Moira Harrington (Page 3)

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/revisit-water-symposium-through-tweets/

Earth Day and embracing the outdoors during a pandemic

On: April 20, 2021

In: Earth Day, outdoors use in Wisconsin during covid, Samantha Bee comedian, Wisconsin Coastal Guide

Moira Harrington, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s assistant director for communications, spent time outdoors during the pandemic with a friend (6 feet apart) as did many other Wisconsinites. Image credit: Moira Harrington

The coronavirus will provide plenty to study for decades to come as biological, social and physical scientists collect data and analyze its fallout. As we approach the 51st Earth Day, happening this Thursday, I would like to offer preliminary results in one area—what it has meant to embrace the outdoors in this time when indoor spaces have been vector zones for the deadly virus. My own take is a narrow review, very narrow, of the past year’s empirical, humorous and anecdotal looks at nature in the time of COVID.

Empirical: One study I bumped into showed 23% of Wisconsinites reported increasing their time spent in parks from January 2020 to March 2021. In the same time frame and as part of the same study, Harvard and Brown universities (tracktherecovery.org) drilled deeper into three Lake Michigan counties and found 45.5% of Sheboygan County residents, 21.1% of Ozaukee County residents and 18.7% of Milwaukee residents increased their out-of-doors pandemic respite time.

Humorous: In 2020, comedian Samantha Bee went into the open air for recordings of her show. It was a literal presentation of: we have nice natural things and let’s get out there and appreciate them. Although, her take was not always a paean to Mother Nature and could be sprinkled with obscenities.

A view from the Indian Lake Trail. Image credit: Moira Harrington

Anecdotal: Like many of you, I ranged far afield over the last year. I visited spots I had always intended to frequent and now seemed the time! One was the Kettle Morraine Forest Southern Unit. Having a close friend join me made it more special. As we trekked, we traded stories and deepened our bond.

I also trekked closer to home. One memorable day, I hit a favorite county park when a significant event was marked in the woods. That Saturday morning, a companion got a cell-phone ping bearing news of who won the presidential race in Pennsylvania, sealing the deal for our current White House occupant. Plus, plans are afoot to keep up the visits. For trips along the coast, I plan to turn to my colleague David Hart’s Wisconsin Coastal Guide for ideas, and I hope you will, too.

If you end up in the outdoors this Earth Day, know that you’ll be in good company.

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Free gift

On: April 14, 2021

In: blog, Field Notes, free gift

Subscribe to the Sea Grant blog from now until July 1, 2021, to receive a welcome gift.

When you are emailed a blog subscription confirmation, forward it to moira@aqua.wisc.edu and include your mailing address. Through the post office, you’ll then receive a waterproof Field Notes® memo book. Perfect for research or grocery lists.

Blogs aren’t your thing? This same welcome-gift offer and process holds if you sign up for our news email. Be sure to provide a mailing address with the subscription confirmation email when you forward it to moira@aqua.wisc.edu.

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Free, Online Symposium on Hot Water Topics: PFAS, Climate Change and COVID/Water

On: April 7, 2021

In: Climate change, COVID-19, Hauxwell, Jennifer Hauxwell, PFAS, spring symposium, Water@UW-Madison

In its fifth year, the Water @ UW-Madison Spring Symposium continues to highlight the most immediate and relevant water-related topics and opportunities for Wisconsin. This year’s free, online symposium is 9 a.m. – noon (CST) Friday, May 7 and is open to all.

“In the true spirit of the Wisconsin Idea, this annual event is about making connections both within the UW-Madison water community and beyond to tackle some of the state’s most difficult water-related challenges,” said Jennifer Hauxwell, associate director of the Aquatic Sciences Center, home of both the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and the Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program and chair of the Water @ UW-Madison executive committee.

This year the agenda includes Gov. Tony Evers (offering pre-recorded remarks), Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Secretary Preston Cole of the Department of Natural Resources Preston to discuss state level water-related issues.

There will be another 23 speakers on four panels: Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts Working Groups Update, Spotlight on Arts and Culture, Statewide Coordination on PFAS and Exploring the Intersection Between COVID and Water.

There are a complex and wide array of chemicals in the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl group, each requiring study of their fate, transport and effects. Image: Agency for Substance and Disease Registry, Division of Community Health Investigations, Department of Health and Human Services.

“Offering this event virtually has the benefit of sharing this informative line-up of science-based and timely water conversations to a much wider audience, and all are welcome to attend,” Hauxwell said. “State-level action plans on climate change and PFAS, as well as how state agencies and university researchers are tackling questions at the intersections of water and COVID-19 will be on the agenda. As we confront the major water issues of our time, the symposium shares findings and areas for future investigation and builds connections between the UW water community and those across the state addressing water-related challenges and opportunities.”

Live captioning will be provided for this event. If other accommodations are needed, contact Water@UW-Madison.

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

Freshwater research has a long and storied tradition at the UW-Madison. Since the late 1800s, Wisconsin researchers have been pioneers in disciplines like groundwater hydrology, water chemistry and limnology (the study of inland waters) on the shores of Madison’s lakes. More than a 100 years later, the campus continues to boast world-renowned freshwater scientists and serves as a hotbed for new ideas and innovative research in the physical and social sciences. Water @ UW-Madison keeps this tradition alive though the spring symposium, and other activities throughout the year.

The post Free, Online Symposium on Hot Water Topics: PFAS, Climate Change and COVID/Water first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Free, Online Symposium on Hot Water Topics: PFAS, Climate Change and COVID/Water

On: April 7, 2021

In: Climate change, COVID-19, Hauxwell, Jennifer Hauxwell, PFAS, spring symposium, Water@UW-Madison

This year, the agenda includes Gov. Tony Evers (offering pre-recorded remarks), Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Secretary Preston Cole of the Department of Natural Resources Preston to discuss state level water-related issues.

There are a complex and wide array of chemicals in the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl group, each requiring study of their fate, transport and effects. Image: Agency for Substance and Disease Registry, Division of Community Health Investigations, Department of Health and Human Services.

Live captioning will be provided for this event. If other accommodations are needed, contact Water@UW-Madison.

The post Free, Online Symposium on Hot Water Topics: PFAS, Climate Change and COVID/Water first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/free-online-symposium-on-hot-water-topics-pfas-climate-change-and-covid-water/

New video explores greening of Milwaukee to combat heat island and flooding

On: March 29, 2021

In: Bonnie Willison, Carolyn Voter, Dan Wright, green infrastructure, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, MMSD, Steve Loheide, Video

In a concise and informative video released today, Wisconsin Sea Grant presents the science behind the effectiveness of green infrastructure—rain gardens or green roofs, for instance. Green infrastructure can turn down the heat and improve water quality and habitat by absorbing heavy rainfall and diverting it from a sewer system. The question is, what combination of curbside gardens, verdant roofs—or other approaches—packs the most punch.

The video explores the interplay between widespread green infrastructure, urban heat islands and rainfall. “You get this heat bubble around cities and that has some health consequences for people living in the cities,” said Steve Loheide, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of civil and environmental engineering. “It also affects the weather around the cities.”

In Milwaukee, for example, storms typically come from the west and hit the city where the temperature is warmed by lots of pavement and asphalt roofs. Then, that stormy warm air rises. What rushes into the void left by the warm air is water-laden air from over Lake Michigan, known as an urban sea breeze. This, said Dan Wright, “Turns it (the city) into a hotspot for thunderstorms that tend to cause urban flash flooding.” Wright is also a civil and environmental engineering professor on the Madison campus.

Loheide, Wright and other research team members Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Water Resources Science Policy Fellow Carolyn Voter and UW-Madison Ph.D. student Aaron Alexander are using models to gauge how a suite of one of the nation’s most ambitious green infrastructure plans, with numerous greening goals, might affect temperature and precipitation.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and city of Milwaukee plan to increase tree canopy, depave parking lots and schoolyards, and install green roofs, rain gardens and porous pavement.

Porous pavement in Milwaukee captures rainwater for infiltration versus running into surface waters or as untreated water into the sewer system. Photo by: Kevin Miyazaki.

Sea Grant Videographer Bonnie Willison spoke to the researchers over Zoom and toured Milwaukee’s green infrastructure sites with MMSD’s Bre Plier. “After hearing so much about the considerable benefits green infrastructure can bring to a city, it was great to be able to visit and get footage of these sites,” Willison said.

Her favorite quote from all the conversations was an uplifting one from Voter, who said, “I really like this project because it feels very hopeful to me. It feels like we’re not just thinking, “Well, what’s going to happen when we have heavy rainfall.’ We’re thinking, ‘Can we change this? Can we take matters into our own hands and reduce our risk.’ ”

The post New video explores greening of Milwaukee to combat heat island and flooding first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Experimental cultivation method could mean healthy potato yield and healthier water

On: March 25, 2021

In: Central Sands, Justin Isherwood, Kevin Masarik, potato, potatoes, UW-Stevens Point, Water quality

Fried, baked or mashed, we love our potatoes. What we don’t love is drinking water with lots of nitrate — a form of nitrogen that fuels a robust potato crop because it acts as a fertilizer. In the Central Sands area of the state, which is where most spuds are grown, drinking water is groundwater and groundwater can bear the brunt of unwelcome potato cultivation effects.

“When you look at impacts on the groundwater system from typical cropping systems in the Central Sands, they tend to leach nitrate,” said Kevin Masarik. “Potatoes are particularly challenging because the hill and furrow system tends to promote both (water) recharge, as well as nitrate leaching loss due to the high nitrogen demand of that particular crop.”

Although he’s not armed with regulatory suggestions — or even salt, butter and sour cream — Masarik is coming for those potatoes. The researcher from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension is armed with a one-row hand planter, and rye, millet and oat seeds. He’s got in mind science-based solutions, not potato-growing restrictions or even gastronomical intentions.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student Nick Koschak plants oat, rye and millet to build biomass in the furrows between potatoes. Photo: Kevin Masarik

With two years of funding from the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute, he’s pursuing what he termed an outside-the-box idea for assessing whether this tasty tuber can be cultivated in a way that reduces the movement of nitrite into the groundwater.

In children six months and younger, nitrate promotes the oxidation of hemoglobin to methemoglobin that limits blood’s ability to bind and transport oxygen, depriving the infant of oxygen. Nitrate has also been linked to cancer, thyroid disorders, birth defects and hypertension. Both state health and agricultural officials name nitrate as the most widespread groundwater contaminant in Wisconsin affecting both municipal and private water systems. Because groundwater also makes its way to surface waters, rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands can see higher nitrate levels with one result being increased algae growth, disrupting ecosystems.

Masarik said for the last 20 or 30 years, when the cause and extent of nitrate in groundwater has been documented, there’s been a simultaneous gap. “We’ve been good at pointing out that there’s a problem, but we haven’t been good at pointing out what the solution is.”

He continued, “In the last five years, I’ve been trying to switch the questions that I’m interested in devoting my time and attention to, investigating potential solutions that significantly improve water quality. And that’s what this project was born out of.”

“Investigating in-season cover crops for reducing nitrate loss to groundwater below potatoes” is an aptly descriptive title of what the project is doing: interseeding cover crops — the rye, millet and oats — among potato rows to see if these added plants will take up the excess nitrate and thereby improve water quality.

Critically, the project also needs to ensure that the potato harvest isn’t hindered nor yield significantly reduced by the additional vegetation between rows.

In a study plot, interseeding crops in potato cultivation rows did not interfere with harvest. Photo: Kevin Masarik

Masarik is grateful for the cooperation of Portage County farmer Justin Isherwood who in 2020 provided a test plot. “It’s (the study) giving me the book,” Isherwood said. “We know a lot of things in agriculture. There are a few things in agriculture we don’t know. Kevin is giving me those letters and the alphabet. He’s giving me the language of the landscape.”

Isherwood is game to again participate in the study this year. “It’s exciting to be a part of the science and to be involved in the discovery.”

Discoveries of last year will be applied. For example, rye is likely to be removed from the seed mix because it put early energy into root growth, resulting in slow above-ground growth. The rye was then shaded out by potato plants. Other plants, though, “Did have some success. I think it showed that the amount of biomass accumulation and the amount of nitrogen that the interplanting, or that cover crop, was able to capture is significant enough that this could be viable,” Masarik said, as enthusiasm bubbled. He said he is energized for the coming growing season. “I enjoy talking about it. I’m pretty excited about it.”

Masarik also wanted to talk about potato growers, who he termed as wanting to be proactive on the nitrate-loading challenge. “It’s all about establishing the plots and making sure that biomass we’re able to grow in that space is successful. If it’s successful, then what is the impact on the actual crop itself. If the impact isn’t too great, it might be a viable strategy. It might not be something that growers would naturally want to do. I think they are looking for solutions.”

Kevin Masarik is a researcher with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension. Photo: UW-Stevens Point

This project is also about building blocks. To gauge the effectiveness of this approach on water quality, it builds on Masarik’s earlier refinement of methods to track groundwater quality by drawing samples from temporary wells dug with a bucket auger to sample the top of the water table. This establishes a baseline, then he returns in 12 months, repeating the process to check what effect the interseeding might have on groundwater quality. The goal is determining a statistically significant difference that he pegged at minimum of 20% of change.

A second and future building block is if this effort, which Masarik called a proof of concept, is successful it can be used with other crops to reduce nitrate leaching in those fields.

The post Experimental cultivation method could mean healthy potato yield and healthier water first appeared on WRI.

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Every person is a decision maker

On: March 18, 2021

In: Uncategorized

Vicky Harris has always loved biology—at least since 5th grade — and she’s an eternal optimist. Now retired from her position as Wisconsin Sea Grant’s water quality specialist in Green Bay, Harris reflects on her 50-year on-again off-again relationship with Sea Grant, and ponders the fate of the entire planet.

Harris’ relationship with Sea Grant started with a college class in oceanography taught by Professor John Pezzetta at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She had transferred from UW-Madison as a premed student after the student protests against the Vietnam War had closed the UW campus and the Sterling Hall bombing raised doubts about the next semester.

Pezzetta had Sea Grant-funded research on the sediments surrounding two nuclear power plant water intakes near Two Rivers and Kewaunee and needed a research assistant to collect samples and analyze them back in the lab. Harris enjoyed the experience and continued to work with Pezzetta as he moved on to another project studying sediments around the coal-fired power plant in Green Bay.

As a graduate student, she worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service studying Green Bay waterfowl and macroinvertebrate populations and reviewing wetland permits.

In 1978, Sea Grant created a position for a field agent in Green Bay, and Harris was ready.

Vicky Harris had taken on multiple leadership roles as an advocate for the Lower Fox River, Green Bay and Lake Michigan.

“Sea Grant really was a key factor in my choosing Great Lakes management as a career to begin with, so going to work for them was wonderful,” she said. “The Green Bay field office was created by Sea Grant to develop an ecosystem-based research and outreach program for the bay, which was so polluted. I loved being part of developing a new ecosystem approach and learned so much from the researchers.”

However, at the time Harris was most interested in being a field biologist studying birds and wetlands, and she felt that working for a regulatory organization — an agency that had “power” — would have the most impact. So, she returned to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1980 only to lose her job when Ronald Reagan was elected president and the new administration swept in with huge cuts to government agency budgets and staffing. From there she ended up working as the Northeast Wisconsin water resource planner and policy analyst at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) — a position she would keep for about 17 years.

It was during this time that she began her involvement with several of the key projects that define her career, projects that she is still involved with even after her retirement in 2011.

Two of these projects are the Green Bay and Fox River Remedial Action Plan (RAP) and the Cat Island Restoration project. The RAP was created in the 1980s by the DNR, and Harris served as the onsite coordinator. She enlisted the involvement of researchers and community stakeholders to address the issues of contaminated sediment, poor water quality and lost or altered habitat in Green Bay. The Cat Island project evolved from the RAP and involves rebuilding a chain of barrier islands in southern Green Bay using dredged material to provide habitat while also providing a beneficial use for the dredged material.

Harris was instrumental to the kickoff of the restoration of the Cat Islands and still serves on an advisory committee. Photo by Narayan Mahon.

When a position finally opened up at Sea Grant again, Harris jumped at the chance. “It’s the best decision I’ve ever made in my career,” she said. Sea Grant is clearly not a regulatory agency, so what made Harris want to leave the position she initially thought would be the most influential?

She explained, “I think I learned over time that research — having the facts — is absolutely necessary. And it was my work with stakeholders during the development and implementation of the remedial action plan that showed that outreach was as important — that research and outreach together were in fact the key factors and not necessarily regulatory authority. Authority only goes so far.”

Harris continues to work as a member of a couple of committees advising the RAP on its future activities. “I’ve been a lifelong committee participant, I guess. I’m going from the coordinator to just one of the masses, and I still like it…I am committed to it. That, I would say, has been a real passion for me,” she said.

She also remains active on the Cat Island project as a member of its advisory committee, which continues to meet regularly.

Continued Commitment

With Sea Grant, Harris also continues to keep a hand in. She serves as a member of the Committee on Outreach and Education that provides insights and guidance on communications, education and outreach initiatives of the program.

Yet another project that benefits from Harris’ continued involvement is the Clean Marina Program, which she developed in conjunction with the Wisconsin Marine Association in 2009. The program is designed to reduce pollution from marinas into Wisconsin’s waterways. To become certified, marinas agree to adopt a set of best-management practices. Program staff conduct site visits to verify marina practices and provide training and technical support to managers.

After her retirement from Sea Grant, Harris continued to work with the Wisconsin Marine Association and current Sea Grant Water Quality Specialist Julia Noordyk for a few hours a week, but limited funding kept the program from expanding. Then in 2019 Noordyk secured a $200,000 grant from the Fund for Lake Michigan and hired Theresa Qualls as the Clean Marina Program coordinator and which had an eye toward significant expansion in 2020.

“The marinas certainly appreciate it here in Wisconsin, and everyone sees it as a win-win program. For very little investment really it’s very helpful for the marinas.” Photo by Mari Mitchell.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 is preventing travel and in-person work with the marinas, but new marinas are still joining the program. Harris is a member of the Clean Marina Technical Advisory Committee, and she remains very pleased with the project: “The marinas certainly appreciate it here in Wisconsin, and everyone sees it as a win-win program. For very little investment really it’s very helpful for the marinas.”

The Clean Marina project remains fluid, but the State of the Bay report stands tall as a comprehensive record in time about the state of Green Bay as an ecosystem. It’s the third iteration of the report, and by far the most comprehensive, including data on water quality, fish and wildlife populations, aquatic invasive species, beach conditions and contaminants.

Harris hired Theresa Qualls and together they spent years working on the report along with Vicky’s husband, Hallett J. “Bud” Harris, emeritus professor of natural and applied sciences at UW-Green Bay. Bud authored the first two State of the Bay reports, but with guidance and editing from Vicky and Bud, Qualls did the hard work of pulling the expanded report together.

“Theresa is amazing at organizing and presenting data, and I’m so glad she is continuing her work with Sea Grant,” Harris said.

Together the Harrises were crucial to Sea Grant’s work in Green Bay for decades, with Bud Harris beginning his work in the late 1960s. In February, they received the Wisconsin Sea Grant Actionable Science Award as a team for their devotion to the cleanup of the Lower Fox River and Green Bay.

Challenges and Hope

Looking into the future for Green Bay, Harris sees significant challenges — “I’ve always been an eternal optimist, but I tell you the past four years have been pretty hard to remain optimistic.”

One of the biggest problems she’s seeing is the continual rise in population, both worldwide and locally. “We keep battling for the improvement of Green Bay and yet with all the progress that’s been made in cutting back on factory discharges and sewage discharges and even the nonpoint source agricultural runoff, we’re still not making headway because we have twice as many cows now in the watershed and twice as many people,” she said.

Another problem that concerns Harris is the level of public trust placed in scientists, and even science itself. Starting with the issue of fossil fuels and climate change and continuing through other issues, there have been increasing challenges to the concept of unbiased scientists and even uncontested facts. In the complex world of environmental management, it’s important to have mangers and stakeholders working together, and stakeholder support is crucial.

“People are reluctant to change their ways. If we take more actions to reduce our carbon emissions, we can perhaps over time back off from disaster. In the meantime climate change is causing serious damages to agriculture and species on the planet. Maybe the planet will = recover in some way. It will be different,” she continued.

But Harris is an optimist, and she believes in people: “I’d have to say that when it comes down to an individual citizen, the people that I talk with and the people that live in my community, I remain optimistic. When you really talk to people about what they believe in and what they value in their life, the environment is still important, clean water is important, clean air is important. They value our Great Lakes.”

The post Every person is a decision maker first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Wisconsin mercury researcher captures prestigious ASLO prize

On: March 4, 2021

In: ASLO, ASLO Lindeman Prize, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, Lepak, Lindeman Prize, mercury, Ryan Lepak

Former University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute researcher, and now a post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division in Duluth, Minnesota, Ryan Lepak has been awarded the 2021 Raymond L. Lindeman Award from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO). It is the leading professional organization for researchers and educators in the field of aquatic science.

“I am thrilled that our team was selected for this prestigious award. It represents work that would not have been possible without strong monitoring efforts like those at the Great Lakes Fish Monitoring and Surveillance Program at the EPA,” Lepak said. “Across the board, at UW-Madison’s Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program, the U.S. Geological Survey Mercury Research Lab and the Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Laboratory at EPA, this work exemplifies the innovative and multidisciplinary approaches requisite to creating impactful science. I am honored to tell this story alongside these colleagues.”

Researcher Ryan Lepak sampling Lake Michigan sediments for peer-reviewed findings that led to winning the prestigious Lindeman Prize. Contributed photo.

Each year, ASLO recognizes a young scientist for leading an outstanding peer-reviewed, English-language paper in the aquatic sciences. Lepak’s paper, on which he was the lead author, is “Mercury source changes and food web shifts alter contamination signatures of predatory fish from Lake Michigan,” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the United States of America.

Lepak and a team of researchers used a novel combination of mercury, nitrogen and carbon isotope analysis, which he termed “fingerprinting,” on archived samples of lake trout from 1978 to 2012. From the same period, Lepak also examined archived samples of sediment taken from the lakebed to compare trends of mercury sources to sediments and fish.

The study years included a time when the Great Lakes were spared higher amounts of added mercury, in part because hospitals and municipalities stopped burning waste. That decline could have been expected to lessen mercury levels in fish. Yet, there had not been an obvious decrease in the mercury concentrations of sport fish.

The culprits behind this are invasive zebra and quagga mussels that exploded in Lake Michigan and now are estimated to number in the trillions. The mussels have caused significant shifts in lake trout feeding habits, forcing the fish to consume food that provides less energy while being more enriched in mercury.

In a statement released today by the organization, ASLO President Roxane Maranger said, “It is our pleasure to award Dr. Lepak the Lindeman early-career award for this outstanding paper. His work will certainly have far-reaching implications for assessing the combined influence of changes in contaminant source and concentrations as well as food web alterations in the study of mercury and other contaminants in aquatic ecosystems. We look forward with excitement to Dr. Lepak’s continued contributions to aquatic science!”

The Lindeman Award will be presented to Lepak at the 2021 ASLO Aquatic Sciences virtual meeting in June.

Collaborators to the study published in PNAS include the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office; U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Minnesota Science Museum; St. Croix Watershed Research Station; and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry.

The study was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; U.S. Geological Survey National Institutes for Water Resources, University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute; and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation through the University of Wisconsin Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education.

The post Wisconsin mercury researcher captures prestigious ASLO prize first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-mercury-researcher-captures-prestigious-aslo-prize/

Friends, fellows, undergrads, a champion and a duo of change agents: an afternoon of celebration

On: February 24, 2021

In: Bud Harris, Cat Island, Dean Haen, Hallet Harris, Knauss Fellows, summer undergraduate interns, Vicky Harris, Wisconsin Sea Grant Actionable Science Award, Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion Award

On Monday of this week, Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) conducted a fellows convocation and award event that conferred recognition on 20 master’s, Ph.D. or postdoctoral fellows; six undergraduate students who participated in the 2020 Sea Grant Community Engaged Internship Program, one of whom was also the winner of the Weston Scholarship; two federally elected officials; the first-ever Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion Award winner; and two people who have made a big difference in Green Bay estuary and took home the Wisconsin Sea Grant Actionable Science Award.

“It’s not news that COVID-19 has disrupted every part of our lives. Our biennial fellows convocation is just one of innumerable events that could not be held in person, but we were not prepared to let a pandemic stand in the way of honoring student accomplishments, and the contributions of U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Congressman Mike Gallagher who see the value of investing in, conserving and celebrating our amazing Great Lakes and other Wisconsin water assets,” said Jim Hurley, director of both Sea Grant and WRI.

Hurley acted as emcee of the virtual event that drew more than 70 participants from cities across the Badger State, as well as from spots such as Guam, Washington, D.C., and St. Petersburg, Florida.

“This is the third time we have held a fellows convocation. It was the first time needed to conduct it in a virtual setting. Of course, we wish it could have been in person, but the enthusiasm and well wishes made up for that loss of in-person conviviality. I’m pleased that so many people from near and far could join to celebrate water scholarship and positive impacts in our coastal communities,” he said.

For many years, Sen. Baldwin and Rep. Gallagher have used their positions in Congress to support the mission of Sea Grant and they each joined the event to collect a Friend of Wisconsin Sea Grant Award.

Dean Haen was named Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion for 2021, a new award that will be given every two years going forward to an individual, business, organization or program that demonstrates a long-term commitment to the care and concern for the Great Lakes.

2021 Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion Award Winner Dean Haen. Photo: Brown County Port

Haen is the director of the Brown County Port and Resource Recovery Department. He was lauded for economic and ecological contributions. More than 200 ships annually visit the port, hauling more than 2 million tons of cargo, generating jobs and economic impact.

Haen has also been integral to the restoration of the Cat Island Chain in Green Bay, which is bringing back 1,200 acres that provide shoreline protection and habitat for endangered reptiles and birds. The chain also acts as a storage facility for material dredged from the shipping lanes, beneficially using material that would otherwise require costly disposal.

The Wisconsin Sea Grant Actionable Science Award was presented to a couple who are not only a team in marriage but also in their devotion to cleanup of the Lower Fox River and Green Bay. Vicky and Hallet J. “Bud” Harris have spent decades in various environmental research and outreach roles and serve as volunteers for state and local conservation groups. Vicky Harris was a longtime Sea Grant water quality and habitat restoration specialist working in the program’s Green Bay Office. Bud Harris is a retired professor of natural and applied sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Bud and Vicky Harris, winners of the 2021 Wisconsin Sea Grant Actionable Science Award. Contributed photo.

As the for the impressive roster of students who received recognition, they fill many roles in many places, including:

-Three Dean John A. Knauss Fellows who each have a master’s degree and have, or will devote a year of service in Washington, D.C., in either the executive or legislative branch on ocean, coastal or Great Lakes topics.

– Eight fellows who have a master’s degree, are working toward a Ph.D. or have recently completed a Ph.D. and are placed, or will soon be placed, with partner state agencies and completing important work such as setting health standards for human exposure to PFAS, determining groundwater levels in central Wisconsin and protecting coastal property and infrastructure. It’s a mutually beneficial agreement that sees the agency gaining cutting-edge knowledge from these young scholars and the young people benefitting from mentors within agencies—the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, department of administration, department of natural resources or department of health services.

– Four fellows who have a master’s degree, are working toward a Ph.D. or have recently completed a Ph.D. and are placed at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess toxicological threats to people and the environment.

– Two students who are engaged in ongoing research, and efforts leading to publications to further share science with a wider community. One fellow is working at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility and the other is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, analyzing PFAS in state waters.

-A 2020-21 NOAA Coastal Management Fellow stationed in Guam where she and partners are updating a plan for the Seashore Reserve. Another student is winding down her fellowship with the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and a third is working to understand and mitigate community flooding with the Association of State Floodplain Managers, a national organization based in Madison.

Celeste Gunderson is a junior working toward degrees in geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the 2021 recipient of the Carl J. Weston Scholarship, made possible by the generous gift of Dr. and Mrs. Carl B. Weston in honor of their son. The scholarship goes to undergraduate student pursuing freshwater studies as part of a Wisconsin Sea Grant project.

Gunderson was also part of a summer community engaged internship program in 2020 that saw another six undergraduates working on issues as diverse as science communication, wild rice conservation flooding and aquatic invasive species. The program is designed to provide diverse students with hands-on experience under the mentorship of a career professional.

The post Friends, fellows, undergrads, a champion and a duo of change agents: an afternoon of celebration first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/friends-fellows-undergrads-a-champion-and-a-duo-of-change-agents-an-afternoon-of-celebration/

Friends, fellows, undergrads, a champion and a duo of change agents: an afternoon of celebration

On: February 24, 2021

In: Bud Harris, Cat Island, Dean Haen, Hallet Harris, Knauss Fellows, Vicky Harris, Wisconsin Sea Grant Actionable Science Award, Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion Award

Hurley acted as emcee of the virtual event that drew more than 70 participants from cities across the Badger State, as well as from spots such as Guam, Washington, D.C., and St. Petersburg, Florida.

2021 Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion Award Winner Dean Haen. Photo: Brown County Port

Bud and Vicky Harris, winners of the 2021 Wisconsin Sea Grant Actionable Science Award. Contributed photo.

As the for the impressive roster of students who received recognition, they fill many roles in many places, including:

The post Friends, fellows, undergrads, a champion and a duo of change agents: an afternoon of celebration first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/friends-fellows-undergrads-a-champion-and-a-duo-of-change-agents-an-afternoon-of-celebration/

Sea Grant’s coastal engineer to discuss Great Lakes levels

On: February 18, 2021

In: Adam Bechle, AWRA, Coastal Engineering, coastal hazards, Great Lakes water levels, water levels

More than an expected 100 water managers and researchers will gather virtually March 3 and 4 for the annual American Water Resources Association Wisconsin Section meeting to discuss and strategize regarding water challenges and opportunities. Adam Bechle, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s coastal engineer, will deliver a plenary talk.

Wisconsin has a wealth of water—1.2 quadrillion gallons of groundwater; lakes Michigan and Superior; the Mississippi, Wisconsin and St. Croix rivers; more than 5 million acres of wetlands; and more than 15,000 lakes—yet all that volume does not guarantee it’s without challenges and opportunities. That is especially true when balancing agriculture, the environment and public health.

The meeting will feature 80 presentations by researchers from the state’s University System schools, non-governmental agencies, water-related businesses and federal and state agencies.

There will be two plenary sessions. Bechle’s talk will take place at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, March 4. He will explore the reasons behind record-high water levels on the Great Lakes and what the future may bring.

Lake Michigan’s high water levels have had an effect on natural and manmade structures.

At 8:40 a.m. Wednesday, March 3, two speakers will discuss tracking COVID-19 through wastewater as well as how viruses move through groundwater.

Anyone is welcome to attend and registration is here.

The meeting is sponsored by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin with additional conference support from the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute, Sea Grant’s sister organization.

The post Sea Grant’s coastal engineer to discuss Great Lakes levels first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grants-coastal-engineer-to-discuss-great-lakes-levels/

State’s leading water managers and researchers meeting

On: February 18, 2021

In: Adam Bechle, AWRA

The meeting will feature 80 presentations by researchers from the state’s University System schools, non-governmental agencies, water-related businesses and federal and state agencies.

There will be two plenary sessions. At 8:40 a.m., Wednesday, March 3, two speakers will discuss tracking COVID-19 through wastewater as well as how viruses move through groundwater. At 8:30 a.m. Thursday, March 4 a Wisconsin Sea Grant coastal engineer will dissect the causes and effects of record-high water levels on the Great Lakes, and what the lakes’ future might bring.

Anyone is welcome to attend and registration is here.

The meeting is sponsored by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin with additional conference support from the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute.

The post State’s leading water managers and researchers meeting first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/states-leading-water-managers-and-researchers-meeting/

Water Shapes Weston Scholarship Winner’s Choices

On: January 19, 2021

In: 2020 Carl J Eston Scholarship, Celeste Gunderson

Water in a fluid state does not take a fixed shape. Water in a fluid state can, however, shape what is around it. A case in point is the academic path and eventual career trajectory of Celeste Gunderson.

Celeste Gunderson, submitted photo.

In 2008 when she was an elementary-school student, Gunderson’s family home near the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan suffered damage during a large rainstorm that overwhelmed the city’s stormwater management system. She recalled the day: “My sisters and I put on our rain boots and raincoats to observe large, raging streams of stormwater flow past our house in the direction of the Milwaukee River. Instead of drawing the water down in, we watched as the sewers in our neighborhood bubbled up with sewage and contributed to the mess.”

The immediate aftermath was scattered, mucky debris and a buckled neighborhood bike path. Not long after the event, the toll the storm took on the house became evident—extensive cracks in the walls and ceiling were appearing because the structure was sinking. The floodwater had eroded the foundational fill.

That was a defining time for Gunderson and, years later, as she considered where to attend college and what studies to pursue, the flooding driven by a changing climate came to mind—providing a shape to her intentions. She enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue a double major in geography and environmental studies.

Gunderson is now in her junior year and is the recipient of the 2020 Carl J. Weston Scholarship from Wisconsin Sea Grant.

“I am really enjoying my experience with Wisconsin Sea Grant. I’ve been progressing through a lot of opportunities,” Gunderson said. “It’s been amazing to be a part of a community that I didn’t even realize existed before this. The scholarship was a great thing on top of all of that.”

Her mentor, Sea Grant’s Associate Director for Extension David Hart, called out Gunderson’s “outstanding scholarship and work ethic.” He directed her projects when she was an Undergraduate Research Scholar and as a Sea Grant Community Engaged Intern last summer. Now, Hart is overseeing her efforts to complete resilience story maps as part of a Southeast Wisconsin Coastal Resilience project, refining the previous internship project that used the GeoPlanner tool to look at the components and costs of a theoretical green infrastructure project in Madison and enhancements to the green infrastructure section of the Sea Grant website.

Like that fluid water, Gunderson’s future following her 2022 graduation is not fully defined but she is confident it will include a continued dedication to climate change and Great Lakes issues through graduate studies. After that, she said, “I’m not sure at this point. However, working through these internships and now the student hourly position has let me see jobs that everyone else has. That’s been really helpful, to see the different career paths.”

The post Water Shapes Weston Scholarship Winner’s Choices first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/water-shapes-weston-scholarship-winners-choices/

Wisconsin Sea Grant offering 10-Week undergraduate summer internships

On: January 13, 2021

In: summer interns, Wisconsin Sea Grant summer internship 2020

Wisconsin Sea Grant is offering four summer internships for undergraduates. The internships come with a $5,000 stipend and are centered on:

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, culinary exploration and social media.

One intern will visit beachgoers to let them know about water safety and dangerous rip currents (photo above by Sara Stathas). Another will produce videos and write blogs about Wisconsin’s local fish options. (photo below by David Nevala.)

Moira Harrington, Sea Grant’s associate director for communication, said, “Last year, we had an inaugural class of undergraduate interns. It was a positive 10 weeks for both the students and our staff members who acted as mentors for these young people who are now better prepared to join a workforce that makes a difference in aquatic sciences and outreach.”

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), Thursday, Feb. 25. The program is particularly looking for a pool of applicants who reflect diverse backgrounds.

The post Wisconsin Sea Grant offering 10-Week undergraduate summer internships first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-sea-grant-offering-10-week-undergraduate-summer-internships/

Wisconsin Sea Grant flies its biennial report flag

On: January 6, 2021

In: 2018-20 biennial report, Biennial Report, Moira Harrington, semaphore flags, Yael Gen

Wisconsin Sea Grant today shared an online version of its 36-page 2018-20 biennial report. It highlights Sea Grant outreach, education and research projects; financial information; a list of academic papers and other information products; leadership details; and a rundown of fellows, interns, partners and collaborators.

“For the 10,000-year-old Great Lakes, time passes in seemingly the blink of an eye. Yet, our contemporary years can feel like time stretches long, particularly the tumultuous months of 2020,” said Moira Harrington, Sea Grant’s assistant director for communication and editor of the report. “We’re pleased to be able to share this in-depth look at 2018-20 research discoveries and basin-wide impact that are critical to maximizing the benefit of collaborative effort of partners to best meet Great Lakes’ needs.”

The report takes on a true nautical theme, with semaphore flags on the cover and navigation flags throughout. Designer Yael Gen said of the report, “In the past, we commissioned a photographer to create images based on a theme. But because of the pandemic, that couldn’t happen. We came up with the idea of using signal flags, and after a few minutes of researching the flags, I could visualize the entire report in my head. All I had to do was get it down on ‘paper.’ ”

The report is not entirely without photography, however. Featured, for example, are the Lake Michigan Kenosha Dunes, underwater photography by youths and a northern Wisconsin supper club showcasing a classic Friday night fish fry fueled by farm-raised or wild-caught fish from state waters.

The post Wisconsin Sea Grant flies its biennial report flag first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-sea-grant-flies-its-biennial-report-flag/

Deadline approaching: nominate a Great Lakes champion

On: December 15, 2020

In: Uncategorized

To raise awareness about the importance of the Great Lakes to the region’s culture and economy, Wisconsin Sea Grant will confer the first-ever Great Lakes Champion Award. The deadline for nominations is fast approaching—midnight on Jan. 16, 2021.

“I am an East-Coast transplant, first arriving in Wisconsin more than 35 years ago,” said Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley. “I could not be more enamored of the Great Lakes bordering my adopted state. They are the focus of my research on mercury cycling and the object of my appreciation for the beauty, recreation and resources they offer. I know there are potential winners of this award in Wisconsin, and in the wider Great Lakes Basin, who share my passion. We hope to see their names added for consideration for the Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion Award.”

Full details are available online.

The post Deadline approaching: nominate a Great Lakes champion first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/deadline-approaching-nominate-a-great-lakes-champion/

Season’s Greetings

On: December 11, 2020

In: Uncategorized

Thank you for contributing to water science during this unprecedent year. Here is a year in review , along with heartfelt greetings for the holiday season.

The post Season's Greetings first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/seasons-greetings/

New video illuminates how ancestral and present-day ciscoes provide understanding of the Great Lakes food web

On: November 20, 2020

In: Center for Limnology, cisco, ciscoes, coregonine, coregonines, Jake Vander Zanden

In a concise and informative new video released today, Wisconsin Sea Grant illuminates the varied coregonines, commonly known as cisco, which have pulsed through Great Lakes waters for 12,000 years. Now, due to human influences, the fork-tailed fish are diminished in number and range, and display less diverse forms. They are the subject of a research project by a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“The ciscoes were some of the most numerous and populous fish in the Great Lakes,” said Ben Martin, Ph.D. student working with lead researcher Jake Vander Zanden who is the chair and director of the Center for Limnology. Martin noted ciscos’ importance as a food source for apex predators, both in the past and present-day.

To learn the future of the species, Vander Zanden is looking toward the past—exploring the fish found in dozens and dozens of jars that the video shows on rolling storage shelves housed at a zoology museum on the Madison campus.

“We go to these museum specimens. We take a tiny tissue sample. We take these chemical measurements, and we make these inferences about the diet and feeding of these species,” Vander Zanden said.

Jake Vander Zanden samples a museum specimen of a cisco to unlock details of the past Great Lakes food web. Photo by Bonnie Willison.

These fish that have been lifeless for 100 years will now breathe new life into an understanding of that past food web. Beyond analysis based on archived fish, samples from across the Great Lakes Basin, many from a collection at the University of Michigan in addition to the UW-Madison ones, Martin is assessing modern-day cisco morphometrics, that is, their physical diversity.

Pairing both types of knowledge contributes to ecological restoration. Vander Zanden said there is interest in bringing back ciscoes that feed higher predators. “We want to maximize our understanding of the past and hopefully use that as a guide (for restoration) moving forward.”

Sea Grant Videographer Bonnie Willison said, “As Jake, Ben and collaborators altered their research agenda during the pandemic, I had to alter the way I shoot video. We did virtual interviews and distanced filming to pull this off.”

She continued, “I was very intrigued by the problem of studying fish that don’t exist in the lakes anymore. I’m happy to profile this important study that will shed light on how to make positive changes in the lakes as they exist now.”

Martin and Vander Zanden stressed the value of collaboration on this project and expressed appreciation for colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Fisheries Commission, University of Wyoming and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The post New video illuminates how ancestral and present-day ciscoes provide understanding of the Great Lakes food web first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/new-video-illuminates-how-ancestral-and-present-day-ciscoes-provide-understanding-of-the-great-lakes-food-web/

Meet Sharon Moen, new Eat Wisconsin Fish outreach specialist

On: November 12, 2020

In: aquaculture, COVID-19, Eat Wisconsin Fish, pandemic, Sharon Moen

Just as she regularly wrestles 50-pound boxes of clay into her studio to shape into vessels adorned with symbols of nature as part of her artistry-turned-business, Sharon Moen—as the newest member of Wisconsin Sea Grant—has some molding to do in her role as outreach specialist focused on the Eat Wisconsin Fish initiative.

Moen will be fashioning the parts of the existing initiative into new forms. She’ll fire them into rejuvenated and brand-new tools to serve commercial fishermen, charter fishermen, processors and aquaculture operators, as well as educating consumers, retailers and those in the culinary world about the benefits of local, healthy and delicious Wisconsin fish.

This is all, of course, to be done against the backdrop of a once-in-lifetime pandemic that is affecting businesses of all types—particularly hitting hard those tied to the fish supply chain—and reaching into family homes where people are making food decisions in a disrupted world.

A Washington Post story from late spring noted that with restaurants closed the nation’s fisheries, across all regions and species, have reported sales slumps as high as 95 percent. Some species are considered more luxury choices and with the economic hit from Covid-19 perhaps grocery budgets aren’t putting fish on the household menu. Americans spend more than twice as much on seafood in restaurants than they do at home.

Into this scenario steps Moen, who may be new to Wisconsin Sea Grant but is far from being new to serving Sea Grant stakeholder needs and immersing herself in Great Lakes issues having spent 21 years with Minnesota Sea Grant. She was the program’s senior science communicator prior to her departure from that program in April of this year.

“It’s an honor to be a public servant again,” said Moen. “The pandemic has revealed many things about the U.S., including how easily our food systems can be disrupted. I’m ready to channel creativity and moxie toward helping people value Wisconsin’s commercial fisheries and fish-producing operations in ways that support jobs, the state’s food independence, the environment and human health. I’m excited to be joining a great team of Sea Grant’s staff and researchers on this important project.”

Moen will tackle a needs assessment of various sectors to inform a strategic plan on how to best proceed to address challenges, perhaps through webinars, one-on-one communication social media and/or the Eat Wisconsin Fish website. She’ll rely on some previously funded Sea Grant research on fish farmers, as well as another on consumer perception on aquaculture.

“We are really excited about all the relevant experience that Sharon brings to Wisconsin Sea Grant. She has worked on past successful outreach and communications campaigns to promote farm-raised and wild-caught fish, including chef competitions and public tastings,” Sea Grant Assistant Director for Extension David Hart said. “Sharon is a gifted writer and contributed to a strategic plan for aquaculture in Minnesota. She has extensive connections throughout the Sea Grant network and will be able to hit the ground running.”

About that pottery, in her off hours, Moen will continue to create objects of utility and beauty, as well as embracing macro projects. She is currently making 140 specialty tiles for a kachelofen, a German masonry stove that will heat a vacation home on one of Wisconsin’s many lakes. This proves, once more, Moen’s skill at merging two careers and two passions from the clay of the Earth and the wonders of water.

The post Meet Sharon Moen, new Eat Wisconsin Fish outreach specialist first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/meet-sharon-moen-new-eat-wisconsin-fish-outreach-specialist/

Shipwreck website holds stories of the Fitzgerald and other Great Lakes wrecks

On: November 9, 2020

In: Edmund Fitzgerald, Wisconsin shipwrecks

The Edmund Fitzgerald. Image credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The 45th anniversary of the loss of the iron ore freighter the Edmund Fitzgerald is Nov. 10. The Gordon Lightfoot song about this tragedy is admittedly an earworm but it is also accurate with its facts. The 729-foot ship faced a fierce storm with 50-knot winds and towering waves when “the gales of November came slashing.”

Because the ship left on its last voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, it can sometimes be thought the vessel went down in the waters of the Badger State, or the U.S. at least. Wisconsin Historical Society Maritime Archaeologist Tamara Thomsen, a longtime Sea Grant partner, said the fate of the Edmund Fitzgerald and where it went down are common questions during the literally hundreds of shipwreck presentations she has delivered through the years

In fact, at a depth of 530 feet, the ship lies split in two near Whitefish Point, Michigan, but is in the Canadian waters of Lake Superior. The lake is the final resting place for 29 men.

The compelling tales of 760 other lakes Michigan and Superior shipwrecks can be found at wisconsinshipwrecks.org, a project of Sea Grant and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Information on the ships’ construction, service histories, final voyages and locations are searchable, as are any relevant videos and photos.

Image credit: Jeff Hormann, Creative Commons

Other shipwrecks that may be in the area are described. Nearby attractions such as historic waterfronts, lighthouses, museums, historic vessels, charter services, theaters, waterfront parks or archeological sites are also linked with each ship’s story. These attractions are searchable by location and category, as well.

The “learn” section of the site provides visitors with information about underwater archeology, the value of studying shipwrecks and how the studies are undertaken, field reports, a calendar of shipwreck-related events, a glossary of ship terms and a list of archival newspaper stories about the waters and their wrecks.

Finally, the site explains the location and details of maritime trail historical markers so landlubbers can explore maritime history in a socially distanced way.

As we commemorate this year’s date of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and just as in all other shipwrecks that led to loss of life, “All that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters.”

The post Shipwreck website holds stories of the Fitzgerald and other Great Lakes wrecks first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/shipwreck-website-holds-stories-of-the-fitzgerald-and-other-great-lakes-wrecks/

Love the lakes? A first-ever Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion Award is in the works

On: October 22, 2020

In: Great Lakes Champion Award, Hurley, Jim Hurley, Wisconsin Sea Grant 2021 Great Lakes Champion Award

To raise awareness about the importance of the Great Lakes to Wisconsin’s culture and economy, Wisconsin Sea Grant announced today it will confer the first-ever Great Lakes Champion Award in early 2021. A call for nominations is now open at seagrant.wisc.edu/championaward.org.

“I could not be more enamored of the Great Lakes,” Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley said. “I know there are others who share my passion and we hope to see them put forth for this award.”

Those eligible for the award are any group, program, organization, or individual that displays:

A demonstrated commitment to the Great Lakes through some or all of these factors: dedicated actions, facilitated education or enacted policies that have resulted in the conservation and sustainable use of lakes Michigan and Superior, and the rest of the basin, if applicable.
Long-term consistent care and concern for the Great Lakes in keeping with the Wisconsin Sea Grant mission—promoting the sustainable use of the Great Lakes through research, education and outreach. As well as in support of the program’s vision statement—thriving coastal communities.
Leadership in some or all of the following areas: cultivating freshwater partnerships; fostering collaborative action on behalf of Great Lakes issues; enhancing environmental justice, diversity and inclusion in the basin, or service built upon trust and transparency.
A contribution to accomplishments in some or all of Sea Grant’s focus areas: healthy coastal ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, resilient communities and economies and/or environmental literacy and workforce development.

The award will be given every two years. This first one will be presented during a virtual ceremony the evening of Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Anyone can nominate worthy recipients, and self-nominations are also invited. Nominations are due at midnight, Friday, Jan. 16, 2021.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/love-the-lakes-a-first-ever-wisconsin-sea-grant-great-lakes-champion-award-is-in-the-works/

Hiring: Emerging Contaminants Scientist

On: October 15, 2020

In: emerging contaminants, Hiring

The University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and its sister institution, Wisconsin Sea Grant, is hiring an emerging contaminants scientist. Apply by 11:55 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13.

This position will provide applied research and outreach to address emerging contaminants and threats to Great Lakes ecosystems and public health in Wisconsin. This will be accomplished through the lens of actionable science – sound science conducted with the highest standards for quality and integrity guided by a strong relationship with stakeholders and coupled with effective outreach and communication. Actionable science results in information or decision-support frameworks that can inform a variety of challenges.

The post Hiring: Emerging Contaminants Scientist first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/hiring-emerging-contaminants-scientist/

Pair Wisconsin fish with Wisconsin cheese curds on Oct. 15, national day to celebrate the squeaky delicacy

On: October 14, 2020

In: cheese curds and fish, East Wisconsin Fish, National Cheese Curd Day

Cheese curds. Image credit: Pixabay

One of my favorite food experiences is taking a bite from a cheese curd. Sure, they’re small. I, however, stretch the pleasure into two bites of those odd shapes, the result of coagulating casein protein in milk and the separation of the milk into solid curds and liquid whey. Curds are part of the cheesemaking process and they can be salted, shaped and ripened into other cheeses or simply enjoyed in their nascent form. As a Wisconsin native and proud cheesehead, I’ve also got a reason to celebrate my snack on Oct. 15, which is National Cheese Curd Day.

Straight up or deep-fried, these little nubs of squeakiness pair well with Wisconsin fish, washed down with a beverage of choice. (Did someone suggest a brandy old fashioned?) Throw in some coleslaw or a relish plate and that’s a quintessential Badger State meal.

Move over, Chicago hot dogs. Step aside, Kansas City spareribs. Stand down, New York City cheesecake. This is the real deal. A few years back, the Food Network proved cheese curds’ popularity by surveying the nation for its finest curds outside of America’s Dairyland. The resulting online homage reached from coast to coast and dipped into southern reaches—Florida and Austin, Texas—where the sides are more typically of the grits or hushpuppy variety.

Even foodies have taken notice. A case is point is Bud and Marilyn’s in Philadelphia, a trendy restaurant with curds on the menu, but alas, lacking a good walleye entree. Have no fear, though, and check out our recipes at Eat Wisconsin Fish. Those cheese curds will become the perfect accompaniment to whitefish, trout or salmon to munch away on all day on Oct. 15, or any other day of the year, for that matter.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/pair-wisconsin-fish-with-wisconsin-cheese-curds-on-oct-15-national-day-to-celebrate-the-squeaky-delicacy/

Sea Grant-funded graduate student goes from round gobies to a zoo-filled menagerie

On: October 6, 2020

In: Erik Carlson, John Janssen, Milwaukee County Zoo, round gobies, round goby

Sampling for round gobies on Lake Michigan can be unpleasant because you can be handling slippery fish and often braving cold, windy and choppy lake conditions. But at least fish don’t sneeze on you.

Cheetahs do. If you are Erik Carlson, you’ve known the discomforts of both those experiences thanks to graduate work and now a job that brings contact with all sorts of animals.

Carlson wouldn’t have traded away either experience, though. The round goby research provided a solid academic grounding and his research team validated the theory that the fish are migrating to deeper waters in colder months.

His research team was led by his adviser, John Janssen at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences. Carlson said, “John has a wealth of knowledge about the Great Lakes. I learned a lot from him. I sampled with him and also assisted in teaching some of his classes.”

Erik Carlson with a fellow student, docked alongside of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, where he received a master’s degree in freshwater sciences. Contributed photo.

Carlson is now the life support technician for the Milwaukee County Zoo. It’s a newly minted position for the venerable zoo and is due to, “The director, who wants to modernize and update exhibits. He has done a good job,” said Carlson, whose main responsibility is the complex water filtration system that is part of the $13.5 million Hippo Haven, which opened in February. As an undergraduate student, Carlson worked a stint in commercial aquaculture, so he knows his way around pumps and operating aquatic-organism habitats.

Where does the cheetah come in? “This is a really interesting job. It’s nice to go behind the exhibits. Being with the zookeepers, I’ve been close to animals. I’ve had a cheetah sneeze on me,” Carlson said.

He also manages the water quality for the Lake Wisconsin and otter exhibits, as well as a Pacific coast installation that features an octopus.

Carlson has been keeping the hippos happy in their underwater-viewing exhibit since joining the zoo 10 months ago, following his December 2019 graduation with a master’s degree in freshwater sciences. Most recently prior to that, he worked on a Sea Grant-funded project, “Seasonal Depth Distribution of Round Goby in Lake Michigan, Emphasizing Cold Seasons,” with Janssen as the lead project investigator and in collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U. S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

While not as charismatic as the African beasts known as river horses, round gobies make up for their questionable appeal in numbers. These three-to-six-inch invasive fish reproduce very quickly—up to six times per summer—in Great Lakes waters. Carlson and Janssen conducted sampling on the Milwaukee slice of this extensive population from 2017 to 2019, considering whether or not, through their seasonal distribution, they could provide a food source for brown trout and burbot who inhabit deeper offshore waters.

Round gobies were first detected in Lake Michigan in 1994. They likely hitchhiked in the ballast water of oceangoing ships from Eastern Europe. Because they are mainly a coastal species, their movement offshore into deep water was not anticipated early in the round goby invasion. Yet, there was anecdotal information that deep-water migration was happening in the colder months of the year.

To check it out and because of the fish’s preference for rocky habitat, traditional trawl sampling was prohibitive. Janssen posited the use of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with a tracking system that could observe the number of round gobies along transects. This was coupled with specimen collection for diet and aging investigation. Sampling and ROV observation took place in all seasons except December, January and February.

“The coolest thing about the project was using the ROV to actually see the bottom of the lake. It was a unique opportunity and a different way of sampling,” Carlson said.

Their findings bore out the news of interest, confirming that round gobies were in the same spot as brown trout and burbot at certain times, offering the larger sport fish another prey option. “These bottom-dwelling round gobies are delivering energy to the lake. Fishermen would like to know that,” Carlson said.

A submitted illustration depicts depth and date configurations of round gobies near Milwaukee. The nonnative fish concentrate in deeper waters during the fall and move to shallow depths during spring warming. Those cooler-weather locations mean more interaction with potential prey fish, like brown trout.

The research team also presented the findings with implications for the Lake Michigan food web to the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and through a session of the International Association for Great Lakes Research 2019 conference.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grant-funded-graduate-student-goes-from-round-gobies-to-a-zoo-filled-menagerie/

Clean air and water valued in recent national poll

On: September 17, 2020

In: clean air, clean water, poll

From now until Election Day on Nov. 3, every newspaper, newscast, news website and posts on social media platforms will be swelled to bursting with political polls, tracking races at every level of government. In addition to the so-called horse race polls there are plenty of polls on issues. One such issues poll recently caught my eye because of one point—overwhelming bipartisan support on the right to clean air and water.

In a society riven by differences based on whether you align as an R or a D, the right to clean air and clean water was considered important by 93% of the respondents to a poll led by the Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard Kennedy School, with support from the school’s Institute of Politics. The poll is part of an initiative analyzing the condition of rights in the United States and American attitudes toward rights and responsibilities.

Since Sea Grant is in the business of conservation of our Great Lakes (check out our strategic plan for some specifics), it was a welcome poll to pluck out of the plethora of polls. Likewise, our sister organization, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute, is committed to the goal of research on the quantity and quality of water.

Going a bit deeper into the poll numbers and breaking out by political party affiliation, 95% of Republicans, 94% of Democrats and 92% of independents want pollution-free and healthy air and water.

The larger context of this assessment—which also includes focus groups in Phoenix, Atlanta and in the Great Lakes Basin, Detroit—that the initiative is gauging what Americans feel they have rights to beyond what is enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Others raised were: 93% protection of personal data, 92% a quality education, 89% affordable health care and 85% a job.

One of the most uplifting findings from the poll in this deeply polarized time is this: more than two-thirds of Americans agree that they “have more in common with each other than many people think.” This can be broken out—78% of Republicans, 74% of Democrats and 66% of independents.

The nationwide poll reached 2,039 adults from July 6-28. It was conducted by NORC, an independent research arm at the University of Chicago. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.76 percent.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/clean-air-and-water-valued-in-recent-national-poll/

Sea Grant hiring for a marketing and outreach position

On: August 10, 2020

In: COVID-19, Eat Wisconsin Fish, Hiring

Like others in so many economic sectors hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, Wisconsin aquaculture operators and commercial fishers are looking for ways to adapt their products and strategies in a disrupted marketplace.

The National Sea Grant College Program, in which Wisconsin Sea Grant is a participant, recently committed resources to coastal states to help those affected by COVID-19. In Wisconsin, that response is to structure and hire for a new, one-year non-renewable marketing and outreach position focused on the Eat Wisconsin Fish Initiative. Applications will be accepted until 11:55 p.m. CST Friday, Aug. 28.

Photo by David Nevala

The Eat Wisconsin Fish initiative kicked off five years ago and connects Great Lakes fishermen and aquaculture operators with consumers, restauranteurs and retailers. It seeks to capitalize on the premise of eating locally and supporting local businesses. The United States imports more than 90 percent of its seafood and this effort would inspire more domestic production and consumption, along with educating Wisconsin consumers about the health benefits of fish.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/sea-grant-hiring-for-a-marketing-and-outreach-position/

Lota facts about the Lota lota, a counter-Shark-Week tale

On: August 6, 2020

In: burbot, eelpout, Shark Week 2020, Titus Seilheimer

A burbot. Image credit: Titus Seilheimer, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Shark Week, Aug. 9 -16, is a cherished annual tradition. In what I am hoping will also become a cherished tradition, Sea Grant presents a counter-Shark-Week look at a denizen of the sweetwater seas. A previous blog post regaled a number of Wisconsin fish. This 2020 edition offers five facts about the burbot.

The scientific name for this fish in the cod family is an onomatopoeia dream: Lota lota. It’s got other common names in addition to burbot, including lawyer, eelpout and lingcod.

The Grumpy Burbot (the alter ego of Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer) has its own Twitter handle.

The fish is a bottom-dweller. Maybe this elusive home is why some of us Sea Grant staffers couldn’t eat them even though they were on the menu when we visited KK Fiske and The Granary in 2017. We had heard they were good eating but restaurant owner and commercial fisher on Door County’s Washington Island Ken Koyen hadn’t caught any that day. Burbot is not a target species and most that show up in whitefish and lake trout nets are discarded. Broiled and served with butter, however, the fish are said to taste like Poor Man’s Lobster.

Sea Grant funded a study about the birds and bees of burbot to better understand the entire Lake Michigan food web. Researcher John Janssen said, ““Burbot interact with many other fish. They like to eat a lot of sculpins, which are eaten by lake trout, and sculpins eat lake trout eggs. Knowing more about when and how burbot spawn adds more information to figure out the interactions between species.”

Much more burbot intel is available on the Eat Wisconsin Fish website. Details on the burbot study can be found here.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/lota-facts-about-the-lota-lota-a-counter-shark-week-tale/

UW-Milwaukee researchers enlist antibodies to understand spiny waterflea diet

On: July 29, 2020

In: AIS, aquatic invasive species, invasive species, John Berges, Spiny Waterflea

While New Zealand white rabbits do not normally spring to mind when you mention the fauna of Lake Michigan, a recently published paper in Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, a journal of the Association for the Science of Limnology and Oceanography, shows how this cotton-tailed creature plays a role in a newly validated method for assessing the lake’s food web, along with yielding surprising finds about the feeding habits of invasive spiny waterfleas.

Sea Grant-funded scientist John Berges, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor of biological sciences, and UW-M biology colleague Craig Sandren (now deceased), set about investigating the impact of invasive zooplankton on the big lake’s system. As they weighed and rejected three different research tools, Berges suggested an approach that he termed, “almost naively simple.”

Sea Grant-funded researcher John Berges on Lake Michigan for a study of the effects of invasive zooplankton on the food web. (contributed photo)

He harkened back to the 1970s for a process first used terrestrially to calculate what’s eating insects and what kind of insects are being eaten. Berges said the technique had seen limited use in the marine environment but that “this is really the first time it’s been used systematically in fresh waters.”

Berges noted, “What we like about it as opposed to some of the DNA techniques is that it’s pretty quick. It’s cheap. You don’t need big deep DNA sequencing. Most labs will be able to use this.” Additionally, he said, scientists—such as the University of Windsor’s Aaron Fisk—who are using stable isotopes to map food webs can use this process to corroborate findings.

So far, there’s been references to fish and bugs. Just where do the rabbits come into the picture? Berges provided a detailed rundown of this “simple” process: “You take the likely prey (of a spiny waterflea) and…you grind it up. You basically homogenize it, make a soup of it. You take that soup and you inject it into an animal. We’re going to use a bunny rabbit here. That bunny rabbit’s immune system goes nuts, making a whole bunch of antibodies against the proteins that are in the putative prey organism. You have a huge array, a suite, of antibodies which now recognize the proteins that are in that item that potential prey item, that you injected into it.”

There is then a rabbit blood draw—after six to 12 weeks, during which time the immune response has built up. In the lab, Berges’ team then took the antibody (also known as immunoglobulin IgG) fraction of the blood, “which is real easy to do, and you have basically stuff, the immunoglobulins, which are going to stick very, very precisely to the proteins that were in that particular (prey) organism. So, you have a nice little marker.”

The next step, he said, is to determine if any of the markers from the rabbit blood overlap with the predator, which is the spiny waterflea. “You grind up the predator (the spiny waterflea) and you let the immunoglobulin bind to all the predator’s proteins. You remove them (the predator’s antibody) …What we’ve got left over now is things that are going to react only to the prey and not to the predator.”

Berges continued, “We found a whole bunch of the predators and checked them out for 12 different prey and some of them we didn’t find. None of the predators had them and we can be pretty clear that the predators aren’t eating them. And other prey, almost everybody had some of the prey in them. Now, we have a fairly clear picture of what the spiny waterflea is eating and a couple surprises came out.”

A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee research team collects samples that will later be used as part of a “almost naively simple” method to assess an ecosystem’s populations. The represents the first time the antibody-based method has been used systematically in fresh waters. (contributed photo)

There were two surprises. First was evidence that the spiny waterflea was consuming the larvae of invasive Dreissenid mussels, commonly known as zebra mussels or quagga mussels. “That’s a neat story. We have one invasive species eating another invasive species. Well, that’s kinda cool. But we think about it a little more and it doesn’t make an awful lot of sense because we have this great big predator why is it grazing on these tiny little larvae,” Berges said.

The researchers continued with their reasoning and are now confident that it’s a case of what is known as hyperpredation—the spiny water flea ate something that itself first ate the larval Dressenid mussel.

The second surprise was a 180-degree turn in the category of size—not a tiny food source like the Dreissenid mussel larvae, but a large organism. Evidence of a type of zooplankton called Limnocalanus macrurus, or one of the “big dogs in the lake” as Berges put it, was found to have been consumed by the spiny waterflea. In this instance, Berges said they reasoned the spiny waterflea was eating the juvenile and larval forms of the large copepod.

In the end and with the help of a few New Zealand white rabbits as interim hosts for ground-up zooplankton prey, Berges said, “We have reasonable explanations for those two strange things that we found, and a technique that now we’ve proven out.”

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/uw-milwaukee-researchers-enlist-antibodies-to-understand-spiny-waterflea-diet/

Groundwater Research Funding Available

On: July 24, 2020

In: funding, joint solicitation

Up to $400,000 for fiscal year 2022 will be available for research into groundwater management, quantity and quality through the State of Wisconsin Joint Solicitation for Groundwater Research and Monitoring effort.

Apply by 3 p.m. CDT, Friday, Oct. 30. Click here to a system known as eDrop, managed by the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and Wisconsin Sea Grant.

This research solicitation is a coordinated effort of the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin departments of Natural Resources; Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; and Safety and Professional Services.

It allows interested individuals to prepare project proposals that can be submitted to several different funding sources simultaneously and eliminates the need to submit similar proposals several times for different solicitation efforts. It is the intent that this joint solicitation will make it easier for interested researchers to prepare proposals, promote coordination among state organizations and researchers and enhance the ability of state agencies and the UW System to meet their objectives.

The post Groundwater Research Funding Available first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/groundwater-research-funding-available/

University-based research projects to examine Wisconsin’s “buried treasure:” Groundwater

On: July 8, 2020

In: Eric Stewart, James Price, Jim Hurley, Kevin Masarik, Matt Ginder-Vogel, Sarah Vitale

Four new projects focused on Wisconsin groundwater are underway on university campuses, as of July 1, as well as a continuing one. The work is funded by the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI).

“We look forward to the findings from this latest group of projects that address emerging issues,” said Jim Hurley, WRI director. “Each project advances our understanding of Wisconsin’s buried treasure, our groundwater.”

The projects will:

-Investigate in-season cover crops for reducing nitrate loss to groundwater below potatoes. Kevin Masarik at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will lead the project. His colleague Jacob Prater on that campus will also participate in the exploration that will inter-seed the crops and assess the positive and/or negative interactions on potato yield, quality and ease of harvest.

Wisconsin is a major national potato producer and a WRI researcher will look at nutrients and groundwater needed for that cultivation. Photo by UW-Madison.

-Formulate a cost-function analysis of Wisconsin water utilities to place a value on groundwater. James Price is this investigator, based at the School of Freshwater Sciences, UW-Milwaukee.

-Conduct further research on the issue of arsenic in southeastern Wisconsin groundwater. Eric Stewart, bedrock geologist at UW-Madison, will correlate bedrock fold and fractures with the detection of this naturally occurring but carcinogenic chemical in drinking water.

-Provide insight into the sources of salinity associated with radium and strontium in the parts of the aquifer underlying eastern and northeastern Wisconsin. The study will provide an understanding of the movement of these contaminants to municipal wells. UW-Madison’s Matt Ginder-Vogel is the principal investigator and he has pulled onto the team Patrick Gorski and Sean Scott, both with the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene.

-As part of a project that kicked off in 2019, Sarah Vitale, and co-investigator J. Brian Mahoney at UW-Eau Claire and Anna Baker with the U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Water Science Center, are investigating naturally occurring phosphorus in western Wisconsin surface and ground waters.

The post University-based research projects to examine Wisconsin’s “buried treasure:” Groundwater first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/university-based-research-projects-to-examine-wisconsins-buried-treasure-groundwater/

Take 5: Summer boating and the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program

On: May 21, 2020

In: Clean Marina Program in Wisconsin, E. Carl Kiekhaefer, Memorial Day 2020 and marinas, Theresa Qualls

Memorial Day has long been seen as the kickoff of summer. In a time of COVD-19 safer-at-home practices, the promise of a season of outdoor pleasures is even more sweet this year. For many in Wisconsin, boating is one of those pleasures. Here are five things to know about boating in the Badger State, and about a Wisconsin Sea Grant-supported initiative, the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program.

When it comes to boating, Wisconsin’s got historical cred.

With the Mississippi, Wisconsin and St. Croix rivers, the Great Lakes and 15,000 inland lakes, it’s only natural people in this state find ways to float upon water bodies. Entrepreneurs have stepped in to fill the need.

A native of Mequon, Wisconsin, ,started manufacturing motorboat engines out of his machine shop in 1939. That was the birth of Mercury Marine, now the world’s largest manufacturer of boat engines. Builders have also set up shop here, including Manitowoc’s luxury yacht maker Burger Boat Co., which had its origins in crafting commercial fishing vessels beginning in the mid-1800s.

Mrs. Puff wouldn’t find work in Wisconsin.

Mrs. Puff is the beleaguered boat-driving instructor in the animated television program SpongeBob Squarepants. While SpongeBob is a hapless pupil and in Wisconsin Mrs. Puff would likely encounter more skilled boat operators, state law doesn’t require in-person instruction.

To operate a boat, those who are at least 16 years old and born on or after Jan. 1, 1989, must pass an online boater safety course and carry a boater safety certification card, which is like a driver’s license. The Department of Natural Resources provides the training, issues the card and handles registration for all watercraft longer than 12 feet. Sailboards and manually powered watercraft like a kayak or canoe don’t need to be registered.

A Clean Marina in Wisconsin. Image by Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Boater Safety Certification Card in hand. Now, off to a marina.

The Wisconsin Marine Association notes that marinas and related industries and services contribute more than $2.7 billion to Wisconsin’s economy. The association counts more than 170 boating facilities in Wisconsin. Some of these businesses opt to become a certified Clean Marina.

A certified Clean Marina. What is that?

A Clean Marina voluntarily adopts practices to reduce water pollution from its facility and boaters. The efforts lead to clean lakes and rivers, which are good for business. There are currently 20 certified marinas in Wisconsin and another 20 establishments are working through the rigorous steps to become certified. Marinas see the benefits of becoming certified—creating a safer and healthier place to work and recreate, gaining an enhanced image among boaters and the community, and preventing pollution and the spread of aquatic invasive species.

It comes down to details.

Marinas perform a self-evaluation of their business using the Clean Marina Guidebook and certification checklist from the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program. The guidebook and checklist include things like preventing and cleaning up fuel spills, reducing stormwater pollution and educating boaters. Marinas also host visits from the program coordinator to ensure adherence to the practices.

The Clean Marina Program is administered by Wisconsin Sea Grant in partnership with the Wisconsin Marine Association, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Fund for Lake Michigan.

For more information, contact Theresa Qualls, Wisconsin Clean Marina coordinator, quallst@uwgb.edu.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/take-5-summer-boating-and-the-wisconsin-clean-marina-program/

In: GCC, Ginder-Vogel, Groundwater Coordinating Council, Groundwater Research and Monitoring Program, Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council

UW-Madison geochemist, funded by the Groundwater Research and Monitoring Program, wins statewide water research award

On: May 13, 2020

In the classic game of rock, paper, scissors—during each round—one of these mock items formed by participants’ hands comes out on top. In thinking about groundwater and with a scientific twist, rock always comes out on top. That’s because it is an important factor in the nature of groundwater. As water moves in under-the-surface aquifers, toxic minerals—such as naturally occurring radium—can leach out of surrounding rock and into the water.

Matt Ginder-Vogel could be seen as a pro in the science edition of rock, paper, scissors. That’s because his research combines geochemistry with hydrology to understand the impact of drinking water well placement and what the surrounding rock has infused into that water. “I’m more of a geochemist,” he said as a way of labeling himself.

Researcher Matt Ginder-Vogel credits funding support from the Groundwater Research and Monitoring Program for his findings in naturally occurring water contaminants.

Thanks to the Wisconsin Section of the American Water Works Association (WIAWWA), he can now also label himself as an award winner because the professional organization that offers support for those who manage and protect water systems will confer its 2020 research award on Ginder-Vogel.

“I looked at the list of those who have won before. It is people whose work and body of research I respect and admire. It (the award) is really meaningful. I’m psyched to be among those people on that list,” said the professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Terry Vandenbusch, chair of the Research Committee of WIAWWA and a water quality analyst with Milwaukee Water Works, said the annual award is, “Given to recognize individuals who have made research contributions to water science and water supply. Wisconsin-based people working in or to the benefit of the drinking water industry. All of Matt’s overall body of work contributed to him becoming the 2020 WIAWWA Research Award Winner.”

He continued by noting that Ginder-Vogel and his research team, “have been evaluating how geochemistry affects sources of radium and its parent elements as well as laboratory methods that more precisely quantify radium species (226 and 228) in groundwater. Also, the work of his group pertaining to elemental cycling and mobility in general is very valuable to the water industry.”

Ginder-Vogel has been funded through the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on three projects through what is known as the Groundwater Research and Monitoring Program (GRMP), which he termed “so important.” He said he appreciated past project reviews and funding, as well as “the consistent nature of the program. I got one grant that we turned into a National Science Foundation grant. Then we pulled in two students to work on this. They were NSF fellows. We turned a two-year project into a five-year project.”

That project had been focused on manganese and iron. His other GRMP project examined radium and well drilling. The third took a broader look at radium using a statewide dataset housed at the DNR. The projects are linked, Ginder-Vogel noted, because, “Water utilities are moving from shallow wells to deeper ones and there are the implications of those deeper wells. As we move to deeper wells, we have to appreciate what a deeper well might mean. There might be PFAS or other contaminants.”

The WIAWWA will confer the research award in September. In his acceptance remarks, Ginder-Vogel is likely to stress how he values collaborating with others on groundwater research—the DNR, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey and the U.S Geological Survey to, “Push forward the knowledge. We want people to be aware, be cognizant and use the best possible water management to make sure the water is safe.”

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/uw-madison-geochemist-funded-by-the-groundwater-research-and-monitoring-program-wins-statewide-water-research-award/

Seeking applicants for new fellowship opportunity

On: May 8, 2020

In: Uncategorized

Wisconsin stream flow has been affected by many factors. This new fellowship will look at streams and fish habitat. Photo by Sara Stathas.

Calling postdoctoral and post-master’s candidates for a new fellowship opportunity tackling science and policy related to hydrology and stream flow. The University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will fund the position for two years.

The arrangement brings the fellow’s technical skills to the DNR. In turn, the fellow receives valuable real-world science-policy experience from resource professionals serving as mentors. This mutually beneficial partnership will result in advancing science to support policy decisions as well as valuable training opportunities for new professionals entering the work force.

Further details for the opportunity, which closes on June 5, are available here.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/seeking-applicants-for-new-fellowship-opportunity/

American Public Health Association

Wisconsin Sea Grant and Covid-19

On: March 16, 2020

In: COVID-19

Due to the effects of Covid-19, these are unprecedented times for all of society, including water science and outreach at Wisconsin Sea Grant. While our staff continues to adapt to this changing situation, we remain committed to the mission of promoting the sustainable use of Great Lakes resources through research, education and outreach.

Our program is one of the University of Wisconsin System’s and is housed on the flagship campus in Madison. On March 15, the University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor called for telecommuting among staff and programs with that capability. That employee policy also affects our field offices in Milwaukee, Superior, Green Bay and Manitowoc, though local campus policies may additionally affect their office operations. Staff remains available through email and the phone.

Our social media accounts, Facebook and Twitter, are also a good means to stay current with our activities, particularly outreach events that may now be moving from face-to-face to virtual formats as we cancel larger gatherings and meetings in accordance with public health guidelines for social distancing.

In terms of grant submission and management, we work with the UW-Madison Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, and similar offices on other campuses. We will continue that work to ensure continuity during this uncertain time.

The Wisconsin Water Library has temporarily closed. However, please reach out for assistance with reference questions or resource discovery. The senior special librarian, Anne Moser, is available. She has also assembled some useful STEM educational resources for distance learning.

We have a robust website offering publications on the Great Lakes and other water topics. Many resources are downloadable. Under normal circumstances, other items would be available in hard-copy form and at your request that we mail the materials. However, our office is temporarily closed and campus mail service is suspended.

We are offering only an electronic version of issue 2, 2020, of our quarterly newsletter, the Aquatic Sciences Chronicle. Many of our readers continue to work remotely and we have chosen to not expend resources to produce and mail hard copies of the publication to empty offices. Prior to production of issue 3, 2020, we will evaluate distribution plans. You can also sign up to get an emailed version or go here to read our latest edition.

Please contact us if you have questions or concerns, and please stay healthy. Here is a reminder of the reliable sources for Covid-19 information and guidance:

Centers for Disease Control

World Health Organization

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/operations-during-covid-19/

American Public Health Association

Operations in Response to COVID-19

On: March 16, 2020

In: Uncategorized

Due to the effects of COVID-19, these are unprecedented times for all of society, including water science and outreach at the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute. While our staff continues to adapt to the new reality, we remain committed to the mission of coordinating research that works to address present and emerging water quality, quantity and management challenges.

The Wisconsin Water Library has temporarily closed. However, please do reach out for assistance with reference questions or resource discovery. The senior special librarian is available.

Please contact us if you have questions or concerns, and please stay healthy. Here is a reminder of the reliable sources for COVID-19 information and guidance:

Centers for Disease Control

World Health Organization

The post Operations in Response to COVID-19 first appeared on WRI.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/operations-in-response-to-covid-19/

A special place for science: UW-M Field Station at the Cedarburg Bog

On: February 14, 2020

In: Cedarburg Bog, Gretchen Meyer, Saukville Wisconsin

A boardwalk extends into North America’s southernmost string bog, offering a spot for teaching and research. Image by Moira Harrington

I was recently invited to visit the 320-acre University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Field Station at the Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area. It was the last day of January. The tree swallows were absent, instead soaking in the warmth of their winter-migration homes to the south. The frogs were toughing out the cold Wisconsin conditions, buried in mud or hunkered under leaf piles and rocks, remaining inactive. The prairie flowers were likewise dormant, waiting for warmer temperatures before they will again show off colorful petals perched atop long stems.

Amid this winter somnolence, you might presume not much is happening at the field station. That would be inaccurate. The phenology camera is snapping away and adding information to an online dataset international in scope. The lab and its supportive equipment is primed and ready for the 2020 field season. The weather station continues to collect data, contributing in part to a current project funded by Sea Grant’s sister organization, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute.

In addition, the tree swallow transect arrays were in place for when UW-M researcher Peter Dunn returns to continue his work in understanding the relationship between food abundance and breeding.

This “bug sucker” captures bugs for a tree swallow study. Peter Dunn, professor of biological sciences at the UW-Milwaukee, has a long-term study to understand the relationship between food abundance and breeding of these birds found in Wisconsin’s open, treeless areas. Image by Moira Harrington

Soon, UW-M’s Gerlinde Höbel and her team will take up monitoring the rate and duration of male Eastern gray tree frog calls and which calls are most attractive to females. I saw Höbel’s “frog arena,” as field station Acting Director Gretchen Meyer termed it—a heavily soundproofed room with an enclosed area where a female frog would be placed while calls for her consideration are pumped in.

When the mercury climbs, Phil Hahn will be back from the University of Montana. He and his research group are conducting a three-year project on plant defenses against herbivory, comparing Wisconsin and Montana sites.

This group of researchers, Meyer said, “are a part of a core group of people whose projects go on long-term.”

Added to the mix are projects that are assessed on a case-by-case basis with recommendations from her and review by an eight-person field station committee. The assessment is based on: will the work introduce new species, will there be an impact from collecting and how would the proposed research interact with what is currently underway.

“We do consider the scientific merit of the proposed project as well. It’s a balance. What we have now is working well.” Meyer noted, though, “Most of what we get is easy to approve.”

She continued, “We want to enhance people’s appreciation and let them know what a special place the bog is.”

Special indeed. Meyer explained the area is a string bog, so named because, seen from above, the topography resembles strings. This is a factor of the tamarack and cedar growth alternating with shorter vegetation. Other features round out the area—sedge meadow, hardwood swamp, conifer swamp, orchids, lakes and some landscape in virtually pre-settlement condition.

The bog is the southernmost string bog in North America. Its closest cousin is found in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula but is inaccessible. Here in Saukville, Wisconsin, a boardwalk stretches into the bog. A site for teaching and outreach, Meyer said it gets the most use at the field station.

Through the Friends of Cedarburg Bog, there’s a robust offering of public programming. Aside from that, the public can visit Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-owned sections of the larger, 2,189-acre property.

Natural history workshops for college credit are taught at the field station through UW-M’s Biological Sciences Department. The courses are also open to the public. Check them out, https://uwm.edu/field-station/workshops. A course, Field Methods in Conservation, was held entirely at the station during the fall semester.

The field station, then, is critical to the advancement of science. Like the UW-Madison Center for Limnology’s Trout Lake Station, Canada’s IISD Experimental Lakes Area or Georgia’s Marine Institute on Sapelo Island—all places where Sea Grant or Water Resources Institute researchers have conducted fieldwork—we’re fortunate these pockets of learning and exploration exist.

The Cedarburg Bog lab stands ready and waiting for the kickoff of the summer 2020 field season. Image by Moira Harrington

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/a-special-place-for-science-uw-m-field-station-at-the-cedarburg-bog/

Asian carp dispersal barrier elicits emotions

On: February 11, 2020

In: Asian carp, Bonnie Willison, carp barrier, Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Chris Hamerla, Chuck Shea, Molly Bodde, Phil Skawinski, Sydney Widell, Titus Seilheimer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Chuck Shea, with the USACE, explains the 120-year history of the canal and its charge from Congress to stop the spread of AIS through the canal — a charge that came in 1996. Image by Moira Harrington.

Last Friday, I went to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which is outfitted with a set of thrumming electrical barriers. These barriers churn out an alternating current 34 times per second, each with a duration of 2.3 milliseconds. The goal is to turn back any invasive Asian carp set on making the journey into the world’s largest freshwater system. If established, it’s theorized the voracious eaters would decimate food sources at the expense of larger native fish.

I went with Bonnie Willison, Sea Grant’s digital storyteller, and Sydney Widell, an undergraduate with our program. Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer and Southeast Wisconsin Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Specialist Molly Bodde met us there, as did Chris Hamerla, a regional aquatic invasive species specialist with Golden Sands Resource and Conservation Development Council Inc., and Paul Skawinski, citizen lake monitoring network educator from the University of Wisconsin-Extension Lakes Program. Both are based in Stevens Point.

Willison and Widell are working on a multipart podcast series with a focus on AIS. Willison was tenacious in her efforts to secure permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for our visit to Romeoville, Illinois. These are the folks who manage the site of what’s been called the world’s largest electric barrier, actually three of them with 155-foot sections of electrodes at the bottom of the 27-foot-deep canal.

A fourth barrier is under construction and will have three times the power of the existing ones. The USACE plans to throw the switch on that in early 2021.

This is ground zero in the battle to keep Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes through a manmade waterway linking Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River Basin. It’s a 120-year-old unnatural connection, enabling marine transport and a cleaner Chicago, since stormwater and treated wastewater now flows out of that city thanks to an engineering feat that reversed the natural course of the water. It’s also provided a highway to mix species between the two aquatic systems that nature never intended to mix.

I’m not someone who geeks out on engineering, shipping or electricity. And it certainly wasn’t the promise of lovely waterside aesthetics that drew me south. This section of the canal is set amid a heavily industrialized stretch with belching petrochemical refineries.

The area around the electrical barriers is heavily industrialized. Image by Moira Harrington.

No, my emotions got revving because of what this place represents. Eight USACE employees, some consultants with barrier manufacturer Smith-Root and a whole lot of electrical buzz are all that stands between the Illinois River’s Starved Rock Pool, which supposedly holds the planet’s largest concentration of Asian carp and is about 60 miles from where I visited, and the rippling waves of Lake Michigan. Wow!

I wasn’t the only one expressing emotions. Widell said she has “peaked” now that she’s had a visit. Our lead AIS Specialist Tim Campbell wasn’t able to make the trip but responded to Seilheimer, aka @DrFish on Twitter, with #jealous.

Hamerla told the story about how Skawinski had texted him earlier in the week: “Call me ASAP.” When the two connected and Skawinski extended the invitation, Hamerla’s response was reportedly an enthusiastic, “Heck, yea,” leading to a 4 a.m. departure from Stevens Point to meet at the appointed hour.

Strong feelings weren’t limited to our group. Chuck Shea, USACE barrier project manager, said what motivates him on a daily basis is, “Knowing that you’re working on something that benefits so many people.”

The podcast episode about Asian carp and the barrier will be released in spring or early summer. At that time and after listening, Willison and Widell are betting you’ll get some emotions going, too.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/asian-carp-dispersal-barrier-elicits-emotions/

Wisconsin Sea Grant to provide more than $5.8 million for Great Lakes research, education and outreach over two years

On: February 5, 2020

In: funding, PFAS, Research, walleye

The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program today announced the award of more than $5.8 million in Great Lakes research, education and outreach dollars for 2020-22 as part of a federal-state partnership.

Sea Grant will fund 15 research, three education and 32 outreach projects on six University of Wisconsin campuses and at a private college. Other entities will participate in the projects, such as the Wisconsin Historical Society, which will conduct research on Great Lakes shipwrecks.

“For the coming two years, just as in our program’s preceding 52 years, our outreach and education activities and funded research will go forward on the basis of scientific integrity and relevance. The Great Lakes are a true treasure and we’re privileged to undertake this work to ensure their continued sustainability,” said Jim Hurley, Sea Grant director.

Researchers will look into the effects of high Great Lakes water levels on infrastructure, a series of chemical contaminants known as PFAS, fostering the growth of the sportfish walleye, and more.

Lakes Michigan and Superior will be the focus of research in the coming two years using Sea Grant federal-state dollars. Photo by Anne Moser.

In all, nearly 100 researchers, staff and students will be engaged in this work, Hurley said.

The campuses within the University of Wisconsin System are Green Bay and its campus in Manitowoc, Madison, Milwaukee, Stevens Point and Superior. The other campus is St. Norbert College.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, provides funding for this work through the National Sea Grant College Program. The state of Wisconsin provides a match for the federal funds—50 cents on the dollar.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-sea-grant-to-provide-more-than-5-8-million-for-great-lakes-research-education-and-outreach-over-two-years/

The polling winner? Science

On: January 9, 2020

In: America, Gallup poll, scientific achievements

Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded researchers collect a sediment sample from the St. Louis River Estuary. (Photo: Marie Zhuikov)

When the calendar flipped to 2020, we entered a new year – specifically, an election year. The political news stories, tweets and advertising that made for a solid background thrum last year will ratchet up to full noise now.

One hallmark of a presidential election year is the plethora of polling. We’ll see candidate horse race polls and those probing the electorate’s stance on a range of issues. Polls will be sliced and diced, agonized over and celebrated.

Since we’re in the season of polls, I want to highlight not a primarily political one, but one by Gallup that measured public trust in various institutions. Conducted in June 2019, the poll asked U.S. citizens what they were proud of regarding their country. Out of eight choices, 91% of respondents said they were most proud of American scientific achievements—the top pick. The military (89%) and domestic arts and culture (85%) rounded out the top three choices.

The bottom-ranked choice was the American political system with only 32% expressing a positive feeling about how the parties and our government conduct themselves.

The remaining categories in the poll included pride in the country’s economic (75%) and sporting (73%) achievements; diversity in race, ethnic background and religion (72%); and the health and welfare system (37%).

Naturally, we do not know who will prevail at the ballot box this November. At least one true winner is clear, according to the recent Gallup poll anyway: science.

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/the-polling-winner-science/

“Outstanding” results for WRI following a five-year review

On: January 8, 2020

In: USGS

With the new year comes a rating of “outstanding” for the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) based on a review conducted in 2019 by the program’s funders at the U.S. Geological Survey.

Earl A. Greene, director of the Water Resources Research Act Program, transmitted the review results to WRI’s Director Jim Hurley in a Jan. 2, 2020 letter that commended WRI for its strong program, “well focused on research to solve state water issues, student education and information transfer. This well balanced program is instrumental in achieving the goals of the Institute.”

The letter went on to call out the efforts of funded researchers who are publishing at a high rate in well-regarded publications, the program’s leadership and excellent information transfer efforts that are well integrated with research.

Water researcher Kevin Masarik is a collaborator with WRI. Here, he’s sampling water in the Central Sands region. Photo by Bonnie Willison.

The federal review panel evaluated the activities of 54 water resources institutes and centers, based in each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. The years under review had been 2011 through 2015.

“Each day, I am gratified by the work that we are able to accomplish through the Water Resources Institute, whether it’s supporting Wisconsin’s researchers in finding ways to identify and reduce contaminants in our drinking water, understanding the effects of climate change on Wisconsin waters or supporting students in learning and in developing our workforce. Along with our mission to share research findings with you and other relevant audiences, we play an important role in addressing Wisconsin’s water challenges and opportunities,” said WRI’s Associate Director Jennifer Hauxwell.

“The findings of this U.S. Geological Survey review of our program are just another welcome validation for what we are able to do for our fellow citizens who rely on one of Wisconsin’s most valuable assets – water,” she concluded.

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/outstanding-results-for-wri-following-a-five-year-review/