all federal work related to ocean science and technology. I do a lot of work across these different agencies, coordinating communication, working on various reports, and then I communicate all of this correspondence up to the co-chairs of this Subcommittee. The co-chairs are from NOAA, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and I serve as the SOST liaison to these agencies. But also, within the SOST, there are these technical working groups, which I really enjoy, since it’s a little more science-focused.”

With a background in water resources engineering from his studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University—where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively—Naughton is finding that the fellowship is pushing him in some new directions. While he previously focused on hydrology and urban water issues, now he’s learning more about ocean concerns. “That’s a whole new world for me,” he said.

He’s also found unexpected benefits on the communication side: “One really great thing is I’ve worked a lot on my writing, which I didn’t foresee initially. I’ve been getting my hands on a lot of reports, and that’s a huge change.”

Like many professionals these days, Naughton spends a good chunk of his days interacting with his colleagues on a screen. “I have a lot of video calls, whether it’s hopping on these technical working groups or having quick tag-ups with NOAA, NSF or whatever other agency it may be. A lot of it is expressing concerns; these agencies have their missions, and they want that vocalized in whatever federal, coordinated ocean science work is being done.”

Naughton is also gaining exposure to some NOAA-specific efforts, such as the Ambassadors Initiative, in which someone like a fellow or an administrator goes to present in a school or other setting. Naughton helps assemble collections of materials for the ambassador’s visit.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has put a damper on some of the travel, conference and professional development aspects of the Knauss Fellowship experience, Naughton is hopeful that some of those things will be possible towards the latter part of his one-year commitment.

In the meantime, he said, he’s found a supportive climate in his contacts with Wisconsin Sea Grant, the National Sea Grant Office and the other members of his Knauss class, who have been connecting virtually, whether to discuss each other’s research or simply have coffee.

Naughton is also enjoying the company of his roommate’s new puppy, a rescued Lab/beagle mix named Suki. While the pet adoption was in motion before the pandemic hit, it’s been a silver lining to be home with the new pup and help her get acclimated, or simply take a walk at lunchtime and get some fresh air.

Despite this highly unusual Knauss Fellowship year, Naughton and others in his cohort are making the most of it. Said Naughton, “The amount I’m able to touch in this fellowship is really great, and something I didn’t expect.” And despite the adjustments necessitated by the pandemic, said Naughton, “I’m definitely still fortunate to have this experience.”

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsins-knauss-fellow-broadens-horizons/

What’s in store for Great Lakes water levels? Find out online

On: April 30, 2020

In: Adam Bechle, coastal hazards, erosion, flooding, lake levels, Lake Michigan

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s outreach specialists are used to traversing the state, sharing information of relevance directly with impacted communities. In this year marked by a global pandemic, however, it hasn’t been so easy—yet staff are finding ways to get the job done.

In mid-March, Coastal Engineering Outreach Specialist Adam Bechle had planned, along with a variety of partners, to deliver three nights of back-to-back information on high Great Lakes water levels in three Lake Michigan coastal communities: Manitowoc, Somers and Mequon. Yet, due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation, those in-person sessions were replaced by a single online one on March 18.

The Zoom session featured Bechle along with speakers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—Detroit District, National Weather Service Forecast Office in Milwaukee/Sullivan and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and local governments also played a role in putting the session together. About 112 participants watched it live.

The archived, two-hour webinar may be viewed on Wisconsin Sea Grant’s YouTube channel. “People in our Lake Michigan coastal communities have been hungry for information about what’s in store for water levels and what options they may have for dealing with some of the negative impacts,” said Bechle. “If people missed the live webinar, they can still get this information online, where they can hear directly from a variety of experts all in one place.”

Topics covered include forecasts for water levels through the summer, emergency management activities being undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers, the local impacts of recent storms, how coastal processes in the water affect what’s happening on land, and the permitting process for constructing erosion control structures.

Listen and watch on YouTube.

Further questions may be directed to Bechle at bechle@aqua.wisc.edu.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/whats-in-store-for-great-lakes-water-levels-find-out-online/

Aquatic Sciences Center plays key role in Water@UW-Madison symposium

On: April 29, 2020

In: David Koser, Jennifer Hauxwell, Jim Hurley, water

April 29, 2020

By Jennifer A. Smith

Now in its fifth year, the annual Water@UW-Madison symposium has become a vital event that gives attendees a chance to hear about a broad swath of cutting-edge water research and outreach. With many short sessions, it’s one of the fastest and most informative ways to learn about the state of Wisconsin’s water and what’s being done to protect this critical resource.

The online event takes place Tuesday, May 5. (Photo illustration: Water@UW-Madison)

This year, like most other conferences in the era of COVID-19, Water@UW-Madison is going virtual. The online event will take place Tuesday, May 5, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This year’s theme is “Working Together to Address Water Challenges: UW-Madison and State Government.”

Attendees can participate via Zoom or, if they prefer, by watching the Water@UW-Madison YouTube channel. One need not be affiliated with the university to participate. Currently, over 250 people have registered for the Zoom sessions.

Said David Koser, a project assistant at the UW-Madison Aquatic Sciences Center (home to Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Water Resources Institute), “The symposium is going to be informative and a lot of fun. UW-Madison’s partnerships and collaborations with state government are key to the health and well-being of the people of Wisconsin. Our speakers will have great material to share, and we hope that this event will show the strength of our existing relationships as well as help build new ones.” Koser helps coordinate this signature event.

Numerous Aquatic Sciences Center staff are involved in this year’s event. Director Jim Hurley and Associate Director Jen Hauxwell will both present sessions, and Hauxwell is chair-elect for the Water@UW-Madison group. During intermissions, virtual attendees will see water-related artwork chosen by Anne Moser, senior special librarian for the Wisconsin Water Library.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank will welcome attendees, and Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes has provided a video introduction. There will be an in-depth presentation by Rep. Todd Novak and Rep. Katrina Shankland of the Wisconsin State Assembly. These two legislators lead the Speaker’s Water Quality Task Force.

For complete information, including an agenda, visit https://water.wisc.edu/2020springsymposium/.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/asc-plays-key-role-in-water-symposium/

Aquatic Sciences Center plays key role in Water@UW-Madison symposium

On: April 29, 2020

In: David Koser, Jennifer Hauxwell, Jim Hurley, UW-Madison, water

The online symposium will be held Tuesday, May 5. (Photo illustration: Water@UW-Madison)

For complete information, including an agenda, visit https://water.wisc.edu/2020springsymposium/.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/aquatic-sciences-center-plays-key-role-in-wateruw-madison-symposium/

Maritime archaeology initiative will bring Wisconsin’s historic lumber trade alive for learners of all ages

On: April 27, 2020

In: Caitlin Zant, maritime archaeology, shipwrecks, Tamara Thomsen, Tami Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society

Wisconsin Historical Society archaeologists lead Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded effort

A century ago, Lake Michigan was a busy water highway for the lumber trade, connecting merchants in northern Wisconsin and Michigan with customers in bustling cities like Milwaukee and Chicago. While this Great Lakes lumber trade persisted into the 1920s and ‘30s, it peaked in the late 1800s. At one time, about 500 vessels traversed Lake Michigan as part of this trade, before rail and eventually trucking took over.

Shipwrecks help tell the story of the Great Lakes lumber trade. The Wisconsin Historical Society’s (WHS) highly active program in maritime archaeology documents these and other wrecks and shares its findings through a variety of educational efforts.

Now, through funding from Wisconsin Sea Grant, WHS is embarking on a new, two-year project called “Boatloads of Lumber.” One key outcome will be online learning resources tailored to a range of ages. WHS Maritime Archaeologists Caitlin Zant and Tamara Thomsen will lead the project, which also involves Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Anne Moser, who oversees the Wisconsin Water Library and education activities.

Caitlin Zant talks to Girl Scouts at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum about shipwrecks and the aquatic sciences. (Photo: Wendy Lutzke)

Said Zant, “Our program [at the Historical Society] does a lot of outreach and education, but a lot of it is focused on public presentations to a broad audience, and not really working as closely as we might with museum educators to create programming and activities for kids of all ages.”

Zant said requests have been increasing to speak to groups like 4-H, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

Although this project, a part of Sea Grant’s 2020-22 funding cycle, has been in the planning stages for quite some time, the current COVID-19 pandemic and rapid shift to online instruction has made it even more relevant.

Said Zant, “Especially with recent events, everyone’s clamoring for this kind of content that anyone can teach to kids, to keep education going no matter what the age or no matter what the circumstances.”

The online resources will be developed in concert with museum educators, including those at museums devoted to maritime history. Collaborators include the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, the Port Exploreum in Port Washington and the Door County Maritime Museum’s locations in Sturgeon Bay and Gills Rock.

By end of year one, Zant said that museum educators will have tested draft versions of the new resources. Feedback from the educators will help the team refine the tools, and final versions will be ready by the end of year two.

Sea Grant’s Moser will help ensure that the tools convey a cohesive message in terms of Great Lakes literacy. Shipwrecks can be a way for learners of all ages to connect with other issues affecting the Great Lakes, from aquatic invasive species and water quality to currents and sand movement.

Diving into history

A second key aspect of the “Boatloads of Lumber” project is a field school to help recreational divers and archaeology enthusiasts learn techniques to properly survey and document wrecks they may find.

After a day of diving and collecting data, students in the 2015 field school work on the site plan of the shipwreck Grape Shot. (Photo: Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society)

As Zant noted, her office at WHS does not go out in search of shipwrecks, generally speaking. However, they do get valuable tips from members of the public when shifting sands and varying water levels uncover parts of a wreck. With training, history buffs and divers can learn more about maritime archaeology skills like how to draw underwater.

WHS first tried a field school approach in 2015, working with the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association on a wreck in Door County. It was a great success.

For the current grant project, the focus will be on the Sidney O. Neff, a wooden vessel built in 1890 by a Manitowoc company. It sank in 1939 with no loss of life. Now it lies, heavily covered by invasive quagga mussels, in about 12 feet of water near the Marinette lighthouse.

Said Zant, “The Sidney O. Neff is well suited for learning because it is in a relatively protected area” with fairly shallow water. “Over the course of the project, students can come up out of the water and ask questions. We try to make [the field school] as safe an environment as possible. Sometimes people are working underwater for the first time.”

The Minnesota-based Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society has been a key partner in these field schools and will also participate in the Sidney O. Neff project.

Wisconsin stories—and national, too

Thanks to the diligence of Wisconsin’s maritime archaeologists, Wisconsin has the most individually listed shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places. (Shipwrecks, like buildings, may also be listed in groups as “districts.”)

The field of maritime archaeology excites Zant because it weaves together so many individual strands, from diving to archival research to public outreach and education. And getting shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters onto the National Register helps preserve and tell a larger story about their importance and history.

Said Zant, “Our state has been really active in using the National Register criteria… as a way to be able record these shipwrecks and then understand their historical significance not only to Wisconsin, but also to the country as a whole. They have this whole backstory that connects Wisconsin to the East Coast, and that connects the East Coast all the way out to the frontier, and it really tells this story on a more national level.”

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/maritime-archaeology-initiative-will-bring-wisconsins-historic-lumber-trade-alive-for-learners-of-all-ages/

Lake Talks series postponed

On: April 17, 2020

In: COVID-19, Lake Talks

Due to public health concerns related to COVID-19, the two remaining events in the Lake Talks series for spring 2020 will be postponed and rescheduled for fall. Once new dates are selected, Wisconsin Sea Grant will announce the information on its website and social media accounts.

The rescheduled events were to take place on May 28 in Green Bay and May 30 in Kenosha.

A similar series, the River Talks, which is co-hosted by the Wisconsin and Minnesota Sea Grant programs along with the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, has also suspended its spring events out of ongoing concern for public health. Our first priority is keeping speakers and potential audiences safe.

To read about the spring Lake Talk that was able to take place–a March 4 event in Green Bay called “Setting Sail for Great Lakes Learning”–read our blog entry summarizing that panel discussion.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/lake-talks-series-postponed/

New walleye study aims to make it a viable fish for U.S. recirculating aquaculture

On: April 13, 2020

In: aquaculture, Chris Hartleb, Emma Wiermaa, fish farming, Greg Fischer, NADF, Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility, RAS, saugeye, UW-Stevens Point, UWSP, walleye

Research at UW-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility focuses on out-of-season spawning

Nothing says “Wisconsin” quite like a Friday night fish fry with all the trimmings: rye bread, cole slaw, French fries, and perhaps a cold beer or brandy Old Fashioned. For many people, the star at the center of the plate is crisply battered walleye.

Yet most of the walleye served in restaurants or purchased in grocery stores actually comes from Canada, including a sizable amount from the Canadian waters of Lake Erie, where it is netted by commercial fishermen.

These walleye, raised in a recirculating aquaculture system at the UW-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility, are about a year old. (Photo: UWSP NADF)

One way to increase the availability of this popular fish year-round and have it come from U.S. sources is through aquaculture, or fish farming. Research conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (NADF) and funded by Wisconsin Sea Grant is helping fish farmers get closer to being able to raise walleye year-round in indoor recirculating aquaculture systems.

Said Chris Hartleb, NADF Director and Professor of Fisheries Biology at UW-Stevens Point, “For the past eight years, Wisconsin Sea Grant has provided funding to tackle some of the challenges” related to domesticating walleye (Sander vitreus) and making it suitable for farming. Previous research has examined whether walleye can be raised in tanks and, if so, what the optimal density in the tank is for the fish to thrive, as well as starter feeds for walleye and saugeye, a naturally occurring hybrid of walleye and sauger.

Hartleb and Greg Fischer, NADF Assistant Director/Research Program Manager, are the lead investigators on a new project funded by Wisconsin Sea Grant in its 2020-22 project cycle.

The project will focus on making walleye eggs, fry and juveniles available year-round through out-of-season spawning triggered by photothermal manipulation. This means carefully controlling the amount of light and the temperature to which the fish are exposed. That way, multiple crops of fish could be produced throughout the year, as opposed to the single time per year that happens in the wild.

Other key players in conducting the research are NADF Foreman Kendall Holmes, an advanced fish technician, and fellow technician Jared Neibauer. Aquaculture Outreach Specialist Emma Wiermaa will communicate research results to the fish farmers who can use them.

For the study, some fish will be exposed to an early “spring” in early February 2021, through warming water and more light. “And then hopefully those fish will be triggered to spawn, and we’ll get eggs by the end of February. And so, if it works, we’ll get juvenile fish probably around April or early May,” said Hartleb.

A control group of fish will spawn on the normal cycle that wild fish would—sometime in April—and a third group of fish will have an extended “winter” (again, due to light and temperature) and spawn late.

While this plan may sound straightforward, it is not guaranteed to work in practice. “It sounds simple enough, since those are the two main triggers for fish to spawn: light and temperature,” said Hartleb. “But some studies have shown”—such as work by Sea Grant’s other aquaculture specialist, Fred Binkowski, involving yellow perch at UW-Milwaukee—“that if you rush them or if you delay them, sometimes the embryos, the offspring, turn out not be viable.”

And not only may embryos die, so may juveniles or early adults, so that’s why it is crucial to grow the fish in the study out to a marketable size of 1 to 1.5 pounds.

Because the NADF team will need to keep producing batches of walleye, they’re working with a range of public and private partners to help them grow the fish out to full size. Those partners include the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation in northern Illinois and Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon, which is starting an aquaculture program. Northside Enterprises, a fish farm in Black Creek, Wisconsin, will also participate, and several other farms throughout the state have also expressed interest in raising the young walleye to market size.

Earlier walleye outreach at NADF has addressed topics like showing farmers how to feed-train walleye to consume a commercial diet from hatch. (Photo: UWSP NADF)

Said Fischer, who has worked with walleye in a variety of systems for about three decades, “The capability to spawn walleye out of season in a controlled aquaculture setting is paramount to bringing commercial walleye production to fruition in the U.S. We have got to have eggs year-round for this to be commercially acceptable. This newest project will allow us to move this species into the commercial aquaculture production sector in the Midwest.”

As with other NADF projects, outreach is a key component, with Wiermaa—whose position is jointly supported by Wisconsin Sea Grant—leading efforts to share NADF research with fish farmers throughout the state.

Said Wiermaa, “Making our projects results accessible and presenting them in ways that are useful to farmers is just as important as the research results themselves.” This can take a number of forms, including fact sheets, manuals and videos.

Aquaculture Outreach Specialist Emma Wiermaa holds a walleye at the facility in Bayfield, Wis. (Photo: UWSP NADF)

Wiermaa has noted high interest among Midwest fish farmers looking to raise walleye commercially as a food fish. “To respond to these requests for assistance, the Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility recently completed a technical video series on raising walleye intensively in water reuse systems. The series compiles nearly a decade of research, and it is accessible online. Results from this newest project will be added to this video series and other outreach tools.”

Ultimately, the NADF team hopes that the research will result in more Wisconsin- and U.S.-raised fish on diners’ plates, and help expand Wisconsin’s aquaculture industry, which is currently a $21 million business that represents about 500 jobs.

“Every time we’ve concluded one of our projects, there’s just tremendous interest [from fish farmers] throughout the Upper Midwest. I think people realize that walleye are a great-tasting fish. And it’s a high-value fish, so it gets a good price on the market,” said Hartleb.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/new-walleye-study-at-uwsp-nadf/

WRI-funded research based at UW-Eau Claire untangles a complex phosphorus issue

On: March 27, 2020

In: Barron County, Brian Mahoney, groundwater, Mud Lake, phosphorus, Sarah Vitale, UW-Eau Claire

March 27, 2020

By Jennifer A. Smith

Unsightly and potentially toxic algal blooms have grabbed headlines in Wisconsin. Such blooms are driven by excessive levels of phosphorus or other nutrients. This can result in eutrophication, a process in which oxygen becomes depleted from a body of water, causing ill effects for fish and other aquatic life—and harming human activities like tourism and commercial fishing.

While agricultural runoff is a frequent source of excess phosphorus, research funded by the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) looks at a complex example in western Wisconsin where the answers are not so clear.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are investigating the possibility that naturally occurring phosphorus deep in the aquifer is the driver behind elevated levels of phosphorus in both surface water and groundwater. The study is regional and includes a case study focused on the Mud Lake area in Barron County, about 45 miles north of Eau Claire.

The study’s principal investigators are Assistant Professor Sarah Vitale and Professor J. Brian Mahoney, both of the UW-Eau Claire geology department. They received funding in WRI’s 2019-20 cycle for the study assessing the source and mobility of phosphorus in the hydrologic system in western Wisconsin. Joining them as a collaborator is Anna Baker, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Upper Midwest Water Science Center.

Five UW-Eau Claire geology majors are gaining valuable hands-on experience by assisting the research team with fieldwork, collecting and interpreting data, and giving presentations at professional meetings.

UW-Eau Claire students Chloe Malin and Jonah Gagnon install a mini well in Mud Lake for the 2018 field season. (Submitted photo)

In fact, three of those undergraduates—Emily Finger, Evan Lundeen and Jacob Erickson— had a scientific poster accepted to the annual “Posters on the Hill” event hosted by the Council on Undergraduate Research in Washington, D.C. While the April 2020 event has since been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the students’ selection to present their research to members of Congress and their staffers remains a badge of honor.

And before state travel restrictions were in effect, Mahoney and some of his students presented their work at a “Research in the Rotunda” poster session in the Wisconsin State Capitol.

Building on earlier work to address “red flags”

While the WRI-funded portion of this project began in summer 2019, the work had its beginnings three years earlier.

Said Vitale of her colleague, Mahoney: “Brian initially started the foundations of this project in 2016. He started having students look at water quality in western Wisconsin because there was a lot of concern over what the increase in silica sand mining would do to water quality in this part of the state.”

At the time, Mahoney and his students analyzed water from a variety of sources, like municipal wells and streams. They were surprised to find a large amount of phosphorus in both groundwater and surface water in the area.

“That stood out as a really big red flag, because everybody says there’s not supposed to be phosphorus in groundwater. It’s just always been assumed it will absorb onto sediment surfaces—and so the fact that there were really high concentrations of phosphorus in groundwater led to this project’s current form,” said Vitale.

This sparked curiosity about possible natural sources of phosphorus and how that phosphorus might be moving through the system.

In 2018, Vitale and Mahoney began a case study investigating groundwater discharge into Mud Lake, a lake known to have eutrophication problems. “The way we wrote this [WRI] proposal was to help continue the investigation. It’s been able to fund a second season of investigation for Mud Lake, as well as continued investigation of regional water quality.”

Vitale and her collaborators plan to use the funding to draw conclusions about where naturally occurring phosphorus is coming from.

Summarized Vitale, “We hope to wrap up the regional investigation and to really constrain which aquifers seem to be the biggest problem. Where is phosphorus concentrated the most in different aquifers? And in these deeper aquifers, the phosphorus is probably sourced from the rock itself, so which rocks are the main contributors to that?”

UW-Eau Claire student Jacob Erickson, a UW Water Research Fellow, prepares to collect a water sample from a mini well at Mud Lake. (Submitted photo)

The team’s WRI funding runs through June 2020. Other funds supporting this work have come from UW-Eau Claire’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. In addition, backing from the UW System Water Research Fellowship Program has allowed the project to expand to Lake Altoona in Eau Claire County.

The team has also recently been awarded a fiscal year 2021 grant from the State of Wisconsin Groundwater Research and Monitoring Program (for “Source to sink evaluation of phosphorus in the hydrologic system in Wisconsin: Implications for lake eutrophication”).

Three experts, working together

Vitale, Mahoney and Baker all bring different areas of expertise to the study. Vitale is a hydrogeologist who specializes in aquifer flow characterization (how water moves through various types of geology). Mahoney brings a background in rock chemistry, and so his primary focus is on understanding what the chemistry of the geology looks like and the likelihood of its influencing the water quality.

Baker’s primary expertise is in phosphorus migration through sediment transport. Because phosphorus does migrate through sediment runoff and other surface processes, Baker is helping the team understand, in Vitale’s words, “What do we need to look at to understand which components of this might be the water side, and which components might be the sediment influence? Anna is bringing that nutrient-loading background.”

Last spring, Vitale shared some results from this project at the meeting of the American Water Resources Association—Wisconsin Section. As the research progress, findings are also being shared with key stakeholders like the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, and organizations local to the Eau Claire area.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/uw-eau-claire-research-untangles-complex-phosphorus-issue/

Wisconsin fish farmers look to boost their marketing savvy and stay on top of current science

On: March 25, 2020

In: aquaculture, Bret Shaw, fish farming, Kristin Runge, Wisconsin Aquaculture Association

When you picture farming in Wisconsin, you might think first of dairy cattle or vegetable crops. But aquaculture, or fish farming, is also an important part of Wisconsin’s ag economy.

As one speaker—Todd Kalish of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources—pointed out at the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association’s annual conference earlier this month, fish farming represents $21 million in economic activity for our state and 500 jobs. Among Midwestern states, Wisconsin is home to the highest number of aquaculture operations.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic brought business travel to a halt for many, the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association (WAA) held its annual meeting March 6-7 in Marshfield. Wisconsin Sea Grant co-sponsored the conference, reflecting the importance the National Sea Grant Office places on developing sustainable, domestic aquaculture.

The theme of this year’s WAA conference was “Diversifying Our Markets.” As the organization’s president, Bill West of Blue Iris Fish Farm, noted, a lot of farmers love growing things, but find that marketing is not their strong suit or passion. As a result, several sessions were designed to help farmers think creatively about how to connect with consumers.

Bret Shaw presents Sea Grant-supported research on needs and opportunities faced by Wisconsin fish farmers. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers Bret Shaw and Kristin Runge presented their Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded research over several sessions. They undertook a multi-part project that looked at how fish farmers perceive their industry, and what their needs and opportunities are; what Wisconsin consumers think about farm-raised fish; and how people respond to social-media messaging about farmed fish.

Although not present at the conference, collaborators in this work included Shiyu Yang, Laura Witzling, Chris Hartleb and Deidre Peroff. You can find full reports on the work done by this team online (see “Aquaculture in Wisconsin: Results from a Statewide Survey of Fish Farmers” and “Consumer Attitudes Toward Wisconsin Farm-Raised Fish: Public Opinion and Marketing Recommendations.”)

Other sessions covered public-private partnerships related to fish stocking, the latest research from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility, fish health and biosecurity, yellow perch research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, workforce development and more.

Rainbow trout served at lunch came from Silver Moon Springs Farm in Elton, Wisconsin. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)

Of course, it’s not an aquaculture conference without getting to taste the fruits of Wisconsin farmers’ labors. In addition to the traditional “Taste of Wisconsin” evening social highlighting local products, Friday’s lunch—while attendees heard from National Aquaculture Association President Paul Zajicek—was a tasty and healthy plate of rainbow trout from Silver Moon Springs Farm in Elton, Wisconsin.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-fish-farmers-boost-marketing-savvy/

Lake Talks kick off with “Setting Sail for Great Lakes Learning”

On: March 18, 2020

In: Denis Sullivan, place-based learning, shipboard science, tribal knowledge

On a Wednesday night in Green Bay earlier this month, three friends reunited to help Wisconsin Sea Grant launch something new: a series we’re calling the Lake Talks. This series of informal talks in different communities near our Lake Michigan shore will touch on a variety of topics related to life in the Great Lakes region. (The name signals that it’s a counterpart to our River Talks, which take place in Superior and connect to the St. Louis River Estuary.)

Kelly Koller, Christina Dzwonkowski, Anne Moser and Dave Landers all helped kick off the Lake Talks, a new series from Wisconsin Sea Grant. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)

For the March 4 presentation at Green Bay’s Neville Public Museum, called “Setting Sail for Great Lakes Learning,” our speakers were Christina Dzwonkowski, Kelly Koller and Dave Landers. The latter two are teachers in Howard-Suamico and Pulaski, respectively, and Dzwonkowski is a conservation warden with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) whose job also includes educational duties, such as sharing with kids a “Critter of the Month.”

All three sailed Lake Superior in August 2019 aboard the Denis Sullivan, a replica 19^th-century schooner. Their purpose was a shipboard science workshop. This professional development opportunity for teachers and informal educators helped build a network among them, and also gave them fresh inspiration to take back to their classrooms and other settings.

Anne Moser, senior special librarian at the Wisconsin Water Library, also sailed aboard the ship and introduced the three panelists.

The trio’s presentation was both serious and lighthearted. All three expressed wonder at how small one feels when navigating the waters of an inland sea, gazing up at the stars. But they also talked about little victories aboard a vessel with limited personal space, like getting the toilet to flush or coping with sometimes unpleasant smells that were hard to escape from sleeping bunks near the facilities.

Koller began the talk by mentioning a principle known as “Etuaptmumk,” or “two-eyed seeing.” The word is a Mi’kmaq one, and it guided the 2019 Denis Sullivan trip, which drew from both Western science and the traditional knowledge of the peoples who were the first inhabitants of the Great Lakes region.

Landers described the group’s route from St. Ignace, Michigan, to Duluth, with some memorable experiences along the way, such as learning from Karen Diver about treaty rights and tribal sovereignty. Diver served as President Obama’s Special Assistant for Native American Affairs and is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

Dzwonkowski, the GLIFWC representative, is based in Odanah, Wisconsin, and is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She’s one of 22 wardens covering three states for the agency, which was formed in 1984. Her role combines law enforcement, conservation and education. She marveled at how she and her fellow sailors could feel like a family so quickly—despite the intensity of the trip, it lasted just six days.

All three echoed the importance of Great Lakes literacy and place-based education that helps kids and adults alike appreciate the amazing region we live in and understand it through more than one framework.

One resource that Koller recommended to the 35 or so attendees is the book “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Educators who are interested in going on the next shipboard science workshop may apply now (though, like everything these days, plans may be affected due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation). Applications are due April 6; find information on the website of the Center for Great Lakes Literacy.

We thank Dzwonkowski, Koller and Landers for sharing their experiences with us, and helping get the Lake Talks off to such a great start! We are also grateful to the Neville Public Museum for generously hosting us. You can read more about the Denis Sullivan trip in this earlier story in our online newsroom.

Barring any cancellations or delays due to the current public health situation, the next Lake Talk is scheduled for May 28 in Green Bay. “Green Bay: A Saga of Life, Destruction and Restoration” will feature two University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate student researchers, Cadie Olson and Brandon Falish.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/lake-talks-kick-off/

In-person sessions on Great Lakes water levels replaced by March 18 webinar

On: March 12, 2020

In: Adam Bechle, coastal hazards, Great Lakes, water levels

Face-to-face panels in Manitowoc, Somers and Mequon on Great Lakes water levels canceled; replaced by single online session

Due to concerns related to the spread of COVID-19, three face-to-face public information meetings about Great Lakes water levels have been canceled. These sessions were scheduled for Manitowoc (March 17), Somers (March 18) and Mequon (March 19).

The three in-person meetings have been replaced by a single online session, which will take place on Wednesday, March 18, from 6 to 8 p.m. People may attend this virtual session through Zoom at this web address: https://zoom.us/j/152994777

Additionally, a recording will be posted on Wisconsin Sea Grant’s YouTube channel after the events.

The online information session (like the in-person sessions that were canceled) will include experts from Wisconsin Sea Grant, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. (See our earlier story about these sessions here.)

The issue is timely because Great Lakes water levels have been at or near record highs in recent months, prompting concern among many Wisconsin residents. The Zoom webinar will address what’s in store for Great Lakes water levels through spring and summer of this year.

Said Dr. Adam Bechle, a coastal engineering outreach specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant who is helping organize the webinar, “It is unfortunate that we need to cancel the three face-to-face sessions, but it is the prudent choice given the COVID-19 situation and public health. We remain committed to sharing important information about Great Lakes water levels with the public, and the online webinar will allow us to do so. We encourage people to watch it live on March 18, or look for the recorded version later.”

Questions about the Great Lakes water levels webinar may be directed to Bechle at (608) 263-5133.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/in-person-sessions-on-great-lakes-water-levels-replaced-by-march-18-webinar/

View or print an event flyer here.

Experts host additional panels about Great Lakes water levels and their impact

On: March 2, 2020

In: Adam Bechle, coastal hazards, erosion, flooding, Great Lakes, water levels

Great Lakes water levels have been at or near record highs in recent months, prompting concern among many Wisconsin residents.

Those interested in learning what’s in store for Great Lakes water levels through spring and summer 2020 are invited to attend one of three upcoming informational meetings in communities along Lake Michigan.

At each session, attendees will hear from experts from Wisconsin Sea Grant, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. There will also be time for attendees to ask questions. Seating at all sessions is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The three sessions are:

Manitowoc: Tuesday, March 17, 6 to 8 p.m.
UW-Green Bay, Manitowoc Campus
University Theater
705 Viebahn St.
Manitowoc, WI 54420

Somers/Kenosha: Wednesday, March 18, 6 to 8 p.m.
UW-Parkside
Student Center Cinema
900 Wood Rd.
Somers, WI 53133

Mequon: Thursday, March 19, 6 to 8 p.m.
MATC Mequon Campus
Lecture Hall, Room A289
5555 W. Highland Rd.
Mequon, WI 53092

Dr. Adam Bechle, a coastal engineering outreach specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant, will speak at all three panels. Said Bechle, “We have worked with federal, state and local partners to host a couple of these meetings in the past few months, and they have been quite well attended. With Great Lakes water levels already breaking records this year, demand for information continues to grow. These meetings will help folks understand the current water level situation, as well as possible steps forward to address the impacts of these high water levels.”

Those who are unable to attend the events in person may attend virtually through Zoom.

Additionally, a recording will be posted on Wisconsin Sea Grant’s YouTube channel after the events.

View or print a list of resources for Great Lakes property owners here.

Questions about the events may be directed to Bechle at (608) 263-5133.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/experts-host-additional-panels-about-great-lakes-water-levels-and-their-impact/

Wisconsin Sea Grant kicks off new series of public talks with March 4 Green Bay event

On: February 17, 2020

In: Lake Talks, lectures, shipboard science

Educators will discuss life aboard a replica 19th-century schooner for a shipboard science workshop

Wisconsin Sea Grant is launching a new series of free, public talks called “The Lake Talks.” The talks will take place in communities on or near Lake Michigan and touch upon issues of importance to the Great Lakes.

The first event will be held at the Neville Public Museum (210 Museum Place) in Green Bay on Wednesday, March 4, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The topic is “Setting Sail for Great Lakes Learning.”

Admission to the Neville Museum is free for Brown County residents after 5 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month, so area residents will be able to visit the museum and attend the talk for free.

“Setting Sail for Great Lakes Learning” will be a panel with time for audience questions. The speakers will be three educators who set sail from St. Ignace, Mich., in August 2019 aboard a replica 19^th-century schooner, the Denis Sullivan.

Over the course of six days, they sailed to Duluth, Minn., along with 13 other educators. Their main purpose was a shipboard science workshop focusing on Great Lakes ecology, water quality, and awareness of tribal approaches to research and natural resource management.

While engaging in a busy schedule of science activities, the educators were also expected to pull their weight as crew members sailing the three-masted schooner, from swabbing the deck to keeping watch at night.

Attendees will hear from panelists about the challenges and high points of this unique voyage and how it enhanced their classroom instruction once they got home. Panelists are: Kelly Koller, Howard-Suamico School District; Dave Landers, Pulaski Community Middle School; and Christina Dzwonkowski, conservation warden with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.

All are welcome at this event. It will be of special interest to those with an interest in the Great Lakes, sailing, science (including citizen science efforts) and Ojibwe culture.

Future installments of the Lake Talks will take place in Green Bay on May 28 at the STEM Innovation Center on the UW-Green Bay campus, and on May 30 in Kenosha at Public Craft Brewing Co. Those events are also free and open to the public; more details will be released soon on the Lake Talks page.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-sea-grant-kicks-off-new-series-of-public-talks-with-march-4-green-bay-event/

Three-year, nationally funded salmon aquaculture project kicks off with northern Wisconsin meeting

On: January 30, 2020

In: aquaculture, aquaponics, Atlantic salmon, Emma Wiermaa, Greg Fischer, RAS, RAS-N, recirculating aquaculture, Salmo salar, workforce development

Sea Grant effort will support growth of land-based salmon industry in U.S.

Meeting attendees from across the country got a true taste of a northern Wisconsin winter at the inaugural meeting for a Sea Grant-funded effort to support the sustainable development of the land-based Atlantic salmon industry in the U.S.

As the gathering kicked off in Washburn in December, the mercury read a nippy 6 degrees Fahrenheit, with subzero wind chills. Yet energy levels inside the Harbor View Event Center were high as approximately 50 attendees began laying the groundwork for a robust collaboration that was dubbed RAS-N, for “Recirculating Aquaculture Salmon Network.”

The effort is being funded as part of a larger package of $16 million in federal aquaculture grants announced in September 2019 by the National Sea Grant Office.

Participants at the meeting included Sea Grant staff from Maryland, Maine and Wisconsin, as well as the National Sea Grant Office; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff; and representatives from private industry, including feed and salmon producers.

Maryland Sea Grant is leading the three-year project to identify and address challenges faced by the land-based Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) industry. The Wisconsin and Maine Sea Grant programs are partners in the multistate consortium. The project builds upon earlier Sea Grant investment in this area, including research based in Wisconsin.

The December event spanned two full days of presentations and discussion. It also featured a tour of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (NADF) in nearby Bayfield. Attendees observed various NADF research projects with Atlantic salmon and other fish species.

Emma Wiermaa, an aquaculture outreach specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant and NADF, and Greg Fischer, assistant director and research program manager at NADF, played major roles in organizing this productive event.

Said Fischer, “I was very impressed by the commitment of the group, who showed up in the middle of a good old-fashioned Wisconsin snowstorm. Even with record-setting low temperatures, many expressed how glad they were that they came, some from as far as Europe.”

Growing the economy—and the workforce

As one of the conference speakers noted — Brian Peterson of the USDA’s National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center in Maine — seafood represents the United States’ largest trade deficit of any agricultural product. And, as David O’Brien, acting director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture, told the group, “Wild fisheries alone cannot meet the increasing demand for seafood.”

This sets the stage for sustainable U.S. aquaculture to help meet the world’s demand for seafood while growing a sector of the U.S. economy.

Emma Wiermaa, aquaculture outreach specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility. (Photo: Jim Gill)

As Wiermaa observed, “Land-based, water reuse systems for growing Atlantic salmon allow the fish to be raised close to market, with limited impacts on the surrounding environment. The result is fresh, local filets for consumers.”

Wisconsin-based Superior Fresh is already having success in this arena as the country’s first land-based Atlantic salmon producer and world’s largest aquaponic farm. Said Chief Science Officer Steve Summerfelt, 99.9% of the facility’s water flow is recycled, and there is zero discharge to surface water. Superior Fresh currently employs more than 70 staff and is expanding.

Representatives from Riverence, Whole Oceans and American Salmon — other private entities currently in this space or preparing to launch facilities — also presented.

Several speakers addressed the educational and workforce development aspects of the industry.

Scarlett Tudor of the University of Maine’s Aquaculture Research Institute described her campus’ approach to fostering the future aquaculture workforce. By placing paid interns in companies, the university helps students build their resumes while conducting research for industry that may not otherwise be possible. The university is also interested in reaching noncredit students. As Tudor noted, hands-on experience is key in the aquaculture world, and not everyone needs a degree for their particular career path.

Wiermaa noted that NADF hosts one or two student technicians at a time, and more than 90% of those techs find aquaculture positions after their stint in Bayfield is over. UW-Stevens Point is a leader in aquaculture education. It is the first accredited university in Wisconsin to offer an aquaculture minor (which is still uncommon in U.S. colleges) and the first in the country to offer full-semester aquaponics courses, a master class and professional certificate program.

Aquaculture manager Kyle Woolever handles young Atlantic salmon at Wisconsin-based Superior Fresh, an aquaponic farm raising leafy greens along with fish. (Photo: Sara Stathas)

Fish health, biosecurity, consumer perceptions and other topics were also addressed during the wide-ranging meeting. The aim of this gathering was to bring together a small, focused group of stakeholders to get the project off the ground.

Said Summerfelt, “I’m excited that Sea Grant has supported RAS-N, which has brought together land-based salmon stakeholders–producers, suppliers, trainers of the workforce, and academics—for the first time. With this kickoff meeting in Washburn, we have begun preparing a roadmap to address our needs and gaps in knowledge to reduce risk and increase production efficiencies, as well as consumer awareness. RAS-N is providing a terrific venue for collaboration.”

Future steps in 2020 will be a RAS-N session at the Aquaculture America conference in Honolulu in February, and a fall gathering at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore. Organizers expect to invite a larger group of stakeholders to the Maryland meeting as the collaboration continues to take shape.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/salmon-aquaculture-project-kickoff/

New videos can help you brush up on your salt smarts

On: January 9, 2020

In: groundwater, salt, Water quality

Jan. 9, 2020

By Jennifer A. Smith

Too much salt is never a good thing—whether on your dinner plate or on sidewalks, driveways and roads during a long Wisconsin winter.

Students walk across a slushy UW-Madison campus. When dissolved, salt will go wherever the water goes. (Image: still from video by Bonnie Willison)

When that salt dissolves on paved surfaces, it goes anywhere the water goes, making its way from storm drains into lakes and other waterbodies. That salt runoff increases the concentration of salt in our waters, affecting not only surface water but also groundwater (the source of drinking water for most Wisconsinites).

Thanks to a new video (two, actually), Wisconsinites can brush up on their salt smarts. The videos were backed by a group of partners that included the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute, UW-Madison, UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, Wisconsin Salt Wise and the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District.

A five-minute video is aimed at general audiences, offering tips on how to apply de-icing products most effectively, depending on the air temperature, pavement temperature and type of product. The amount of salt needed to be effective may be less than you think! For example, just one coffee mug full of salt can treat a 20-foot driveway or 10 sidewalk squares.

A longer, ten-minute version of the video was designed for UW-Madison maintenance staff, who work tirelessly throughout the winter to keep the campus a safe place.

As the video notes, the Wisconsin Salt Wise website has a product application calculator that can help take the guesswork out of this task.

Abigail Ernst, who completed her master’s degree in water resources management at UW-Madison in December 2019, worked on the videos’ content and appears onscreen along with fellow water resources student Tristyn Forget. The videos were part of Ernst’s practicum for her degree. As she noted, this project grew out of stakeholder needs. While UW-Madison custodial staff strive to be mindful of salt use, they also knew it was an area for improvement and ongoing staff training.

Said Ernst, “One of the most rewarding parts of producing this video was the wide variety of people I got to collaborate with. I enjoyed working closely with the custodial department, specifically Kris Ackerbauer, Steve Heitz, Brad Marta and John Brixy. They are such a welcoming and accommodating group. I was so happy we could develop a training video that was primarily driven by their wants and needs.”

Abigail Ernst demonstrates proper salting procedure in the video. (Image: still from video by Bonnie Willison)

While translations of the longer video are still in progress, eventually it will be captioned in Tibetan, Hmong, Spanish and Nepali—which, along with English, are the most common languages spoken by UW maintenance staff.

Bonnie Willison, video producer for the Water Resources Institute and Wisconsin Sea Grant, worked with Ernst and other collaborators to bring the content to life in a concise and compelling way.

Both videos bring science and practical tips together to address what Hilary Dugan, a UW-Madison assistant professor of integrative biology interviewed in the videos, stresses is a solvable problem.

By brushing up on our winter knowledge, we can all do our part to promote public safety (after all, no one wants to wipe out on the sidewalk!) while protecting our freshwater resources.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/new-videos-can-help-you-brush-up-on-your-salt-smarts/

Say yes, know what you want, and other lessons learned as a Wisconsin Sea Grant Fellow

On: November 21, 2019

In: Bridget Faust, Coastal States Organization, CSO, Fellows, OCM

Guest post by Bridget Faust, 2018-19 Wisconsin Sea Grant Fellow

Bridget Faust

I arrived at the Hall of the States first thing in the morning on April 2, 2018. As I walked up to the building, I glimpsed the top of the Capitol dome and couldn’t help but smile. I thought to myself, “I live here now. I work here now.”

It was my first day at the Coastal States Organization (CSO), and I was nervous. I quickly signed myself into the building, made my way up to the sixth floor, took a deep breath and walked into the office where I’d be spending about half my time for the next 15 months. The space was small. Three offices and three cubicles fit snugly inside. The walls were aquarium blue.

Days later, I repeated this exercise when I went to NOAA’s Silver Spring office for the first time. The sound of waves breaking in the wave pool that stands outside of SSMC4 told me that I was in the right place.

And so it began. After five years of working towards this fellowship opportunity, I was in D.C. serving as a Wisconsin Sea Grant Fellow in a joint position with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (OCM) and CSO.

During my time in D.C., I worked on a variety of things that OCM and CSO work on together and helped them to improve their coordination. This included supporting implementation of the National Coastal Zone Management Program Strategic Plan by coordinating the Digital Coast Resource for Coastal Managers webinar series, helping to run CSO’s Coastal Nonpoint Work Group, supporting the administration of the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program, and serving on the project team for an economic assessment scoping study of the National CZM Program.

Time passed more quickly than I could have imagined, and along the way, I learned some major lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my career. I have summarized these lessons below for any recent graduate or graduate student who is considering applying to a fellowship program.

At the Restoring America’s Estuaries / Coastal States Organization summit in Long Beach, California.

Say yes to new and challenging opportunities.

During my time as a fellow, I was asked to take the lead on a number of tasks that pushed me outside of my comfort zone. For example, having never worked in the nonpoint source pollution realm, facilitating calls on the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program seemed like a daunting task. After all, I wasn’t an expert. How could I help states that have so much more experience? Working with the work group ended up being one of the most rewarding experiences of my fellowship, and I am so glad I ended up saying yes to the opportunity. Fellowships provide recent graduates with a rare chance to try new things! I would encourage future fellows to say yes when they are asked to try something new to benefit fully from this experience.

Know what you want to get out of your fellowship before you start.

Before I even started my fellowship, I outlined learning objectives and experiences that I wanted to gain with my career goals in mind. While I didn’t end up accomplishing all of them, knowing what I wanted to get out of my fellowship before I started allowed me to tailor my experience so it not only benefited OCM and CSO, but also allowed me to gain the skills that I needed to build my resume.

Ask questions, even if they seem foolish.

Exploring D.C. with my fiance, Josh.

This probably goes without saying, but the old adage is true: there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Almost a year into my fellowship, I made the mistake of assuming that staff didn’t need to register for a meeting that we were helping to plan. That’s how it had been at my last job, so why wouldn’t it be the same here, right? Wrong. I did need to register and by the time I asked the question, the meeting was just weeks away. Everything worked out in the end, but the stress of the situation could have been avoided had I just asked instead of making an assumption.

I had a chance to see the Block Island Wind Farm up close during a site visit for CSO’s fall meeting in Providence, Rhode Island.

The Wisconsin Sea Grant Fellowship was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain practical experience applying the skills I’d learned as a graduate student at UW-Madison.

It also helped to prepare me for the job I currently have today. Since July 2019, I have been working for CSS, a private sector firm in the environmental services industry, as a coastal management specialist on contract to NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management. I live and work from the Twin Cities area, which is home for me.

Aside from being in a different location, my day-to-day tasks have not changed significantly since my fellowship ended. I am still supporting National CZM Strategic Plan implementation and Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program administration. I am part of the economic assessment project team, and I still work closely with my former colleagues at CSO. The only major difference is that I no longer formally wear a CSO “hat.”

In sum, I’d highly recommend one of Sea Grant’s many fellowship programs to current graduate or Ph.D. students who are looking for practical experience outside of academia!

Photo credits: All photos in story submitted by Bridget Faust.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/lessons-learned-as-a-sea-grant-fellow/

Morgan Witte honored (again!) for sturgeon poster, gets ready to wrap up her time at ASC

On: November 1, 2019

In: Anne Moser, graduate students, Morgan Witte, sturgeon, Wisconsin Water Library

In a few short weeks, the Aquatic Sciences Center (ASC) will bid a fond farewell to Morgan Witte, who has served as a graduate project assistant since fall 2018. Witte, who works mainly with the Wisconsin Water Library, will graduate in December with a master’s degree from UW-Madison’s Information School. Senior Special Librarian Anne Moser has been her primary mentor at the ASC.

Morgan Witte holds a sturgeon decoy made by master carver George Schmidt and her most recent award. (Photo: Bonnie Willison)

Witte departs with two awards for her work on sturgeon-related projects that have extended the reach of “People of the Sturgeon: Wisconsin’s Love Affair with an Ancient Fish,” the well-loved book written by Kathy Kline, Fred Binkowski and Ronald Bruch. This has included cataloging and finding a permanent digital home for related audio files, as well as a well-attended exhibition on all things sturgeon in Fond du Lac. A poster Witte created about the sturgeon work was honored in the “Best Content” category at the recent yearly conference of the Wisconsin Library Association. The poster also won “Best Content” earlier this year at a conference specifically for academic librarians. (Learn more here.)

Said Moser, “Morgan has done an extraordinary job here at the ASC during her graduate program. These awards are well-deserved recognition of her innovation, hard work and contributions.”

Witte, who is graduating a semester early, has found her time at the Water Library eye opening. Robust, statewide outreach and educational programming are a major part of the library’s mission—something not typical for an academic library on a university campus.

The library collects materials one might not expect, such as children’s books and curriculum materials. It also develops STEM kits for kids that anyone in Wisconsin (like classroom teachers, librarians and parents) can borrow for free.

“Because of the materials this library collects,” said Witte, “I think that lends itself a lot to that outreach mission. I really hope to take that with me to wherever I work after this, because it’s so great to see not only the impact the library has on communities, but the impact those communities then have on the library. That influences your collection and what pieces of your collection you choose to highlight at what times of the year. And building those connections in a community can really strengthen the library, as well as the other way around.”

Her experience at the ASC has also given Witte exposure to its two programs, Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Water Resources Institute. “An inspiring part of this job is I’ve had a chance to learn from people who are doing amazing and innovative things in their respective fields.”

When Witte leaves the ASC, she’ll embark on an exciting new chapter of her life: relocating to Colorado to join her fiancé, who recently landed his dream job in Fort Collins as a wildlife geneticist. There, Witte—who is originally from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin—will job-hunt as she puts down roots in her new community.

Whether she lands in a public, academic or government library, she’s eager to apply her background in the sciences with the skills she honed at the Water Library, especially with regard to outreach and public programming.

She’s been a great asset to the ASC for the past year and half, and we wish her well in her future endeavors!

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/morgan-witte-honored/