Moira Harrington (Page 2)

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What color is your fall?

On: October 4, 2022

In: Algae Blooms, United States Geological Survey, water quality and phosphorus, why to rake leaves in fall

Fall comes in many colors. What’s your favorite? Image credit: Marie Zhuikov

What colors do you think of when you think of fall? For me, no surprise, it’s the oranges, yellows and reds on those gorgeously attired maple, birch and black walnut trees. What about sickly pea-green? Well, we’ll get into that shortly.

The State of Wisconsin Department of Tourism has a handy, interactive and always-updated map to check peak tree colors no matter where you might live or want to visit. In addition to indicating the prime peeping times, the map also shows bodies of water—lots of lakes, rivers and streams throughout the Badger State. The thing is, when the trees shed their bright robes, the leaves end up on lawns and in streets, often making it into waterways.

Municipalities do their best to keep the leaves out of the streets and stormwater features because once the organic matter meets water, it sheds the phosphorus that was bound up in it. It’s a process that can lead to that unappealing pea-green color, which is definitely more common in the summer but if the water temperature is warm enough, the nasty shade due to algae growth can appear in fall, too. Excess phosphorus reduces oxygen levels in a lake, river or stream. That can be dangerous for fish and wildlife.

You can do your part by raking lawns, especially before the prediction of rain. A study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), investigated leaf collection in Madison, Wisconsin. The researcher found leaves that made their way into storm drains accounted for more than half of the total load of phosphorus in the fall.

Composting or mulching those bright oblong, lobed and kidney-shapes can also lead to healthier waters. The USGS study emphasized that leaf removal is one of only a few ways to reduce dissolved phosphorus. And, the study stressed that raking, composting or mulching means an 80% reduction in phosphorus, resulting in healthier water.

Color me happy.

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Summer scholars benefit from mentoring during internship

On: August 22, 2022

In: Emma Kraco, Genesis Perez, Hali Jama, Isabella Blanco, Isabella Noyle, Jaycie Hudson, Justine Azure, korryne wilson, Mansi Patel, Maya Reinfeldt, summer interns

The 2022-23 school year is just around the corner. For a group of 10 undergraduate students, a big corner in their academic careers has already been rounded—a 10-week Sea Grant summer internship probing freshwater science topics, which recently concluded.

The undergraduates were selected through a competitive process that drew interest from students across the U.S. and territories. Sea Grant staff, and collaborators from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Laboratory; Lake Michigan Stakeholders; and Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission provided mentorship and helped advance work on projects that:

Shared dangerous current information with Great Lakes beachgoers.
Communicated about Wisconsin farm-raised and wild-caught fish.
Expanded the voices heard in the Wisconsin Water Library.
Advanced the goals of the Lake Michigan Stakeholders nongovernmental agency.
Conducted a literature search on the linkages between mental health and climate change to prepare for future work.
Explored a mutual shared history and sense of place in Great Lakes communities
Coordinated on GIS projects to understand ecosystems.
Considered manoomin harvest in the context of climate adaption and resilience.
Assessed the risk of spreading aquatic invasive species in the used-watercraft marketplace.

Meet the interns who made a difference this summer. They answered some questions about the experience, and then threw in a comment about their preferred superpower:

Korynne Wilson. Submitted photo.

Korynne Wilson will be a junior at Beloit College this fall, majoring in biology and double minoring in public health and education. She spent the summer acting as an ambassador for water safety and water quality on Milwaukee’s Great Lakes beaches, having conversations with beachgoers. Wilson said it was rewarding to provide people with water safety resources that they may not have had before, especially families with young children. When not on the beach, Wilson undertook equity-related projects within Milwaukee, including addressing transportation barriers to lakefront recreation areas. Going into the medical field, Wilson said the internship opened her eyes to just how much lack of access and resources to water is a public health and safety issue, predominantly affecting minority populations. If Wilson had a superpower, she would be most satisfied with teleportation.

Emma Kraco (right) with mentor Eat Wisconsin Fish Specialist Sharon Moen, who is with Sea Grant. Photo: Jennifer Smith

Spring 2022 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Emma Kraco put her biology degree and extensive experience working with aquaculture systems to use as part of the Eat Wisconsin Fish initiative. The initiative connects consumers, fish farmers and commercial fishers through information about local fish available for purchase in Wisconsin. It seeks to create a safe and sustainable seafood supply to meet consumer demand, as well as foster informed consumers who understand the health benefits of seafood consumption and how to evaluate the safety and sustainability of the seafood they buy. Kraco led data management efforts that fuel directories and the map on the Eat Wisconsin Fish website. She said, “The most rewarding thing was connecting with local producers and hearing their needs. I loved being able to connect people to resources to make their work easier.” The internship also sparked future goals, with Kraco saying, “This opportunity has inspired me to continue to hone my skills in science communication. I believe that having the chance to connect with producers in this way has made me a better scientist. This internship also tipped the scales on my decision to pursue a master’s in geographic information services.” Finally, if possessing a superpower was a reality, Kraco said she would be breathing underwater “without all the pesky gear.”

Maya Reinfeldt. Submitted photo.

Over the course of 10 weeks, Maya Reinfeldt explored the collections and programming of the Wisconsin Water Library with a critical eye towards ensuring multicultural perspectives and approaches. One project was the expansion of the Maadagindan! Start Reading! Book Club, which serves librarians and educators and is focused on children’s books about Ojibwe culture and the Great Lakes. (go.wisc.edu/e964d6). The book club resumes in the fall and Reinfeldt put plans in place for those upcoming talks. She is a 2002 International Relations and Russian Literature degree-holder from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Reinfeldt said the internship, “Solidified my conviction that cultural and linguistic diversity and exchange be a facet of any career I may develop. In my professional and academic career thus far, nothing else has felt more purposeful, hopeful and fulfilling (than the internship).” She said her superpower of choice is, “Not getting tired while biking to work!”

The Lake Michigan Stakeholders organization is made up of professionals in the fields of environmental management, academic research, education, community outreach, outdoor advocacy, agriculture and private industry. Its members collaborate to promote and celebrate the health and viability of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan basin through stewardship and education. Sea Grant forged a partnership with the group and supported two interns this summer—Hali Jama and Isabella Blanco—who in turn supported the goals of Lake Michigan stewardship and education.

Hali Jama. Submitted photo.

Jama will be a junior this fall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is majoring in business, an academic path she recently broadened. “Honestly, a year ago today, my plan was to pursue business and business only, but since working with Wisconsin Sea Grant, I have added environmental studies as a minor,” she said. “I am excited to continue to learn and immerse myself in work that makes a difference.” Through a concurrent internship, Jama also produced Sea Grant podcasts on environmental justice. Her No. 1 pick for a superpower is teleportation. “I am a very time-strict person, and if I could just snap my fingers and be where I am supposed to be then my life would be much easier.”

Isabella Blanco. Submitted photo.

The second Lake Michigan Stakeholders intern, Blanco, said, “My experience with Wisconsin Sea Grant has been an informative and engaging look into water education and management in Wisconsin. By collaborating with the Lake Michigan Stakeholders, I have worked on their communication strategies and developed environmental equity toolkits.” The rising senior who is majoring in environmental science at the University of California Los Angeles went on to note, “The most rewarding aspect of this experience has been being able to plan Lake Michigan Day and reach out to organizations in Wisconsin about collaborating with Lake Michigan Stakeholders.” Like her fellow Lake Michigan Stakeholder intern, Blanco selected teleportation as a dream superpower. “I would be saving gas emissions and traveling the world!”

Genesis Perez. Submitted photo.

Genesis Perez is a recent graduate of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Arecibo Campus with a degree in biotechnology and minors in biology and chemistry. She said, “The most rewarding part of my internship was definitely being able to work more independently and create my own research project from scratch. It was such an interesting process from going to just a broad idea to getting to the point of having specific research questions.” That research project centered on the intersection of mental health and climate change. The goal of the project was to build understanding of how climate change is impacting mental health in Wisconsin, especially in the state’s northern coastal communities, and ways that community outreach can be responsive to mental health. And a superpower? “If I had a superpower, it would be teleportation. This would be handy because commuting is tiresome at times, and I would love to just appear where I need to be! Plus, the benefit of just appearing in a new city for a weekend would be exciting,” said Perez.

Jaycie Hudson. Submitted photo.

For Jaycie Hudson, August is winding down, but planning for the future continues to ramp up. She said the internship, “Gave me has some really strong experience in researching a specific topic and doing something meaningful with the information. This internship has helped me prepare for applying to graduate school, because I now feel more comfortable coming up with research topics and reaching out for help to actualize them.” She credited the support from Katie Williams and Tom Hollenhorst, with the EPA in Duluth, Minnesota. “They have been flexible and willing to teach me things outside of just the internship. I have learned a lot more than I expected, and I can see how I will be able to use the skills from the internship in the future,” said Hudson, a rising senior at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She is majoring in biology and community health, and through the internship Hudson developed existing and new tools and platforms for crowdsourced local knowledge and sense of place in the Great Lakes Basin. The work explored how crowdsourcing with public participation geographic information systems and social media analysis can reveal local knowledge and history as well as local community values, placed-based memories and experiences. Zooming in on those local memories would be easier using Hudson’s superpower of choice—microscopic vision.

The final three interns were Mansi Patel, a 2022-23 junior at the University of California Santa Barbara who researched activities associated with a variety of Great Lakes ecosystems; Justin Azure, a chemical engineering major at the University of Minnesota Duluth who researched the history of manoomin and its importance to Indigenous people, and helped plan events and workshops; and Isabella Noyle, who will be a 2022-23 senior at Concordia College, and who collected data on the risk of moving aquatic invasive species from place to place via the sale of used recreational watercraft.

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Noordyk named a Lake Michigan Champion of Conservation

On: August 15, 2022

In: East River, green infrastructure, Julia Noordyk, Lake Michigan Champion of Conservation, Lake Michigan Stakeholders, Titus Seilheimer, Wisconsin Clean Marina Program

Julia Noordyk, Sea Grant’s water quality and coastal communities specialist, was named a Lake Michigan Champion of Conservation in an awards ceremony Friday as part of the annual Lake Michigan Day event, held this year in Manitowoc. The Lake Michigan Stakeholders bestowed the award.

“I am humbled by this honor and know that any success would not have been possible without the inspiration and partnership of all of my excellent colleagues. I am also extremely grateful to the municipalities for their commitment in improving their communities through green infrastructure and look forward to continuing to support their visions,” Noordyk said.

Man and two women sitting outside looking at a laptop computer

Julia Noordyk (right) engages with colleagues, discussing coastal resilience concerns while sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan. Photo: Narayan Mahon

Noordyk has been with Sea Grant for more than nine years, coming from the Maine Coastal Program where she worked as a senior planner focused on outreach programs in offshore wind energy, water quality and coastal public access.

Now based in Green Bay, she has devoted herself to public engagement. Noordyk serves on the Green Bay Sustainability Commission. She said she counts among the most-rewarding actions in her time on the commission the support offered to city staff to build flood resilience, removal of green infrastructure barriers and the March 2, 2021, common council adoption of a resolution to value and protect local waters.

She is also co-leading the East River Collaborative, which is committed to building resilience in Brown County’s East River watershed. The area has seen repeated flooding. The collaborative is developing a hydrologic computer model to understand current and future flood risk; forming an East River Watershed Resilience Community of Practice; structuring a community-based watershed resilience framework that is establishing a vision, goals and near-term actions for building community capacity and flood resilience; and accelerating nature-based solutions designed to improve flood-resistance, water quality and quality of life.

The awarding organization also noted Noordyk’s leadership as the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program manager on clean marina protocols that both boost a marina’s bottom line and keep the waters cleaner. Example practices are reducing fuel spills, properly storing hazardous materials, capturing boat wash water and managing stormwater. Last year, Noordyk and partners added a marina resiliency checklist to the clean marina certification process. The self-assessment identifies risks, vulnerabilities and information gaps. It provides a blueprint for coastal communities and marinas to prioritize, plan and initiate enhancements to ensure marina resiliency to coastal hazards

Sea Grant’s Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer said, “In my decade of working with Julia, she has been a constant inspiration for me. Every time I hear about what she is working on and the impacts that it is having, I think, ‘Wow, how can I be more like Julia?’ She is the definition of a Lake Michigan Champion.”

This is the sixth year champion awards have been given. In addition to Noordyk, other 2022 winners are the Glen Hills Youth Team, Bill Moren and Clean Farm Families of Ozaukee County, led by Andy Holschbach and Mike Paulus.

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A pretty fishy work experience

On: August 9, 2022

In: Amy Carrozino-Lyon, Colin Ritchie, fish sampling, Lake Michigan, Marie Zhuikov, Noah Hoffmann, Seagull Bar State Natural Area, Titus Seilheimer, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, wild rice restoration

Researchers from UW-Green Bay deploy a seine net in a Lake Michigan bay. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

There’s nothing fishy about wanting to learn about colleagues’ projects more deeply, while also spending time with far-flung co-workers, right? Or is there? The numbers below—fish measurements in centimeters—were in fact, so fishy.

Bullhead, 26

Banded killifish, 23

Yellow perch, 60

Madtom catfish, 33

Titus Seilheimer shows a bullhead to Noah Hoffman (left) and to members of the Wisconsin Sea Grant communications team at Seagull Bar State Natural Area on Lake Michigan. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

On an early August trip to the Seagull Bar State Natural Area on Lake Michigan, five members of the Sea Grant communications team (including me) were exposed to this count and what sounded like the recitation of another, decidedly piscivorous language.

As glorious sunshine streamed down in the sheltered small bay, our co-worker, Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer, called out fish names and proportions. He had collected the fish, more than 100 in all, from both a 150-foot seine net and a fyke net.

In a neat hand and with a sharp pencil, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Assistant Researcher Amy Carrozino-Lyon recorded the counts of species type and measurements on a sheet of paper. She will take the figures back to her campus office and add them to previously collected data about fish species found in four areas with fresh beds of wild rice on the western shore of Green Bay for her study about the effect of wild rice on the ecosystem.

The full record of wild rice’s historic presence in the world’s fifth largest lake is murky, but it is known that this wild grass, revered by Indigenous people, grew for centuries at river mouths on the lake until development, varying water levels and pollution took a toll. Now, the plant prefers shallow waters with organic, soft sediment and clear water that isn’t frequently or extremely stirred.

Amy Carrozino-Lyon is collecting data about fish species found in four areas with fresh beds of wild rice on the western shore of Green Bay for her study about the effect of wild rice on the ecosystem. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov

Carrozino-Lyon has been restoring the stands of gracefully swaying rice, purchasing seed by the truckload and fostering nearly 40 acres of habitat. This year (2022) marks the seventh year of her efforts.

Wild rice’s effect on the ecosystem is also being checked by her two students, Noah Hoffmann and Colin Ritchie. That day, these bright young men, both students at UW-Green Bay, gave us lessons in dragonfly larvae growth, crayfish identification and the differences between native and nonnative aquatic plants.

This is all good stuff to us because we write and edit stories, post on social media and create videos and podcasts about the wonders of the Great Lakes. It was a hands-on tutorial for those of us who typically deal in words, audio and images, not slippery fish and underwater bugs.

It was also a chance to meet with our co-worker, Science Communicator Marie Zhuikov, who is based in Superior while we remaining four communicators, including Bonnie Willison and Jennifer Smith, are based in an office in Madison.

The trip not only connected us in person with valued colleagues Zhuikov and Seilheimer, but it also further proved to be a day to observe a fish count, marvel at nature’s beauty and contemplate a place where wild rice can flourish once more.

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Two new research projects about Wisconsin’s groundwater announced

On: July 6, 2022

In: groundwater flooding, Ken Potter, Michael Cardiff, Steve Loheide, Wisconsin Waters Survey

It’s summer in Wisconsin and with boating, beachgoing and fishing a lot of attention is being given to surface water, which is a true treasure in this state. Another treasure isn’t visible but is just as valuable—groundwater. Wisconsin has an estimated 1.2 quadrillion gallons of groundwater, from which two-thirds of the state’s 5.6 million residents draw drinking water. The University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) is funding two new groundwater-focused projects. The two-year projects got underway July 1.

Both projects are based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Department of Geoscience’s Professor Michael Cardiff is leading the first. It will document rural perspectives (attitudes, perception and values) related to groundwater issues, and the variability of these perspectives within the state. This project will implement the “Wisconsin’s Waters Survey”—a community-sourced public survey to be delivered to a range of rural communities.

As Cardiff noted in the project proposal, rural land covers most of the state, overlies the majority of groundwater and “the range of issues that may be important to the rural public is vast, from quality concerns such as nitrate and microbial contamination, to quantity concerns that include agricultural irrigation needs and impacts of groundwater to springs and streamflows.” Despite those factors, he said, there have been few efforts to document rural perspectives.

The second project will examine the causes of groundwater flooding, which leads to the loss of farmland and permanent inundation of homes. Such flooding can happen when extremely flat, internally or poorly drained landscapes get hit with a quantity of rain that doesn’t otherwise drain away, infiltrate the soil without flooding or dissipate through the atmosphere.

House standing in wate — An example in southern Wisconsin of groundwater flooding that happened in 2008. Photo by Madeline Gotkowitz

Steve Loheide and co-investigator Ken Potter, both with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will track flood records in Dane and Columbia counties from 1936 to 2022, identify what primarily caused such flooding and how those factors have changed through time and investigate whether methods such as strategic tree planting can build flood resilience.

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Summer of research kicks off

On: June 2, 2022

In: Grace Wilkinson, Jim Hurley, Lily Wagner, summer research opportunities, Water@UW-Madison

A recent sunny morning on the Memorial Union Terrace of the University of Wisconsin-Madison seemed a literal representation of the sunny outlook of the nine undergraduate students assembled to kick off their 10-week summer freshwater research experiences.

Students were nationally recruited and hail from Michigan Technological University, University of the Sciences, James Madison University, North Carolina State University, Skidmore College and Beloit College. Three students didn’t have to travel far. They are currently enrolled at UW-Madison. Six of the students self-identify as underrepresented.

Group of people sitting outdoors in colorful chairs

Undergraduate summer research students, mentors and Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley gather for a kick off meeting of the 10 week experience. Photo: Bonnie Willison

The cohort is the inaugural group of a new program to offer student research opportunities to enhance workforce development skills and expose undergraduates to graduate studies across the University of Wisconsin System and under the auspices of Water@UW-Madison, which connects water scholars across the state’s flagship campus.

“I’m thinking about going to graduate school and this internship will prepare me for freshwater research in both the lab and the field,” said Lily Wagner who smiled through a conversation despite being jetlagged following her return just hours earlier from a semester abroad in Copenhagen studying environmental sciences of the Arctic.

She will join the lab of Christy Remucal of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to understand the degradation rate of the aquatic pesticide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol, which is used to control populations of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes watershed.

Faculty mentors also have high hopes for the pilot research program. “This is a fantastic opportunity for our Water@UW-Madison community to come together in a different way; to share research with a new generation of water scientists,” said Grace Wilkinson, Center for Limnology.

Wilkinson reported being undaunted by the lack of a track record on the program and is looking forward to shepherding a student through a project that will look at how nutrient-rich waters in Dane County are transforming, storing or moving organic material and how the cycle is affected by climate change and anthropogenic pressures.

Her student, Victoria Wright, has experience in science communication. Wilkinson said she’ll tap into Wright’s expertise in creating communications products that will be used as part of a community science monitoring program based at two urban ponds in Middleton.

In remarks to the group, Wisconsin Sea Grant and University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) Director Jim Hurley called out features of the Memorial Union’s surroundings that are emblematic of UW-Madison’s leadership in water—nearby buildings, including the Center for Limnology and the Water Science and Engineering Laboratory; Lake Mendota, known as the world’s most-studied lake; and a plaque commemorating former UW-Madison President Edward A. Birge, often cited as the founder of the study of limnology.

A plaque on the UW-Madison campus details a history of water research.

Hurley said through the years countless research ideas have been sparked sitting alongside Lake Mendota, over beverages and in the company of enthusiastic scientific peers, and he was confident the 2022 Water@UW-Madison summer research students would be similarly inspired.

Sea Grant and its sister organization WRI are funding the program, as well as the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin. The Freshwater Collaborative is part of a statewide initiative with support from the Wisconsin Legislature and Gov. Evers that is tackling 10 grand water challenges, as well as curriculum development, undergraduate research opportunities, career development and field training experiences for students with an interest in water-related offerings on UW System campuses. The collaborative is also a partnership of universities, connecting with industry, local communities, policymakers and advocacy groups. Its mission is to establish Wisconsin as a world leader in freshwater science, technology, entrepreneurship and economic growth.

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Launch of new podcast about equity and the Great Lakes

On: May 9, 2022

In: Bonnie Willison, equity, Hali Jama, podcast, The Water We Swim In, water, water justice

Wisconsin Sea Grant is announcing the launch of a new podcast series, The Water We Swim In. The trailer can be found here and it features stories about the Great Lakes and people working toward equity.

In the series, Sea Grant’s Digital Storyteller Bonnie Willison and Hali Jama, podcast intern, share inspiring interviews from community organizers, researchers and leaders navigating Wisconsin’s waters.

Sea Grant has long been invested in audio storytelling, starting in 1972 with the environmental news program Earthwatch Radio. In recent years, the program has produced a number of podcast series — Wisconsin Water News, Undercurrents: The Hidden Knowledge of Groundwater, The Fish Dish, and Introduced— several of which are award-winning.

On this upcoming season of the new podcast, Willison and Jama will:

Explore how redlining created the Great Lakes communities of today
Trace the alarming trend of swimming pool closures across the country and learn about the fight to save a Milwaukee pool
Talk with leaders who are working to make Wisconsin’s outdoors more accessible for people with disabilities
Travel to Lake Winnebago to hear about a culturally guided inter-tribal project focused on lake health and wild rice restoration
Cook fish and tofu soup and speak with a research group focused on the importance of fish to Asian women in Milwaukee
Go fishing with the Midwest Crappie Hunters, who are teaching Milwaukee’s central-city youth, elderly and veterans about fishing, the outdoors and aquatic resources

Jama attends a fishing clinic with Midwest Crappie Hunters in Milwaukee. Jama is a UW-Madison student studying marketing and international business with a certificate in environmental studies. (Photo: Bonnie Willison)

The series’ title, The Water We Swim In, was inspired by an interview with Brenda Coley, co-executive director of Milwaukee Water Commons. “Brenda had this great quote where she said that ‘racism is the water we swim in,’” said Willison. “People might not realize that systemic racism impacts everything in our society, just like a fish might not realize that it is swimming in water.”

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Meet the Knauss fellows: Theresa Vander Woude

On: May 5, 2022

In: Fellows, Knauss Fellowship, Theresa Vander Woude

By Eva Ryan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship is a nationally competitive opportunity that sends graduate students interested in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and policy to the historical hub that is Washington, D.C. There, these students are paired with , o r a mentor in a federal agency in order to learn more about the policies surrounding the nation’s natural resources.

For the last but certainly not least of the Knauss fellow spotlight articles, I interviewed Theresa Vander Woude. Vander Woude received two Master of Science degrees in Life Sciences Communication and Environment and Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied the human dimensions of land and water resource issues.

Theresa Vander Woude is one of four 2022 Knauss Fellows from Wisconsin. She is exploring policy in her posting to the Office of Water in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Contributed photo.

“Before I returned to school, I was an environmental communications professional specifically working on lake nutrient pollution issues in the Madison area,” Vander Woude said. She noted that during her time as an environmental communications professional, her bosses urged her to support her decisions with evidence. This led Vander Woude to an increased intake of research, further learning about what makes environmental efforts successful. Eager for more information, Vander Woude found herself back at UW-Madison.

“I had read all this research and I wanted to know how I could figure out answers to the questions that I wanted to know,” she said, “What makes me so passionate about the human dimensions is that they’re so easy to leave out of environmental decisions because they can be hard to study.”

For example, Vander Woude was able to help out with a project with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. This project focused on how lakefront property owners think about the risks of aquatic invasive species as well as the risks of potential treatment approaches, informing communication with stakeholders when new invasive species are discovered. Vander Woude has also collaborated with Wisconsin Sea Grant’s aquatic invasive species outreach specialist, Tim Campbell.

After gaining experience in working on water issues locally and regionally, Vander Woude was intrigued to see and understand how federal policy came into play for larger water issues with local impact. This led her to the Knauss Fellowship. After mainly focusing her studies on the Midwest, Vander Woude was pleased to expand her knowledge of the U.S. through a placement in the Office of Water at the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. “Now I’m able to fit the puzzle pieces together on a broader scale by asking, how do things work elsewhere?” said Vander Woude.

As for her time participating in the Knauss Fellowship, she noted there is a big difference between simply learning about policy versus actually seeing it in action. Vander Woude was able to see several different examples of policy in motion and defined this as one of her biggest takeaways from the fellowship so far. She also touched on the uniqueness of the Knauss Fellowship in that she is able to focus on her own professional development while gaining postgraduate experience, rather than diving straight into the workforce.

While Vander Woude prefers to take life one step at a time and unfold what the future has to offer as she goes, she said, “I do hope to become more comfortable analyzing and commenting on the policy, contributing to discussions, and helping make decisions.”

Vander Woude, among the other fellows, began the Knauss Fellowship on Feb. 1.

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Decades of proceedings from annual water meetings now available

On: May 4, 2022

In: Anne Moser, AWRA, Brad Gottschalk, Maya Reinfeldt, Mike Parsen, Wisconsin chapter, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

As one of the longest running and most successful American Water Resources Association (AWRA) chapters in the country, the Wisconsin chapter provides a structure for water professionals and those studying to enter the discipline to learn from each other and a broader, national water community about the latest in research and management. The chapter is made up of those in private industry, scientists, students and water managers at the local, state and federal level.

A hallmark of the Wisconsin chapter’s educational commitment to professional development and informational exchange is an annual conference, conducted in the state continuously since 1977. Each year, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) is a co-sponsor of the event.

Recently, to preserve and share 45 years of Wisconsin’s water resources legacy, Mike Parsen and Brad Gottschalk of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) assembled the collection of conference proceedings. The pair collaborated with Anne Moser and Maya Reinfeldt of the Wisconsin Water Library, which is housed at WRI, to create a permanent digital repository.

Smiling man, head and shoulders. — Mike Parsen, hydrogeologist at the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (contributed photo).

Smiling man with beard, wearing glasses. — Brad Gottschalk, archivist at the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (contributed photo).

Maureen Muldoon, a hydrogeologist at WGNHS, generously donated her hard-copy programs as a starting point and the team filled in historical gaps where needed.

The collection now resides at MINDS@UW and includes digital copies of the proceedings from 1978 to today. It is accessible through the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s online library catalog.

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Keeping the positive water vibes alive-symposium recap

On: May 2, 2022

In: Caroline Gottschalk Druschke, spring symposium, Water@UW-Madison

The sixth annual Water@UW-Madison spring symposium took place on Friday, April 22. Providing an opportunity for water scholars and policymakers to reconnect around water, it was an inspirational way to spend Earth Day.

More than 130 people joined the online community and it featured more than 15 speakers who reflected on water connections from the humanities, social sciences and policy worlds. You can catch a recording of the event.

Caroline Gottschalk-Druschke chairs Water@UW-Madison and led an fascinating panel made up of water scholars.

I’m a member of the Water@UW-Madison executive committee but only played a small role in planning and running of the show. I did act as the morning’s Twitter jockey. The full rundown of live tweets can be found here if you want to keep the positive water vibes alive with a quick read.

There was a panel that explored fellowships that pair governmental agencies and newly minted water professionals to tackle water challenges. A second panel outlined a Water@UW-Madison program called FLOW that matches artists and researchers.

The scholarship of the third panel, made up of impressive water thinkers, could barely be scratched during the one-hour slot into which they fit. Here are links to their pages, which will allow for further exploration. In all but one case, there is also a tweet related to their comments:

Grace Bulltail, professor in the Nelson Institute @GraceBulltail water, energy and land can be markers of dispossession of Indigenous land and resources

Jen Rose Smith, professor in the American Indian Studies Program and Department of Geography. @sprucehen_

Manny Teodoro, professor in the La Follette School of Public Affairs. 50K water systems offer data-rich einvro says @MPTeodoro. I’ll never run out of things to study

Ingrid Diran, professor in the Department of English, Water is messy; it spills. You have to create barriers to think abt it and also think abt it as a connector

Tricia Gorby-Knoot, UW-Extension Natural Resources Institute director. @Gorby-Knoot Water is a natural entrance point to understanding the impact of the land and can tell us abt healing

Water@UW-Madison is an umbrella entity, organizing and amplifying the water expertise of 130 faculty and staff across more than 40 departments and programs. It represents topics such as water quality, invasive species and water policy. Anyone can join.

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A visit to Wisconsin’s oldest intact shipwreck

On: April 27, 2022

In: Caitlin Zant, dugout canoe, Jim Skibo, shipwreck, shipwrecks, Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society

As a diver, Tamara Thomsen can see not only down through the waves but also into the past. As it turns out, following a recreational frolic last summer using a type of underwater scooter, she can see quite far into the past.

Smiling woman standing in front of black container

Tamara Thomsen beams while standing over a water-filled crib that holds the 1,200-year-old dugout canoe she discovered. The canoe is undergoing a preservation process in the water that will ready it for eventual public display. Photo: Moira Harrington

That day in June 2021 Thomsen, a maritime archeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) and longtime Wisconsin Sea Grant collaborator, discovered a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe, the oldest intact shipwreck found in Wisconsin. It also had artifacts with it.

Thomsen knows shipwrecks. She has prepped dozens of nominations for lakes Michigan and Superior shipwrecks for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. She is the driving force behind the popular WHS/Sea Grant joint website wisconsinshipwrecks.org. She has been inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame. Along with fellow marine archeologist Caitlin Zant, she recently worked with educators to create six distinct maritime educational activities based on data from previous Sea Grant projects on Wisconsin maritime archaeology. With Sea Grant project support, in 2021 Zant and Thomsen delivered 11 maritime historic preservation presentations that reached nearly 530 people.

Floating onto this already impressive scene is the dugout canoe. The tale of its first sighting is a lesson in serendipity and the value of strong-arming a colleague to double-check on a chance encounter that Thomsen describes with a chuckle as, “Swimming around under the water, I don’t see logs, I see dugout canoes.”

That discovery day, after she spotted what she thought was a partially submerged-in-sediment canoe in 26 feet of water, Thomsen needed to return to land because her underwater scooter partner at the time had reached the designated turn-around point for the air volume in her tank. Thomsen, however, was itching to go back and pursue her hunch that this was more than any old chunk of wood. On that same Saturday, Thomsen convinced a colleague, Amy Rosebrough, to accompany her in a boat back to the site following the coordinates she had noted on the first go-round.

Rosebrough is not a diver. She is a WHS terrestrial archeologist, but Thomsen knew she would make a good sounding board for assessing the site. At the marked location, Thomsen descended in her diving gear once more, gently shifting sediment to get a better look at the sunken craft. She also resurfaced with seven flat stones, some notched, which had been resting in the canoe. After Rosebrough’s examination, Thomsen replaced the stones in the canoe, and replaced sediment around the canoe to offer it protection.

The pair returned to shore and Rosebrough spent the evening pondering the assortment of rocks, which she then deduced were sinker weights for a fishing net, a net long since lost in the waters of Lake Mendota, one of Madison, Wisconsin’s, four lakes.

Man in a mask standing near a large electronic display screen

The seven rocks recovered with the canoe are pictured to the left on a large electronic display in the room where the canoe is being preserved. On the right side of the screen is a 3-D image of the canoe. Photo: Moira Harrington

The canoe’s discovery fell at a time of transition for the WHS. James Skibo, the state archeologist, had just come onboard. While giving him a few weeks to settle into his new role, Thomsen and Zant also kept reminding him about the canoe, soon fully enlisting his help in further investigation. Skibo and Thomsen went back to the lake and retrieved what Skibo termed a piece of wood “about the size of a piece of hair” for radiocarbon dating.

The check was necessary, he said, “Because we didn’t want to be fooled. The canoe could have been a Boy Scout project from the 1950s.”

The results showed not a replica built by pre-teen boys but the real deal, a canoe from AD 800. From that point on, Skibo said, WHS Director Christian Overland was all-in with support for recovering, preserving and sharing this amazing object. That is also certainly in keeping with Skibo’s own ethic, as he explained, in his role serving as the people’s archeologist.

On Nov. 2, 2021, after weeks of planning, preparation and involvement by WHS staff and the Dane County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, the canoe was recovered from the lake. A WHS video details the process. Recovery was deemed necessary because as sediment had shifted and the canoe was partially uncovered, disintegration would quickly follow.

Several people wearing diving wetsuits standing in knee-deep water holding an object

Bringing the canoe into shore from Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, represented the culmination of weeks of planning and team contributions. Photo: Wisconsin Historical Society

Skibo said at every step of the process since discovery, Wisconsin’s Indigenous leaders have been consulted, and they also supported the removal, and now, preservation work. Further, Skibo said, repatriating human remains and sacred objects is a well-established practice of the WHS. In this instance, the canoe was in the public domain, is state property and had neither human remains nor sacred objects as part of the site.

On a recent visit to a WHS preservation facility, this writer was fortunate to see the canoe. The old adage, “if this object could talk, what would it say,” came to mind. It was a powerful moment to reflect that it had been more than a millennium since people had used this vessel, which resembles a slightly charred version of a modern-day paddleboard, but one with narrow and shallow sides. It is 15 feet long, weighs 280 pounds and has a gaping and practically symmetrical hole in the base of one end, likely the damage that sealed its sinking fate. At the other end of the canoe, the one that had been exposed from the lakebed and originally caught Thomsen’s eye, it is slightly split.

Its beginnings? It was hewn from a felled white oak tree. Fire was perhaps used to assist in hollowing it out. It probably sank near to where it was made, offshore from a small seasonal village of a woodland people who hunted, fished and tended gardens of corn, sunflowers and squash. These people were also mound builders.

Its future? The canoe is now resting in a wood-framed crib-like structure layered with three pond liners and filled with 15 inches of purified water as part of a nearly three-year-long preservation process that includes replacing the water that is essentially the only thing maintaining the canoe’s structure via osmosis with polyethylene glycol, which will coat and strengthen the canoe’s interior cells. At the end of the process, the canoe will be freeze-dried at minus 22 degrees Celsius to remove any remaining water.

It is expected that this ancient shipwreck will be given a place of pride in a new WHS museum anticipated to open in 2026 in Madison. Upon display, this writer looks forward to experiencing the powerful feelings the canoe first elicited. It is also a celebration of the ingenuity and dedication of WHS staff who have done and will continue to tell the story of this canoe and the people who created it.

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Meet the Knauss Fellows: Elizabeth McNamee

On: April 14, 2022

In: Elizabeth McNamee, fellowships, Knauss Fellow

By Eva Ryan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship is a nationally competitive opportunity that sends graduate students interested in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and policy to the historical hub that is Washington, D.C. There, these students are paired with a congressional member or committee or placed within a federal program in order to learn more about the policies surrounding our natural resources.

Next in the lineup of introductions of the 2022 Wisconsin Sea Grant Knauss fellows is Elizabeth McNamee.

While pursuing her master’s degree in soil science and agroecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, McNamee enrolled in environmental biophysics, a course taught by Chris Kucharik.

“It completely changed how I see the world,” said McNamee, “I fell in love with biophysics.” McNamee carried on to describe how she would notice things that before taking environmental biophysics, at which she would not have batted an eye.

“I learned why fog gathers after a cool night or why it’s so dry indoors in the winter. Minor things that altered my perspective and showed me how physics is everywhere,” she said.

Elizabeth McNamee, one of four Knauss Fellows from Wisconsin in 2022-23. Submitted photo.

Kucharik, in collaboration with previous research fellow Mallika Nocco (Nocco is now a cooperative extension specialist), developed a project that involves applied science and answering scientific questions useful to farmers. The project became a Ph.D. opportunity for McNamee at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she has studied agronomy.

The research that McNamee has conducted as part of her Ph.D. so far revolves around applied science, water conservation and agriculture, all of which contain information that could be used to directly inform water conservation policy and improve farmers’ environmental impacts.

McNamee discovered the Knauss Fellowship opportunity through a friend and colleague. “I’m really interested in the intersection of science and policy,” said McNamee, making the Knauss Fellowship a perfect fit for her.

Eager to cultivate her current knowledge as well as explore new concepts in the field of policy, McNamee is most excited to improve her scientific translation skills in order to cater to broader audiences, and gain insight into how scientists can further apply their expertise outside of academia.

“I’m hoping to gain exposure to how policy is created and how science can support it,” she said. “I’m excited to learn about something completely new. My position will be focused on coastal resilience.” She is serving her one-year fellowship in the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

With a background in agronomy, McNamee certainly has unique perspectives to bring the fellowship. These perspectives coupled with her strong devotion to her studies are bound to make a splash in Washington, D.C.

McNamee, along with the other 73 fellows, began the Knauss Fellowship on Feb. 1.

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Meet the Knauss Fellows: Becky Curtis

On: April 11, 2022

In: Becky Curtis, Knauss Fellowship

By Eva Ryan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship is a nationally competitive opportunity that sends graduate students interested in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and policy to the historical hub that is Washington, D.C. There, these students are paired with a congressional member or committee or placed in a federal program in order to learn more about the policies surrounding our natural resources.

Featured in this article is Becky Curtis, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences in the laboratory of Dr. Rebecca Klaper.

“I’ve lived near the Great Lakes for most of my life,” said Curtis, “I’ve always loved aquatic ecosystems and organisms, both big and small, and I’ve always been really passionate about protecting them.”

Smiling blonde woman in a head and shoulders photo.

Becky Curtis. Submitted photo.

While Curtis’ love for the environment began in her youth, it only continued to grow as time passed. During her undergraduate studies at Michigan Technological University, she took a course on environmental issues that sparked a desire to pursue a career focusing on sustainability. “I wanted to get into aquatic research and figure out how I could work to protect those ecosystems,” Curtis said, emphasizing the importance and abundance of resources that aquatic ecosystems provide.

To better aid in the mission of protecting the Earth’s resources, Curtis decided to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. There, her work utilizes various techniques to determine how emerging contaminants impact freshwater species.

“My work focuses on nanomaterials,” said Curtis. According to Curtis, nanomaterials are used in everything from sunscreen to food additives to electronics, and more. Due to the nature of her work, Curtis is part of the National Science Foundation’s Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. Because of the special engineering of nanotechnology, it has great potential for innovative applications and increased sustainability, but still needs to be monitored to determine its environmental effects across different species and ecosystems. “If we know what might be causing nanomaterials to elicit negative impacts, we can work towards decreasing those impacts and harnessing their potential,” said Curtis.

When Curtis found out about the Knauss Fellowship, she saw it as an opportunity for her “next step.” While she already had the passion and research background, the field of policy intrigued her, particularly the intersection of science and policy. “I wanted to move forward in my career with a skillset that was informed by both of those worlds,” Curtis said, “I wanted to gain experience in policy issues that influence sustainable action within the marine environment.”

Curtis’s position as a Knauss Fellow involves gaining experience in domestic and international policy coordination regarding sustainable fishery management at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Sustainable Fisheries. Her particular work focuses on policies that impact species like sharks, swordfish, billfish and tuna.

“No matter what lies ahead, the experience and skillset that I’ll gain will make me a better researcher and scientist moving forward. I hope to continue working to assess societal impacts on our aquatic resources, and to inform both sustainable utilization and conservation of aquatic species and habitats,” said Curtis.

Curtis, among the other 73 fellows in this year’s cohort, began the Knauss Fellowship on Feb. 1.

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Annual symposium explores water-science-humanities-people connections

On: April 7, 2022

In: Uncategorized

In its sixth year, the Water @ UW-Madison Spring Symposium continues to highlight relevant water-related topics and offer connection opportunities for Wisconsin. This year’s free event takes place from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Friday, April 22, and is open to all, although registration at t.ly/Hr is necessary.

It is in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Earth Day 2022 celebration, which will launch conversations about water the day before (Thursday. April 21).

The 2022 Water @ UW-Madison event will be virtual but is followed by an in-person pizza lunch on the Memorial Union Terrace, 800 Langdon St., Madison, and an optional Lake Mendota kayak or pontoon boat outing.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have all found ways to maintain professional ties and capitalize on learning opportunities” said Jennifer Hauxwell, one of the event’s organizers and associate director of the Aquatic Sciences Center, home of both the Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program and the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute. “The 2022 symposium theme, ‘Reconnecting Through Water,’ is a fitting one both literally and figuratively. We will connect in a safe online way that facilitates broad participation, but we are also pleased to offer a setting that fosters in-person networking following the three morning panels.”

Smiling woman in a head shot wearing professional clothing.

Jennifer Hauxwell will lead a panel at the symposium. Panel members will discuss science-policy fellowships that benefit both the fellow and the government agencies in which they are placed.

The three panels are:

New Water Connections From the Humanities, Social Sciences and Policy, moderated by Water @ UW-Madison Co-Chair Caroline Gottschalk Druschke and featuring UW-Madison’s Jen Rose Smith, professor in the American Indian Studies Program and Department of Geography; Ingrid Diran, professor in the Department of English; Grace Bulltail, professor in the Nelson Institute; Tricia Gorby, UW-Extension Natural Resources Institute director; and Manny Teodoro, professor in the La Follette School of Public Affairs.

Tackling Wisconsin’s Water Challenges Through UW-Water Science Policy Fellowships and Agency Partnerships, with Hauxwell moderating a conversation among current six science policy fellows stationed at the Wisconsin departments of Natural Resources, Health Services and Administration and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Three mentors of the fellows will join them.

Flow In Across Disciplines; Meet Artists and Water Professionals From “The Flow Project,” which will highlight this project managed by students Julia Buskirk and Alexandra Lakind.

Live captioning of the symposium panels will be provided. If other accommodations are needed, contact Water@UW-Madison.

Water @ UW-Madison is an umbrella organizing and amplifying the water expertise of more than 130 faculty and staff across more than 40 departments and programs..

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Annual Symposium Explores Water-Science-Humanities-People Connections

On: April 7, 2022

In: Caroline Gottschalk Druschke, Jennifer Hauxwell, spring symposium, Water @ UW-Madison

April 7, 2022

“Throughout the pandemic, we have all found ways to maintain professional ties and capitalize on learning opportunities” said Jennifer Hauxwell, one of the event’s organizers and associate director of the Aquatic Sciences Center, home of both the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and the Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program. “The 2022 symposium theme, ‘Reconnecting Through Water,’ is a fitting one both literally and figuratively. We will connect in a safe online way that facilitates broad participation, but we are also pleased to offer a setting that fosters in-person networking following the three morning panels.”

Jennifer Hauxwell, Associate Director of the UW Aquatic Sciences Center

The three panels are:

New Water Connections From the Humanities, Social Sciences and Policy, moderated by Water @ UW-Madison Co-Chair Caroline Gottschalk Druschke and featuring UW-Madison’s Jen Rose Smith, professor in the American Indian Studies Program and Department of Geography; Ingrid Diran, professor in the Department of English; Grace Bulltail, professor in the Nelson Institute; Tricia Gorby, UW-Extension Natural Resources Institute director; and Manny Teodoro, professor in the La Follette School of Public Affairs.
Tackling Wisconsin’s Water Challenges Through UW-Water Science Policy Fellowships and Agency Partnerships, with Hauxwell moderating a conversation among current six science policy fellows stationed at the Wisconsin departments of Natural Resources, Health Services and Administration and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Three mentors of the fellows will join them.
Flow In Across Disciplines; Meet Artists and Water Professionals From “The Flow Project,” which will highlight this project managed by students Julia Buskirk and Alexandra Lakind.

Live captioning of the symposium panels will be provided. If other accommodations are needed, contact Water@UW-Madison.

Water @ UW-Madison is an umbrella organizing and amplifying the water expertise of more than 130 faculty and staff across more than 40 departments and programs..

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“Introduced” podcast wins national award

On: April 5, 2022

In: ANREP, Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals, award, Bonnie Willison, Introduced, Sydney Widell, Tim Campbell, Titus Seilheimer

The Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP) last week announced the winners of its 2022 national awards competition. Titus Seilheimer, fisheries specialist; Tim Campbell, aquatic invasive species specialist; Bonnie Willison, digital storyteller; and Sydney Widell, a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student in Freshwater and Marine Sciences and formerly an undergraduate employee of Sea Grant, won a gold award for their work on the podcast series “Introduced.”

“Introduced” spans two seasons with 18 episodes that explore stories of aquatic invasive species in Wisconsin, like rusty crayfish, purple loosestrife and spiny waterfleas.

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

“Creating this podcast was personally satisfying. It was the first time I’d done podcasting and the easy on-air rapport I had with Sydney made it all the more rewarding,” Willison said. “We learned a lot about the changes that invasive species bring to our cherished lakes streams and wetlands and we talked to many inspiring people who are devoted to protecting our waters.”

Willison also credits Campbell and Seilheimer for making the podcast so effective and educational.

“When I heard Bonnie was going to lend her considerable talents to a new podcast series and that series would focus on aquatic invasive species, I was excited for the opportunity to dive deeper into some AIS topics and highlight voices and stories that could help us understand the complexity of those issues,” Campbell said. He appears in seven episodes and provided overall consultation on the series.

Seilheimer, too, welcomed the opportunity to participate—offering advice on the podcast series’ direction and featured in four episodes. “Podcasts are an innovative way to reach all kinds of audiences with the kind of prevention messages we want to share. Everyone can play a role in conserving our natural environments.”

Co-hosts Willison and Widell interviewed more than 60 people for the series. The guests included resource managers, recreational fishers and researchers, as well as people from nongovernmental organizations and private businesses.

The ANREP awards honor natural resource programs and people. The organization is a national association for cooperative extension service professionals working in environmental education, fisheries, forestry, wood sciences, range, recreation, waste management, water, wildlife, energy and related disciplines at the county, area, state or national level.

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Love your local library during National Library Week, and every week

On: March 31, 2022

In: American Library Association, Anne Moser, National Library Week, Wisconsin Water Library

Moira Harrington (right) and her cute nephew outside of his favorite “local library.” Submitted image.

I’ve had a love affair with libraries all of my life. For the 2022 celebration of National Library Week, which starts Sunday, it feels good to reflect on how these public spaces can be portals that transport readers to new ways of thinking and into new worlds.

My first library card was created on a manual typewriter at the Monroe Street Branch of the Madison (Wisconsin) Public Library system by some caring librarian. Being the proud owner of that small, tan passport to innovative ideas and faraway places, I am sure I skipped the six blocks back to my home.

More than 50 years later, I don’t have to go six blocks to find a library (much less skip). The Wisconsin Water Library is literally steps outside of my office door. It’s one of more than 5,150 specialty libraries in this country and boasts a 30,000-item collection available to any Wisconsin resident.

Our librarian, Anne Moser, is a bundle of energy—not only acting as a custodian of the books, magazines, DVDs, manuals and journals—but also engaging in outreach that takes her to all corners of Wisconsin. In addition, she recently started a Book Club called Maadagindan! (Start Reading!) Literature for Young People About the Great Lakes and Ojibwe Culture. A recent presentation as part of Sea Grant’s Lake Talk series also offers details.

Anne is inspiring youth through books and I’m grateful to have recently shared my 4-year-old nephew’s enthusiasm for libraries. He lives in another state, so I don’t see him as often as I’d like. On a visit last month, though, I accompanied him to his, “local library,” as he always refers to it.

Here’s a snap of us celebrating after collecting a large stack of books, which are just barely visible to the left at his feet. Before his mother, my sister, took this photo, he insisted on staging it to be sure the books would be part of the moment.

Learn more about the nation’s libraries at the American Library Association’s website.

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New undergraduate research program focused on water launched

On: March 22, 2022

In: Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, Jim Hurley, minority-serving institutions, undergraduate research experience, underserved

The University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) and its sister organization the Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program Tuesday received a $358,000 two-year grant from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin to set up summer undergraduate research experiences for students on University of Wisconsin System campuses. The experiences will focus on freshwater science.

WRI Director Jim Hurley said the program will, “provide immersive student research experiences to enhance workforce development skills and allow undergraduates to consider the option of graduate studies in Wisconsin.”

man with beard and glasses — James Hurley, director of the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute. (Photo by Bryce Richter / UW-Madison)

He said a related goal is to create a diverse academic environment by recruiting traditionally underrepresented students to graduate programs and ultimately into academia, or into employment. That is also the goal of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP), with which WRI and Sea Grant will be coordinating the recruitment and mentoring process.

In year one, four students using Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin funding will be selected through SROP’s central application hub for both UW System faculty and staff researchers seeking to pair with aspiring research undergraduates, and the student applicants. An additional four students will be supported through combined funding from WRI, Sea Grant and UW-Madison’s Graduate School and also using the SROP hub.

Along with UW-Madison, three other UW System campuses, Eau Claire, La Crosse and Platteville, will participate in the program in year one.

In 2023, the program will be expanded to 20 students. At that time, all four-year UW System campuses will be offered the opportunity to propose opportunities for hosting the students.

In both years, these experiences will include larger partnership programming that supports, among others, students from minority-serving institutions.

The freshwater collaborative funding coming to WRI and Sea Grant is part of a statewide initiative, backed by the Wisconsin State Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers, to tackle 10 grand water challenges and support curriculum development, undergraduate research opportunities, career development and field training experiences for students interested in studying water-related fields at the UW System schools. The collaborative is a partnership of the universities, connecting with industry, local communities, policymakers and advocacy groups. Its mission is to establish Wisconsin as a world leader in freshwater science, technology, entrepreneurship and economic growth.

The post New undergraduate research program focused on water launched first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/new-undergraduate-research-program-focused-on-water-launched/

Water science is the focus of a new undergraduate research program

On: March 22, 2022

In: Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, Jim Hurley, minority-serving institution, undergraduate research experience, underserved

The Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program and its sister organization the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) Tuesday received a $358,000 two-year grant from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin to set up summer undergraduate research experiences for students on University of Wisconsin System campuses. The experiences will focus on freshwater science.

Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley said the program will, “provide immersive student research experiences to enhance workforce development skills and allow undergraduates to consider the option of graduate studies in Wisconsin.”

Wisconsin Sea Grant Director James Hurley. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant

Along with UW-Madison, three other UW System campuses, Eau Claire, La Crosse and Platteville, will participate in the program in year one.

In 2023, the program will be expanded to 20 students. At that time, all four-year UW System campuses will be solicited to propose opportunities for hosting the students.

In both years, these experiences will include larger partnership programming that supports, among others, students from minority-serving institutions.

The freshwater collaborative funding coming to Sea Grant and WRI is part of a statewide initiative, backed by the Wisconsin State Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers, to tackle 10 grand water challenges and support curriculum development, undergraduate research opportunities, career development and field training experiences for students interested in studying water-related fields at the UW System schools. The collaborative is a partnership of the universities, connecting with industry, local communities, policymakers and advocacy groups. Its mission is to establish Wisconsin as a world leader in freshwater science, technology, entrepreneurship and economic growth.

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Great Lakes tributary rivers play important role in bringing PFAS to the drinking water source of millions

On: February 14, 2022

In: acids, Christy Remucal, perfluoroalkyl, PFAA, PFAS, Sarah Balgooyen

The world’s largest source of fresh water, the Great Lakes, provides drinking water to more than 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada. In the first study of its kind, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering have demonstrated that tributary rivers feeding Lake Michigan play an important role in bringing the human-made group of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to the Great Lakes system.

Researcher Christy Remucal in her lab on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus is analyzing water samples taken from known contamination sites, the Menominee and Peshtigo rivers, which feed into Lake Michigan. Photo: Bonnie Willison

Christy Remucal with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and postdoctoral co-investigator Sarah Balgooyen quantified 10 PFAS chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), in the water and sediment of 41 tributaries to Green Bay of Lake Michigan.

The study is published in the Feb. 10, 2022, edition of the ACS ES&T Water Journal (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsestwater.1c00348). It was funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program.

“Tributary PFAS loading to the Great Lakes is poorly understood,” Remucal said. “The role of sediments as a PFAS source or sink is also largely unknown. Our study is bringing some much-needed answers to not only the people who live around the bay of Green Bay, but also to all of the Great Lakes communities because it’s an interconnected water system. These findings could also be extrapolated to understand the conditions surrounding thousands of other tributaries that flow into the five lakes.”

PFAAs are found in common household items like cookware, cleaning agents and fabric treated with repellants, as well as in firefighting foams. In the study area, the Fox, Menominee and Peshtigo rivers contribute two-thirds of the total tributary PFAA loading to Green Bay despite their relatively low concentrations and despite the current regulatory focus on sites with high PFAA concentrations. The sources of the chemicals in the study tributaries are likely linked to a firefighting foam manufacturer, other industrial activity and airports, which use firefighting foam on runways.

In addition to the tributary discharge, the work showed that tributary sediments can contribute to PFAA via a releasing process known as desorption. Contaminated riverbed sediments may act as a PFAA source even if water concentrations are reduced by pollution mitigation.

Sarah Balgooyen, a postdoctoral investigator of PFAS, said there are likely more than 5,000 compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. In research published today in a leading journal Balgooyen quantifies 10 of the chemicals analyzed in the water and sediment of Lake Michigan tributary water bodies. Photo: Bonnie Willison

“Understandably, there is a heightened interest in the levels of PFAS in drinking water. PFAS have been linked to a number of ill human health effects, including cancer,” Balgooyen said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my research. It certainly leads to a clearer understanding and, hopefully, can provide some guidance on contamination cleanup.”

The research will also inform the Wisconsin PFAS Action Council, of which Remucal is a member as the University of Wisconsin System representative. She is joined by representatives from 17 state agencies. The group has identified eight PFAS priority themes, including one on sampling and one on research and knowledge.

A video about this project can be found here.

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Meet the Knauss fellows: Samm Newton

On: February 10, 2022

In: Knauss Fellows, Samm Newton, Sen Jeff Merkley

By Eva Ryan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship program is a nationally competitive opportunity that sends graduate students interested in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and policy to the hub that is Washington, D.C. There, these students are paired with a congressional member or committee in order to learn more about the policies surrounding our natural resources.They can also be paired with a federal agency or program.

This year, four women supported by Wisconsin Sea Grant were chosen as Knauss finalists. Among these four is Samm Newton, a Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology Program.

“When it comes to understanding what I study in history, which is the intersection of science, policy and the environment, I’m looking at how science and technology have influenced how we think and make decisions about the ocean,” Newton said, “Thinking through those questions with oceans gives unique perspectives because it’s a place where people don’t generally live and there are ambiguous delineations in territory and sovereignty.”

Newton’s appreciation of the ocean spans back to her childhood living in coastal Texas, and remains a deep-rooted passion of hers today. As a historian and environmentalist, Newton has a long-standing interest in studying the role of pteropods, invertebrates also known as a sea butterflies and in the same class as snails and slugs, in communicating changing ocean conditions.

Samm Newton studies pteropods (one pictured on the right) as a keystone species for ocean health. Photo: Matt Wilson and Jay Clark, NOAA

However, when it comes to the ocean, “There’s a layering of knowledge-making that happens. You can’t just look at chemical oceanography via pteropods; you can’t just look at biological oceanography via fishery science,” said Newton, “All of these processes are happening in a layered, integrative way.”

Despite an already impressive list of academic achievements, Newton’s ambition remained at full throttle as she packed up her things, eager to begin the Knauss Fellowship in Washington, D.C., which kicked off earlier this month. She will be working in the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

Newton first heard about the Knauss Fellowship while participating in an National Science Foundation National Research Trainee Fellowship at Oregon State University. There, she completed her master’s degree while simultaneously participating in a training program focused on interdisciplinary work. Newton described the experience as “eye-opening” and took away the idea that “collaborative, contemporary experiences make [her] a better historian.”

Working with members of Oregon State University’s marine resource management program, Newton was no stranger to the words “Knauss Fellowship.” She views the fellowship as an opportunity to both become a better historian as well as to show people the value of having historians work on applied environmental problems.

A historian first and foremost, Newton continues to dismantle preconceived notions that there is no place for the humanities in the world of science. Because of her nontraditional area of study, Newton brings human dimensions to scientific programs. This allows her to bring new perspectives and depth to the table.

“I really want to open up pathways for people to have the kinds of opportunities I’ve had,” she said.

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First Nations position opening in Green Bay field office

On: February 4, 2022

In: First Nations, graduate assistant, indigenous

The Sea Grant field office on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus has an opening for a First Nation’s graduate assistant at the masters or Ph.D. level, in collaboration with the First Nations Studies Program and Cofrin Center for Biodiversity to develop a place-based research or professional project focused on First Nation connection to the Green Bay watershed. Project activities could include, but are not limited to, archival research, archeology, oral tradition and application of Indigenous knowledge systems.

The individual will also work with the three supervising partners on outreach and educational activities.

The candidate must be enrolled or eligible for enrollment at UW-Green Bay in either the M.S. Environmental Science and Policy Graduate Program or the Ed.D. First Nations Education Doctoral Program for the fall 2022 semester.

This opportunity is open until filled. Full details are available here.

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Great Lakes Stewardship Continues With New Projects Worth $2.8 Million Over Two Years

On: February 1, 2022

In: gifts of the glaciers, harmful algal blooms, Hurley, Jim Hurley, microplastics, PFAS, Research

The Great Lakes contain 95% of all the fresh surface water in the United States, and Wisconsin is fortunate that two of those lakes make up its northern and eastern borders—1,000 miles in all and supporting 105 Great Lakes communities.

Stewardship of the lakes is critical not just for those 105 communities, but for the entire state, which benefits from lakes Michigan and Superior culturally, recreationally and economically. Tuesday, Wisconsin Sea Grant announced 12 new two-year research projects worth $2.8 million that build Great Lakes understanding, leading to science-based management and policy decisions.

“We often say the Great Lakes are a gift from the glaciers,” said Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley. “This gift is a valuable one—a recent study found 1.3 million jobs are tied to the lakes, with $82 billion in annual wages. Just as the lakes fuel our economy, they also enrich our quality of life. That’s why we are pleased that these projects officially kick off today with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”

Research will be conducted on four University of Wisconsin System campuses and will, for example, deepen our understanding of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, harmful algal blooms and marine debris, three timely water-quality concerns.

In all, nearly 75 researchers, staff and students will be engaged in this work on the University of Wisconsin System campuses of Madison, Milwaukee, Platteville and Stevens Point. Additionally, the maritime archaeology program at the Wisconsin Historical Society will be supported for Lake Michigan shipwreck exploration.

Water samples laden with PFAS in the Christy Remucal lab at UW-Madison. Photo: Bonnie Willison

“This year, Wisconsin Sea Grant is celebrating its 50-year anniversary. We have a long history of supporting not just research, but the up-and-coming researchers across the state who want to meet Great Lakes challenges and opportunities. More than half of the projects announced Tuesday will be led by investigators who are first-time Sea Grant funding recipients,” Hurley said.

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Sea Grant project faves, Moira Harrington

On: January 6, 2022

In: Moira Harrington, Wisconsin Sea Grant 50th anniversary visual timeline

Moira Harrington

The calendar has flipped to 2022. Our staff members are ready to tackle new projects in the coming 12 months, which also happen to mark Wisconsin Sea Grant’s 50th anniversary. Before they move more deeply into this anniversary, however, some staff members took a moment to retain the glow of their favorite 2021 project. Here’s a contribution from Moira Harrington, assistant director for communications.

My favorite project for the year 2021 is about something that happened 50 years ago. In 1972, Wisconsin Sea Grant was designated as a College Program. That kind of a designation is a big deal in the world of this national network of 34 programs doing research, education and outreach in service of the nation’s coasts and coastal communities.

I enjoyed working with everyone in the communications department to come up with a big list of fun ways to celebrate our anniversary in 2022. It’s a way to honor the past, look to the future and —warming our communicators’ hearts — extend the brand. I especially liked creating a visual timeline of Wisconsin Sea Grant. It was the first time I ever used ArcGIS software and I was pleased with how this visual and content-rich piece turned out.

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CALM aims to bring calm to communities facing coastal hazards

On: December 29, 2021

In: coastal erosion, Lydia Salus, resilience, resiliency, State Cartographer's Office, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program

Lydia Salus grew up about 20 miles from Lake Michigan, in a Wisconsin village graced with Mammoth Spring, where water seeps through cracks on top of the shallow aquifer that underlies much of Waukesha County.

Since her formative years, water has been a part of Salus’s life. As an undergraduate, Salus worked on a project to facilitate fish passage through urban culverts. She got a master’s degree in water resources management with a focus on hydrology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with the intention of becoming a hydrologist devoted to ecological restoration.

Although that career in restoration shifted in 2018 when she signed on as an assistant to the Southeastern Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Project, Salus remains tied to water. Right now, her connection is through a brand-new initiative to increase coastal resilience on Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline.

The new project builds on the previous one, which assisted people in Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee and Ozaukee counties in responding to rising lake levels—offering information on how to stabilize bluffs, address erosion and protect infrastructure.

Aerial photo of water and buildings near the water. One house is balanced on the edge of a tall bluff over the water.

A southeastern Wisconsin house teeters on the edge of a bluff after coastal storms and waves eroded the shoreline 40 feet in four years. This house was later demolished

It was also notable for encouraging conversation and cooperation among the whole mix of lakefront property owners—between private property holders and municipalities, counties, state agencies and federal partners.

Termed Collaborative Action for Lake Michigan (CALM) Coastal Resilience, the project places Salus at Sea Grant. The Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and State Cartographer’s Office are the other members of this three-way partnership that, according to Salus, increases capacity to reach and serve communities.

“The Southeastern Wisconsin Resiliency project was a really good start for taking a regional approach to addressing hazards. Hazards don’t just go away,” she said. “That earlier project was good at building momentum in those communities, so then we just wanted to expand that up the coast to other communities and share that momentum with them.”

CALM is funded by what Salus termed “an exciting grant; a competitive grant for something called a project of special merit” from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and which was awarded to the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program. It will strive for three outcomes:

Increasing collaboration across all stakeholders.
Developing, revising or adopting local ordinances, plans or policies that are going to help build resilience in coastal communities.
Fostering regional prioritization of hazards that need to be addressed so that when opportunities for collaborative action are available, community leaders are ready to capitalize.

CALM is a nearly $250,000 18-month undertaking that kicked off in October 2021 and will conclude in March 2023, making it, as Salus said, “A quick turnaround, but we already have a good framework to build off of. I think it’s a little bit easier to implement because we have something that we know worked (with the Southeastern Wisconsin Coastal Resiliency Project).”

When fully in the swing of the initiative, Salus will organize field trips, pandemic willing, to highlight coastal challenges and solutions. Additionally, she will host meetings to share case studies and tools, and support communities talking with each other and determining regional priorities. Those communities include 11 counties, 18 cities, 16 villages and 36 towns stretching from the state’s border with Illinois up the Lake Michigan coastline to the state of Michigan.

map of Wisconsin with communities along Lake Michigan highlighted in greens and blues to show areas involved in new resilience program.

Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan communities will participate in a new program to build resilience in the face of flooding, erosion and infrastructure damage.

The types of folks involved are those housed in state and federal agencies, local and state elected officials, coastal engineers and landscape professionals, municipal technical staff members, people from academic institutions, sewerage districts and regional planning commissions.

Salus said she is feeling energized by the chance to bring together so many people through a process that embraces “stakeholder-driven prioritization. I really like that term because we have built into the project the process of getting feedback from the communities. We are starting off with a survey of their needs, so we are then presenting tools and resources and bringing in speakers that are going to be helpful to them.”

Salus is also feeling personally energized as this new initiative gets underway, saying she appreciates the “unique challenge that balances the human-environment interaction. There are naturally occurring processes on the lake that wouldn’t necessarily cause issues if we didn’t have a built environment along the lake, if we didn’t have people living there.” She said she looks forward to the applied science that can address these coastal hazards that are certainly not going to disappear.

The post CALM aims to bring calm to communities facing coastal hazards first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Sea Grant offering 10-week undergraduate summer internships

On: December 20, 2021

In: Jumana Tanner, summer interns, summer internship

Woman standing under an umbrella that is attached to a wheeled cart near water.

Jumana Tanner, a summer 2021 intern, educated Milwaukee beachgoers about water safety. Photo: Sara Stathas

Sea Grant is offering eight summer internships for undergraduates or those individuals with a degree earned in the 2021-22 academic year. The internships come with a $6,000 stipend and are centered on:

Exploring the connections between mental health and climate change in Wisconsin.
Using geospatial data visualization to assess Great Lakes ecological, physical and social conditions.
Sharing dangerous current information with Great Lakes beachgoers.
Communicating about Wisconsin farm-raised and wild-caught fish.
Exploring Indigenous knowledge and the Green Bay watershed.
Assessing invasive species risk between the Great Lakes and Western states.
Developing a mutual shared history and sense of place in Great Lakes communities.
Harvesting manoomin (wild rice) as a climate adaptation and resilience strategy.

David Hart, Sea Grant’s associate director for extension, said, “I am looking forward to working with an engaged and enthusiastic intern cohort for 10 weeks in summer 2022. This will be our third class of interns and it has always been a positive experience for both the students and our staff members and those in partnering organizations who act as mentors to contribute to a diverse workforce.

“The young people are prepared for graduate school if that is their path, and careers in aquatic sciences, environmental resource management and community engagement,” he said.

Due to the ongoing pandemic and the program’s commitment to offering safe experiences, flexibility and understanding in the face of potentially changing work conditions, responsibilities and locations will be necessary.

The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. (CT), Tuesday, Feb. 22.

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2021 Year in Review

On: December 16, 2021

In: holiday greetings, Year end

It’s the contributions from water researchers and managers that help us all understand and protect these precious assets. Here is a year in review of University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute projects, along with others by our sister organization, the Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program.

The post 2021 Year in Review first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/2021-year-in-review/

Study in Nature shows reduction of mercury pollution in waterways reaps relatively quick benefit

On: December 15, 2021

In: fish consumption, Jim Hurley, mercury, methylmercury, nature

Reducing mercury pollution to lakes can lower methylmercury contamination in fish within just a few years according to research reported today in the online version of the journal Nature. The findings suggest efforts to control mercury emissions can reduce the risk of human exposure through fish consumption.

Mercury released because of human activity can find its way into aquatic ecosystems, where it is converted into methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in fish and poses a health threat to humans. There is limited understanding of the effectiveness of controls on mercury emissions in removing methylmercury from the food chain.

Researchers in the Experimental Lakes Area of Canada adding mercury isotopes to study lake. Contributed photo.

A 15-year study on the effects of mercury control efforts on the recovery of fish contamination was conducted on a remote, undisturbed Canadian lake and its watershed. Wisconsin Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley was part of the research team that also included scientists from binational regulatory agencies and other academic institutions in the U.S. and Canada.

“This study shows the value of long-term multi-disciplinary, consistent research. We were able to observe the impacts of both an increase and decrease in contaminant loading over several years. Both showed rapid responses in the chemistry and biology of the lake and its watershed,” Hurley said.

Close-up of two men pouring liquid from one jug to another jug.

Jim Hurley (left) and Todd Kuiken, Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, homogenize the mercury isotope solution to ensure the carboys on each boat have the same concentration. Photo: Chris Babiarz

This whole-ecosystem experiment for seven years supplied specific isotopes of mercury to the ecosystem. During this period, the researchers recorded an increase in the uptake of this isotopically labelled mercury as methylmercury in the fish. Methylmercury concentrations increased by 45–57% in invertebrates (plankton, for example) and small fish (such as yellow perch), and by more than 40% in large fish, such as pike and whitefish.

Then, mercury additions ceased and the effects on the food chain were observed for eight years. Labelled methylmercury quickly diminished in the smaller fish, with concentrations dropping by at least 85% by the end of the study period. This triggered a subsequent reduction of labelled methylmercury in the larger fish, with concentrations declining by 76% in pike and 38% in whitefish.

The rapid reductions in methylmercury contamination observed in these experiments demonstrates the potential for mercury emission controls to improve the safety of fish for human consumption, the authors concluded.

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Advocate for Great Lakes science dies at 97

On: November 30, 2021

In: Anders Andren, Bob Ragotzkie, Robert Ragotzkie

In 1966, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Sea Grant College Act, it’s because of Robert Ragotzkie that not just oceans and the salty coasts were included in the law. The Great Lakes were also provided with resources to conduct research on and offer education and outreach related to the world’s largest source of fresh water.

The roots of Sea Grant were in a 1963 speech delivered by a dean at the University of Minnesota, Athelstan Spilhaus, who proposed the establishment of a Sea Grant College system akin to the Land Grant College system that would develop the potential of oceans. Ragotzkie advocated the Great Lakes be included in the proposal. After all, he successfully reasoned, the lakes are inland oceans.

Ragotzkie completed undergraduate and graduate work at Rutgers University and earned a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1953. He then ran the Marine Studies Institute on Sapelo Island, Georgia, for five years prior to returning to Madison where he began a teaching career with the Department of Meteorology. Lakes were the focus of his scholarship and in 1968 he became the first director of the Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program. He died on Nov. 4 at the age of 97.

“While the National Sea Grant program was in its infancy, Ragotzkie quickly managed to bring in a healthy amount of federal and state funding to make the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Program one of the largest and most successful research, outreach and educational programs in the nation,” said Anders Andren, the second director of Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Andren continued, “His understanding of Great Lakes scientific issues, foresight and capability to attract the best research talent in the state was just phenomenal—and way ahead of its time. The Great Lakes research community, state of Wisconsin and University of Wisconsin-Madison has lost a great scientific mind and leader.”

Ragotzkie retired from UW-Madison and spent his remaining years in the Madison area. He leaves behind his wife, Elizabeth, two daughters, a son, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

His recollections of the early days of Sea Grant, along with reflections on retirement pursuits, are captured in this 2018 blog post.

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Sea Grant recognized for video production

On: November 29, 2021

In: aquatic invasive species, Art, Bonnie Willison, Geo Rutherford, marine debris, Voices of the Coast

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s videographer Bonnie Willison recently captured a video award through a regional competition coordinated by an organization called Madison Media Professionals.

The group presents WAVE Awards, which honor excellence in the video production industry as well as in web, audio, video and graphic design. The 2021 competition received over 90 entries, including materials created for international and national entities like Yamaha, BBC America, Google and PBS Kids.

The Wisconsin Sea Grant video Geo Rutherford: Voices of the Coast was awarded a WAVE merit award in the video editing category.

Woman holding small plastic bag walking along water with trees in the background.

Artist Geo Rutherford draws inspiration for her work from the Great Lakes. Image credit: Bonnie Willison.

“It was fun to meet Geo, interview her in her home studio, and then go beachcombing with her in Milwaukee,” Willison said. “It was a rewarding challenge to edit hours of footage into a short, 5-minute documentary-style piece.”

The winning video is a light-hearted, buoyant profile that matches the spirit of Wisconsin artist Geo Rutherford, who creates prints, collage and sculpture that explore the hidden elements of the Great Lakes. Showcased in the video are Rutherford’s colorful installations, which highlight small synthetic or natural objects that are washed ashore by the waves. Rutherford also draws attention to microplastics like nurdles, which are a growing marine debris problem in Great Lakes ecosystems.

Rutherford’s work also focuses on aquatic invasive species. She hand-prints images of alewives, sea lamprey, and invasive mussels and collages the images into chaotic, mesmerizing works of art.

The video is part of the Voices of the Coast series, which tells the stories of individuals who live, work and recreate around the Great Lakes. Their experiences provide a lens for larger topics that touch on the lakes such as social justice, fisheries and conservation. The ever-expanding series can be found here.

The post Sea Grant recognized for video production first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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From gridiron to shipwrecks to advisory council: Russ Green contributes to Lake Michigan care

On: October 27, 2021

In: Advisory Council, maritime archaeology, Russ Green, sanctuary, shipwrecks, Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary

Russ Green, Great Lakes regional coordinator for the new Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, dives a wreck. Contributed photo.

Russ Green used to be a college football coach. For four years, he was intimately familiar with the gridiron and its blocks, kick-offs and touchdowns. The precision of that turf configuration served him well in his succeeding profession, marine archaeology, which relies on exploratory dive sites that are mapped and measured in grids as a way to organize and understand underwater spaces and the heritage they yield.

His passion for marine archaeology has brought him to the role of Great Lakes regional coordinator for the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, which was officially designated this fall. In that role, he’s come quite a way since his graduate school days studying history. It was then he discovered the field. “I had no idea it even existed as a discipline; that it was a thing,” Green said.

A Lake Michigan shipwreck, the Continental, being sectioned into a grid to study the site. Photo by Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society.

He set aside history and went on to get a master’s degree in marine archaeology and marine studies from East Carolina University, worked for the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program and from 2004 to 2016 was at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Green has now joined the Wisconsin Sea Grant Advisory Council. His participation capitalizes on the complementary missions of the brand-new sanctuary and Sea Grant, a program cousin under the umbrella of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“The sanctuary can be a great partner in communicating and studying climate change and other challenges facing Lake Michigan. I’m excited to join the council and learn more about how the sanctuary can support and facilitate broader Lake Michigan conservation,” Green said.

One example he called out are three buoys installed within sanctuary boundaries that will provide real-time data on wind, waves and water temperature at various depths. The information will mesh with Sea Grant’s research and education goals. The buoys were installed with support from the Great Lakes Observing System.

Green also already has a list of possible projects that draw on past activities, including educator participation in remote sensing with sonar. There has also been sanctuary support for an educator shipboard science workshop aboard the 19th-century replica schooner the Denis Sullivan. He hopes to see more of those in the future. Green also mentioned a series of mural installations in lakeshore communities, created in concert with Sea Grant, artists and educators based on prior collaborations.

Educators on a 2019 shipboard science cruise. Photo: Wisconsin Sea Grant.

“The sanctuary can support Sea Grant science. Eventually, we’ll have staff, vessels and other operational support on the coast that can help facilitate Sea Grant’s work here. The research we do also ties in really well with some shared goals in the science community—understanding the benthic habitat in Lake Michigan, for example” said Green. “The lakebed mapping that we’re doing can contribute to that with some back-end processing. Essentially, we can map once and use it many times.”

Out of the larger NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries that manages 15 locations protecting species, ecosystems and maritime history throughout the nation, the Wisconsin sanctuary is only the second based in fresh water. Its boundaries reach from Port Washington in the south to Two Rivers at the northern end, encompassing 36 known shipwrecks. Those wrecks are detailed on wisconsinshipwrecks.org, a joint Sea Grant-WHS website. The website is just one example from the 30-plus years Sea Grant has supported Great Lakes maritime archaeology, providing funding for projects and, more recently, educational workshops and a shipwreck learning kit.

The Wisconsin Sea Grant Advisory Council is appointed by the chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is made up of leaders in academia; state, local and tribal bodies; industry and the public. It ensures that a variety of viewpoints inform Sea Grant’s functioning and is accountable to stakeholders. Current membership stands at 16 people.

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Try Wisconsin fish recipes. Not you, though, zombies

On: October 25, 2021

In: Eat Wisconsin Fish, fish and methamphetamines, Seafood Awareness Month, Sharon Moen, zombie fish

Image courtesy of DepositPhotos

October. In this month of Halloween, thoughts might turn toward ghosts, vampires and skeletons. Zombies, too. October is also Seafood Awareness Month. Now, please allow me to draw the connection between zombies and fish.

Zombies are known for rampaging through communities in search of their favorite meal — brains. Ever wonder what they do in their downtime? Netflix? Knitting? What about fishing? Maybe zombies spend a relaxing afternoon on the lake, dropping a line. If they hook a legally sized fish, they might tuck into its brains. In doing so, the zombies could be swallowing something that could make their living-dead condition worse — methamphetamine.

A story on CNN last summer about trout becoming addicted to methamphetamine prompted a concerned question to our Eat Wisconsin Fish Specialist Sharon Moen. Treatment systems remove all kinds of bad stuff from water, but drugs can sometimes escape that ministration.

Wanting to reassure that questioner looking to enjoy local, healthy and delicious Wisconsin fish, but worried about inadvertent drug consumption, Moen checked with our fisheries specialist as well as our emerging contaminant scientist. Both said if a person avoided eating the brains and liver of fish — where contaminants and, apparently drugs, accumulate — there was no danger.

That’s good news for someone wanting a plate full of yummy fish. Try these recipes using Wisconsin fish. And keep those seafood questions coming to Moen. She’d love to talk with you, maybe even about zombies.

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Radium and strontium researchers take a seat at the table

On: October 13, 2021

In: Amy Plechacek, Cambrian-Ordovician Aquifer System, Fond du Lac, Lake Winnebago, Matt Ginder-Vogel, radium, Ripon, sample, Sean Scott, strontium, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene

Photo credit: Michael Tavrionov, Pixabay

You take a seat at the table for a meal in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and may have a glass of water to accompany the entrée.

If you are University of Wisconsin-Madison Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Matt Ginder-Vogel and graduate student Amy Plechacek, each with your tumbler full of water, you are turning to a different kind of table than a dinner table. You are at the periodic table of elements. You want to understand what’s in your glass; how the interactions between water and rock in Fond du Lac County might result in naturally occurring contamination of public drinking water wells and nearby private wells.

As part of a currently funded project through the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute, the pair has looked at municipal and well drinking water pumped from the Cambrian-Ordovician Aquifer System underlying parts of the Midwest, including this region of Wisconsin. In some locations it contains elevated Ra and Sr and can be affected by salinity, due to high concentrations of ions such as Ca, CI and SO₄^2-.

For those us of who just want to tuck into that dinner in Fond du Lac and not strain to recall what’s on the periodic table, those initials stand for radium (Ra) and strontium (Sr). The Ca is calcium, CI is chloride and SO₄^2- is sulfate.

Radium is regulated in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because long-term ingestion is associated with development of bone cancer. Strontium is on the U.S. EPA Contaminant Candidate List 3 and may be regulated in the future. Known health effects of elevated strontium consumption include tooth mottling and “strontium rickets,” a musculoskeletal disease.

“There’s a general background concentration of radium, then, depending on specific and unique factors at individual sites, you can end up above the maximum contaminant level for radium,” Ginder-Vogel said. Photo credit: UW-Madison College of Engineering, Dept. of Civil Environmental Engineering

Why Fond du Lac? Ginder-Vogel explained, “They have really interestinggeology in their aquifer. The very bottom surface of the aquifer is really uneven and parts of it are very deep where people get water, while other parts are much more shallow where they get water, so there’s just a lot of interesting natural variability.”

He continued, “It’s kind of perfect. It’s like someone set up an experiment for us already. We have all these variations in where the water comes from out of the aquifer and the environments where the water is coming from. So it lets us start to get a handle on all the factors that control naturally occurring contaminants in the water.”

Ginder-Vogel said he’s conducted radium-groundwater research for six years and has come to the realization that there’s often a small amount of radium in most of the Cambrian-Ordovician Aquifer System. “There’s a general background concentration of radium, then, depending on specific and unique factors at individual sites, you can end up above the maximum contaminant level for radium,” he said. “When we, Madeline Gotkowitz (formerly with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey) and I, got started on this we expected there to be an answer for Wisconsin at least. But really, what we’re discovering, is that it’s an incredibly variable system and really dependent on both well construction and also local structures in the aquifer systems.”

So, understanding one system—Fond du Lac’s—could inform other managers about water conditions and recommendations for where to drill in their own parts of the Badger State based on that comparison and contrast with this county near Lake Winnebago.

When Plechacek joined the effort to understand how the radium and strontium levels change with the geology in Fond du Lac, she also brought another critically important thing—a skill at engaging community members.

Researcher Amy Plechacek said the study was exciting because it identified one county’s zones of water chemistry. Contributed photo.

Plechacek composed a water-sampling request letter and distributed it to 40 or so well-owners, eliciting a positive response from about half of the people. Those who agreed were private homeowners or folks managing places like parks, gas stations or hotels.

She termed it an “awesome” experience that enabled her “look at some shallower wells as of a contrasting type of groundwater to these deep municipal wells.” The municipal well samples were collected through collaboration with the Ripon and Fond du Lac water utilities.

Plus, local enthusiasm for the project continued to run high. Even after she had completed her sampling rounds, Plechacek kept hearing from those with the shallower wells who wanted to volunteer to help.

Through an analysis of the samples—pioneered by Sean Scott, assistant scientist at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and a person who Ginder-Vogel described as “incredibly critical” to the project—the team could get quite precise results from the different locations. Scott’s method uses smaller-quantity water samples, allowing for less variability in results, providing a clearer picture of groundwater flow and geochemical conditions at the site.

The team ended up characterizing, Plechacek said, “Three distinct water chemistries. That’s one of the things that water utilities have to consider, the pros and cons of using shallow versus deep groundwater. There’s some contaminants that are likelier to be in shallower water, like nitrate is a big issue. But then with the deeper waters you tend to have more problems with things like radium. There’s a lot of tradeoffs. But I think the study was exciting because it identified the zones of water chemistry in that area.”

Water managers and private owners now have plenty of food for thought. The research will help determine how best to site wells to put the best possible glass of water on Fond du Lac tables, and will offer insights on how to minimize these contaminants in drinking water throughout the state.

The post Radium and strontium researchers take a seat at the table first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/radium-and-strontium-researchers-take-a-seat-at-the-table/

In: Amy Nitka, Paul McGinley, phosphorous, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Center for Watershed Science and Education

A sweet way to protect heaven

On: October 6, 2021

Oct. 6, 2021
By Moira Harrington

For many Wisconsin families, a lake home or cabin is a little piece of heaven. A corporeal necessity of that heaven is often a septic system.

A team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Center for Watershed Science and Education, and with funding from the Water Resources Institute, is exploring whether there is a connection between a septic system and a lake’s water quality.

“Water quality in a lake is controlled by a lot of things, but one of the most important is the levels of, or the concentrations of, nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus,” said Paul McGinley, director and research scientist with the center. He holds another appointment with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension. “Anything that contributes to an increase in the amount of nitrogen or the amount of phosphorus that goes into the lake is going to certainly influence the biological productivity in that lake and ultimately that leads to water quality challenges,” such as algae growth.

The “anything” he referenced could be phosphorus and nitrogen in water from septic systems moving through systems’ drainfield soils into groundwater. That groundwater ultimately feeds streams and lakes. Previous studies have shown that wastewater treated in a tank to digest solids then passed to a drainfield for further chemical and biological reactions in the soil can still have nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations that are more than 50 times their concentrations in Wisconsin lakes.

McGinley said, “There really are a lot of unknowns with respect to how much phosphorous in particular gets into the lake from septic systems. We thought we could pair our interest in groundwater and lakes with this question and the need really to know what’s going on with this interaction between septic systems and some analytical methods that we’ve been developing in our laboratory.”

Current progress in developing those methods rests in the hands of Amy Nitka, organic laboratory supervisor with the center. She said, “The presence of artificial sweeteners allows us to distinguish contamination from human wastewater from other sources.”

Although it is challenging to identify these molecules, Nitka and her students have been working to refine analytical methods for acesulfame and sucralose, two common artificial sweeteners. With these identifying markers, they are able to determine which lake water samples have likely been impacted by wastewater from septic systems.

As Nitka presides over the lab, its students and equipment array await the fruits of field collection. Using a small tube inserted into the lakebed as well as nearshore, McGinley’s team is collecting water samples from several central Wisconsin lakes. These lakes are characterized by relatively calcareous glacial drift soils, areas where groundwater is moving into the lake and sandy lakebeds.

Just as the artificial sweetener signature is vital to this project, it’s also been vital to the students’ experience. They have presented research results at local and national conferences and some have gone on to graduate studies.

“It’s been a great project for our students,” McGinley said. “We have students that get involved in the analytical work and in the field work. Because this is kind of tricky analytical work, it’s really been a great launching place for these undergraduates.” It’s a two-way street, he was quick to add, saying the students’ contributions have also been vital to the lab’s progress.

UW-Stevens Point senior Hannah Lukasik does nitrate analysis in the Water and Environmental Analysis Laboratory. She has been working in the lab since freshman year and has contributed to understanding how artificial sweeteners can trace septic influence on lakes. Photo by Amy Nitka.

That progress will also result in a model to predict how septic systems influence phosphorus load to a lake over time, McGinley said. “One of our outcomes is to have a better understanding of how those septic systems might be influencing the lake. Then you can decide is that (septic systems) really something that’s worthwhile focusing on or should we be working on some other problems. We need to at least quantify that before we can put into the assessment of what we should be developing for strategies.”

A final angle to this project is its real-world applicability. McGinley said he and others on the research team will deliver presentations at conferences and will assist consultants in creating lake nutrient budgets.

He said he is also especially interested in sharing this knowledge with lake associations and lakeshore property owners. “The connection between a septic system and the lake is through groundwater. Groundwater is the water from rain and melting snow that moves downward through soil and eventually moves into lakes and streams,” he noted.

Cabin dwellers are familiar with how some areas of the lakebed are cooler than others during the summer. These “springs” are areas of high groundwater inflow. Temperature measurements can be used to map the areas of highest inflow areas. As part of the lab’s outreach and teaching, volunteer central Wisconsin cabin owners have been collecting temperature measurements with relatively simple probes fabricated as part of the project.

David Brownstein mapping areas of higher groundwater inflow in Peppermill Lake in Adams County. Photo by Bill Pegler.

McGinley said the effort, “Helps us all understand how much the lake and the land are connected,” and how the boundaries of these small heavens actually extend well beyond the shore.

The post A sweet way to protect heaven first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/a-sweet-way-to-protect-heaven/

Methylmercury water concentrations low, but Great Lakes fish consumption advisories persist—new research documents one probable culprit

On: September 22, 2021

In: Environmental Science and Technology Journal, fish consumption advisories, mercury, methylmercury, Ryan Lepak

Methylmercury uptake rate in phytoplankton is among the highest recorded

Sept. 22, 2021
By Moira Harrington

A recently published study in the journal of the American Chemical Society, Environmental Science and Technology, found that while Great Lakes waters harbor low methylmercury concentrations, the rates of methylmercury transfer to phytoplankton are extremely high, higher than rates observed in open oceans. Phytoplankton are the smallest organisms in an aquatic food web.

Researchers, including a UW-Madison-supported postdoctoral scientist, say this is important because the bioaccumulation of methylmercury into phytoplankton sets the baseline for methylmercury levels in fish.

Methylmercury is highly toxic and is the form most encountered by people. This is generally through eating fish and shellfish, which is why advisory consumption guidelines are issued, particularly targeted toward pregnant women and young children. However, monitoring fish and shellfish varieties—some have higher levels of methylmercury—and consumption frequency, people can still enjoy the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids found in the food.

From 2010 to 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey Mercury Research Lab in Madison, Wisconsin, teamed up with the U.S. EPA and its research vessel the Lake Guardian to monitor inorganic and methylmercury dynamics in the five Great Lakes. This was done through a combination of vertically, seasonally and spatially comprehensive water quality measurements and analysis of seston collections, which is the suspended particle mass in the lakes made up of plankton, bacteria, bugs and detritus.

Ryan Lepak, a postdoctoral scientist (Ph.D. UW-Madison, 2018) through the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and its sister organization, Sea Grant and stationed at the U.S. EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division in Duluth, Minnesota, said, “Ultimately, the study concluded the very low concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, the substrate which competes with phytoplankton for methylmercury but also can serve as a source of sustenance, in these lakes likely create a scenario where methylmercury transfer to phytoplankton is facilitated. The planktonic methylmercury levels are quite low, but exceedingly higher than we’d expect considering the extremely low methylmercury levels in the waters in which they reside.”

Ryan Lepak aboard the U.S. EPA RV Lake Guardian sampling for methylmercury. Contributed photo.

Lepak continued by explaining the transfer of methylmercury up the lower food web, from phytoplankton to herbivorous zooplankton and then to omnivorous zooplankton, was not statistically different. Finally, he and the team tested whether water-mercury concentrations have declined over the study period and determined that without more routine continuous monitoring, trends could not be identified because unresolved sources of variability masked data trends.

“The conditions that make the Great Lakes highly susceptible to methylmercury bioaccumulation are common to the world’s great lakes,” Lepak said. “These global water bodies should serve as excellent sentinels to track the impacts mercury reductions at local, regional and global scales have on biota. This paper’s important finding could aid those planning global mercury monitoring networks aimed at tracking mercury reductions due to actions resulting from the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a multilateral environmental agreement the U.S. signed in 2013 and which would reduce global mercury pollution.”

The post Methylmercury water concentrations low, but Great Lakes fish consumption advisories persist—new research documents one probable culprit first appeared on WRI.

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Methylmercury water concentrations low, but Great Lakes fish consumption advisories persist—new research documents one probable culprit

On: September 22, 2021

In: Environmental Science and Technology, fish consumption advisory, mercury, methylmercury, phytoplankton, Ryan Lepak

Methylmercury uptake rate in phytoplankton is among the highest recorded

Ryan Lepak, a postdoctoral scientist (Ph.D. UW-Madison, 2018) through Sea Grant and its sister organization the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institure and stationed at the U.S. EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division in Duluth, Minnesota, said, “Ultimately, the study concluded the very low concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, the substrate which competes with phytoplankton for methylmercury but also can serve as a source of sustenance, in these lakes likely create a scenario where methylmercury transfer to phytoplankton is facilitated. The planktonic methylmercury levels are quite low, but exceedingly higher than we’d expect considering the extremely low methylmercury levels in the waters in which they reside.”

Ryan Lepak aboard the U.S. EPA RV Lake Guardian sampling Great Lakes waters for methylmercury. Contributed photo.

The post Methylmercury water concentrations low, but Great Lakes fish consumption advisories persist—new research documents one probable culprit first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Vicky and Bud Harris named Wisconsin Wildlife Federation conservationists of the year

On: August 30, 2021

In: Bud Harris, Hallet J. "Bud" Harris, Vicky and Bud Harris, Vicky Harris, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation

Both provide service on Sea Grant advisory bodies

The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation named Vicky and Hallet J. “Bud” Harris as conservationists of the year at a recent annual banquet. Both serve on Sea Grant advisory bodies — Vicky Harris serves on the Advisory Committee on Outreach and Education. She is also the retired water quality and habitat restoration specialist from Sea Grant. Bud Harris is on the advisory council and is a former chair of the body.

The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation is made up of more than 200 conservation groups, meaning it is the largest non-governmental agency in the state with a mission to promote conservation.

Keith Pamperin, chair of the federation’s Great Lakes Committee, nominated the Harrises for the honor. Pamperin is a longtime public servant in Green Bay, so he has a strong familiarity with Vicky and Bud Harris’s contributions to conservation of the bay of Green Bay, its surrounding wetlands and the open waters of Lake Michigan.

“Over the past 50 years, we have been fortunate to work with so many talented people dedicated to restoring and protecting Green Bay and Lake Michigan,” said Vicky Harris. “It’s not that our work is so extraordinary, we’ve just stayed the course for a long time.”

Hallet J. “Bud” and Vicky Harris. Submitted photo.

In addition to her role with Sea Grant, Vicky Harris worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), where she led efforts to protect and rehabilitate the Green Bay ecosystems.

Bud Harris enjoyed a 30-year career at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he taught environmental courses and mentored 15 graduate students, most studying some aspect of Green Bay coastal wetlands.

Through the university, he also kicked off Sea Grant’s Green Bay-campus-based subprogram. The subprogram’s research laid the groundwork for bay and wetlands restoration plans. Over the years Bud amassed a collection of more than 1,400 publications, reports and theses on the bay’s ecology, which is housed in the UW-Green Bay library archives.

“It is gratifying to see how foundational research can result in positive changes. However, in some cases it took 40-plus years for political will to catch up with the science,” Bud Harris said.

The pair worked with the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission, Great Lakes scientists, Green Bay resource managers and stakeholders to create an ecosystem restoration case study, which became the forerunner to the DNR Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for lower Green Bay and the Fox River. The plan was the first of 43 restoration plans in the Great Lakes basin to be approved and set the bar for stakeholder engagement, involving more than 100 people on eight technical and citizen advisory committees.

Vicky Harris helped lead public engagement and served as the DNR Green Bay/Fox River RAP coordinator for 10 years until joining Sea Grant in 1999. Bringing scientists, resource managers and community leaders together to tackle serious long-term environmental problems has been the hallmark of the Harrises careers. Even after retirement, both Harrises have remained active with Green Bay advisory committees and restoration projects to this day.

The efforts leading up to the Remedial Action Plan are only a part of extensive, and ongoing, involvement of the Harrises in northeastern Wisconsin, and wider, conservation work. Other highlights include:

Baseline PCB studies that led to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) PCB mass balance study, which later informed Fox River cleanup success.
Leadership in the International Association for Great Lakes Research organization and the EPA’s Lake Michigan Forum.
Long-term efforts to restore a chain of island habitats in southern Green Bay.
Contributions toward a plan for reducing nutrient and sediment runoff to the river and bay.
Securing $1.8 million for a water-monitoring and data collection program that engaged high school educators and students.
Formation of the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program that educates and assists marinas in keeping Wisconsin boating waters clean.
Service on the Green Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Site Selection Committee.

“For as long as we’re able, we hope to continue pushing for restoration of this vibrant ecosystem so important to the Green Bay community and the Great Lakes region,” Vicky Harris said. “It’s encouraging to see the progress that’s been made, and the enthusiasm of the next generation of scientists and managers.”

“That’s great”, quipped Bud, “because at 85, I am beginning to look for a smooth landing field.”

Earlier this year, Sea Grant awarded Vicky and Bud its first-ever Actionable Science Award.

The post Vicky and Bud Harris named Wisconsin Wildlife Federation conservationists of the year first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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PFAS in Wisconsin: Setting a research agenda

On: August 5, 2021

In: Collaboration, PFAS

There are more than 5,000 chemicals in the man-made group known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). At times during an informal workshop on the topic late last week, it felt as if there were also thousands of questions surrounding PFAS.

The virtual gathering of more than 50 state agency personnel and academics from University of Wisconsin System schools shined a light on knowledge gaps, as well as energized opportunities for collaboration to move forward Wisconsin’s PFAS research agenda.

Amy Schultz, environment researcher for the University of Wisconsin-Madison-based Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, summed it up for most participants when she said points of collaboration “span all the worlds. And, collaboration is necessary.”

All the worlds she referred to were the four areas around which the workshop had been organized:

Environmental contamination by PFAS. PFAS has been found in surface and groundwater, rain, air, soil, fish and wildlife.
How PFAS moves and how it persists in the environment. There are 80 known sites of contamination in the state, which is almost certainly not a finite number.
How PFAS should be dealt with once it’s discovered. There was uniform agreement among workshop attendees that there needs to be a way to sequester PFAS, but how? PFAS can also be removed from water and disposed of under proper conditions, but this can be expensive.
The effects of PFAS on people. Studies have shown PFAS can increase cholesterol levels, decrease the efficacy of vaccines and—for pregnant women—cross the placenta and also be transmitted through breast milk. PFAS has been linked to cancer, osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis and thyroid disease.

A recent PFAS workshop identified many knowledge gaps and potential collaborations between state agencies and scientists. Workshop organizers committed to the release of more information to set a research agenda. Photo: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant.

The workshop hosts—Wisconsin Sea Grant, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene—laid out goals for the workshop: identifying what is known about PFAS; targeting knowledge gaps; fostering working relationships between staff at the departments of Health Services, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and the research community to accomplish further work; and charting next steps.

At the conclusion of the two 4-hour sessions that saw speakers, technical panel discussions and breakout sessions, that tick list seemed complete. The group plans to continue informal conversations to formulate research needs and share research findings and resources that will lead to actions that protect Wisconsin’s environmental resources and public health from PFAS as they are present in numerous products of everyday life.

The post PFAS in Wisconsin: Setting a research agenda first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Sea Grant wins communications awards

On: July 28, 2021

In: Apex awards, awards, Bonnie Willison, Yael Gen

Sea Grant won two communications awards in an international competition sponsored by Apex. Awards are based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content, and the ability to achieve overall communications effectiveness. APEX Grand Awards honor the outstanding works in each main category, while APEX Awards of Excellence recognize exceptional entries in each of the individual subcategories.

The Trash Trunk, marine debris teaching tool, won a Grand Award in one-of-a-kind publications. The material was designed by Yael Gen, edited by Elizabeth White and written by education specialist Ginny Carlton, with contributions from other educators throughout the Great Lakes Basin.

The video Past, Present and Future Ciscoes: Wisconsin Sea Grant Research, produced by Bonnie Willison, won an Award of Excellence about this prevalent and varied fish species in Great Lakes waters.

“Both Yael and Bonnie are masters of their craft. They understand how best to reach audiences with engaging and informative pieces,” said Moira Harrington, assistant director for communications. “We are so proud of them. These awards only serve to confirm what we already know—they help us act as better stewards of the Great Lakes because they elevate our collective understanding of the freshwater seas.”

An invitation designed by Yael Gen for an event commemorating Groundwater Awareness Week also won an Award of Excellence that went to Sea Grant’s sister organization, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute.

The competition drew nearly 1,200 entries from around the world, including from Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits and academic units.

The post Sea Grant wins communications awards first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grant-wins-communications-awards-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sea-grant-wins-communications-awards-2

Groundwater Awareness Week communication piece wins award

On: July 28, 2021

In: Apex Award, award, Groundwater Awareness Week, Moira Harrington, Yael Gen

The University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) won a communications award in an international competition sponsored by Apex. Awards are based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content and the ability to achieve overall communications effectiveness. APEX Grand Awards honor the outstanding works in each main category, while APEX Awards of Excellence recognize exceptional entries in each of the individual subcategories.

An invitation created by WRI’s graphic designer Yael Gen for an event commemorating Groundwater Awareness Week won an Award of Excellence in design.

“We are honored to have been recognized for the effectiveness of this piece, which calls attention to an important topic—the value of our groundwater,” said Moira Harrington, assistant director for communications. “Yael is a talented designer, and her work ensures critical audiences, in this case state legislators and staff, learned more about this asset that feeds lakes and streams, and serves households along with agriculture and manufacturing needs.”

WRI’s sister organization, Sea Grant, also won awards for a marine debris teaching tool and a video about research on cisco, a Great Lakes fish.

The competition drew nearly 1,200 entries from around the world, including from including from Fortune 500 companies, non-profits and academic units.

The post Groundwater Awareness Week communication piece wins award first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/groundwater-awareness-week-communication-piece-wins-award/

New marine sanctuary adds protections for historic Lake Michigan shipwrecks

On: July 20, 2021

In: national marine sanctuary, shipwrecks, Titus Seilheimer, Walter B Allen, Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary

In late June, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) designated Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary (WSCNMS or sanctuary) in the fresh, cold waters of Lake Michigan. W isconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Designation; Final Regulations, 86 Fed. Reg. 32,737 (to be codified at 15 C.F.R pt. 922). Following a review by Congress and the governor of Wisconsin, the designation will become effective in the first weeks of August, at which time NOAA will publish an announcement in the Federal Register. It will be the 16th national sanctuary and only the second in freshwater.

Authorized by the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce designates and protects sanctuaries of special significance for many reasons, including for their conservation, recreational, historical and educational qualities. The National Marine Sanctuaries Act aims to protect a sanctuary’s biological and cultural resources such as historic shipwrecks and archaeological sites. The secretary has delegated sanctuary management to NOAA. The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast NMS, which is located in state waters adjacent to Ozaukee, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties, will be co-managed by the state of Wisconsin and NOAA.

“The new sanctuary brings well-deserved focus to the history and resources of this part of the Great Lakes. I am looking forward to new opportunities to work with another NOAA group on future education and outreach programs,” said Titus Seilheimer, a Wisconsin Sea Grant outreach specialist based in Manitowoc. For more than seven years, Seilheimer has coordinated sanctuary siting efforts with community leaders.

Fisheries Outreach Specialist Titus Seilheimer is gratified that seven years of collaborative planning for a new sanctuary has paid off. (Photo: Wisconsin Sea Grant)

Encompassing more than 22,000 square miles, Lake Michigan is the second largest of the five Great Lakes. The lake’s water, and its fresh, cold temperatures are credited for playing a significant role in preserving 36 known shipwrecks and approximately 59 suspected shipwrecks with exceptional historical, archeological and recreational artifacts. The sanctuary has partnered with other groups to create web-accessible detailed maps of the lakebed, with potential for discovery of other wrecks. The documented ships wrecked within the 962 square miles of waters and submerged land of the WSCNMS, date back to as early as the 1800s. They represent a part of history during the 19th and 20th centuries, when vessels of the like sailed and steamed west throughout Lake Michigan carrying goods, raw materials, and people. Wisconsinshipwrecks.org has details on Lake Michigan wrecks, along with those in Lake Superior and inland waters. There is also information other maritime attractions.

One of the more notable wrecks in the sanctuary lies 165 feet below the surface. Sitting fully intact and upright on the lakebed is the Walter B. Allen, a 136-foot long boxy-hulled “canaller,” which sailed from 1866-1880. Walter B. Allen is a wooden schooner, which was used to transport grain and coal between New York and Chicago. Historically, canallers, like the Walter B. Allen, were constructed specifically to fit perfectly through the Welland Canal Locks and are unique to the Great Lakes.

Sea Grant funding allowed for the 3-D imaging of the Walter B. Allen by partners at the Wisconsin Historical Society. (Photo: Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society)

The preservation of the wrecks within the sanctuary extends beyond just the ships, as even the cargo remains intact. Among these preserved artifacts are locally produced goods, Christmas trees, general merchandise, a submerged aircraft and even cars, including 264 Nash automobiles from 1929. The designation protects artifacts from potential loss and damage by anchors from dive boats, entanglement of fishing gear, poorly attached mooring lines and the moving of, theft, or looting of the sunken artifacts. There is also the ever-present threat from further invasive species being introduced to the lake waters. Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Designation; Final Regulations, 86 Fed. Reg. at 32,738.

Shipwreck artifacts, such as a Christmas tree (visible in the lower left), also tell the story of final Great Lakes’ voyages. (Photo: Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society)

The designation plans for the sanctuary are geared toward ensuring that it not only continues to exist, but also engages the community. For instance, the sanctuary is expected to boost the local economy by attracting 70,000 tourists from around the region, nation and globe each year and bringing in an estimated $10 million

Additionally, in response to community concerns, NOAA established a Sanctuary Advisory Council comprising a diverse group of community leaders to provide advice on management and protection. With an incredible and rich maritime story, the sanctuary will provide communities a platform for heritage tourism as they educate and organize around an underwater museum.

Following the designation, NOAA announced a ban on grappling into or anchoring on shipwreck sites that will remain until October 2023. The ban provides NOAA with time to create a mooring program, develop maps, and install a permanent mooring system that balances public access and resource protection.

After several years of relying on state laws and Lake Michigan’s fresh cold waters as protection, the artifacts that lay on the lakebed will now enjoy more collaborative protections to help them survive for posterity. With history buffs and adventure seekers alike soon able to safely participate in regulated exploration and discoveries within her waters, the future of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary and all that she has to discover is bright.

The post New marine sanctuary adds protections for historic Lake Michigan shipwrecks first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Four new research projects to probe Wisconsin water challenges

On: July 19, 2021

In: Uncategorized

The University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) has been functioning in the state for 57 years. Despite that half-a-century-plus track record of scientific investigations, there are still many water challenges and opportunities that bear probing.

The newest round of investigations recently launched, with four new WRI-funded projects looking into bacterial transport, the effect of salt use on southeastern Wisconsin waters, the depth of water sources in the Central Sands Region of the state and a possible method to reduce nitrates from getting into groundwater.

Chris Zahasky, professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is leading the bacterial transport project. He said, “I am really excited for this project because it will give us a chance to explore fundamental scientific questions that will improve our understanding of bacteria transport and fate from surface sources to groundwater drinking supplies.”

Tracing bacterial movement in the soil could unlock ways to prevent drinking water contamination. Professor Chris Zahasky and colleagues have a new round of funding to examine this activity. Contributed photo.

He continued, “We hope to discover how spatial complexity of geologic systems combined with transient system changes impacts bacteria mobility in the subsurface.”

Zahasky and his co-investigators from the Madison campus, geoscience professor Eric Roden and graduate student Vy Le, will use a novel medical imaging technique that can capture three-dimensional and time lapse observations of E. coli moving throughout different types of geologic media and soils overlying Wisconsin groundwater aquifers. The study will add geologic heterogeneity and fluid saturation levels when considering groundwater bacterial contamination under realistic environmental conditions. That means a better understanding of the dynamic process of bacterial movement into drinking water supplies, which can sicken people and livestock. The researchers hypothesize that bacteria can flow even greater distances from the source than expected and documented in prior studies.

Details on the other three new projects are:

UW-Milwaukee’s Charles Paradis, assistant professor in geosciences, in collaboration with Laura Herrick, Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission; Cheryl Nenn, Milwaukee Riverkeeper; and Timothy Wahl, UW-Milwaukee, will undertake the project titled, “Mass discharge of road salt via groundwater to surface waters in southeastern Wisconsin.” The team will try to solve the mystery surrounding high summer concentrations of chloride—possibly from road salt applications in snowy Decembers, Januarys and Februarys—in the Root River of southeastern Wisconsin. Because chloride dissolves from road salt and is highly mobile in runoff, surface water and groundwater, some have suggested the high levels in warm months comes from laden groundwater. Researchers will check chloride in groundwater feeding the river before, during and after the summer.

What’s the impact of road salt used in the winter on a summer’s river ripples? Photo by Bonnie Willison.

“Data-driven groundwater depth and risk forecasting in the Central Sands Region of Wisconsin for sustainable management.” is the second project based on the UW-Madison campus and will be led by Jingyi Huang, assistant professor in the Department of Soil Sciences, and Ankur Desai, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences. Relying on data, this pair will look to the past and forecast the future of water quantity and quality in an area of the state that has seen vulnerabilities in its groundwater. The project will assess factors like precipitation, temperature, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, land cover and crop varieties combined with groundwater withdrawal, irrigation and depth data. The number crunching will yield, the researchers say, a forecast of groundwater depth and nitrate health risk for 2021 to 2050.

The project, “Assessment of biochar application to reduce nitrate leaching through agricultural vegetative treatment areas,” is being led by UW-Platteville’s assistant professor Joseph Sandford in the Department of Agriculture. Biochar is a form of charcoal created from biomass and in the absence of oxygen. In this study, its use will be measured to reduce the effects of nitrates in groundwater, specifically, runoff from silage bunkers. The project will compare differences between applying corn stover, spoiled silage or hardwood biochar; evaluate the leaching difference between biochar products produced under varied temperatures; assess the impact of biochar application rates; and evaluate the effects of shallow or deep biochar tillage.

Corn can become corn silage and that will be the subject of a new study on nitrate leaching and the application of biochar. Photo by Jeff Miller/UW-Madison.

In addition to the new projects, these started last year will continue:

Investigating in-season cover crops for reducing nitrate loss to groundwater below potatoes
Valuing groundwater quality: A cost function analysis of Wisconsin water utilities
Investigating sources of salinity associated with radium and strontium in the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system of eastern Wisconsin

Details on the ongoing projects can be found on the WRI website.

The post Four new research projects to probe Wisconsin water challenges first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/four-new-research-projects-to-probe-wisconsin-water-challenges/

Sea Grant Advisory Council member to deliver Capitol Hill briefing

On: July 16, 2021

In: Capitol Hill briefing, Deb DeLuca, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, Sea Grant Association

Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, is part of a panel that will deliver a virtual Capitol Hill briefing noon – 1 p.m. Thursday, July 29.

Deb DeLuca (submitted photo).

As members of Congress continue bipartisan negotiations on investment in infrastructure and ways to bolster the economy while the nation emerges from the global pandemic, DeLuca will share her insights on the value of the Duluth Seaway, a twin port with the harbor in Superior, Wisconsin. The seaway generates $1.4 billion in revenue annually and supports 7,881 jobs. By tonnage, it’s the largest port in the Great Lakes and is in the top 20 of U.S. ports.

The briefing is sponsored by the Sea Grant Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates for greater understanding, use and conservation of marine, coastal and Great Lakes resources. Other speakers include Beth Ginter, executive director of Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, Silver Spring, Maryland; and Seth Rolbein, director of Cape Cod Fisheries Trust, Chatham, Massachusetts.

DeLuca is a member of the Wisconsin Sea Grant Advisory Council, a 13-member body that provides input and direction for the statewide program that promotes the sustainable use of the Great Lakes through research, education and outreach.

To register for the briefing, visit this link.

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Shark and sturgeon synchronicity

On: July 7, 2021

In: caviar, Lake sturgeon, Shark week, sturgeon sounds

A surgeon. Image credit: Brenna Hernandez, Shedd Aquarium

The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week kicks off on July 11. As the spotlight turns to that species, the Great Lakes can’t boast any of those sandpaper-y-skinned creatures, but coursing through its waters is another cartilaginous beast, the lake sturgeon. Here are five facts about the fish.

Jumbo-sized, just not in the teeth department

The lake sturgeon is the largest fish in the Great Lakes. It can grow to a weight of more than 300 pounds and reach a length of 9 feet. A lake sturgeon’s skeleton is made up of cartilage—like a shark—but they lack a shark’s fearsome allotment of choppers. The fish have a soft mouth and no teeth, relying on dangling organs called barbels to sense their meals of invertebrates, small clams and insect larvae, which are sucked into the mouth, sand and all. Everything but the food is then expelled through side gill slits. Instead of the shark’s trademark, and some would say ominous, fin, sturgeon have rows of scutes running the length of their bodies. These bony pointed plates smooth out with age.

Brontosaurus, stegosaurus, lake sturgeon

Lake sturgeon are considered a living fossil because the species has survived—virtually unchanged—for more than 150 million years. Sturgeon were around during the time of the dinosaurs. It hasn’t been easy, though. Today, because of overfishing, pollution and a loss of habitat, lake sturgeon are struggling to survive. For example, in Lake Michigan, scientists estimate only 5,000 adult sturgeon remain, well below 1% of the most conservative estimates of historic numbers.

Wisconsin is home to more than just Bucky Badger

Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago is home to the world’s largest population of lake sturgeon. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been managing the population in that lake since 1903. Wisconsin Sea Grant lends a hand through its support for Fred Binkowski at the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has reared youngsters in his lab, assisted in the field and even extended his devotion to daily communication. Binkowski’s email address incorporates the word “sturgeon” instead of his own moniker.

Fine dining from fresh water

In the late 1800s, caviar made from the eggs of Great Lakes sturgeon was sold to enterprising Europeans who relabeled it as “Russian caviar” and shipped the delicacy back to socially climbing Americans eager to serve it at swanky functions.

Sing a song of sturgeon

Using an underwater microphone on the Wolf River in 2012, a Wisconsin Sea Grant staffer was the first ever to capture the “song of the sturgeon.” Really, it is a slightly muffled clicking and booming sound (hear it here) that biologists think it is a way for a girl sturgeon and a boy sturgeon to call to each other during the spring mating season.

To learn more, check out this video and test your knowledge with a worksheet.

The post Shark and sturgeon synchronicity first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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WRI wins communications award

On: June 22, 2021

In: CASE Awards, Groundwater Awareness Week, Yael Gen

The University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) won a communications award in an international competition sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, an association that shares strategies and tactics to engage alumni, donors, prospective students, parents, government officials, community leaders and those in the private sector to support education.

An invitation designed by Yael Gen for an event commemorating Groundwater Awareness Week won a bronze award. Judges said the creative team “clearly thought about their various audiences when they were producing this highly effective piece. This is a modern, striking design that is simplistic, but not simple.”

WRI’ sister organization, Sea Grant, also won two awards. The podcast series Introduced, produced by Bonnie Willison and student Sydney Widell about aquatic invasive species, won a gold award and the 2018-20 Sea Grant biennial report won a bronze award. The report was designed by Yael Gen, edited by Elizabeth White and written by Moira Harrington.

The post WRI wins communications award first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/wri-wins-communications-award/

Sea Grant wins communications awards

On: June 22, 2021

In: Bonnie Willison, CASE Awards, Elizabeth White, Moira Harrington, Sydney Widell, Yael Gen

Sea Grant won two communications awards in an international competition sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, an association that shares strategies and tactics to engage alumni, donors, prospective students, parents, government officials, community leaders and those in the private sector to support education.

The podcast series Introduced, produced by Bonnie Willison and student Sydney Widell about aquatic invasive species, won a gold award. Judges said, “We loved that the hosts reported their stories by finding interesting leads and then going into the field to investigate and interview the people involved…The back-and-forth between the hosts is comfortable and welcoming, and there’s good use of music throughout.”

The 2018-20 Sea Grant biennial report won a bronze award. The report was designed by Yael Gen, edited by Elizabeth White and written by Moira Harrington. Judges said, “Such a fun and creative design! The signal flag theme and visual identity are smart and unusual, and we agree with the nominators that the design captures the zeitgeist of this time period. Rough waters indeed! The graphic elements added inside flowing type are hard to pull off, but pull them off they did, creating something that’s not just visually interesting but rewards the viewer upon their closer inspection. For not being able to commission photography, they have done a wonderful job of creating visual excitement on each layout; it’s like a master class in how to get around COVID photography restrictions.”

An invitation designed by Yael Gen for an event commemorating Groundwater Awareness Week also won a bronze award that went to Sea Grant’s sister organization, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute.

The competition drew 2,957 entries from around the world, including from prestigious Ivy League schools and respected international institutions.

The post Sea Grant wins communications awards first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grant-wins-communications-awards/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sea-grant-wins-communications-awards

Meet the summer 2021 interns

On: June 14, 2021

In: mentors, summer interns

Three undergraduates and two recent graduates with bachelor’s degrees were selected through a competitive process that drew interest from students across the nation for a Wisconsin Sea Grant summer internship.

They are joined by an additional two recent graduates, one with a B.A. and the other with a certificate in geographic information services (GIS), to make up the summer intern cohort. Now that Memorial Day 2021—the unofficial start of summer—has passed, the young people have begun their summer experiences in earnest, which include:

Helping tribal communities understand flooding vulnerability.
Sharing dangerous current information with Great Lakes beachgoers.
Cataloging plant species on University of Wisconsin-Green Bay-owned property through the lens of traditional ecological knowledge.
Communicating about Wisconsin farm-raised and wild-caught fish through videos and a souped-up map indicating where consumers can locate their favorite meal.
Coordinating on GIS projects to understand ecosystems for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Assessing coastal access sites statewide through the Americans with Disabilities Act lens.
Creating communications tools in partnership with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC).

Meet the interns who are demonstrating not only proficiency in their chosen internships, but also flexibility in the face of evolving conditions as the pandemic wanes.

Meghan Wilhelmi will work with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services on a tool that builds tribal communities’ flood resiliency. Submitted photo.

Meghan Wilhelmi is a brand-new graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in both history and gender and women’s studies. Over the coming three months, she and mentor Natalie Chin, Sea Grant’s climate and tourism outreach specialist, will offer tribal communities training in use of the resiliency features of an assessment tool developed last year in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The tool provides strategies and tactics for communities to mitigate the effects of flooding. Wilhelmi plans to take a gap year or two before pursuing a Ph.D. in history and is looking forward to the learning experience of this internship. As for her contribution, she said, “I care about the protection of Indigenous peoples and their knowledge and feel passionate about doing anything I can to help work with tribal communities about vulnerabilities to flooding.” Wilhelmi’s passion builds on her extensive college coursework and extracurricular activities focused on understanding communities of color and the importance of a protected environment.

Jumana Tanner will work in Milwaukee to educate Lake Michigan beachgoers about water safety. Submitted photo.

Jumana Tanner is relocating from her home in Madison to Milwaukee for the summer so she can hit the city’s Lake Michigan beaches and share information with McKinley and Bradford beach visitors, talking with them about water quality, staying hydrated and staying safe while swimming in the lake’s powerful waves and currents. It’s part of a beach ambassador program Sea Grant is engaged with along with Milwaukee Riverkeeper and the Milwaukee Sailing Club. This sophomore enrolled at UW-Madison is studying marine biology. She said, “The beach ambassador program for Great Lakes Water Safety internship reflects an adequate practice of my enthusiasm to learn and allows me to gain leadership skills.” She continued, “To understand more about our community waters and be able to spread that knowledge by interacting with others with the same excitement provides great opportunity for my growth in the scientific community. It is a way for everyone to care about science the way it cares for us and it breaks the comprehensive disconnect between science and society to live in a more united world.”

Paige Skenandore will identify and catalog native plants in a Green Bay-area restoration area and through an Indigenous lens. Submitted photo.

Paige Skenandore, along with mentors Julia Noordyk and Stephanie Dodge, will conduct a survey of native plants and apply Native American names to the species as part of an overall restoration project of the Wequiock Creek Natural Area near the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Skenandore is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and is turtle clan. Noordyk is a water quality outreach specialist and Dodge is a First Nation’s graduate student. Skenandore will be a senior in the fall when she returns to UW-Madison where she is completing a major in Community and Nonprofit Leadership and certificates in American Indian Studies and Environmental Studies. Skenandore said, “This internship will be restoring the traditional languages of a few Wisconsin Tribes around the UW-Green Bay area. Harvesting practices, plant identification and the academics of medicinal plant species is great knowledge that I will be able to bring to the new Indigenous garden on campus, it will complement my major interests, and it will keep me connected in learning and practicing more of my own Indigenous language. While attending workshops and connecting with the surrounding Wisconsin tribal communities, I will be able to help preserve the environment through language and have the ability to connect with other tribal nations throughout the summer.”

Hunter Goldman will provide online mapping upgrades to the Eat Wisconsin Fish initiative website, as well as produce cooking videos. Submitted photo.

Hunter Goldman will get deep into the Eat Wisconsin Fish initiative—coordinating with mentor Sharon Moen, the initiative’s outreach specialist. They will collaborate on improving a web-based fish-finding map and producing cooking videos under the theme “get saucy with Sea Grant.” Goldman is pursuing a degree in Sustainable Community Development with an emphasis on international development at Northland College. He is a junior. Goldman is also securing a minor in GIS, which will contribute the mapping portion of his summer work. He said, “A requirement for my GIS minor is internship experience, so being able to be a part of this internship program would help me work toward my degree. In addition, the program I am planning for grad school has GIS listed as a desired skill, so being able to accomplish this internship would help me achieve technical skills in a setting other than academic.”

Sophie Glabius will work on GIS projects with the U.S. EPA. Submitted photo.

Sophie Glabius will work with mentor Tom Hollenhorst, a research landscape ecologist at the U.S. EPA lab in Duluth, Minnesota, on GIS projects. A May 2021 Beloit College graduate, Glabius has a degree in geology. She said the internship appeals to her because it is, “A chance to build on my existing GIS and underwater mapping knowledge and explore how geospatial data can be used in conjunction with natural and social science datasets.” As a student, Glabius completed an imaging research project that compared the spatial distribution of temperature in two different types of springs. She also studied abroad and explored the sea floor with sediment cores, grab samples, multibeam images and boomer seismic profiles. That semester allowed her to, “Engage with perspectives, values and even educational traditions that I was unfamiliar with. In New Zealand, there is a growing focus on traditional Indigenous knowledge, especially in the realm of environmental stewardship. My time there inspired a continued interest in traditional ecological knowledge and how it can influence Western science and my own scientific career,” she said.

Courtney Gunville will assess the disability access to both coastal attractions and online coastal visualization tools. Submitted photo.

UW-Madison spring 2021 recipient of a fundamental GIS certificate Courtney Gunville has long had an interest in GIS, tourism and ecology. She’ll combine those interests into an internship that’s titled, Using GIS to Examine ADA Accessibility at Coastal Access Sites in Wisconsin. This graduate of Gallaudet University will survey existing websites, the Wisconsin Coast Atlas and Wisconsin Coastal Guide, both of which were built and are maintained by Sea Grant’s Associate Director for Extension and GIS Specialist David Hart. Hart and Chin will act as Gunville’s mentors. Farther down the road could be a coffee table book version of the Wisconsin Coastal Guide. Including disability accessibility information will be critical for that print format, as well as the current online one. For her part, Gunville said, “This project is essential. We need to ensure that for anyone with a disability, the web resources are meeting their needs. We need to be inclusive.” She continued, “I want to develop more inclusion for our future generations.”

Morgan Coleman will work on building Great Lakes literacy projects. Submitted photo.

With a fresh degree in literature from UW-River Falls, Morgan Coleman will embed herself at GLIFWC for her internship, Great Lakes Literacy and Ojibwe Culture. Coleman and mentors Sea Grant’s Senior Special Librarian and Education Specialist Anne Moser and Paula Maday plan to tap into her writing and reading strengths to create content for GLIFWC’s quarterly newspaper and presentations. Maday is the public information officer for the organization. Coleman will also develop a special project (to be determined) and capitalizes on her skills and interests. She said, “I’m really excited to see what I can do with GLIFWC and Sea Grant this summer. This internship is a great opportunity to develop my skills and use them to help increase Great Lakes literacy.”

The post Meet the summer 2021 interns first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/meet-the-summer-2021-interns/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meet-the-summer-2021-interns

June deadline for three new grant opportunities

On: May 20, 2021

In: funding, HABs, harmful algal blooms, PFAS, research funding, research opportunities

There are three current funding opportunities through the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI), each with a deadline to apply of 5 p.m., CST, Tuesday, June 15. Any interested Wisconsin investigator is urged to contact Melissa Boyce, maboyce@aqua.wisc.edu, as soon as possible for submittal guidance through WRI’s online proposal system. Boyce is WRI’s chief financial officer.

Grant proposals in these national calls are being accepted that would address local, state and regional water challenges. Each proposal would provide funding for one to three years and up to a level of $250,000. Successful applicants must match each dollar of the federal grant with one dollar from non-federal sources. The government’s obligation under this grant program is contingent upon the availability of funds. Proposals involving substantial collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey and university scientists are encouraged. Details on the three open calls are:

Proposals are sought on the topics of improving and enhancing the nation’s water supply and availability, and promoting the exploration of new ideas that address or expand our understanding of water problems, including the following specific areas of inquiry (levels of priority are not assigned, and the order of listing does not indicate the level of priority):

Socioeconomics and water use – includes the development of water use models that require understanding of what drives the timing and location of water being withdrawn and used and how those relations change when climate impacts the use or conservation/management strategies (culture/societal/economics) are implemented.

Water related hazards and public health – exploration of the intersections of land/water use, disease vector mechanisms, and water hazards, climate change, and/or irrigation practices. Research may include advancing our understand of these connections as they affect the development rates of pathogens impacting public health.

Exploration and advancement of our understanding of harmful algae blooms (HABs) -Proposals are sought that focus on innovations in monitoring the occurrence of HABs and algal toxins, research on factors that result in algal toxin production, and improvements in near-real time modeling and forecasting of toxin-producing blooms.

Proposals are sought to support research on per-and polyflouroalkyl (PFAS) substances on water resources. This national competition recognizes water quality issues of a regional or interstate nature, beyond those of concern only to a single state.

The challenges and opportunities of understanding the impact of PFAS on water resources are poorly understood, despite the real and growing impact of this group of man-made substances on water quality. Research is needed to better understand these interactions and guide management decisions that will improve water resources at the regional scale or national scale. Proposals are sought on the following specific areas of inquiry (levels of priority are not assigned, and the order of listing does not indicate the level of priority):

Research on the fate, persistence, transport, and impacts of per-and polyflouroalkyl (PFAS) substances on changes to water quality and/or ecosystem dynamics, in water resources, including surface water and groundwater.

Social and/or economic assessment of the spread, detection, impacts, solutions, and management of PFAS in surface and/or groundwater.

Proposals are sought on the following specific areas of inquiry (levels of priority are not assigned, and the order of listing does not indicate the level of priority):

Improve our understanding of the impacts of aquatic invasive species on lakes and rivers in the Upper Mississippi River basin, including changes to water quantity, quality and ecosystem dynamics.

Identify lake and river characteristics that infer resistance and resilience to establishment and impacts of aquatic invasive species in the Upper Mississippi River basin. Research is needed to better understand these interactions and guide management decisions that will improve water resources at the regional scale.

Social and/or economic assessment of the spread, detection, impacts, solutions, and management of aquatic invasive species in the Upper Mississippi River basin.

Any investigator at an accredited institution of higher learning in Wisconsin is eligible to apply for these grants through a WRI, which was established under the provisions of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, as amended (http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/index.php).

The post June deadline for three new grant opportunities first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/june-deadline-for-three-new-grant-opportunities/

In: Groundwater Coordinating Council, Wisconsin Groundwater and Research Program

New interactive map details nearly 475 Wisconsin groundwater research projects

On: May 12, 2021

A new interactive map of Wisconsin lays out, county-by-county, projects funded through the Wisconsin Groundwater Research and Monitoring Program since 1985.

Clicking on each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties indicates the number of projects that have happened in that location out of 474 during the last 36 years.

The map is also a visual representation of where groundwater challenges have been particularly pronounced through the decades. This includes conditions such as naturally occurring radium that’s harmful to humans in Waukesha County (27 projects), a greater susceptibility to contamination in Door County thanks to a thin layer of topsoil covering porous bedrock (25 projects) and water quality and quantity challenges in Portage County (51 projects).

Person checking groundwater level at a temporary well. — A researcher in the Central Sands area of Portage County, site of numerous projects, checks a groundwater level. Photo: Bonnie Willison

Results from at least 120 projects can be applied to statewide groundwater issues, and others only involved laboratory explorations so didn’t factor into the county-by-county breakdown. Examples include projects investigating emerging contaminants or legacy chemicals used in agriculture in many corners of Wisconsin, and assessments of petroleum spills that resulted in contamination or leaching from landfills. Project details can be found on the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) website.

Most of the researchers who conducted the projects have been based at university system schools. A relatively small number of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources scientists have also led or been a part of the research teams. The majority of the research has been done by scientists based at the flagship campus in Madison.

The largest number of field-based projects took place in Dane County (63). In numerous instances, field work done in Dane County can also be extrapolated to other parts of the state. Further, being able to do research close to campus has been a cost-effective way to gather data without incurring overnight travel expenses.

In 1985, Wisconsin Act 410 established the Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council, which then established the Wisconsin Groundwater Research and Monitoring Program as the mechanism to select and fund annual groundwater research projects. It ensures collaboration and coordination on groundwater issues between the University of Wisconsin System as represented by WRI and the state agencies with groundwater oversight, including the Wisconsin departments of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; Transportation; Safety and Professional Services; and Natural Resources, as well as the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, which is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The post New interactive map details nearly 475 Wisconsin groundwater research projects first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/new-interactive-map-details-nearly-475-wisconsin-groundwater-research-projects/