Marie Zhuikov (Page 2)

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In: A Taste of Wisconsin Waters event, Bodin Fisheries, Charlie Henriksen, Emma Hauser, Henriksen Fisheries, Ho-Chunk Nation, Hoop's Fish Market, Marlon White Eagle, Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility, Preston Cole, Rock Springs Free Spring water, Sharon Moen, Steve Summerfelt, Superior Fresh, United Nations Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

A Taste of Wisconsin Waters

On: December 22, 2022

A Wisconsin Sea Grant event held in Madison this fall celebrated Wisconsin’s water, from drinking water to water on which businesses rely for their livelihoods. These include commercial fishing and aquaculture operations.

A centerpiece at the Taste of Wisconsin Waters event featured a floating candle, cranberries and rocks. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

This first-ever, invitation-only event was organized by Sharon Moen, food fish outreach specialist. She got the idea from conducting a needs assessment with commercial fishermen and fish farmers in Wisconsin.

“They told me what they would really like Sea Grant to help them with was articulating the importance of their industries to decision-makers,” Moen said. She incorporated that into the event by inviting state legislators and natural resource professionals. Two other objectives were to celebrate Wisconsin Sea Grant’s 50th anniversary and the United Nations’ Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture.

“The U.N. really took a bold stand on supporting local fishing communities and what they bring to society,” Moen said. “Certainly, aquaculture and fisheries in Wisconsin could be considered artisanal compared to some of the big operations.”

A Taste of Wisconsin Waters featured a water bar where event-goers could sample nine waters from around the state and vote for their favorite. Same for a fish spread table, which featured eight spreads donated by commercial fisherman and fish farmers throughout the state.

The favorite Wisconsin water was Rock Springs Free Spring water from a natural spring near Madison. The favorite fish spread was a tie between Bodin Fisheries and Hoop’s Fish Market. Both are located in Bayfield, Wisconsin, and used whitefish as their base ingredient.

An event participant samples Wisconsin water from the water bar. Credit: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant

“People had a good chance to network with each other and taste some appetizers made out of the fish and listen to some speeches,” said Moen. “I was really pleased that Preston Cole was able to join us. He’s the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin, and then Marlon White Eagle, the president of the Ho-Chunk Nation was able to join us, too. So, it was really great to have dignitaries and scientists and fish producers all mingling together and to hear those conversations.”

Speeches were also offered by Wisconsin Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley; Steve Summerfelt, chief science officer for Superior Fresh, an aquaponics business that raises Atlantic salmon and grows leafy greens in Hixton, Wisconsin; and Charlie Henriksen of Henriksen Fisheries.

Cole outlined current challenges facing water systems in Wisconsin. “There’s a lot of places in the state of Wisconsin that people don’t have surety when they turn on their tap that they’re going to have clean fresh drinking water,” he said. “A lot of the circumstances are lead laterals in some of our older cities. I think there’s probably about 100 communities still in Wisconsin spread all across the state that still have lead laterals. And for children, there is no safe level for lead. We know that emerging contaminants like PFAS [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances] in our drinking water do serious harm where we’ve been finding legacy contaminants from firefighting foam.”

Cole also shared some thoughts on a “Taste of Wisconsin Waters.”

“I think this is awesome. For folks in this room tonight, from commercial fishermen, to researchers, to restauranteurs, people who count on that fishing industry, people who count on the research that’s occurring – I met a couple of those researchers this evening – and I think it’s a wonderful way to look forward by relishing how far we’ve come in the past and providing clean water and research around our water systems.”

Summerfelt with Superior Fresh was also impressed by the event. “I’m ecstatic that Sea Grant put this together to recognize how Wisconsin uses water for food and brought in aquaculture. Sea Grant has not only helped educate consumers about eating Wisconsin seafood, which is so good for them because there’s nowhere else you can get omega-3s, which are good for your brain and heart, like you can get it from seafood. And then, Wisconsin Sea Grant has also been instrumental in funding research that’s helped the technology develop that’s used in Superior Fresh.”

Depending on funding, similar events may happen in the future, and they may be open to the public.

Preston Cole. Credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Many of the outcomes will take a while to manifest, but Moen explained that one connection was made right away. “A thousand arctic char from the Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility that is operated through the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point, got homes. One of the fish producers, because he heard about them being available, came and collected them and took them back to his farm for growing out as an experiment. So that was a big plus,” Moen said.

She also said that networking among the event-goers led to site visits to research and education facilities and that she’s received invitations to host similar events in two other Wisconsin communities. Moen and Emma Hauser, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s aquaculture and education outreach specialist, recently met with staff from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to discuss working together to support the food-fish industry. “This happened as a direct result of the Taste of Wisconsin Waters,” Moen said.

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In: and St. Anthony Falls Communications Manager Clare Boerigter, Ashla Ojibway, cities of Superior and Duluth, Emily Lockling, Evan Larson, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa., Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Ishkode, John Broihahn, Melonee Montano, miinan, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Point, Mocha Reynolds, Moira Villiard., Nimaawanji'idimin Giiwitaashkodeng, Ricky DeFoe, Sea Grant, the Douglas County Board, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Lake States Fire Science Consortium, the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, the University of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry Center, tree ring research Wisconsin Point, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, Valerie Zhaawendaagozikwe, Zhaagawaamikong Neyaashi

The stories trees tell

On: December 12, 2022

The research team at work on Wisconsin Point. From left to right: Evan Larson, Ashla Ojibway, Mocha Reynolds, Valerie Zhaawendaagozikwe and Emily Lockling. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

On a cool, sunny spring morning among the pines on Wisconsin Point along Lake Superior, a mix of Native and non-native people gathered in a circle with the scent of wood smoke and sage in the air. The small group was performing an opening ceremony for “Nimaawanji’idimin Giiwitaashkodeng.” This is the Anishinaabe name for a Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded research and outreach project designed to explore how the Anishinaabe people connected to and homesteaded the lands of “Zhaagawaamikong Neyaashi” (Wisconsin and Minnesota points) and how they used fire to manage the landscape. The project name translates into “We are all gathering around the fire.”

Melonee Montano. Submitted photo

The ceremony was held to “…let the animals and plants and the spirits there know what our intentions are as far as the research,” said Melonee Montano, a Red Cliff tribal member and a University of Minnesota graduate student who is one of the investigators leading the project. “We were asking for their permission and also for any guidance that they could give us moving forward so that we do things in the right way.”

As the ceremony continued, a deer emerged and stood at the tree line, looking at the group for at least 20 minutes. “She just hung out for a long time, checking us out, wondering what we were doing. For me, that was a real good sign that what we’re doing is OK,” Montano said.

Later, in June on the first day of summer, a larger ceremony was led by Ricky DeFoe, Fond du Lac Elder and spiritual leader. The ceremony brought over 30 members of stakeholder groups together to publicly open the project. It included representatives from the cities of Superior and Duluth, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, the Douglas County Board, Sea Grant and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. As the group stood around a sacred fire, DeFoe talked about the need to reconcile history and come together to heal people and the land.

Wisconsin and Minnesota points were home to the Anishinaabe people for hundreds of years before the forces of settler-colonialism began threatening their relationship to the area. Treaties and federal legislation drew explicit lines around reservations and industrial interests began to covet Zhaagawaamikong Neyaashi.

As the Anishinaabe presence diminished, their influence on the land weakened as well, including a decline in their use of “Ishkode” (fire). Settlers suppressed Ishkode and the landscape changed, losing biodiversity and resilience.

Research project reaches into the past

Managed by Evan Larson, professor of geography and a dendrochronologist with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, the Nimaawanji’idimin Giiwitaashkodeng Project seeks to combine tree-ring data with Indigenous Experiential Knowledge: the deep understanding that Indigenous people have developed through millennia of close observation of and engagement with the ecological webs of the Great Lakes Region. This understanding, sometimes also referred to as Traditional Ecological Knowledge, puts data derived from tree rings into context in terms of Ishkode as an ecological and cultural process. The ultimate goal is to restore the cultural use of Ishkode to increase the resilience of the ecosystem and to maintain “miinan” (blueberries), a key traditional food source among the Anishinaabe.

Miinan are one of the important first foods for the Anishinaabe, along with strawberries, wild rice, maple syrup, deer, rabbits and others, Montano said. “We’ve moved away from blueberries and the other first foods these days for multiple reasons like government commodities and smaller land bases, but we’ve also lost some of the connections or knowledge on how to gather them.”

The project research team on Wisconsin Point. From left to right: Valerie Zhaawendaagozikwe, Ashla Ojibway, Mocha Reynolds, Emily Lockling and Evan Larson. They are standing next to a pine that shows signs of fire or past use by Native peoples. Submitted photo

In October, Larson and a team of four undergraduate students from Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and the University of Minnesota Duluth visited Wisconsin Point to search for downed and dead trees to sample for the project. They were seeking signs of past Ishkode or tool marks etched into the rings of trees that could be used to learn more about the history of the place.

They gathered at the Lake Superior Estuarium in Superior, which housed slices of wood they had collected on two previous outings. Mocha Reynolds, an environmental science major, pointed to places on the samples where the tree rings had been interrupted.

A slice from a tree with marks showing where it’s been peeled or exposed to fire. Image credit: Evan Larson.

“This one, you can see where people have peeled the bark away,” Reynolds said. “The tree healed then and grew around it. From these blackened spots, you can also see that a couple of fires have touched this tree in its life. We feel like there’s a pretty good chance that they were prescribed burns by the Anishinaabe.”

The samples will soon be sanded and polished to make it easier to see individual growth rings and any interrupting patterns that tell of past fires or peel scars.

Of food, medicine and resin

Larson explained that people might have peeled the bark off the tree for a variety of reasons. Sustenance is one. During starvation periods, the starchy inner bark of trees can be used for food. Different parts of the inner bark might also be incorporated into medicines.

Larson said that the provisions provided by trees on the points were likely linked to the daily lives of the Anishinaabe, particularly how they traveled to the area in birchbark canoes. “The Latin name of red pine trees is Pinus resinosa, and the reference to resin is apt. A tree that has had its bark peeled from part of the trunk will respond by infusing the wound with resin, often referred to as ‘sap.’ If you’ve ever climbed a pine tree and found your hands covered in the sticky stuff, you know what I’m talking about,” Larson said.

The resin protects the injured tree from decay, much like blood forms a clot when a person’s skin is pierced. The resin pools along the edges of the peel and can then be collected and combined with other materials to make the gum used to build and repair birchbark canoes.

Each sample that Larson and the students collected was labelled in Anishinaabemowin: Zhaagawaamikong-neyaashi for those collected on Wisconsin Point and “Onigamiinsing” for those on Minnesota Point. They were also mapped. Using the techniques of dendrochronology (tree-ring science), the team will be able to determine exact calendar years of each Ishkode and peel scar from the samples.

“That information then can be used to understand where the fires were. Did it burn the whole point, or did you have a small fire over here one year, and a small fire over there another year?” Larson said. “That will give us a sense of the spatial aspects of how fire and people interacted with the landscape.”

Larson compared the process the research team uses to find collectable trees to instructions he saw once on a chocolate truffle package. “It said to truly experience the truffle, first you look at it, then you smell it. In a way, these are the same because of that resin that Mocha was talking about. It’s just infused throughout the wood. So, these stumps, they’re from trees that have been dead for 100 years or more in some cases. Their appearance gives you the first hint of what’s inside. And on that first draw of the saw, the wood chips fly and all of a sudden you just like, (sniff), you can just smell the resin. And that’s … yeah,” Larson said.

“It’s a really good smell,” Reynolds echoed.

Red pine and white pine reproduction

The team then drove to the end of Wisconsin Point, where a lighthouse and shipping canal are located. After making a tobacco offering to Lake Superior, Larson and crew traipsed inland into a red pine forest. During the hike, Larson offered his perspective on the current landscape.

White pines regenerating in a stand of red pines on Wisconsin Point. Image credit: Evan Larson.

“In some places, you can still see the legacy of fire here, like blueberries and red pine. But if you look at the lower layer now, there’s no red pine and a lot of hazel. All of the new pines coming up are white pine, which is more shade-tolerant than red pine. White pine seeds can get through a little bit of duff. Red pine seeds, when they fall on all this duff, just land on the needles and litter. They can’t get to the mineral soil to germinate. So, all these red pines will cast seeds for the rest of their lives, but they will very likely never result in a baby pine tree until there’s a fire.”

The students had already mapped some stumps and downed trees to investigate. When they rediscovered one, Reynolds did something surprising. He kicked it. He explained this is done to make sure the stump or snag is solid. That indicates the tree had scarring during its life and has produced resin to heal. The resin makes the tree sturdier. So far, so good.

Larson pointed out a triangular wound that began on the trunk and extended wider to the base at ground level. “That generally is the healing mode of a tree that’s been damaged by fire,” Larson said.

Evan Larson saws through a dead and downed tree on Wisconsin Point. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

He chainsawed though the tree and extracted an inch-thick sample. Valerie Zhaawendaagozikwe, an environmental science major, noted an Ishkode scar. Larson pointed out three more, possibly from a peel and other fires.

Anishinaabe Chief Osaugie was one person connected to Wisconsin Point in the past. He was a renowned canoe-builder and must have gathered resin to make the gum for the canoes. “To see a peel scar on this stump – to suddenly realize that, I mean, we don’t know who made that peel, but it could’ve been him. We are holding history in our hands, covered in moss. That’s pretty cool stuff,” Larson said.

Emily Lockling, a geographical information science student, carefully mapped the sample’s location.

As they searched for another sample, Zhaawendaagozikwe explained what drew her to participate in the project.

“I grew up on the West Coast, so I grew up seeing culturally modified trees, like the cedar trees. People still peel them for hats, baskets, clothing and things. I got to so I could tell when a tree had been peeled by a Native. When I came here, I got an email about this project. I thought I would enjoy this work because I already had an idea of what it is. I also enjoy being outside,” she said.

The team crossed a road on the point, moving closer to the lake. As Ashla Ojibway, another environmental science major, demonstrated how they use a hand saw to get samples from stumps, a bald eagle called above her. Remember the deer from the beginning of the story? The eagle, it seemed, approved of the project as well.

The importance of capturing stories

Just as the landscape chronicles the past, stories held by people are also important for understanding this place more completely. As snow begins to cover the land, Montano will be working with Elders and community members to gather memories and stories of Zhaagawaamikong Neyaashi, Ishkode and miinan.

Valerie Zhaawendaagozikwe inspects a red pine that shows signs of cultural modification or fire. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

“Together, the memories of people and trees will help us understand the deep connections that weave the community of life found on the points now and in the past. They’ll help guide us moving forward,” Larson said.

To ensure that information from the project reaches a broad audience and engages in societal change, Montano and Larson are creating an illustrated children’s book with the help of Robin Wall-Kimmerer, noted author of “Braiding Sweetgrass,” and distinguished professor and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at the State University of New York. The book will be published by Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing, a Native-owned company, and will be distributed to teachers and students through another Sea Grant-supported project, Rivers2Lake.

Montano is applying her interviews with Elders to the children’s book but also to her graduate research about the relationships between Ishkode and people. She described the topic of her interviews as, “Basically looking at who fire is as a being rather than what fire is.” The Anishinaabe believe that Ishkode has a spirit, similar to their beliefs about animals and other aspects of nature.

To reach scientific audiences, Larson and his students will present their results at the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting in spring 2023. Montano, Larson and students will also be giving a public-friendly presentation for the River Talk series on Jan. 11, 2023.

Back on the field trip, the team wasn’t as lucky with the last sample they collected. Although the stump passed the “kick test,” the inside heartwood was completely decayed and there weren’t enough intact rings.

Larson said, “From a tree-ring perspective, we don’t have enough material to work with this sample. We know it was a peel. We know it holds that information. But for this study, that’s as far as we can go, which also shows the urgency of doing this work now because these injuries and these scars on these trees are from a time hundreds of years ago. They’re an expression of people and their connection to place.

“Through a huge range of reasons — legislation, boarding schools, treaties, the systemic racism that has engendered a systematic approach to what boiled down to genocide in a lot of ways, has taken this relationship and put it on pause. So, these trees have been living on this land, carrying this story and these relationships in their rings for all this time, but trees die, too. These trees are now old. That story is long enough ago that these trees are the last vestiges of that tangible legacy. That’s why we’re doing the work now so that we can capture that story now before it turns into dust.”

Other partners in the project include representatives from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Lake States Fire Science Consortium, the University of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry Center, and St. Anthony Falls Communications Manager Clare Boerigter, retired Wisconsin State Archaeologist John Broihahn and Duluth-based visual artist Moira Villiard.

The post The stories trees tell first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Wild Stories of Wildlife on the St. Louis River

On: December 8, 2022

In: Duluth, Martha Minchak, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, wildlife stories

Martha Minchak, retired assistant area wildlife manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources was the kick-off speaker for the River Talk season series in October. Her talk, “Wild Stories of Wildlife on the St. Louis River,” highlighted incidents and projects from her 38-year career in resource managment.

Not all of her work was in the St. Louis River Estuary, however. Minchak began her career in southwestern Minnesota, then moved to northwestern Minnesota. She came to the estuary in 2000.

Although her work on estuary projects was her passion, it was just a small part of her job. “I managed mice to moose and everything in between,” Minchak said. Her main job was conducting wildlife surveys to collect data for the management of hunting seasons and for nongame wildlife management. “Anything that moved out there, we counted it,” she said.

Her work on the estuary began when she became involved in the “tail end” of the first St. Louis River Habitat Plan, which was completed in 2002. “That kind of set the tone and the focus of all of our work in the estuary, ever since.”

Later, as the project manager for the St. Louis River Restoration Initiative for two years, Minchak worked fulltime on habitat restoration projects in the estuary. “In my career, these were the most fulfilling things I have done. I look at them as legacy-type projects – they have an impact on the future and we are leaving a place better than before.”

Interstate Island is an example of one such restoration project. The small land mass in the Duluth-Superior Harbor sits on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. It provides vital habitat for the common tern, a bird that is considered endangered in Wisconsin and threatened in Minnesota. In 2015, the island started flooding due to high water levels in Lake Superior and the estuary. Minchak and a team added sand to the tern nesting colony on the island for a short-term fix.

A coyote crosses the ice on the St. Louis River Estuary. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Water levels continued to rise, however, and the island was in danger of washing out again. In 2019, Minchak and partners took on a complete restoration of the entire island to re-establish the original “footprint” of it from back in the 1950s.

“It was a total success story and the common terns are doing okay,” Minchak said. “Once we get the gulls more under control, we hope the terns will respond a bit better.” The island hosts fewer than 200 pairs of nesting terns, while there are over 30,000 pairs of nesting ring-billed gulls. Fencing on the island keeps most gulls out of the tern nesting area.

Minchak also mentioned her work on Radio Tower Bay, Knowlton Creek, and in restoring wild rice to the estuary.

Then she segued into stories about wildlife. A large part of her job was dealing with nuisance or injured wildlife, and also crazy questions that people had about wildlife. In the past, she received many complaints about the large numbers of deer in Duluth. People also reported seeing fishers in their yard, which they thought were black panthers, even though they are much smaller than a panther.

“One constant in my career have been the bears. People know me around town as the ‘Bear Lady.’ There have been just all kinds of crazy bear incidents,” Minchak said. The DNR used to trap and relocate nuisance bears. Minchak said they stopped doing that 10-15 years ago because they found the bears would often return to the same area a few days later. She said that figuring out a way to deal with the issue is more effective.

The only time the DNR traps bears now is if they need to be destroyed because they are acting aggressively or doing major property damage. Minchak told a story about a bear that lived around Island Lake just north of Duluth. The bear knew how to open car handles that were the flip-up kind. “Someone left a pack of gum in the car. The bear got in the car and the door closed behind it. The bear made a mess of the car in its attempts to escape,” Minchak said, showing an image of the torn-up interior of a car.

She also told true tales of a mallard nesting atop a skyscraper in Duluth, peregrine falcon chicks in peril, a black lab and a coyote pair who used to hang out by a local golf course, the challenges that moose face to survive, efforts to control Canada geese, and the success of wild turkey reintroduction.

Her favorite part of her job was changing people’s minds about the concept of “nuisance wildlife.”

“It was gratifying to take someone who just wanted everything shot, everything removed (their attitude was, “It’s your wildlife, come get it”) to getting them to understand that this is a benefit of living here. We have all these wonderful critters that some people have never seen, living right around us. It’s kind of our job to police ourselves. I always thought it was a good thing if I could talk people down like that and get them to understand that wildlife is a gift instead of a nuisance.”

Minchak is still involved in estuary work, however, it’s on her own time and her own schedule now that she’s retired. (She retired in July 2022.) “As my fly fishing buddies have said, it’s not really retiring, it’s re-firing, re-inspiring, rewiring. That’s totally what I’m doing,” Minchak said.

A video of Minchak’s presentation is available on the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve’s YouTube site. The Reserve is our River Talk partner.

The post Wild Stories of Wildlife on the St. Louis River first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Gov. Evers Announces invites students and families to create ornaments celebrating “Wisconsin Waters” for state capital holiday tree

On: November 17, 2022

In: Gov. Tony Evers, holiday tree ornaments, Wisconsin Waters

Image courtesy of Zazzle.com

Gov. Tony Evers announced “Wisconsin Waters” as the theme for the 2022 state capitol holiday tree and invited students to contribute handmade ornaments celebrating what Wisconsin’s waterways mean to them.

“From the first Indigenous people who hunted and gathered in our freshwater sources before Wisconsin became a state, to our farmers who have been the backbone of our economy for generations, to our proud maritime and shipbuilding history, to our outdoor recreators and anglers hoping to hook one of our mammoth lake sturgeon and muskies, water has always been essential for our way of life here in Wisconsin,” wrote Gov. Evers in a letter sent to students and educators. “So, when it comes to our waterways, we’ve got a lot to celebrate—and that means we have a lot to protect, too!”

The capitol holiday tree is displayed in the rotunda of the Wisconsin State Capitol throughout the holiday season and serves as a centerpiece of festivity for those visiting and working at the Capitol Building. Each year, the tree is decorated with handmade ornaments from kids, students, and families from every corner of the state. This year, students are encouraged to explore Wisconsin’s waterways for inspiration, including the wildlife that call the state’s waterways home, Wisconsin’s rich maritime history, and the recreational and outdoor activities enjoyed by Wisconsinites across the state, like fishing and boating.

All students and families are welcome to submit ornaments celebrating “Wisconsin Waters” and should mail ornaments by Tues., Nov. 22, 2022, to:

Emily Gorman
Wisconsin Department of Administration
Division of Facilities and Transportation Services
17 West Main Street, Suite 119
Madison, WI 53703

Students are asked to make ornaments from non-breakable material. They must be strong enough to hold up during shipping and to be handled while the tree is being decorated. It is recommended students do not use fragile items or paper cutouts that may tear easily and that ornaments are 4-6 inches in size and are made from a color that contrasts with the color of the tree so they can easily be seen and enjoyed by all visitors. Please attach a ten-inch loop of ribbon or string from which each ornament will hang.

If you have any questions about an ornament, please contact the Facilities Management Information Center at (608) 266-1485. Please note that ornaments will not be returned.

The post Gov. Evers Announces invites students and families to create ornaments celebrating “Wisconsin Waters” for state capital holiday tree first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Whimsical marine debris play debuts in Door County

On: November 14, 2022

In: American Players Theater, Cassandra Bissell, David Daniel, Door County, Ginny Carlton, marine debris education, Me and Debry play, Milly Zantow, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Neil Brookshire, U.S. Department of Commerce

Script will soon be available for others to use

Actors Neil Brookshire and Cassandra Bissell perform “Me and Debry,” a play about marine debris held at the Door County Public Library in the Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

What empowers people to help the environment and rhymes at the same time? Answer: “Me and Debry,” a half-hour, whimsical, audience-participation play about litter (marine debris) in the Great Lakes.

The play had its “world premiere” in Wisconsin’s Door County in October before a full house at the town library in Egg Harbor. Starring in it were two local actors: Cassandra Bissell and Neil Brookshire. They live just two blocks away from the library and the play was for a good cause, so lending their talents to it, “seemed like a no-brainer,” said Bissell.

Brookshire said he was drawn to the play because his father was an environmental economist who specialized in water resources research and his mother worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “So, I have a personal family history of being aware of these kinds of issues and information. One of the reasons we live up here is we like nature. We like the water, so we naturally want to do anything we can to spread awareness to keep it clean.”

Wisconsin Sea Grant staff member Julia Noordyk (right) and her family members Ethan (left) and Zander (center) study their script for an audience participation part of the “Me and Debry” play. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The actors described the play, produced by David Daniel with American Players Theater, as an “information play” and their parts as vaudevillian characters who banter with each other to lighten the subject matter and make the information easier for the audience to take in.

“I’m Jerry Bardo Apam Napat Sesquipedalian Cornelius Watershed Dubry,” said Bissell. “And in the vaudevillian act of the duo, I’m the really long-winded talky one. And Neil is…”

“Beck,” Brookshire deadpanned.

“He’s much more to the point and has fewer words,” Bissell said.

Brookshire highlighted the play’s audience participation, which includes prewritten parts for a kayaker, young person, crane and fish. “Any time you involve an audience, people are going to remember better because it wasn’t just something they observed, it was something they participated in.”

The project was led by Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Education Outreach Specialist Ginny Carlton, who described the variety of marine debris. “It’s a solid found in our waters. It’s not perhaps the most common pollutant that you think about when you think of pollution in our waters. It’s not oil slicks on the water. It’s these solid things that can be really tiny – like microplastics – or really big – like derelict fishing vessels.”

Carlton described the performance as “Wonderful. The actors really brought it to life with all the different nuances they added.”

After the play, audience members visited learning stations around the room that featured art and science activities involving marine debris. These included experiments to determine different types of microplastic pollution, a table with information about Milly Zantow, who helped create Wisconsin’s recycling mandate, and a station where people could decorate their own reusable tote bag.

Wisconsin Sea Grant Education Coordinator Anne Moser (center) staffs a water education station that was one of several learning activities available after the play. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov

Carlton said the play will be performed again next spring with the Gilmore Fine Arts Middle School in Racine and that the script will soon be available for other groups to perform.

Besides environmental messages, the play instills a sense of hope and empowerment in the audience.

“Now we know how we can help,” said Brookshire playing his Beck character. “You and I right here can always make a difference.”

“You are the difference,” said Bissell playing her character. “You’re what our watershed needs! One who knows their actions have impacts on the land and the inland sea.”

“If it’s to be, it’s up to me!” said Beck.

“That is the truest creed,” said Jerry Bardo Apam Napat Sesquipedalian Cornelius Watershed Dubry.

“Me and Debry,” (pronounced “debris”) is part of a two-year project funded by Wisconsin Sea Grant with grants from the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program, U.S. Department of Commerce, and the state of Wisconsin.

The project, called, “The Play’s the Thing: Using Drama as an Introduction to Marine Debris Prevention and Meaningful Stewardship Experiences” harnesses the power of storytelling to engage, educate and inspire performing artists and community members to be committed stewards of their Great Lakes watershed. In addition to the performance, the project includes marine debris prevention workshops, cleanup events, and public outreach and education activities.

Neil Brookshire and Cassandra Bissell practice their lines before the play. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov

The post Whimsical marine debris play debuts in Door County first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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River Talks: Tell us what you love about the river

On: October 27, 2022

In: Molly Wick, River Talks, St. Louis River, waterway benefit survey

Molly Wick. Submitted photo.

The River Talks will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the Lake Superior Estuarium (3 Marina Dr., Superior, Wis.), with “Tell us What you Love About the River,” an in-person presentation by Molly Wick, Lake Superior Reserve Margaret A. Davidson Fellow, who will describe a study she designed to help environmental managers understand how the community benefits from local lakes, rivers and streams and how this work could help make those benefits more accessible to everyone. Wick will invite everyone to take the waterway benefit survey, found here: z.umn.edu/waterwaybenefits. A youth panel will round out the discussion with their stories about why the St. Louis River is important to them. Refreshments will be provided.

Other River Talks will be held Jan. 11, Feb. 8, March 8, April 12 and May 10, 2023. The March talk will be held in conjunction with the St. Louis River Summit. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The River Talks are sponsored by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

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In: accessible birding, Ashland County, Bayfield County, Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Kate McCall, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, Luciana Ranelli, Magaret Menzies, Mick MacKenzie, Pat Collins, University of Wisconsin Extension, Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center

Accessible birding event delivers

On: October 11, 2022

Participants of an accessible birding event spot birds on Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Barker’s Island in the Duluth-Superior Harbor was the site of a free, bird-focused morning recently. People of all ages and ability levels attended an accessible birding outing led by experts from the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve.

The group met at the Lake Superior Estuarium on the island in Superior. They were welcomed by Luciana Ranelli, education coordinator for the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve. She explained the three options for learning about birds. First was inside the Estuarium, where staff from the University of Wisconsin-Extension Upham Woods Learning Center had arranged bird artifacts and learning stations. Second was a spotting scope behind the Estuarium staffed by Pat Collins, a volunteer birding expert with the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve. This was designed for birders with mobility issues or anyone who preferred a more stationary option. The third was a guided tour along the Barker’s Island boardwalk with Margie Menzies, educator director for the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth.

Mick MacKenzie (right) talks birds with Pat Collins. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Superior resident and former city council member Mick MacKenzie recently had hip surgery, so the second station appealed to him. He said he came to the event because he’s “enjoying life. It’s good to be out in nature.”

After discussing the population health of kingfishers in the estuary with Collins, MacKenzie said, “When I was a kid, there was nothing down here on Barker’s Island. We’d come here to explore and play, so all this new development is really something to see: the whaleback and the hotel . . .”

MacKenzie was interrupted by Collins. “There’s a hummingbird right here!” Collins said.

MacKenzie expressed surprise that the birds were still around in September.

“They migrate through starting this time of year,” Collins said. “As long as there are flowers in bloom, they’ll stick around.”

Meanwhile, Menzies’ group got oriented to their binoculars and began their walk on the boardwalk. Sightings of the ubiquitous herring gulls around the island prompted Menzies to discuss a rare bird that steals gulls’ food: the parasitic jaeger. An annual Jaeger Birding Festival is held on nearby Wisconsin Point annually this time of year because it’s a prime time for spotting jaegers during their migration south from the arctic.

Her discussion was interrupted when two pigeons landed on the Estuarium roof. “When you look at birds, particularly from a distance, what do you notice about that bird that helps you think about what it is. What kinds of diagnostic clues can you look at on that bird?” Menzies asked.

Someone mentioned the pigeons’ orange feet.

“Yes, those red-orangey feet are a dead giveaway for pigeons. And a nice chunky body,” Menzies added.

The group moved farther along the boardwalk, following the shoreline of the island to the public beach, which is surrounded by native plants. Along the way, they spotted a turkey vulture, common mergansers, mallards, cormorants and warblers.

Kate McCall (right) and another birder look at cormorants off Barker’s Island. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Kate McCall, a member of the board of directors for the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve group, said she attended the event because, “This is the stuff I love.” She is interested in making the outdoors more accessible for people of differing abilities and attended an accessibility training session offered by the Reserve previously.

Just one of the things she learned was that cormorants don’t shed water off their backs as easily as other birds after they’ve been diving. “That’s why they’re so clumsy when they fly afterwards,” McCall said. “I always wondered about that. It’s fun to learn more, not just about the habitat of birds, but their patterns of flight, as well. I just really enjoyed it.”

This free event was made possible through the University of Wisconsin–Madison Dean’s Innovation Grant to collaborators from Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center, the Reserve, Wisconsin Sea Grant, University of Wisconsin-Extension, and Bayfield and Ashland counties.

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River Talks resume with “Wild Stories”

On: September 30, 2022

In: Martha Minchak, River Talks, Wild stories, Wisconsin Science Festival

The River Talks, a series of informal science presentations, returns at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, for the season with “Wild Stories of Wildlife on the St. Louis River,” an in-person and Zoom presentation by Martha Minchak, former assistant area wildlife manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Her talk will be held at the Lake Superior Estuarium (3 Marina Dr., Superior, Wis.).

Minchak will regale with tales of her work for 22 years as “the face of Minnesota DNR Wildlife in Duluth,” which included the St. Louis River Estuary. She will discuss changes in the Estuary over her career and her unique experiences with wildlife and people. Refreshments will be provided.

Zoom link:
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/92250886702?pwd=clQ2M051Y2FmTjRWTm1LVjNjdmVOdz09
Meeting ID: 922 5088 6702
Passcode: 754792

This River Talk is being held as part of Wisconsin Science Festival Week. Held virtually and in-person throughout the state on October 10-16, the festival welcomes people of all ages for hands-on science, performances, demonstrations and conversations with leading researchers and creative thinkers. Unleash your curiosity!

Other River Talks will be held Nov. 9, 2022, and Jan. 11, Feb. 8, March 1, April 12 and May 10, 2023. The March talk will be held in conjunction with the St. Louis River Summit and the date may change. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The River Talks are sponsored by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post River Talks resume with “Wild Stories” first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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In: Cassandra Bissel, David Daniel, Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion, marine debris in the Great Lakes, Me and Debry play, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Sea Grant College Program, Neil Brookshire

Family-friendly environmental play debuts in Door County

On: September 23, 2022

Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant

“Me and Debry,” a half-hour, whimsical, audience participation play about litter (marine debris) in the Great Lakes, will debut at 10:30 a.m., Oct. 9, at the Donald and Carol Kress Pavilion and Egg Harbor Library at 7845 Church Street, Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. The performance is free and open to all, though best suited for audiences in upper elementary grades to adults.

The rhyming play was produced by David Daniel with American Players Theater. It stars Door County actors Cassandra Bissell and Neil Brookshire.

Doors open at 10:20 a.m. Seating is first-come, first-served. After the play, a science fair with family-friendly activities will be available at the pavilion until noon.

“Me and Debry,” (pronounced “debris”) was funded by Wisconsin Sea Grant with grants from the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program, U.S. Department of Commerce, and the state of Wisconsin.

The post Family-friendly environmental play debuts in Door County first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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In: Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, avian toxicology, Earlham College, Emily Pavlovic, Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Matt Etterson, PFAS, University of Minnesota Duluth, US EPA Human Health and the Environment Research Fellows Program

EPA Fellow Emily Pavlovic: Up-close and personal with birds

On: September 21, 2022

Emily Pavlovic, EPA Fellow in avian toxicology, holds a northern saw-whet owl. Submitted photo

Emily Pavlovic’s love of birds didn’t come to the fore until after college when she worked at an Audubon Center. She turned that love into her vocation and is now a fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division in Duluth, Minnesota. Under mentorship from Matt Etterson, Pavlovic is looking at the impacts of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) on the reproductive success of birds in the Duluth area.

After Pavlovic earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Earlham College, she spent five years working as an environmental educator at various nature centers around the U.S. before earning her master’s degree.

Emily Pavlovic holds an American kestrel. Submitted photo

“I was able to work up-close and personal with the birds and really see the power they have on engaging the public,” Pavlovic said. “The birds capture people’s attention so that you can teach about other really important things like contaminants in the environment, or basic ecology.”

At the Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm in Dayton, Ohio, Pavlovic had the chance to work with an American kestrel. This small, fierce raptor became an educational bird after an accident broke its wing.

“This kestrel was spunky and loud. It didn’t always do the things I wanted it to do. It taught me a lot,” Pavlovic said. “Seeing peoples’ reactions when they saw this beautiful bird up-close was pretty incredible.”

Pavlovic’s passion for birds led her to the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, a nature reserve along the Lake Superior coast that’s one of the premier bird-watching sites in fall as birds migrate south. For her master’s degree in integrated biosciences at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Pavlovic collected feathers from three different species of juvenile raptors that were caught in mist nets (red-tailed hawks, sharp-shinned hawks and northern saw-whet owls). Analyzing the feathers for hydrogen-stable isotopes allowed her to identify where geographically the birds had been born, providing more information for the ridge’s long-term dataset.

A nest box holds a black-capped chickadee nest and eggs. Submitted photo

For her six-month EPA avian toxicology fellowship, Pavlovic is studying tree swallows, black-capped chickadees and house wrens. “We’ve got a bunch of nest box locations around Duluth that we’re assessing for reproductive success and various metrics of how the birds are doing. Then we’re relating that to the amount of PFAS in the environment in those areas,” Pavlovic said.

The goal of this research is to create a toxicology model that scientists can use to predict, based on contamination concentrations in the environment, what the exposure risk would be to birds in that area.

The three-year U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Human Health and the Environment Research Fellows program fellowship program is a partnership between the EPA, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its Aquatic Sciences Center. The goal is to train the next generation of scientists in environmental and ecosystem health.

The post EPA Fellow Emily Pavlovic: Up-close and personal with birds first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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In: accessible birding event, Ashland County, Bayfield County, Luciana Ranelli, National Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve, University of Wisconsin Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison Dean's Innovation Grant, Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Free accessible birding outing

On: September 6, 2022

Birders search for birds on Wisconsin Point. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov

Join the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve from 9-11 a.m., Sept. 21, for a free, bird-focused morning. People of all ages and ability levels are welcome to attend this accessible birding outing led by birding experts from the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve at the Lake Superior Estuarium (3 Marina Drive) on Barker’s Island in Superior.

Move along the boardwalk or paved trails on a guided bird hike or explore bird artifacts like feathers and skulls indoors at your own pace. Fifteen pairs of binoculars will be available, plus a spotting scope, a wheelchair mount for the scope and portable seating.

Light refreshments will be provided. Come and stay for the whole time or part of it.

Registration is not required but is encouraged so that participants can receive email reminders. Register here. (https://lakesuperiornerr.org/event/accessible-bird-observing/)

These activities are designed with access in mind. If you would like to request additional accommodations, please email Luciana.Ranelli@wisc.edu or call Luciana at (715) 399-4085 at least 10 days before the event.

The post Free accessible birding outing first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Visiting the house that sparked coastal land use setbacks

On: September 1, 2022

In: coastal erosion, Coastal Hazards of Lake Superior, Dan and Mary Schneider, Herbster, house moving, Karina Heim, Natalie Chin, Sarah Brown, Scott Galetka, Tom Fitz

This home in Herbster, Wisconsin, was moved 150 feet back from an eroding Lake Superior bluff in 2003. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The dynamics of land and water were on display for members of the Coastal Hazards of Superior (CHAOS) group when they toured Lake Superior’s South Shore at a homesite in Herbster, Wisconsin, last week. The home, now owned by Dan and Mary Schneider, was moved 20 years ago farther inland from an eroding lake bluff in one of the first efforts to address coastal home erosion and establish setback distances in Bayfield County.

Homeowner Dan Schneider shows CHAOS tour participants some eroding bluff east of his home. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The tour was organized and led by CHAOS Coordinator Sarah Brown and Karina Heim, coastal training coordinator with the National Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve. It featured talks by homeowner Dan Schneider, Northland College Professor of Geoscience Tom Fitz, and Bayfield County Land Records Administrator Scott Galetka, who is also a member of Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Outreach and Education Committee.

I was one of the lucky tour participants along with Natalie Chin, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s climate and tourism outreach specialist.

Schneider, who has owned the 52-acre property since 2019, said he was happy to open his homesite for the tour. “The area’s got such an incredible geological history and cultural history, for us, it’s amazing to live here.”

He showed us where the house was originally situated, right on the edge of the 150-foot bluff. It now lies 150 feet farther back. The bluff was eroding from Lake Superior waves at the bottom and from stormwater runoff and groundwater flow at the top.

Moving the 3-bedroom home was a major undertaking. “They (the original owners) found a mover, but then they had to deal with the potable water supply, the electrical supply and the sanitary sewer,” Schneider said.

The spot where the house was moved to offered its own challenges in the form of shallow groundwater. Swales were installed along with drain tiles, ditches and a pond to keep the water from flowing into the house.

This is the bluff overlooking Lake Superior that was the original site of the home. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Schneider said that not much erosion had occurred on the bluff since the home was moved, but that a bluff east of the house had been eroding actively. We walked about 200 feet in that direction for a view. Dirt and gravel tumbled down the slopes, which were bare of vegetation.

Fitz explained that the slopes were composed of clay and sand, remnants of the last stages of glaciation about 14,000 years ago. “There’s contact between clay of the Miller Creek Formation and sand from the Copper Falls Formation about 15 feet down,” Fitz said. “That contact is probably playing an important role in the stability of this bluff – or rather, the instability.” This sand-clay interaction characterizes much of the geology of Lake Superior’s South Shore.

Geology in action — a tour participant peers down into an eroding bluff on the Schneider property. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Fitz described how groundwater was moving along the top of the clay layer and coming out of the side of the bluff, forming erosion. “What we see here is obvious evidence of the power of moving water,” he said, citing clay around the house for the groundwater issues that Schneider has noticed there.

“What we have here is a big, ‘wow.’ Geology in action,” Fitz said.

The good news is that Schneider’s house is safe from erosion thanks to its current setback from the bluff. The bad news is that the eastern ravine is eroding.

Schneider said that when he purchased the property, he noticed the erosion in the ravine, but it didn’t bother him. “I knew in my lifetime I wouldn’t need to worry about it. The privilege of living out here was worth it,” he said.

Back at a picnic table near the original bluff, we heard from Galetka, who explained how Bayfield County tracks coastal land changes over time. One of the ways he currently uses is a drone equipped with a 35 mm camera.

“I began this job in 2007. I’ve seen this program of setbacks and the importance of making sure we have science backing up where homes should go behind the bluff,” Galetka said. “This was the site that sparked everything. It was kind of like the poster child.”

CHAOS Coordinator Sarah Brown (left) and Wisconsin Sea Grant Climate and Tourism Outreach Specialist, Natalie Chin (right) look at photos of the home-moving process with Northland College Geoscience Professor Tom Fitz. Bayfield County Land Records Administrator Scott Galetka is in the background. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The wind was too stiff for Galetka to demonstrate his drone, but that allowed us to have a close look as it rested on the picnic table. He said that technology has advanced greatly since the home was originally moved and that data sets are much more accurate now.

We came away from the tour with a greater appreciation for the intricacies involved in how land and water interact, and admiration for the forethought required to preserve a beautiful Lake Superior home.

For more information about coastal erosion along the South Shore and to hear from Jane Bucy, the original owner of the Schneider home, about the house-moving process, you can watch a YouTube video of the CHAOS group’s June 2022 meeting.

The post Visiting the house that sparked coastal land use setbacks first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Research survey aligns the Wisconsin Idea with water

On: August 25, 2022

In: Bret Shaw, Campbell Dunn, Catherine Christenson, Ken Genskow, Michael Cardiff, natural language processing, rural Wisconsin groundwater quality and quantity perceptions, survey, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Idea

August 25, 2022
By Marie Zhuikov

The Wisconsin Idea is one of the longest and deepest traditions surrounding the University of Wisconsin. It promotes the principle that education and the influence of the university need to reach beyond the boundaries of the classroom across the state.

A new Water Resources Institute project will survey rural communities across Wisconsin to discover their perceptions about groundwater quality and quantity. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov

Associate Professor of Geoscience Michael Cardiff and his research team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are applying the Wisconsin Idea to groundwater issues. They received two years of funding from the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute to survey rural residents about their perceptions regarding groundwater quality and quantity. The findings will be interpreted by a panel of experts who will use the results to inform future water opportunities and research directions.

“The central goal is basically understanding people’s perspectives on this issue of water availability with the idea that if we better understand stakeholders — the people who care about water — we can do a better job of making decisions that are positive and are viewed positively,” Cardiff said.

The water survey will be sent by mail in early 2023 to people who live in rural communities. “As far as we’re aware, it’s going to be the first of its kind to try and get a better handle on rural Wisconsin perspectives,” Cardiff said. “We are focusing on rural counties because 97% of our state is rural and the majority of water is beneath those counties, but we’re also trying to get some diversity represented in the counties we are surveying.” Cardiff noted that rural communities depend on groundwater for their drinking water supply because many do not have public water treatment systems.

For a second part of the study, the researchers will examine news stories, research reports, county plans and public comments with a technique called natural language processing, which allows computers to read and extract meaning from text. The computers will be instructed to analyze and summarize articles that contain terms such as “water quality.” Cardiff explained this is another way to tune into conversations surrounding water issues in various communities.

This project was an unexpected benefit from the social isolation that Cardiff experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. “It was a great chance to pause and consider the impact of my work,” he said. “I came to the conclusion that I love the technical aspects of the work I do, but one of the reasons I’m in hydrology is that it’s important that the work has positive outcomes – both for people and the planet. I felt there was a niche to make more connections with people about what’s going on with water resources and understand their perspectives so we can have productive conversations throughout the state.”

Collaborating with Cardiff on the project are Bret Shaw, associate professor in life sciences communication and Ken Genskow, professor of planning and landscape architecture. Both are at UW-Madison. Shaw will ensure the survey questions elicit useful information and that they are understandable. Genskow has experience bridging the gap between water science and social science. He’ll bring his experience working with rural communities on issues such as nitrate contamination in groundwater.

They will be aided by students Catherine Christenson and Campbell Dunn.

This project is also receiving additional funding from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The post Research survey aligns the Wisconsin Idea with water first appeared on WRI.

News Release | WRI

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Let there be cake! Sea Grant celebrates 50 years at River Talks

On: June 27, 2022

In: Anders Andren, Deanna Erickson, James Hurley, Jenny Van Sickle, Jim Hurley, Joel Hoffman, River Talks, Robert Ragotzkie, Wisconsin Sea Grant 50th anniversary

Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The final River Talk for the 2021-22 season was held in May at the Lake Superior Estuarium and online. Jim Hurley, director of Wisconsin Sea Grant, presented, “Sea Grant at 50: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” examining the formation of this science-based organization devoted to sustainable use and protection of Great Lakes resources. He also discussed Sea Grant’s current work and where it is headed as it looks forward to the next 50 years.

Jim Hurley, Wisconsin Sea Grant Director. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Hurley is also a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include the cycling of mercury in the Great Lakes. He is the third director in Wisconsin Sea Grant’s history, having taken the helm in 2012. From 2017 to 2019, he also served as president of the national Sea Grant Association.

Hurley began by saying, “I’m darn proud to be able to give this talk and to be a part of an organization that I have so much respect for and that’s surrounded by so many great people.” He continued by describing the federal legislative history of Sea Grant’s founding and then went on to describe the accomplishments of the other Wisconsin Sea Grant directors before him.

He noted Robert Ragotzkie (director from 1968-1991) for thinking thematically about the areas that Wisconsin Sea Grant concentrates on for its research and outreach programs. “Also, Bob talked about Lake Superior’s circulation. He was thinking about Lake Superior in oceanographic terms and how that affected pollution distribution,” Hurley said. Ragotzkie also conducted climate research at this early stage.

Ragotskie gathered the program’s first cadre of extension agents and formed partnerships with other organizations. Hurley credited this start as the basis for the more than 240 partner organizations that Sea Grant works with today. Ragotskie’s strength was putting together teams of partners to study issues such as PCB pollution in the Fox River near Green Bay. He also established the program’s first communications team, which led to the formation of the popular Earthwatch Radio program, which was used by stations across the county.

Anders Andren (director from 1991-2012) took Ragotskie’s thematic area idea and brought it to Sea Grant at the national level through his work with the Sea Grant Association, which is made up of directors from all of the Sea Grant programs across the country. Hurley said Andren did that to, “get people in New Jersey Sea Grant that were doing the same thing as Florida Sea Grant or Oregon Sea Grant together to talk about similar types of issues, and then try to aggregate the results.”

Under Andren’s technological leadership, Wisconsin Sea Grant developed a website and an online submission system for research proposal submissions and reviews. Also during his tenure, the university’s Water Resources Institute’s management combined with Sea Grant under one umbrella organization known as the Aquatic Sciences Center.

“Another thing that occurred during Anders’ term is that the Great Lakes came together better, I think, than any other network in the county,” Hurley said. This has led to cooperative regional research and outreach projects. “It gives you such a great network, such a community of practice that can interact.”

The program also began concentrating on coastal community issues, providing funding for shipwreck research and working on harbor and recreation projects.

Hurley has continued the thematic area tradition. He’s also been emphasizing actionable science, which he classifies as research projects “that people can use.” He is also encouraging integration of science communications and social science into research. “The most successful projects are those developed with stakeholders at the table,” Hurley said. “We’re starting to see more of those.”

Since 2016, Wisconsin Sea Grant has also enlarged the number of postgraduate fellowships offered, with the help of Associate Director Jennifer Hauxwell and half a dozen partner organizations. Hurley rounded out the subject of accomplishments under his watch by discussing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) research. He said the impetus began in Superior, Wisconsin, with the Huskey Refinery fire, which was doused with firefighting foam that contains PFAS. Staff at the National Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve requested help from Sea Grant to analyze water samples from a local creek.

“There was only one lab in the state that was certified to analyze the water for PFAS. We knew that had to change. We had some extra funding available. We were able to aid the State Laboratory of Hygiene, which is the state’s environmental research lab and its public health lab to build capacity to analyze for PFAS in water,” Hurley said. Now, the State Laboratory of Hygiene has opened a Center for PAFS Research. Sea Grant has also hired an emerging contaminants specialist (Gavin Dehnert) who focuses on PFAS and was active in proposing PFAS drinking water standards for the state.

Wisconsin Sea Grant continues to have a strong communications program that has moved from the era of radio into podcasting, video and blogging. “Communications has also changed with the times and I really feel it’s ahead of the curve,” Hurley said.

Other issues of focus include climate change, Great Lakes water level changes and encouraging diversity, equity, inclusion and environmental justice in programs. Sea Grant has hired a consultant and is in the process of becoming more inclusive as an organization. One of the first areas to benefit has been Sea Grant’s fellows program and undergraduate internships.

The program ended with testimonials from several partners. These included Jenny Van Sickle, president of the Superior City Council; Deanna Erickson, director of the National Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve; Joel Hoffman, acting chief, ecosystems branch for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Gene Clark, retired Sea Grant coastal engineer; and Alex Frei, research and fellowship coordinator, Minnesota Sea Grant. Here’s a sampling of their kind words.

Jenny Van Sickle, City of Superior City Council:

For someone like me, who grew up in a lot of turmoil and violence, being near the water was free and it was fun. I’m thankful to the educators who took us out of the classroom on onto the beach. There are a lot of people who make sure our water is clean, free and accessible. I just want you to know that it really matters. I want to thank Sea Grant and wish you a happy birthday. We’ve been close partners for a long time.

Deanna Erickson, National Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve:

Something that’s really been remarkable to me from the very beginning of the Reserve’s formation . . . is how we were different yet complementary. That’s what makes a good relationship. The Reserve focuses on the St. Louis River Estuary and along Lake Superior, but Sea Grant gets to have this awesome statewide perspective. So, the Sea Grant folks that share our office space and share our community, bring that to us and help make us part of that, too. They also bring expertise that the National Estuarine Research Reserves don’t really have.

Joel Hoffman, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

Again and again, Sea Grant has set the gold standard on how to protect our coastal natural resources and our coastal communities. I’m really excited to see what you’re going to do in the next 50 years.

Watch the video of this talk on the Reserve’s YouTube site.

River Talks is taking a hiatus during the summer but will return in the fall for another season of talks focused on the St. Louis River and the organizations that help us understand it.

The post Let there be cake! Sea Grant celebrates 50 years at River Talks first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/let-there-be-cake-sea-grant-celebrates-50-years-at-river-talks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=let-there-be-cake-sea-grant-celebrates-50-years-at-river-talks

In: educational games, Great Lakes shipwreck video game, International Serious Play Awards 2022, maritime archaeology, maritime history, PBS Wisconsin, The Legend of the Lost Emerald

Great Lakes shipwreck game wins international competition

On: June 21, 2022

The Legend of the Lost Emerald, a free online video game for children, earned a gold medal at the 2022 International Serious Play Awards Program in Orlando, Florida. The immersive, boldly illustrated adventure game was one of nine educational games developed for learners ages K-12 that was cited for excellence last week.

The game provides learners in grades 4-6 the experience of using the same tools, practices and skills that maritime archaeologists use to locate and dive for shipwrecks on the Great Lakes and uncover the real treasure — the stories inspired by actual shipwrecks and Great Lakes history. English language arts, social studies, and Great Lakes literacy skills and standards are supported through game play and extension activities. The game is available in English and Spanish and was designed by Field Day Lab, PBS Wisconsin Education, Wisconsin Sea Grant and an advisory group of Wisconsin educators.

“We were especially impressed with the quality of the games produced for use in K-12 education,” said Sue Bohle, a former high school teacher and Atari Games executive who leads the conference. “The learning game industry has matured to the place where the new products really work for teachers and parents.”

The awards program honors outstanding commercial and student products that incorporate game elements and were created for use in education or training. Entries are judged for their success is meeting learning objectives, engagement, aesthetics and assessment goals.

“The entire collaborative team on this project did an incredible job connecting students to the rich maritime history of the Great Lakes watershed,” said Anne Moser, education coordinator for Wisconsin Sea Grant. “The goal of education at Sea Grant is to spark a passion for the Great Lakes, and I have seen how shipwreck stories do just that. We are excited to share this with the educators and youth we work with throughout Wisconsin.”

The post Great Lakes shipwreck game wins international competition first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/great-lakes-shipwreck-game-wins-international-competition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=great-lakes-shipwreck-game-wins-international-competition

In: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore buoys, Josh Anderson, UW-Madison Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Water Information for a Safe Coast, WISC-Watch

Scientific buoy locations adjusted in the Apostle Islands

On: June 13, 2022

A map of location for the Wisc-Watch bouys for the 2022 season in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Image credit: Josh Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Several buoys that provide real-time wave condition information for the WISC-Watch Project (https://go.wisc.edu/7y2x4o) in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore to aid with paddler and boater safety have been moved to new locations this summer based on user feedback, and the placement of others has been adjusted.

WISC-Watch stands for Water Information for a Safe Coast Watch. In 2021, seven spotter buoys were deployed throughout the islands, plus Chequamegon Bay near Ashland and Siskiwit Bay near Cornucopia. The buoys monitor wave height, water temperature and wind information. Conditions around the 22 Apostle Islands vary dramatically due to sheltering effects from the archipelago and rapidly changing winds and fast-moving storms.

The scientific data collected by the buoys is being used by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers to make nearshore wave and current forecast computer models more accurate so that in the future, buoys won’t be needed.

Last week, eight buoys were deployed at the mainland sea caves, Little Sand Bay, Little Manitou Island, Stockton Island, Madeline Island and Long Island, plus Siskiwit Bay near Cornucopia and Saxon Harbor.

Josh Anderson, submitted photo

Josh Anderson, assistant scientist at UW-Madison’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering said major changes include removal of the buoy that was in Chequamegon Bay. It will not be part of WISC-Watch this year because it was associated with a different project, which is complete. The Devil’s Island buoy was moved to just off Manitou Island. A buoy was added to Madeline Island near Big Bay State Park.

Minor adjustments include the movement of the Sand Bay buoy to closer to Little Sand Bay. The Stockton Island buoy was moved from the more sheltered Julian Bay to just off the Presque Isle Peninsula so that it’s exposed to more waves.

“I compared the data from the buoys last year to our wave model,” Anderson said. “The model was accurate at five of the seven locations. After we collect a couple more years of data in more areas of the Apostles, that will help make the wave model more accurate. The winds are the problem. All the wind fields that we use to drive the wave models don’t reflect all the funneling of the wind through the island channels. We’re working on that.”

The WISC-Watch team has also developed a 15-minute public survey (bit.ly/3PU5fPZ ) to assess and evaluate the best ways to communicate real-time wave information. People ages 18 and older are encouraged to participate. Experience in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is not required.

The WISC-Watch Project was funded by the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, Wisconsin Sea Grant and the UW-Madison Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Other project partners include the National Park Service, the National Weather Service in Duluth, the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, the cities of Bayfield and Ashland, Northland College, the Lake Superior Nearshore Working Group, the Friends of the Apostle Islands and local outfitters.

A Wisc-Watch buoy off Little Manitou Island, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Image credit: Josh Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The post Scientific buoy locations adjusted in the Apostle Islands first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/scientific-buoy-locations-adjusted-in-the-apostle-islands/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=scientific-buoy-locations-adjusted-in-the-apostle-islands

In: Allouez Bay, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, macroinvertebrates, Northern Lights Elementary School, Rivers2Lake Education Program

Rivers2Lake Program sparks curiosity

On: June 9, 2022

A third-grader from Northern Lights Elementary School searches his net for macroinvertebrates. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Schoolchildren from Northern Lights Elementary in Superior enjoyed the benefits of nature as their classroom last week on Wisconsin Point. The third graders and their teachers are part of the Rivers2Lake Education Program offered by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve).

Brandi with the Reserve helps two students identify their finds. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The program, which is designed to connect students to the Lake Superior Watershed, is a decade old and has been funded in part by Wisconsin Sea Grant for half of its life. The classrooms were split into four learning groups, which covered topics like trees as habitat and dune ecology, and activities like tree planting and searching for macroinvertebrates (larval insects, snails, crayfish, clams, etc.). The outing was a culmination of the program, which runs year-round. Shawn Stewart and Jasmine Haroldson, both Northern Lights teachers, led one of the learning groups, employing confidence and skills they honed through the year of mentoring associated with Rivers2Lake.

I stationed myself at the macroinvertebrate sampling station along the shores of Allouez Bay. As the students arrived, Brandi, a Rivers2Lake mentor, reminded them about the tiny creatures they would be searching for in the bay sediment. The students were outfitted in waders and provided with small nets on long poles for their sampling. After a demonstration, where Brandi dragged her net through the sediment, the students made their own discoveries.

Much conversation and enthusiasm ensued. One group found a mayfly larva. Another child thought they caught a young fish. They compared findings to when they looked for macroinvertebrates in a creek near their school, previously. When it came time to leave for the next station, none of the children wanted to come back on land.

I would say that their connection to their watershed was a success!

For information about the Reserve’s work with Rivers2Lake teachers, please see this previous story.

A student from Northern Lights Elementary School searches for macroinvertebrates in Allouez Bay. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The post Rivers2Lake Program sparks curiosity first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/rivers2lake-program-sparks-curiosity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rivers2lake-program-sparks-curiosity

In: Climate change, climate change project funding, Karina Heim, Lake Superior Climate Champions Program, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve

Lake Superior Climate Champions Program Available for Communities

On: June 6, 2022

A culvert washout in Superior, Wisconsin, during a flood in 2012. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

A new program for community leaders in northern Wisconsin who are looking for ways to address climate change is available through Wisconsin Sea Grant and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The Lake Superior Climate Champions Program provides a yearlong opportunity for community teams to work on a goal of their choosing that addresses climate change, with a minimum of $2,500 in funding, guidance from Sea Grant and Reserve staff members and the chance to connect with other communities working on climate challenges.

Participating teams of two to four people must be from one of the four coastal counties (Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland or Iron). The teams should include community members in decision-making roles, such as tribal or county government staff, elected officials, members of local boards and committees or regional intergovernmental committees.

“All across Lake Superior’s coastal communities, we feel the impacts of climate change firsthand,” said Karina Heim, coastal training program coordinator with the Lake Superior Reserve. “Finding time and the capacity to address climate issues can be a challenge for local leaders. Our Climate Champions Program offers dedicated support for climate work.”

Teams who want to participate need to apply online by Aug. 1 at: bit.ly/39Zovej. Two teams will be selected for 2022 and the program will begin in the fall.

Examples of projects include: finding and using an assessment or planning tool to prepare for climate challenges (flooding, public health, etc.), planning a workshop or a facilitated process that allows for climate change learning and dialog and incorporating climate change considerations into an existing project or process, such as land-use planning or stormwater management.

For more information, visit lakesuperiornerr.org/focus-areas/coastal-leadership/lake-superior-climate-champions/.

The post Lake Superior Climate Champions Program Available for Communities first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/lake-superior-climate-champions-program-available-for-communities/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lake-superior-climate-champions-program-available-for-communities

A long-awaited tour of the SS Meteor

On: May 25, 2022

In: Alexander McDougall, Barker's Island, Great Lakes maritime history, SS Meteor, Superior, whaleback ship

The SS Meteor (taken in 2012). Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

A momentous event happened last week in Superior, Wisconsin. After 10 years of working in Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Lake Superior Field Office next to the SS Meteor – the last remaining whaleback ship in the world – I finally took a tour of it.

I’d written about the ship before in a story about maritime history geocaching – the ship is one of the stops in a Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded outreach project designed to highlight the history of the state’s shipping industry. And, I’d walked around the outside of it plenty on my daily roams around Barker’s Island, but I’d never been inside before. A tour was one thing I mentally wrote down on my Barker’s Island Bucket List. I meant to get around to it, but never did.

Tour participants walk on top of the ship among the vents. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The free visit was arranged by my office partners, the National Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve, to train volunteers who work at their interpretive center during the summer. They had room, so invited their officemates (like me), along.

We met inside the ship in the gift shop for a short orientation, then went back outside and up a ramp where we were able to wander among the tall vents that brought air into the ship while keeping sea spray out. Along the way, our tour guide explained that the ship was built locally by Captain Alexander McDougall. Whalebacks were a new innovation in ship design back in the late 1800s, known for their cigar-shaped steel hulls that rode low in the water when loaded with cargo. Waves just washed over them, and the water was easily shed, unlike with typical ships. The Meteor carried a variety of cargoes over the years, including iron ore, grain, gravel, cars and oil.

After climbing a stairway, we went inside, taking a peek into the pilot house and then descending a short stairway to the living quarters. The officers’ quarters were closer to the bow of the ship, while the lowly seamen slept near the rear of the ship, above the noisy engine. The captain had his own spacious office and private bathroom.

The pilothouse. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The kitchen and dining rooms were on the deck below the bedrooms. The crew and officers had separate dining rooms. Timeliness of dining must have been an issue, since there were signs in both rooms proclaiming strict serving hours. Another historic placard described steps to take in event of an atomic bomb attack.

Below the dining deck were the engine room and storage areas. The ship’s last load must have been oil, since the smell of petroleum was strong as we walked through, and we could see pools of oil seeping up from sand used to cover it.

The Meteor was built in 1896 and ended her shipping career in 1969 when she ran aground on a shoal off Marquette, Michigan. Because of severe damage to the hull, the shipping company chose not to repair her. Recognizing the ship’s historic importance, the Meteor was purchased, repaired, and began use as a museum ship in 1971.

Our tour ended with a stroll through historical displays that provided more information about McDougall and the ship. The excursion was better than I’d imagined, sitting so close to the attraction for all these years.

If you’re ever in Superior, consider taking a tour of this fascinating piece of maritime history.

Now all that’s left for me to do on my Barker’s Island Bucket List is to take advantage of the mini golf course that’s between my office and the ship!

The SS Meteor and Mini Golf Course on Barker’s Island in Superior. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The post A long-awaited tour of the SS Meteor first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/a-long-awaited-tour-of-the-ss-meteor/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-long-awaited-tour-of-the-ss-meteor

Percolating pollution

On: May 19, 2022

In: cancer, Central Sands, Chris Zahasky, e.coli water pollution, Kewaunee County, National Science Foundation, PET, positron emission tomography, University of Wisconsin Cylclotron Lab, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Groundwater pollution project is first to use cancer imaging technology in novel way

A Wisconsin Water Resources Institute project is exploring how bacteria and other water contaminants flow through soil by applying a medical technology widely used for cancer imaging.

Chris Zahasky, assistant professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, received two years of funding to study soil types in the two most vulnerable geologic settings in Wisconsin for groundwater pollution. Those are the Central Sands district, which features sandy soil, and Kewaunee County along Lake Michigan, which features fractured bedrock. Zahasky is investigating how E. coli bacteria – one of the main water contaminants in Wisconsin – percolates through the soil and ends up polluting groundwater and people’s private wells.

His research team hypothesizes that flow of contaminated water though soil that’s highly permeable leads to bacterial contamination of groundwater at greater distances from the pollution source than what was thought possible based on previous laboratory measurements in more stable, homogeneous geologic materials.

“With a better understanding of these transport and travel pathways, we can build better models to understand and manage the risks associated with these contaminants,” Zahasky said. “We all know the source of bacteria and nitrate. In Wisconsin, it’s largely from certain agricultural activities. Ideally, we can make better decisions about the times of the year that you might do manure spreading or certain geologic setting that shouldn’t have manure spread on them because of the ability for these bacteria to travel through this material and get down to the groundwater.”

Zahasky and his team are conducting their research in the lab with soil samples they’ve gathered from the Central Sands area and Kewaunee County. They measure the soil’s properties, then pack it into large tubular columns and inject water through the material in a controlled manner. Then they add bacteria they’ve grown and pump them into the columns.

This is where the cancer imaging technology comes in. It’s called positron emission tomography (PET). In medical situations, doctors use PET with radio tracers to identify tumors in the body. It’s also used in some cases for cancer therapy treatment. The radio tracers are basically a radioactive sugar molecule. Cancer tumor cells have a high metabolism and so they uptake (eat) these sugar molecules at a higher rate than other cells in the body, which is what the PET ends up imaging.

Zahasky’s graduate students (Vy Le on the left and Collin Sutton right) work in the imaging lab. Submitted photo.

Zahasky explained how this works for his purposes. “We leverage that imaging technique by radio labelling these bacteria, which means that we attach these radioactive isotopes to the bacteria that are emitted as they travel through these columns. As we’re imaging them, we can essentially track where these bacteria are going, how fast they’re getting there and where they’re getting stuck.

“We’re the first people in the world to radio label bacteria for environmental and geologic purposes. We’re pretty excited about this,” Zahasky said.

How do they attach radioactive isotopes to tiny bacteria? Zahasky said it’s not complicated. “We grow the bacteria until just the right point – where they’re starting to get hungry. Then we add this radio-labeled sugar and they just gobble it up. The bacteria eat the sugars just like tumor cells do.”

Zahasky developed this approach during his Ph.D. work at Stanford University. However, many of the isotopes required for this imaging are produced at the University of Wisconsin Cyclotron Lab. So, it made sense for him to continue his research at UW-Madison, where he has built capability with support from a National Science Foundation grant.

“It allowed my research group to leverage this type of imaging in lots of new ways that just weren’t possible without having access to these facilities here on campus,” he said.

Zahasky plans to apply this technique to future studies involving the movement of microplastics and other contaminants such as heavy metals.

The post Percolating pollution first appeared on WRI.

News Release | WRI

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/percolating-pollution/

River Talk series ends season with exploration of Sea Grant’s past and future

On: April 26, 2022

In: James Hurley, River Talks, Wisconsin Sea Grant 50th anniversary

The final River Talk for this season turns its focus to series partner Wisconsin Sea Grant, as the organization celebrates its 50th anniversary year.

On Wednesday, May 11, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in person at the Lake Superior Estuarium (3 Marina Dr., Superior, Wisconsin) and from 7 to 8 p.m. on Zoom, Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley will present, “Sea Grant at 50: Looking Back, Moving Forward,” examining the formation of this science-based organization devoted to the sustainable use and protection of Great Lakes resources. He’ll also discuss Sea Grant’s current work and where it is headed as it looks ahead to the next 50 years.

The in-person event will begin with social time featuring cake and refreshments. Hurley’s presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and will be available virtually (see Zoom link below).

“I’m fortunate to be able to build on the foundation laid by my predecessors, founding director Bob Ragotzkie and Anders Andren,” Hurley said. “As the Sea Grant program was being created on the national level in the 1960s, Ragotzkie really stood up for the Great Lakes to ensure that these inland seas were a part of the program, and not just our ocean coasts. We are still reaping the benefits of his vision. We’re also actively considering how we can best serve the people of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes in our present moment and moving forward.”

Wisconsin Sea Grant works in many areas, from commercial fisheries and aquaculture, to aquatic invasive species, to dealing with emerging contaminants in our water. It is a program of the University of Wisconsin System, with headquarters on the Madison campus and additional staff at field offices around the state, including Superior, Green Bay, Manitowoc, Milwaukee and Kenosha County.

The organization also funds a robust portfolio of Great Lakes- and water-related research conducted at campuses around the state.

Zoom link:
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/95345823876?pwd=QlplY1o3TnJDbXBGRG40U1o3UW1idz09
Meeting ID: 953 4582 3876
Passcode: 306955
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,95345823876# US (Washington DC)
+13126266799,,95345823876# US (Chicago)

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post River Talk series ends season with exploration of Sea Grant’s past and future first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/river-talk-series-ends-season-with-exploration-of-sea-grants-past-and-future/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=river-talk-series-ends-season-with-exploration-of-sea-grants-past-and-future

Thinking through the lens of the Great Lakes

On: April 20, 2022

In: Anne Moser, Bay View Middle School, Center for Great Lakes Literacy, Chandra Johnson, Emily Jarmuskiewicz., Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Green Bay, Jackson Parr, Kelly Kollar, Mercades Bryfczynski, Mona Forbes, Sandra Thompson, teacher mentor program, Trout in the Classroom, wild rice restoration

Teacher mentor program connects both teachers and students

Teachers with a passion for the Great Lakes are sharing their expertise across the region with other teachers in a program that benefits the educators and their students. The mentor program, organized by the Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL), is funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Wisconsin is home to five teacher mentor/mentee pairs. They’re organized by Anne Moser, senior special librarian and education coordinator for Wisconsin Sea Grant. She explained that this is the first formal year of the program and that it’s growing.

“The teachers we chose for mentoring are really dynamic Great Lakes educators,” Moser said. “They’re so committed to bringing place-based education to their students and then sharing that love for Great Lakes literacy with either colleagues in their school or with their wider community.”

The mentors were chosen from a pool of teachers who had participated in past CGLL programs. Moser explained these teachers are always, “thinking through the lens of the Great Lakes. Whatever they’re teaching, they’re drawing on their knowledge of the watershed.”

The program kicked off last June with a two-day workshop where the mentors and mentees got to know each other better and plan which activities they wanted to work on. A check-in this past fall included a professional learning opportunity, featuring a presentation by Jackson Parr, the J. Philip Keillor Flood Resilience-Wisconsin Sea Grant Fellow who is working with communities on flooding issues. In January of this year, the teachers were introduced to the Watershed Game, an interactive, educational tool that helps people understand the connection between land use and water quality.

Kelly Kollar, Bay View Middle School. Submitted photo.

One of the mentors is Kelly Koller, technology integration specialist at Bay View Middle School in Green Bay. She actually has two mentees: Mona Forbes, an eighth-grade science teacher, and Chandra Johnson, a special education teacher.

Koller first became involved in mentoring when she applied to one of the CGLL summer professional learning workshop aboard the Denis Sullivan sailing ship in 2019. That experience showed her the value of such relationships. For her current mentoring connection, she’s working with Forbes and Johnson to provide their students with opportunities like raising brown trout in the school library and growing wild rice plants.

Koller works in the library and thought the fish would be a great addition. “We didn’t have any pieces of student engagement that were living. Everything is books and decorations, and I thought fish would be an addition that would capture students’ interest.”

Koller organized the fish rearing through Trout in the Classroom, a program offered by Trout Unlimited. By raising the fish from egg stage to adult, the students gain knowledge about the fish and the environment where they live. The goal is to release the trout into a local stream, under the guidance of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The wild rice project is being done in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, which provided the seeds and equipment. The goal is to plant the rice in a wetland the university is working to restore.

Brown trout raised in the library by students at Bay View Middle School in Green Bay. Submitted photo.

Koller explained she did the heavy lifting to get the projects started so that the weight of organizing didn’t all fall on the mentee teacher’s shoulders, since they had enough challenges already teaching during a pandemic. To orient Johnson’s students to the fish’s environment, she organized a boat trip on Green Bay through Hands on Deck, a local nonprofit.

“So, even before the students started putting together our trout tank and receiving the trout eggs, they were learning about the Great Lakes through being on one of them. Any time you have a shared outdoor experience it helps build relationships and a positive sense of community,” Koller said.

After navigating two months of start-up challenges, Koller received the agency permissions needed to house the tank. Johnson’s students set up the tank and then Forbes’s students took over once the eggs arrived. Three middle-schoolers have shown impressive dedication: Mercades Bryfczynski, Sandra Thompson and Emily Jarmuskiewicz.

Students at Bay View Middle School test the water quality of their trout tank. Submitted photo.

“They do all the water measurements on their own. They take the pH level, the ammonia level, they change out water daily. They’ve been just wonderful about the caretaking involved with the trout and seeing them grow,” Koller said.

Despite a rough start one weekend after the automatic feeder malfunctioned and a third of the larval trout died, the students said the experience of caring for the fish has made them more interested in nature.

“I’ve been having a little bit more fun in science, learning about the fish,” said Bryfczynski. She also said that seeing the tank sparks interest from other students in the library. “We’ve had people come in and ask us questions about the fish, like how big they’re going to get or how old they’re going to live, and what we do with the tank.”

Jarmuskiewicz said that learning about the fish’s life cycle has sparked her interest in biology. Thompson has also enjoyed watching the fish grow under their care.

When asked if they are excited to release the fish into the wild, the girls all replied with a resounding, “Yes!”

“We hope that they’ll be healthy because they grew up healthy with us, and that they’ll stay healthy in the river once we release them,” Bryfczynski said.

A student tends to the wild rice in a project done in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Submitted photo.

At the end of the school year, Moser said the mentor/mentees and their students will gather together for a student showcase. This will offer the students an opportunity to present their project and receive feedback from other students across Wisconsin and Minnesota. In summer, mentor/mentee pairs will be invited to their own summit where they can provide the CGLL network feedback about their experiences. The goal of both events is to build a community of educators passionate about Great Lakes literacy and to build a community of youth who will be future stewards of the Great Lakes watershed.

“It’s been an exciting year, even as we have had to navigate the challenges of a global pandemic. To work with such passionate and resilient educators has been a gift,” Moser said.

A new mentor/mentee cohort will be formed in the fall of 2022. Please contact Anne Moser if you are interested in learning more.

The post Thinking through the lens of the Great Lakes first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/thinking-through-the-lens-of-the-great-lakes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=thinking-through-the-lens-of-the-great-lakes

Online shipwreck game educates players

On: April 18, 2022

In: Anne Moser, Field Day Lab, Great Lakes, PBS Wisconsin, shipwreck game, The Legend of the Lost Emerald, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Historical Society

A free online video game for children about a Great Lakes shipwreck is now available. “The Legend of the Lost Emerald,” is a point-and-click adventure game designed for players grades 4-6. It was developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Field Day Lab in partnership with Wisconsin Sea Grant, PBS Wisconsin Education and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Teacher fellows offered insights at every step of the game’s development. Funding was provided by PBS Wisconsin Education with additional help from the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and Sea Grant.

Players must use critical thinking and historical inquiry skills to find the wreck as they step into the shoes of Jules, a maritime archaeologist, with help from a cast of diverse family members. Players dive underwater to gather clues, build evidence and uncover the real treasure – stories of shipwrecks inspired by Great Lakes history. It takes two classroom sessions to complete (about 2 hours).

“The goal of the game is to connect students with the maritime history in their own state – to go beyond the story of the Titanic,” said Anne Moser, senior special librarian and education coordinator for Wisconsin Sea Grant. “It includes topics like lake ecology, maritime archaeology, trade and commerce.”

The post Online shipwreck game educates players first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/online-shipwreck-game-educates-players/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=online-shipwreck-game-educates-players

Black ash and birds featured at River Talks

On: April 4, 2022

In: Alexis Grinde, birds, black ash tree wetlands, Cole Wilson, River Talks

An ovenbird rests on a branch in the St. Louis River Estuary. Image credit: National Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve

The next River Talk will take place at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 13, via Zoom. Alexis Grinde with the Natural Resources Research Institute and Cole Wilson with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will present, “Black ash and birds: conserving critical habitat in the St. Louis River Estuary.”

Black ash tree wetlands in the St. Louis River Estuary are unique forests that support diverse bird species. Grinde and Wilson will discuss current research revealing how birds use these habitats and the possible impacts of ash tree death caused by the invasive emerald ash borer.

Here is the Zoom link and info:
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/94381805869?pwd=QXJ6SzZaelpEVVFKdFdUSEhDaUVCUT09
Meeting ID: 943 8180 5869
Passcode: 582749
One tap mobile
+19292056099,94381805869# US (New York)
+13017158592,94381805869# US (Washington DC)

The event will last an hour and will include time for comments and questions. The talk will be recorded and posted afterward on the Reserve’s Facebook page and YouTube. A summary will also be posted on Wisconsin Sea Grant’s blog.

The remaining River Talk for this season will be held on May 11. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post Black ash and birds featured at River Talks first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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A River Knock

On: March 28, 2022

In: Marne Kaeske, Michael Anderson1854 Treaty Authority, River Talks, wild rice knockers, wild rice sticks

A River Talk participant forms a wild rice knocker into shape during the March talk. Image credit: Michael Anderson

The River Talk for March was held as an evening in-person event during the 12th annual St. Louis River Summit at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

This particular talk required hands-on participation. Marne Kaeske, cultural preservation specialist with the 1854 Treaty Authority, led an activity where attendees constructed their own wild rice harvesting sticks, called, “Bawa’iganaakoog” in Ojibwe. Wild rice is a grass that can grow to reach 8 feet tall.

River Talkers use the wall to brace their work on wild rice knocking sticks. Image credit: Michael Anderson

Kaeske explained that she learned to make rice knockers from cedar because the wood is lightweight. Rice is harvested by two people. One paddles or push-poles the canoe through the wild rice (manoomin) beds found in wetlands while the other uses the sticks to bend the rice over the canoe, tapping the wild rice seeds into it. Hand-harvesting wild rice can be time-consuming, so the lighter the sticks, the less tired a ricer’s arms will get.

Different resource management agencies have different requirements for the length of wild rice sticks. Kaeske said current 1854 Treaty Authority Ceded Territory Code regulations call for “round, smooth cedar, no longer than 32-inch” sticks. In Wisconsin, they can be 38 inches.

One problem in efforts to preserve wild rice beds comes from people harvesting the rice too early. “We live by the clock and the calendar nowadays instead of by waiting and living on the rice lake until it’s time to rice,” Kaeske said. When people harvest the rice before it is mature, it lessens the good seed for the next year’s crop and can damage the plants.

“When you harvest wild rice, you’re also reseeding the lake,” Kaeske said. “Rice is an annual plant.”

Rice knockers aren’t something a person can buy in a store. Kaeske showed the audience how she learned to do it. After a short introduction, she offered the tools needed (measuring tape, planers and an ax) and let participants “go to town” on the wood she provided.

She explained that all the bark needs to be removed as well as any rotten wood. The sticks are usually tapered, larger where the hand grips and smaller on the ends.

By the end of the class, everyone had sticks to take home and they were ready for ricing season, which usually occurs in late summer or early fall.

The remaining River Talks for this season will be held April 13 and May 11. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The post A River Knock first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Superior Public Library murals tied together by water

On: March 23, 2022

In: Carl Gawboy, Edmund Fitzgerald, Gordon Lightfoot, Lake Superior, murals, Nanabozho, Ojibwe, St. Louis River, Superior Public Library, Teddie Meronek

Mural #2 in the Superior Public Library by Carl Gawboy. It shows the area where the Ojibwe settled on Wisconsin and Minnesota points on Lake Superior and how the points were separated by a giant otter. Image taken with permission by Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant.

During the latest St. Louis River Summit, I had the chance to attend a field trip to the library in Superior, Wisconsin. What’s in a library that could relate to the summit? A series of 35 murals line its walls, showing the history of the area. Many feature the St. Louis River, Duluth-Superior Harbor and Lake Superior.

The murals were painted over 10 years by artist Carl Gawboy, an Elder enrolled in the Bois Fort Band of Chippewa. The murals begin with the Ojibwe creation story and continue through the 20th century, reflecting how people have interacted with the landscape through time.

Local historian and retired librarian Teddie Meronek led the tour. “I like to say I was here at the birth of the murals, but that started long before any paint went on canvas,” Meronek said. She described how Paul Gaboriault, the library director who commissioned the murals, was a former co-worker of Gawboy’s. Gawboy was born in Cloquet, Minnesota, and grew up on a family farm outside of Ely. He eventually taught at Ely High School, which is where he met Gaboriault. The friends both ended up back in the Twin Ports.

To research the murals, Meronek studied Gaboriault’s and Gawboy’s correspondence. She said the library used to be a Super One grocery store. “If you really look at this building it was just a big warehouse. It wasn’t built for a library. Dr. Gaboriault knew, in his way, that it needed something, and the first thing he thought of were murals.”

The second mural in the series shows the story of how the Superior Harbor opening was created through Wisconsin Point. A giant otter digs as a Native man approaches.

“The great otter represents the Ojibwe religion,” Meronek said. “He is breaking an entryway from Lake Superior into the harbor. The human figure is Nanabozho. He is bringing arts and fire to the land. That was Carl’s interpretation of the legend. The otter is pictured as being so large because it’s representing power.”

According to Gawboy, Lake Superior ties all the murals together, Meronek said. “You can’t always see it in every mural but it’s there. It influences what is going on, which is very true. I’ve lived three blocks from the bay of Lake Superior every day of my life and I can tell you there’s not a day that goes by that the lake doesn’t influence you in some way.”

The location of the horizon line also links the paintings. Meronek said it’s in the same place in each image. As she walked past the murals, she described each one, sharing her impressive knowledge of local history along with personal observations. Other murals include notable buildings and personages, as well as historic events.

Meronek ended the tour on a somber note at a mural of the Edmund Fitzgerald. She often listens to Gordon Lightfoot’s song about the ill-fated ship. “There’s one line in it that always makes me cry: ‘Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours.’ Always beware of Lake Superior, right? I can’t even put my foot in it, it’s too cold! What a beautiful thing though, isn’t it? It’s the greatest of the Great Lakes, right? An inland ocean.”

If you’re ever in Superior, stop in the library and take a look. Of course, if you’re not a Superior resident, you can’t check out a book, but you can check out the murals, so to speak. Not planning a visit soon? You can also see the murals online.

The post Superior Public Library murals tied together by water first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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In: Angelo Cozzola, Aquatic Toxicology journal, effect of fluidone on fathead minnows, eurasian watermilfoil and hydrilla herbicides, Gavin Dehnert, William Karasov, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Herbicide Study Finds Good News, Bad News for Use of Fluridone in Lakes

On: March 15, 2022

In a study recently published in the journal, “Aquatic Toxicology,” researchers found that while concentrations of the herbicide fluridone similar to those used when it’s applied to lakes to control Eurasian watermilfoil and hydrilla did not kill fathead minnows, it can impact fish health in more subtle ways.

Eurasian watermilfoil is an invasive water plant that grows so densely it can make boating, fishing and swimming unpleasant and difficult. Image credit: Gavin Dehnert, Wisconsin Sea Grant

“The good news for fluridone is that it didn’t really have any impacts on survivorship or even on fish growth, which was to be expected. But when we looked at some of the more sensitive endpoints, particularly prey capture and endocrine disruption, we see that at certain concentrations there seems to be an impact,” said Gavin Dehnert, research team member and Wisconsin Sea Grant’s emerging contaminants scientist.

Fluridone is one of the major active ingredients in commercial aquatic herbicides. It affects the entire plant by inhibiting its ability to photosynthesize, which eventually leads to death. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is interested in using herbicides containing fluridone as an alternative to those containing 2,4-D, which preliminary research has found can be toxic to fish.

Dehnert said that before commercial use, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates testing of fluridone to ensure it does not impact fish survival and growth parameters such as length and weight. This testing is done with very high concentrations and recommendations are derived.

“The problem is, they (the EPA) rarely test the actual lower concentrations that they say are safe for the lake,” Dehnert said. “That’s usually a big question mark. It’s like, well, they just said it was safe, but is it actually?”

The research team, led by William Karasov with the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, exposed fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) to concentrations of fluridone that would be found in a lake during treatment. Unlike 2,4-D, which only needs to be applied once, fluridone herbicides could require several applications to a lake to be effective over a minimum of 45 days but usually 90 days. The minnows were exposed to the chemical in the lab for 35 days and then a subsequent generation of larval minnows from the original test group was exposed for 65 days.

Larval fathead minnows were tested for impacts from the aquatic herbicide fluridone. Image credit: Gavin Dehnert, Wisconsin Sea Grant.

After 30 days of fluridone exposure, the adult male fish showed an increased number of nuptial tubercules, which can indicate endocrine disruption. Dehnert explained that some herbicides, especially when they are used at low concentrations, can mimic fish hormones. The tubercules are found near the minnows’ noses and increase or decrease in number depending on how much androgen and estrogen a fish produces. “That’s really important because it could have major impacts on reproduction,” Dehnert said.

The researchers also found that the fishes’ livers were enlarged and that their ability to catch prey decreased significantly when exposed to fluridone, which could be because it impairs their ability to move. Previous studies suggest fluridone can act as a neurotoxin.

The DNR funded the study because, as Dehnert said, “In the state of Wisconsin, everybody likes to fish. So, we’re trying to make sure we protect them as much as possible.”

Other members of the team included Angelo Cozzola and Amber White, all with UW-Madison.

The post Herbicide Study Finds Good News, Bad News for Use of Fluridone in Lakes first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/herbicide-study-finds-good-news-bad-news-for-use-of-fluridone-in-lakes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=herbicide-study-finds-good-news-bad-news-for-use-of-fluridone-in-lakes

In: Amy Lentz, Deidre Peroff, science communications toolkit, University of Wisconsin-Milwuakee School of Freshwater Sciences

New science communication tool available

On: March 2, 2022

An example of information provided by the Science Communications Toolkit.

Looking for help communicating about science to a nonscientist audience? A new publication is available to help students and researchers. Written by Amy Lentz, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences professional master’s program and edited by Wisconsin Sea Grant Social Science Outreach Specialist Deidre Peroff, this free, downloadable “Science Communications Toolkit” offers tips to help make science more understandable to audiences such as elected officials, possible employers, grade-school students and reporters.

In addition, the publication contains suggestions for developing effective graphs, PowerPoint slides and social media messages. Funding was provided by Wisconsin Sea Grant in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in Manitowoc and the Southeastern Wisconsin Watersheds Trust, Inc.

Take a look and make your science stand out.

The post New science communication tool available first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Construct wild rice knockers at River Talks

On: February 21, 2022

In: 1854 Treaty Authority, Marne Kaeske, River Talks, St. Louis River Summit, wild rice knockers

The next River Talk will take place at 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m., Tuesday, March 8, in person in room 203 at the University of Wisconsin Yellowjacket Union (1605 Catlin Ave., Superior) as part of the St. Louis River Summit. Marne Kaeske with the 1854 Treaty Authority, will present, “Bawa’iganaakoog (Wild Rice Harvesting Sticks).”

Wooden wild rice knockers rest atop a pile of wild rice they were used to harvest. Image credit: Deanna Erickson, National Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve

Construct wild rice knocking sticks and get prepared to hit the rice bed during Manoomike-giizis (the wild ricing moon). All materials and instruction included. Registration in advance is required and capacity is limited to 15 people. Face coverings are required inside the building.

To attend, please sign up using this form: https://forms.gle/trdxExKZfi169XAG8. The form will close when the event limit has been reached.

For questions about this River Talk, please contact Luciana Ranelli at 715-399-4085 or luciana.ranelli@wisc.edu.

Remaining River Talks will be held April 13 and May 11. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post Construct wild rice knockers at River Talks first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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In: CHAOS, Coastal Hazards of Superior, J. Philip Keillor Wisconsin Coastal Management Fellow, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, Sarah Brown, Wisconsin Department of Administration coastal Management Program

Sarah Brown looks forward to coordinating CHAOS

On: February 8, 2022

Ever since she was a child, Sarah Brown has been interested in what makes people tick. She pursued that interest and intends to make good use of it in her new role as a J. Philip Keillor Wisconsin Coastal Management-Sea Grant Fellow for Lake Superior.

“My dad was a wildlife biologist for the state of Illinois,” Brown said. “When he came home from work and had any complaints, it was never about natural resources. It was always about people. So, I always had an interest in why people do what they do. That led to my interest in the social sciences.”

Sarah Brown, submitted photo.

Brown majored in psychology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and then continued in a master’s program in human dimensions of natural resources at the University of Missouri. Her thesis was on motivations and perceptions held by Missouri landowners with conservation easements on their properties.

As graduation neared, she applied for a variety of jobs, but nothing seemed the right fit. She widened her search to include internships and fellowships because it seemed, “like a natural next step after grad school and into the workforce,” Brown said.

The one-year Keillor fellowship caught her eye for two reasons. “I felt like it gave me an opportunity to apply my social science skills to a natural resources issue by working with the CHAOS community of practice. Also, I’ve traveled many times with my family to northern Wisconsin and Duluth. That was a big attractor.”

CHAOS stands for the Coastal Hazards of Superior. It’s a group comprised of local community leaders, managers, researchers and communicators who focus on issues affecting the Wisconsin and Minnesota coastlines of Lake Superior. These issues include erosion, shoreline planning, nutrient runoff pollution, flooding and community resilience.

“Being the CHAOS coordinator is the most awesome job title you can have!” Brown said. “I’m hoping through this role I can fold in social science methodology to benefit the future progression of this community of practice, whether it’s finding out where it needs to go next or what it’s going to be next, or just figuring out what community members want. I also want experience working alongside a state agency and to improve my skills in meeting facilitation and project coordination.”

The state agency Brown will be working with is the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Coastal Management Program along with Sea Grant, the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension. She is stationed in the Reserve’s office in Superior. You can email Brown at sarah.brown@wisconsin.gov.

The post Sarah Brown looks forward to coordinating CHAOS first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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St. Louis River Summit celebrates river transformations

On: February 3, 2022

In: Deanna Erickson, Emily Ford, Jennifer Chenoweth, Jesse Roesler, Lake Sueprior National Estuarine Research Reserve, St. Louis River Summit 2022

The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (Lake Superior Reserve) is holding its 12^th annual St. Louis River Summit March 7-9 via the virtual platform Zoom and with optional in-person events. Wisconsin Sea Grant is one of the sponsors.

The theme for the summit is, “River Transformations,” which celebrates progress on St. Louis River Area of Concern environmental projects and the transformative work of understanding and addressing climate change. The goal of the summit is to bring together key audiences working in the region to share information about the St. Louis River and encourage coordination of activities and funding proposals.

“This year, more than any other, we are emphasizing the community that surrounds, cares for, and benefits from the St. Louis River,” said Deanna Erickson, Lake Superior Reserve director. “From keynote speakers, to posters, to field trips and presenters, we are emphasizing community engagement and equity in this remarkable landscape. After decades of restoration, the river is transforming. A healthier St. Louis River supports positive community transformations and wellbeing.”

The keynote speaker will be Jesse Roesler, a filmmaker with Credo Nonfiction, which is the company that produced “Breaking Trail,” a documentary about Emily Ford, a Duluthian who last winter was the first woman and person of color to through-hike the 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin. Roesler will address the power of storytelling to inspire positive change.

Jennifer Chenoweth will be a featured speaker. She is a visual artist and entrepreneur who created the XYZ Atlas, an interactive public art project that portrays the feelings, stories and experiences of people living in and visiting Austin, Texas. Chenoweth will describe how art can be a tool for social change through inspiration and connection.

In-person events include a poster session, an evening River Talk, and field trips. The poster session will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, in the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjacket Union.

The River Talk will be held at 6:30 p.m. on March 8, also in the Yellowjacket Union. It will feature Marne Kaeske with the 1854 Treaty Authority who will help participants construct wild rice knocking sticks during “Bawa’iganaakoog (Wild Rice Harvesting Sticks).” Advance registration is required.

During the morning of March 9, small-group, socially distanced field trips will be held. Options include a drone meet and fly, winter birding on Wisconsin Point, a snowshoe trek in the Superior Municipal Forest and a tour of Carl Gawboy’s classic murals in the Superior Public Library.

Students from local schools and institutions are invited to attend the summit to learn more about the research community and river projects. Students are free but need to register.

The cost to attend the summit is $30. To register and view the agenda, visit lakesuperiorreserve.org/summit/.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. In addition to Sea Grant, initial sponsors include Barr Engineering, Duluth Pottery, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute, Izaak Walton League of America, the Lake Superior Research Institute, the Large Lakes Observatory, LimnoTech, Inc., Marine Tech, the Minnesota Land Trust, Minnesota Sea Grant, Roen Salvage Company, Stantec, the University of Minnesota Duluth Natural Resources Research Institute, the W.J. McCabe (Duluth) Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division.

The post St. Louis River Summit celebrates river transformations first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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River Talks Offers Update on Spirit Lake Project

On: January 27, 2022

In: epa, Mark Loomis, River Talks, Spirit Lake project

Current activities at the Spirit Lake Great Lakes Legacy Act cleanup site. Image credit: U. S, Environmental Protection Agency

The next River Talk will take place at 7 p.m., Wednesday, February 9, via Zoom. Mark Loomis, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes National Program Office, will present, “Update on the Spirit Lake Great Lakes Legacy Act Project.”

The EPA continues work at the Spirit Lake site under the Great Lakes Legacy Act. Loomis will provide technical updates on progress to-date and the plan for remediating the Spirit Lake project area.

Here is the Zoom link and info:
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93995368994?pwd=UElHcHlybGZmRUdLRG5xU3oyQ3ZmZz09
Meeting ID: 939 9536 8994
Passcode: 206104
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,93995368994# US (Chicago)
+19292056099,,93995368994# US (New York)

Remaining River Talks will be held March 8, April 13 and May 11, 2022. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post River Talks Offers Update on Spirit Lake Project first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Support your local fish farms, support sustainability

On: January 18, 2022

In: Emma Wiermaa, NADF, recirculating aquaculture systems

By Eva Ryan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The next specialist I interviewed in celebration of Wisconsin Sea Grant’s 50th anniversary was Emma Wiermaa, aquaculture and education outreach specialist. Together, we discussed details of Wiermaa’s specialty that have changed and details she hopes to see change in the future.

Wiermaa is stationed at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (NADF). Her position is in collaboration between Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. NADF is a research and demonstration facility for freshwater finfish that may be used for a variety of food fish, baitfish or conservation species projects. The facility also partners with various organizations, private, public and tribal, looking to engage in sustainable aquaculture.

Emma Wiermaa at the Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

“My job is to take the research that we’re doing and convert it into a way that’s understandable and usable for various groups,” said Wiermaa. One of Wiermaa’s key audiences are K-12 students. Her duty involves effectively engaging and educating these children on what aquaculture is and why it is important, not only for educational purposes but also as a career pathway.

Though Wiermaa has only been working for the aquaculture industry for eight years, she said, “In the past 50 years from what I’ve seen, there seems to be a lot more interest in the growth of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).” Essentially, RAS have the potential to create the best possible circumstances to optimize fish growth throughout the year. This includes control of various environmental factors such as temperature, flow rates, lighting, water quality and biosecurity. She said that temperature control is especially important in our Midwest climate for species that require warmer temperatures for optimum growth, such as the walleye.

“We’re part of these national groups that want to see this (RAS) succeed, and they’re (the NADF) doing it in a sustainable way. They’re thinking about water reuse, effluent (water leaving the site) and optimum control of the fish-rearing environment.”

Not wasting any time in looking forward to the next 50 years of aquaculture, Wiermaa expressed her hope to continue supporting local and sustainable aquaculture, not only aquaculture research but also the farmers working hard to support local communities while providing fresh and local fish. “It is important for consumers to know that purchasing fish and seafood raised in the U.S. ensures a safe, healthy and tastefully fresh option that supports local jobs and communities,” she said.

To help achieve this, Wiermaa notes that misconceptions about the aquaculture industry need to be addressed to erase any stigma. “We need the trust, we need the support, and we need the research,” Wiermaa said.

Wiermaa mentioned one specific detail: farmers know better than anyone that fish are sensitive animals that require a healthy environment with good water quality in order to survive on a daily basis. Farmers must ensure clean living conditions for these fish because otherwise, the fish would not survive. She stressed that maintaining honesty in research and information is essential in eliminating misconceptions.

To cap off the interview, Wiermaa expressed her appreciation for Wisconsin Sea Grant in supporting aquaculture research and sustainable practices. She said, “I think that’s why everyone who works at the facility is so passionate about it because we’re doing cutting-edge research that really helps our partners. It’s all about partnerships and helping to advance sustainable aquaculture.”

The post Support your local fish farms, support sustainability first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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In: accelerated freshwater steel corrosion, freshwater corrosion in inland lakes and rivers, Marie Zhuikov

Sea Grant project faves, Marie Zhuikov

On: January 13, 2022

A steel dock post on a lake near Cotton, Minnesota, shows the same biocorrosion tubercles as those found in the Duluth Superior Harbor. Photo taken in 2020. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The calendar has flipped to 2022. Our staff members are ready to tackle new projects in the coming 12 months, which also happens to mark Sea Grant’s 50th anniversary. Before they move more deeply into the new year, however, some staff members took a moment to retain the glow of their favorite 2021 project. Marie Zhuikov shared her thoughts. She’s our senior science communicator.

My favorite project happened right on the cusp of 2021. It all started the previous fall, when I found strange rusty bumps on the steel support legs of our cabin dock. The lumps looked familiar to me because I’d seen similar ones on steel pilings in the Duluth-Superior Harbor. But my dock was on an inland lake in northern Minnesota, far from the harbor. Could the same accelerated corrosion of steel that was happening in the harbor and in Lake Superior be happening in inland lakes?

I knew who to ask about this from interviews for stories that I did about this issue in the past. Some background: Research funded by both Wisconsin Sea Grant and Minnesota Sea Grant determined the cause of accelerated corrosion of steel infrastructure in the Duluth-Superior Port, which was first noticed in 1998. Corrosion of this nature is most often seen in saltwater environments, but Sea Grant work determined it was related to microbial action combined with winter ice scour. Coatings and jackets have been devised, with Wisconsin Sea Grant support, to protect port infrastructure. In 2018-19, the value of harbor assets protected was $5.4 million. An expert panel originally thought the corrosion microbes were only found in Lake Superior waters.

I conferred with Sea Grant researchers and corrosion experts, sending them pictures of my dock legs. The more I dug, the more intriguing and complex the story became. The researchers confirmed the corrosion was caused by the same factors at work in the Duluth-Superior Port. They told me that microbially influenced corrosion problems are not confined only to Lake Superior. Corrosion is impacting steel structures far up the St. Louis River, which empties into Lake Superior, and has been found in several inland lakes.

I wrote a story and produced a podcast about the findings, which led to stories in several local media outlets and magazines. This increased the public’s understanding of the corrosion issue, how to mitigate its effects, and ongoing research efforts to counteract it. My cabin neighbors now know how to keep their dock legs from buckling too soon.

Usually, I get story ideas from scientific journals or research proposals. This story originated because I was paying attention to what was happening out my own back door, so to speak. That’s why it’s my fave for 2021.

The post Sea Grant project faves, Marie Zhuikov first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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River Talks to Feature Stories of Spirit Island

On: December 28, 2021

In: Jeff Savage, River Talks, Spirit Island

The next River Talk will take place at 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 12, in person at the Lake Superior Estuarium (3 Marina Dr., Superior, Wisconsin). Jeff Savage, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa cultural center and museum director, will share, “Stories of Spirit Island.”

Spirit Island. Image credit: David Bowman

On the Minnesota side of the St. Louis River in a widening called Spirit Lake, lies Spirit Island. This small island is of spiritual and cultural significance to the Ojibwe people and was the second-to-last stop on their migration to this area from the East Coast. The Fond du Lac Band bought the island from a private seller in 2011 and it’s an important site of stories, both past and present.

The event will last an hour and will include time for comments and questions. Refreshments will be provided. Use of facial masks is required for safety. The talk summary will be posted on Wisconsin Sea Grant’s blog. In case of inclement weather or pandemic-related shutdowns, this event will shift to virtual. Watch the Reserve’s or Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Facebook pages for further information.

Other River Talks will be held Feb. 9, March 8, April 13 and May 11, 2022. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post River Talks to Feature Stories of Spirit Island first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Interpreting the Marten Trail

On: December 13, 2021

In: Duluth, River Talks, Sam Geer, The Marten Trail, Urban Ecosystems

The November River Talks featured Samuel Geer, president of Urban Ecosystems, presenting, “Revealing the Invisible: Experiencing and Interpreting the St. Louis River Along Waabizheshikana (The Marten Trail).” Through his landscape architecture practice, Geer was the lead designer of the interpretive plan for the trail, which was formerly known as the Western Waterfront Trail in Duluth, Minnesota.

The trail was renamed during the previous year to better reflect the history of the area and because plans were in place by the city of Duluth to change and lengthen the trail. Although currently over 3 miles, once completed, the trail will stretch from the community of Fond du Lac neighborhood at the western end to near Indian Point and Kingsbury Bay, over 10 miles to the north. Geer shared the process his team began in 2020 to gain public input about ways to celebrate the people, animals, plants and landscapes along the St. Louis River waterfront.

Sam Geer. Image credit: Submitted photo

“One of the stated goals of the process was to incorporate Native American languages and worldviews into the plan and the whole process,” Geer said. “This spot – the estuary – is just crawling with life and has an abundance of natural beauty and character that really makes people want to spend time there. The trail plan preserves the activities of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad that’s currently there, plus provides opportunities for cyclists and pedestrians to explore the waterfront.”

Geer said the trail interpretive elements celebrate Duluth’s industrial history but also acknowledges the damage that industry has had on the environment. He described their interpretive approach like this, “In order for people to appreciate this place, they need to be able to access it and get down to the waterfront regardless of age or ability to explore the place and be comfortable in the process of doing it. Ultimately, the goal is to have people develop a sense of connection and caring toward this landscape and an appreciation for how diverse and multilayered it is.”

The team chose natural colors for their color palette. Signage will take the form of freestanding signs and “story poles,” 10-foot-tall metal rectangles that honor the iron ore and steelmaking legacy of the area. They will contain interpretive panels that feature Ojibwe words and laser-cut stainless-steel animal sculptures. Eight segments of the trail will each be “branded” with different animals visitors could encounter along that stretch. They will also feature portrayals of the various ways people have made a living from the estuary, be it wild ricing or a lumber mill. Cairns made from local rock material will mark trail spurs.

Sarah Agaton Howes, a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, created much of the animal artwork. Historian Christine Carlson provided text, and John Koepke, Ojibwe landscape architect, provided illustrations.

Geer said they emphasized including diverse and often overlooked perspectives into the interpretive plan, such as women’s and African American stories.

“You know, Jay Cooke paid for a railroad and only came here one time, yet he has a state park named after him,” Geer said. “There were many people who spent their entire lives in this area who offered up a lot more meaningful things in terms of their personal contributions and life experiences. If you’re not oriented to these types of things, they’re invisible but if you can open up a view into some intimate aspect of the history of the place or someone who lived there, I think it creates a powerful connection to the place in a way you don’t get from a big elaborate installation.”

The plan is not on-the-ground yet. It’s being included in a grant proposal to the state of Minnesota, which will request money to pay for interpretation and construction.

To watch a video of Geer’s presentation, visit the Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve’s YouTube site.

The River Talks are sponsored by the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

Other River Talks will be held Jan. 12, Feb. 19, March 8, April 13 and May 11, 2022. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The post Interpreting the Marten Trail first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/interpreting-the-marten-trail/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=interpreting-the-marten-trail

In: coastal businesses South Shore of Lake Superior Wisconsin, Fred Binkowski, Harvey Hoven, Jack Culley, St.. Louis River Remedial Action Plan

Sea Grant was Second Career for Harvey Hoven

On: December 9, 2021

In our continuing series of stories for Wisconsin Sea Grant’s upcoming 50th anniversary in 2022, I interviewed former extension agent, Harvey Hoven, who worked out of our office in Superior. Hoven was employed from 1989 through 2003 (14 years) focusing on coastal businesses along the South Shore of Lake Superior, aquaculture in the Midwest and initial efforts to remediate the St. Louis River, the largest U.S. tributary into Lake Superior.

Harvey Hoven’s picture from a “Littorial Drift” newsletter article about his hire with Sea Grant in 1989. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant

Hoven had already worked a full career in finance in Minneapolis before he found Sea Grant. He retired from banking and moved back to his hometown of Superior in the mid-1980s. Hoven boated and fished on Lake Superior frequently, enjoying his leisure. But his time boating also piqued his curiosity about the things living in the lake.

On the advice of some Wisconsin Department of Natural resources staff members, Hoven decided to pursue a degree in aquatic biology at the University of Wisconsin-Superior even though he already had an MBA from the University of Minnesota.

While he was studying, he heard that Wisconsin Sea Grant might be hiring locally. “I thought that would be a good thing to look into,” Hoven said. “It interested me, so I got involved. I kind of edged my way in there and got hired.”

Although his duties weren’t clearly defined at first, because of his finance background, they shaped up to focus on business enterprises along the Wisconsin shore of Lake Superior. Hoven said these included marinas, bait shops, charter captains and fishing groups. He worked to “get a feel of who’s doing what, what were some of the issues, what were the problems, what were the questions they wanted answers to. I played the role of go-between – somebody who was on the shoreline but had access to the university campus in Madison where the experts were – the fisheries experts, the engineering people. I was a gofer for UW-Madison on the lakeshore,” he said.

Initially, he spent much of his time getting to know people along the shore. This naturally led to projects. “I started doing an annual economic survey of business activity along the shoreline,” Hoven said. “I found that very interesting for two reasons. One, it gave me a sense of what was happening economically on Lake Superior. Secondly, it got me into everybody’s store!”

At first, business owners were reluctant to provide Hoven with their financial information, but as they got to know him they began to trust him. Hoven also credits help from former Barker’s Island Marina manager Jack Culley for their cooperation.

“He was a real dynamic guy and a hard-driven guy. He didn’t trust me at first, but after a while, we got to know each other quite well and he opened up his records to me. I think he maybe pushed the word up and down the shore that when I came around to talk about who’s doing what, they’d better sit down and talk to me so that their information would get into the survey and report, as well,” Hoven said.

He conducted the economic survey for about 10 years, comparing growth sectors and where new developments were happening.

Hoven also used to hold a daylong seminar for charter captains along with staff from Minnesota Sea Grant. Attendees talked about rules and regulations, who’s catching what kind of fish and what their records were showing in terms of fishing effort. Hoven used to also offer the captains business consulting advice.

After observing numerous crates of cisco (formerly called lake herring) on commercial fisherman’s docks seeming to go to waste as fertilizer or mink food, Hoven teamed with a professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth to conduct a market analysis to find a profitable use for the fish. They ended up getting a grant to conduct a marketing survey.

“As it turns out, we never did develop a great market for herring, but it’s an example of somebody like myself being in the position I was along the lakeshore, who kept my eyes and ears open and said, ‘Hey, there’s something we should work on.’”

Hoven also teamed with Sea Grant aquaculture specialist Fred Binkowski to develop business models for prospective aquaculture operations. “I was kind of in the middle again,” Hoven said. “I relied on Fred for the economic data for producing fish, but I also went the next step, which was telling them what they could expect when they market it and how to go about marketing it.”

Hoven presented his business model at several national aquaculture meetings. He also developed an aquaculture directory for the Midwest. For that, he visited every aquaculture facility, which took him a year.

His last project was perhaps Hoven’s most noteworthy. He chaired the group that developed the first Remedial Action Plan (RAP), which directed environmental restoration efforts for the St. Louis River after it had been designated as an Area of Concern by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It also led to the founding of the St. Louis River Alliance, a nonprofit that works to protect the river.

Hoven said he chaired the board, a consortium of 25 people representing different businesses and organizations around the river, for five or six years. “That took a lot of my time, but it was very good because I got to be close to everybody in the community who was working on the river.

“At first, it was contentious because nothing was getting done. The businesses only could see dollar signs in the millions in front of them. We used to argue and yell at each other. Eventually, things got resolved and we published the first report, coordinating it with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s RAP efforts across the country,” Hoven said.

That report provided an important blueprint for restoration efforts and has been updated over the years. “The river really was a mess, I’ll tell ya. But little by little, it’s getting cleaned up now,” Hoven said.

The post Sea Grant was Second Career for Harvey Hoven first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/sea-grant-was-second-career-for-harvey-hoven/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sea-grant-was-second-career-for-harvey-hoven

Invasive Species: Then and Now

On: November 23, 2021

In: aquatic invasive species, Eva Ryan, Tim Campbell, Welland Canal, Wisconsin Sea Grant 50th anniversary

By Eva Ryan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

In 2022, Wisconsin Sea Grant will celebrate its 50th anniversary, marking five decades of work geared toward protecting ecosystems, addressing natural and economic disasters, supporting aquaculture industries, educating the public on related topics, and much more. Wisconsin Sea Grant has been a beacon of accurate, scientific information, and will continue to be so in the future.

To kick off the celebration, I interviewed Tim Campbell, aquatic invasive species (AIS) outreach specialist, to see how things have changed in his field in the past 50 years, and how he hopes they will progress. His story is first in an anniversary series we plan to continue on our blog.

Visitors learn about aquatic invasive species at an information stand hosted by Tim Campbell, Wisconsin Sea Grant (right) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources during the Ghost Ships Festival, Milwaukee, 2013. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant

Campbell recounted a brief history of the study of invasive species: The creation of the Welland Canal, a human-made waterway that links Lake Ontario to Lake Erie in the mid-1800s sparked the idea of invasive species in the Great Lakes. Sea lampreys and alewives were able to travel through the Welland Canal into the Great Lakes, majorly impacting both people and fish.

While Great Lakes invasion science used to be primarily focused on managing sea lamprey and alewives for the benefit of commercial and recreational fisheries, Campbell noted that “now, what we think about in terms of invasive species in the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes region is so much more broad than just alewives and sea lamprey.” New invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels have expanded what requires management. Another task trying to be proactive in keeping other nonnative species from being introduced. Improvements in control programs give AIS managers alternatives and new prevention programs have helped reach wider audiences.

And while advancement in science and technology have bolstered our understanding of invasive species and the pathways they use to breach new areas, new pathways are continuously arising. Campbell cited online marketplaces as an example. These marketplaces, which allow customers to purchase species from anywhere in the world, have complicated AIS management in the past 10 years. Additionally, new segments of existing pathways – like recreational watercraft with ballast tanks – keep AIS managers readdressing pathways they thought were already sufficiently covered by their management plans.

“I think we’re starting to get more specific with pathways and how we can focus less on the actual invasive species and more on the people using the pathways – how we can work with them to stop unintentionally moving plants and animals around,” Campbell said. He went on to mention that “as we have gotten a better handle on some pathways, new ones are also emerging. We need to be aware of how these pathways function, how these species and goods are moving around, and how we can make sure that only things that we want are being introduced into the environment.”

So where does invasion science go from here? Through the eyes of Campbell, the “limiting factor” of his field is often not new biological facts about invasive species, but rather “getting people to understand the impacts of their actions and getting them to take action.” In terms of progressing the field of invasion science, Campbell has high hopes that the approach of shifting toward social science and trying to incorporate more of it into invasive species management will bode well.

“In the next 50 years, I hope we keep going down this track of interdisciplinary work and trying to use all of the different scientific disciplines to address our problems” in order to, “leave no stone unturned for potential improvements,” Campbell said.

When asked for final comments, Campbell left me with this: “It [the Sea and Land Grant College approach] has historically been very important in managing our agricultural problems and natural resource issues, and I think we will be even more important in the future because of where we sit between science and communities. Especially in this age of finding anything on the internet, no matter the accuracy, I think that it’s important to have this trusted source of scientific information to help communities make the best decisions possible.”

The post Invasive Species: Then and Now first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/invasive-species-then-and-now/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=invasive-species-then-and-now

An Indigenous Story Map Experience About Water

On: November 18, 2021

In: Anne Moser, Brenna DeNamur, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, water is life

A new website is available that details what Indigenous communities in the Upper Midwest are doing to conserve and protect water. Named Bimaadiziwin Nibi, Water is Life, the story map is divided into sections, each centered around a different environmental issue. These include wild rice, fish, nonlocal beings (invasive species), mining, contaminants and beach sampling. Within each section are photos, reports and videos from tribal natural resource departments and a summary of interviews with scientists.

The project was created by Brenna DeNamur during her internship with Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2020. DeNamur, a recent University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, partnered with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) to develop the content in a culturally responsive manner.

Image courtesy of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

“It’s my hope that visitors to the site will gain a better understanding of the challenges faced in the intersection of conversation efforts and tribal culture, and that they be introduced to the diverse voices working in this area,” DeNamur said.

For instance, in the nonlocal beings section, DeNamur writes, “Although Indigenous science teaches respect and consideration for all, these nonlocal beings still pose a threat to biodiversity and the individual species, such as manoomin (wild rice) and ogaa (walleye), that Native Americans have had deep relationships with for generations.”

In response, GLIFWC has taken action against nonlocal beings. They conduct surveys, control actions and follow up monitoring for both terrestrial and aquatic species. The web page details how the commission divides its efforts into prevention, early detection and rapid response, control and management, research, and cooperation and coordination.

“This story map is a great tool for understanding how the collaboration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science methodologies can produce strategic and respectful conservation efforts concerning water throughout the Ceded Territories and beyond,” said Hannah Arbuckle, GLIFWC Outreach Coordinator.

Anne Moser, Wisconsin Sea Grant senior special librarian/education coordinator and DeNamur’s mentor, hopes to see the story map grow in the coming years. “I am grateful and honored to collaborate with GLIFWC on this project. It helped me gain a deeper understanding about Great Lakes literacy and how to incorporate Indigenous approaches into my work in education and outreach.”

“Ultimately, teaching Indigenous science is about understanding the world from different perspectives. If more people lived by this, we could sustain a healthier, more prosperous world,” DeNamur said.

To access the story map, visit go.wisc.edu/4n6n3n.

The post An Indigenous Story Map Experience About Water first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/an-indigenous-story-map-experience-about-water/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-indigenous-story-map-experience-about-water

The Fish Dish: New Podcast Mixes Friends, Fun and Food

On: November 8, 2021

In: Craig Hoopman, Greek-Style Lake Whitefish, Marie Zhuikov, Sharon Moen, The Fish Dish podcast, Woodblind

Sharon displays the Greek-Style Lake Whitefish, sizzling in the pan. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

For the latest “dish” about Great Lakes fish, you’ll want to listen to “The Fish Dish.” The podcast, co-hosted by longtime coworkers and friends Sharon Moen and Marie Zhuikov, introduces you to the people behind Wisconsin’s fishing and aquaculture industries. Each episode includes a “Fish-o-licious” section where Moen and Zhuikov cook a new fish recipe.

The first episode features Craig Hoopman, a sixth-generation commercial fisherman from Bayfield, Wisconsin. Hoopman shares his beginnings in the business, current challenges, plus his dreams for the future. Also, Eat Wisconsin Fish Outreach Specialist Moen and Science Communicator Zhuikov share their backgrounds in fishing and introduce listeners to the Eat Wisconsin Fish campaign. During the “Fish-o-licious” part of the show, they cook Greek-Style Lake Whitefish at Hoopman’s recommendation.

Tying it all together is ska music by Twin Ports band, Woodblind.

The post The Fish Dish: New Podcast Mixes Friends, Fun and Food first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/the-fish-dish-new-podcast-mixes-friends-fun-and-food/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-fish-dish-new-podcast-mixes-friends-fun-and-food

Greener and Cleaner: How a Marina Takes Big Strides Toward Cleaner Water

On: November 3, 2021

In: Barker's Island Marina, Eric Thomas, Michael Crick, River Talks, Theresa Qualls, Wisconsin Clean Marina Program

The revamped stormwater pond at Barker’s Island Marina. Before the improvements, the pond often used to flood after storms. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Greener and Cleaner: How a Marina Takes Big Strides Toward Cleaner Water

The new season of River Talks began in October with three speakers who described projects designed to control stormwater runoff and prevent pollution at the marina on Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin.

Theresa Qualls with the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program, Eric Thomas with Barker’s Island Marina and Michael Krick with the city of Superior gave in-person presentations in the Lake Superior Estuarium. Their talk was originally scheduled to be an outdoors tour, but inclement weather changed plans.

Barker’s Island Marina has been working for several years on certification to become a Wisconsin Clean Marina. These clean marinas voluntarily go the extra mile to adopt measures to reduce pollution from their marina, boatyards and recreational boats. Designated clean marinas are recognized as environmentally responsible businesses.

Qualls began the presentation by providing information about the clean marina program. “Clean lakes and rivers are good for business. Boaters really care about the water resource,” said Qualls, coordinator of the program. “In addition, it creates a safer and healthier place to work and recreate, and it really can enhance the image of the marina among the community and among boaters.”

The new boat wash station at Barker’s Island Marina. It better controls wash water that could potentially carry toxic boat paint residue. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

She said marinas are in a unique position to improve water quality because of their location near water. Earlier that day, she met with Barker’s Island Marina staff to finalize a plan for their certification. Once approved by a technical team and certified, Barker’s Island Marina will join 22 other clean marinas in the state. She said most of those are coastal marinas, but they are working to encourage more inland lake marinas to pursue certification.

Thomas said his marina wanted to be in the clean marina program because, “We have a ton of boats. We have a ton of machinery. All these boats are full of machines, engines, oil, grease – all kinds of yucky stuff . . . As somebody who has been on the Great Lakes all my life, and in the water my whole life, it’s so easy to make mess — we have to work really hard not to. But the rewards are huge.”

One thing the marina did to control stormwater runoff is to let native plants along the shoreline grow instead of continuously cutting them down. This also deters geese from walking onshore and defecating on sidewalks.

At the far end of the marina is a new boat wash station. When boats are lifted out of the water at the end of the season, the power wash water is collected in tub, filtered and sent to the sewage treatment plant. This keeps toxic boat paint residue from entering the lake. They also regraded the boat washing pavement so that rainwater drains into a new engineered wetland constructed by the city of Superior.

Krick described the construction process for the wetland, which contains a forebay and several cells to slow down stormwater and treat it via native plant processes. The outlet drains into the harbor. “It was really hard to grow anything this year, everyone’s aware of the lack of rain we had,” Krick said of the process to plant the wetland vegetation. “But the last month has been very nice in terms of getting vegetation established before winter. I’m fairly happy with the way it looks.”

Thomas added, “We’re able to treat an inch or inch-and-a-half of rain through the wetland effectively. So, when we get one of these good soakers, we’re not releasing anything immediately into the lake. It’s all getting filtered through this.”

The new engineered wetland at Barker’s Island Marina. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The wetland project was funded by the Great Lakes Protection Fund and engineered by The Ohio State University. Staff at the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve monitor conditions at the wetland and stormwater pond to ensure they are working properly.

The last improvement discussed was the marina’s stormwater pond, which is near the road. Because it had no outlet, the pond would often flood the marina parking lot during heavy rains, creating hazardous conditions.

The pond was retrofitted with a forebay to catch and treat the water, allowing sediment to settle. A pipe allows the water to flow into the bay once it gets high enough.

Barker’s Island Marina is one of three marinas in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio chosen for installation of green stormwater infrastructure practices.

For more information about Barker’s Island environmental projects, visit this blog story.

The Nov. 10 River Talk will feature Samuel Geer, president of Urban Ecosystems, presenting, “Revealing the Invisible: Experiencing and Interpreting the St. Louis River along Waabizheshikana (The Marten Trail).” His talk will be via Zoom at 7 p.m.:

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/97648986592?pwd=THZIU1JBYTZRdzg3V1hkdUZOSExuUT09
Meeting ID: 976 4898 6592
Passcode: 924675

Other River Talks will be held Jan. 12, Feb. 19, March 9, April 13 and May 11, 2022. The March talk will be held in conjunction with the St. Louis River Summit and the date may change. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post Greener and Cleaner: How a Marina Takes Big Strides Toward Cleaner Water first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/greener-and-cleaner-how-a-marina-takes-big-strides-toward-cleaner-water/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=greener-and-cleaner-how-a-marina-takes-big-strides-toward-cleaner-water

River Talks to feature Marten Trail plan

On: November 1, 2021

In: River Talks, Samuel Geer, The Marten Trail, Urban Ecosystems, Waabizheshikana

Sam Geer. Image credit: Submitted photo

The next River Talk will take place at 7 p.m., Wednesday, November 10 via Zoom. Samuel Geer will present, “Revealing the Invisible: Experiencing and Interpreting the St. Louis River along Waabizheshikana (The Marten Trail).”

Geer is president of Urban Ecosystems, a Twin Cities-based landscape architecture practice. He was lead designer for the interpretive plan for Waabizheshikana (formerly the Western Waterfront Trail in Duluth) and will share the process by which the team sought to celebrate the plants, animals and landscapes along the waterfront. The plan collects stories of noteworthy people, river places and lost landmarks that are revealed to visitors by a constellation of interpretive elements.

Here is the Zoom link and info:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/97648986592?pwd=THZIU1JBYTZRdzg3V1hkdUZOSExuUT09

Meeting ID: 976 4898 6592
Passcode: 924675
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,97648986592# US (New York)
+13017158592,,97648986592# US (Washington DC)

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post River Talks to feature Marten Trail plan first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/river-talks-to-feature-marten-trail-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=river-talks-to-feature-marten-trail-plan

River Talks to feature Marten Trail plan

On: November 1, 2021

In: River Talks, Samuel Geer, The Marten Trail, Urban Ecosystems, Waabizheshikana

Sam Geer. Image credit: Submitted photo

Here is the Zoom link and info:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/97648986592?pwd=THZIU1JBYTZRdzg3V1hkdUZOSExuUT09

Meeting ID: 976 4898 6592
Passcode: 924675
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,97648986592# US (New York)
+13017158592,,97648986592# US (Washington DC)

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

The post River Talks to feature Marten Trail plan first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/river-talks-to-feature-marten-trail-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=river-talks-to-feature-marten-trail-plan

Treating lakes for Eurasian watermilfoil with herbicides can harm young fish

On: October 14, 2021

In: 2 4 D, Eurasian watermilfoil, Gavin Dehnert, herbicides, toxicity to fish

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s emerging contaminants scientist, Gavin Dehnert, earned his Ph.D. by studying the effects of commercial 2,4-D herbicide exposure on the development and behavior of freshwater fish at different life stages. Now, he’s taking his research out of the lab and into the natural environment, where 2,4-D herbicides are used to treat lakes for the invasive plant, Eurasian watermilfoil.

During his doctoral studies, Dehnert found that exposure to concentrations of 2,4-D similar to those allowed during application to lakes significantly decreased survival in fathead minnow larvae and also other young fish species such as walleye, yellow perch, largemouth bass, northern pike, white crappies and white suckers.

“We saw an increase in about 20 to 35% mortality of the young fish when exposed to 2,4-D,” Dehnert said. “But we kept getting this big question: We know what happens in the laboratory, but what happens in the real world?”

With funding from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Dehnert designed two sets of experiments this summer in lakes that were undergoing 2,4-D treatments. For the first,

One of two lakewater systems Dehnert uses. In this one, water is taken directly from a lake that had 2,4-D applied, then distributed to tanks where the fish are held. Image credit: Gavin Dehnert, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The second employed an in-lake exposure system. Young fish were put in the lake in two-liter buckets with holes in them covered in mesh, which allowed water and food to pass through, but not the fish.

Dehnert explained, “This allowed us to see what goes on during an actual herbicide treatment. It’s applied to the entire lake and we look at what goes on with the fish.”

He anticipates a possible higher mortality in the lake setting because there are more variables at play. “I would expect more like a 35 to 45% decrease in survivorship because there are more stressors on the fish – temperature changes, storms, nutrient runoff, etcetera. That’s why it’s important to do this experiment in a natural lake setting, so we can get those real-world scenarios,” Dehnert said.

Dehnert is just beginning to process the data from his lake experiments and expects to finish up next year (2022).

Wisconsin lake associations are interested in Dehnert’s work because they want to eradicate Eurasian watermilfoil. Besides the use of an herbicide, the invasive plant can be controlled by manually removing the plants or by introducing beetles that eat it.

“All of these lake associations want to make sure they’re causing the least amount of impact to the other organisms in the lake,” Dehnert said. “So, it’s really exciting to work with them to determine the risks of the different control methods. How do we get rid of this invasive species but keep intact what we already have in the lake?

“Let’s understand what could happen, so we can make an educated decision on whether the benefits outweigh the cons,” he said.

The post Treating lakes for Eurasian watermilfoil with herbicides can harm young fish first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/treating-lakes-for-eurasian-watermilfoil-with-herbicides-can-harm-young-fish/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=treating-lakes-for-eurasian-watermilfoil-with-herbicides-can-harm-young-fish

Outdoor guide online training program offered for free

On: October 11, 2021

In: GORP Wisconsin, Guide and Outfitter Recognized Professional, Natalie Chin, Oregon Sea Grant, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Kayakers receive instructions from their guide before a trip in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

A new international training program for outdoor guides and outfitters is now available online for northwestern Wisconsin. The program, named Guide and Outfitter Recognized Professional (GORP) is being offered by Wisconsin Sea Grant in conjunction with Oregon Sea Grant.

GORP content was developed with input from professional guides, educators and tourism organizations. It’s aligned with best practices recommended by the Adventure Travel Trade Association. With completion of the program, experienced guides and outfitters will be recognized for their existing knowledge and information on a wide range of topics and best practices, demonstrating the value of their guiding services over competitors to potential clients. For aspiring guides, it will provide a great foundation for their future business.

GORP consists of four online modules that participants are encouraged to complete within a month, although there is flexibility. These are augmented by optional live webinars conducted by Oregon Sea Grant Extension staff. The next course begins Monday, Nov. 1, and it is free. Future course offerings will have costs associated with them. Although the course is geared toward northwestern Wisconsin, registration is open to all and may be helpful to guides in other parts of Wisconsin, too.

Course content covers a broad range of knowledge and skills that guides can use to improve client experiences, including identification of 101 local species of plants and animals, knowledge of local history, natural resource agencies, tourism organizations and economic impacts, group management, customer service, sustainability, marketing, personal interpretation skills and more.

Those completing the GORP program will be awarded a certification and a package of marketing benefits including: a GORP branded shirt, GORP logo vinyl for boat or truck, special listing on the GORP website, and other online marketing services.

Development of Wisconsin’s GORP program was led by Natalie Chin, climate and tourism outreach specialist for Wisconsin Sea Grant. For more information or to register, visit the GORP site and choose the Wisconsin program.

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Sea Grant staffer is part of a $2.8 million NSF project

On: October 4, 2021

In: Dedire Peroff, National Science Foundation, Ryan Holifield, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WaterMarks project

Deidre Peroff, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s social scientist outreach specialist, is part of a new project designed to foster community-engaged learning and environmental stewardship in Milwaukee. The $2.8-million undertaking, funded by the National Science Foundation, is led by Ryan Holifield, associate professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The project will integrate art with STEM experiences (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), along with geography, water management and social science. The goal is to develop collaborations among artists, scientists and communities to bring informal sustainability science learning to Milwaukee.

Named “WaterMarks,” the four-year effort will include activities such as neighborhood walks led by artists, scientists or community members where participants are encouraged to consider the characteristics, histories and ecosystems in their neighborhoods. The walks will be expanded upon through workshops that will explore water-related environmental challenges and proposed solutions. Art projects and a website are other ways learning will be encouraged.

An artist’s redition of what one of the “WaterMarks” public art installations would look like. Image credit: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Peroff will serve as a researcher, collecting and analyzing data, writing reports – and she will also facilitate public engagement in the project.

Collaborators include City as Living Laboratory and the COSI Center for Research and Evaluation. Contact Peroff for more information.

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River Talks resume with Barker’s Island tour

On: September 30, 2021

In: Barker's Island green infrastructure improvements, Barker's Island Marina, Eric Thomas, Michael Krick, River Talks, Theresa Qualls, Wisconsin Clean Marina Program

The revamped stormwater pond at Barker’s Island Marina. Before the improvements, the pond often used to flood. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The River Talks, a series of informal science presentations, returns for the season with “Greener and Cleaner: How a Marina Takes Big Strides Toward Cleaner Water,” an in-person tour of environmental improvements on Barker’s Island in Superior.

Three speakers –Theresa Qualls with the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program, Eric Thomas with Barker’s Island Marina and Michael Krick with the city of Superior – will describe new projects designed to control stormwater runoff and prevent pollution on the island at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13.

Marinas attract customers who care deeply about sustaining water quality. With support from the Clean Marina Program, the city of Superior and many partners, Barker’s Island Marina has taken great strides over the past few years to install an engineered wetland and a large boat wash station. Tour participants will visit these innovative projects and learn more about the Clean Marina Program.

Meet at the marina’s Ship Store. Parking for this can be found in the northwest corner of the Barker’s Inn Resort parking lot (see map below). The tour will involve a round-trip walk on easy, paved surfaces from the Ship Store to the service center (three-fourths of a mile). It will last until 6 p.m. and will include time for Q&A.

In case of rain, the presentations will be held in the Lake Superior Estuarium on Barker’s Island (3 Marina Dr.).

Other River Talks will be held Nov. 10, 2021, and Jan. 12, Feb. 19, March 9, April 13 and May 10, 2022. The March talk will be held in conjunction with the St. Louis River Summit and the date may change. For more information, visit the River Talks page: go.wisc.edu/4uz720.

The River Talks are sponsored by The Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.

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Sea Grant staff collect commendable beach cleanup haul

On: September 28, 2021

In: Elizabeth White, Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, Ginny Carlton, Manitowoc beach cleanup, Marie Zhuikov, Titus Seilheimer, Wisconsin Point beach cleanup, Yael Gen

Birders on Wisconsin Point look for rare jaegers. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

The third weekend in September is traditionally a time for beach cleanups by communities in the Great Lakes. Volunteers scour beaches and shorelines for trash as part of the International Coastal Cleanup. Our Sea Grant staff members got in the spirit, participating in cleanups spanning across the state, from Wisconsin Point in Lake Superior, to Madison, to Manitowoc on Lake Michigan.

Marie Zhuikov and Russ Maron on Wisconsin Point. Image credit: Russ Maron

The event on Wisconsin Point featured a twist: birding. Besides being a good time to collect trash, this season offers a narrow window for Wisconsin birders to see parasitic jaegers, fast-flying pirates of the water bird world, as they migrate past Wisconsin Point from the arctic tundra to southern climes.

The “parasitic” part of their name comes from their food-stealing habits. They are categorized as “kleptoparasites,” which means they steal food from other seabirds.

The Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve (FOLSR) took advantage of the timing to invite Jaegerfest birders and FOLSR members to cleanup the beach when they weren’t on the lookout for birds.

Science communicator Marie Zhuikov and her husband have attended many beach cleanups in the past, but never one that combined jaeger-watching. On a calm and quiet Saturday morning, they joined the professional birders and their high-powered spotting scopes.

Dried bee balm flowers. Image credit: Yael Gen, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Zhuikov and her husband had better luck finding trash than birds. Alas, no jaegers were to be seen, although many ring-billed and herring gulls floated serenely in the lake. The duo moved to the end of the point and collected two bags of trash from the beach. The most interesting finds? A single Birkenstock sandal and fireworks debris.

Their efforts became even more impressive with the addition of four other bags of garbage plus a car bumper that others had collected and left bagged near the parking lot. All total, their haul weighed 160 pounds!

Their colleagues editor Elizabeth White, educator Ginny Carlton and graphic designer Yael Gen participated in a more botanical cleanup at the Lakeshore Nature Preserve on the Madison campus. They began by collecting seeds from dried bee balm plants. Gen said they pulled the seed heads off and saved them in paper bags. “If you turn one upside down and shake it, the seeds resemble ground pepper,” she said. The seeds will be used for a class and to reseed other areas of the preserve.

Titus Seilheimer and his sons with one of their beach cleanup finds in Manitowoc. Image credit: Amy Seilheimer

Next, they got a workout clearing an invasive buckthorn thicket along the shores of Lake Mendota using loppers and saws.

Fisheries specialist Titus Seilheimer and his family worked on Silver Creek Beach in Manitowoc. “We typically organize two cleanups per year, spring and fall,” Seilheimer said. “We had two other volunteers for our cleanup for a total of six. We removed 68 pounds of trash. That included two tires for most of the weight. We found fairly typical trash with 40 cigarette butts, small pieces of foam and plastic, shotgun shells and wads, bottle caps and plastic bottles.”

Way to go, Sea Grant staff! You cleaned up 228 pounds of trash, plus gobs of unwanted plants and provided seeds for the future. A commendable effort for one morning in September.

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In: Barker's Island green infrastructure improvements, Barker's Island Marina, Eric Thomas, Jim Paine, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, Matt Steiger, Sustain Our Great Lakes Program, Todd Breiby, Wisconsin Coastal Mangement Program

Environmental improvements to Barker’s Island progressing

On: September 21, 2021

Participants on the tour listen to Matt Steiger, Wisconsin DNR, describe improvements to the Barker’s Island inland beach. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov

Last week, I joined a walking tour to check on the progress of projects designed to improve the environment on Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin. After a welcome at the Lake Superior Estuarium by Jim Paine, the mayor of Superior, we hoofed it over to Barker’s Island beach. Although most of the work on the beach was done back in 2019, progress is still being made.

Native plants that replaced invasive buckthorn bushes were thriving and in fine color. Yellow sunflowers and purple bottle gentians lined the raised boardwalk along with many other grasses, flowers and shrubs. Our tour guides from the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) pointed out porous concrete underneath the picnic tables and pervious pavers in the parking areas along the street. These are designed to allow water to soak into the ground instead of running directly into the lake, which diminishes pollution.

The Barker’s Island beach and boardwalk. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Matt Steiger with the Wisconsin DNR said the changes are working. Before the improvements, the E. coli bacteria amount exceeded standards 42% of the time for the summer season in 2015 and 2016. After the project was completed in 2020, E. coli exceedances dropped to only 8%.

The second area we visited encompassed the charter fishing dock parking lot and the Barker’s Island Inn lot and tennis courts. Funded by a grant to the city of Superior from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes Program, progress on these projects has been slower than anticipated because of the many challenges brought about by the COVID pandemic.

However, city staff expect ground to be broken in the spring of 2022 on medians in the parking lot, which will be planted with native trees and shrubs to slow water runoff. The tennis courts behind the inn will be turned into a green space, and the paved walking path across from the inn will be extended.

Our next stop was Barker’s Island Marina. Manager Eric Thomas showed us the many improvements completed this spring thanks to several grants and cooperation among Sea Grant programs in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, as well as the City of Superior, the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, The Ohio State University, and the Wisconsin Marine Association. These include a rubber mat that catches toxic paint chemicals and biofouling organisms when boats are removed from the water and washed at the end of the season.

Eric Thomas, manager of Barker’s Island Marina, describes new environmental improvements. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Pavement at the marina has been replaced and regraded so that it drains toward a new engineered wetland along its edge. Todd Breiby with the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program explained that the wetland includes a forebay, which catches the pavement runoff and allows contaminants to settle. Then the water moves into a basin filled with plants, which filter the water, and then into another plant-filled basin, before emptying into the bay.

Breiby and Thomas then walked us closer to the road to the marina parking lot stormwater pond, which was retrofitted to make it function better. The pond used to flood the lot because it had no outlet, so a culvert was added that allows water to drain into the bay once it reaches a certain level. A forebay was also installed, which captures sediment coming off the marina parking lot and improves water quality.

To ensure these new marina improvements are doing their job cleaning water, researchers from Ohio State and the Reserve are monitoring water quality and noting “before” and “after” changes.

Todd Breiby with the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program describes changes to the Barker’s Island Marina parking lot stormwater pond. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Walking back to my office (which is on Barker’s Island) at the end of the tour, I was struck by how things that look so natural, like the wetland and the pond, can do such a good job of cleaning water if we give them a chance. Although some had only been put in this season, they already looked like they’d been around for years. It’s good to know that these features are in place and working, and that they’ll serve as examples for other communities and marinas to try.

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