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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post From gridiron to shipwrecks to advisory council: Russ Green contributes to Lake Michigan care first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/from-gridiron-to-shipwrecks-to-advisory-council-russ-green-contributes-to-lake-michigan-care/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=from-gridiron-to-shipwrecks-to-advisory-council-russ-green-contributes-to-lake-michigan-care

Moira Harrington

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In: Advisory Council, Lori Tate

In the Wisconsin Sea Grant online newsroom, we recently introduced four new members of the Advisory Council. Council members help shape Sea Grant’s future, enabling it to better serve the people of Wisconsin.

Now, here on our blog, we’d like to give people a chance to get to know those four newcomers better through Q & As. Our fourth and final installment features Lori Tate of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Tate is section chief of the DNR’s Fisheries Management Bureau and is based in Madison.

Lori Tate (submitted photo).

Do you have a favorite spot in the Great Lakes, or a favorite natural area?

Growing up in Canada, Lake Superior was always my favorite. Long drives along the north shore and stops at Old Woman Bay, Nanabijou (Sleeping Giant Park) – those were my favorite childhood places.  Now, I feel so fortunate to call Wisconsin my home, and I love taking my family to explore the southern shore of Lake Superior. One of our other favorite camping spots is Peninsula State Park on beautiful Green Bay.

What drew you to say “yes” to serving on the Advisory Council?  

I am committed to fostering relationships between partner organizations and our Wisconsin DNR Fisheries Management program.  I feel that the work that Sea Grant does in Wisconsin is so important, and I was honored to join the Advisory Council.

Is there a special aspect of Sea Grant’s work or mission that speaks to you the most?

Sea Grant’s active outreach efforts connecting Great Lakes stakeholders with research and management is the aspect of the mission that speaks most to me. 

Where would you like to see Sea Grant headed in the near future? 

I am excited to see Sea Grant engaging in more collaborative fellowships, like Bryan Maitland’s; this is a great model for helping to answer research and management questions, and it provides these fantastic opportunities for young scientists!

The post Get to know the Advisory Council: Q & A with Lori Tate first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/get-to-know-the-advisory-council-q-a-with-lori-tate/

Jennifer Smith

On:
In: Advisory Council, Becky Sapper

In the Wisconsin Sea Grant online newsroom, we recently introduced four new members of the Advisory Council. Council members help shape Sea Grant’s future, enabling it to better serve the people of Wisconsin.

Now, here on our blog, we’d like to give people a chance to get to know those four newcomers better through Q & As. Our third installment features Becky Sapper, who directs the Wisconsin Master Naturalist Program. The program is part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, and Sapper is based in Ashland, Wis.

You can find our previous Q & A session with Deb DeLuca here and with Madelyn Leopold here. Stay tuned to the blog for our fourth and final installment, which will feature Lori Tate.

Becky Sapper (submitted photo).

Becky Sapper (submitted photo).

Do you have a favorite spot in the Great Lakes, or favorite natural area?

I have lived on the shores of Lake Superior for over 25 years, so the waters of Lake Superior provide my sense of place. But, more specifically, my favorite places on the Big Lake are my fishing holes, and I can’t disclose their locations! But I do like to take friends and family to Houghton Falls and Little Girls Point.

What drew you to say “yes” to serving on the Advisory Council?  

While I was in a previous role with Extension, I was fortunate to collaborate with several Sea Grant staff during the designation of the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve back in 2010.  I have the utmost respect for those individuals and the work Sea Grant has done both in Wisconsin and at a national scale. It was an honor to be asked to join the Advisory Council.

Is there a special aspect of Sea Grant’s work or mission that speaks to you the most?

I like that Sea Grant’s efforts include both research and education priorities.  It’s important that we continue to learn more about our Great Lakes, but we also need to understand why it’s important and how that impacts local communities. Sea Grant’s education and outreach efforts really work to tie the people of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes together in a natural way.

Where would you like to see Sea Grant headed in the near future? 

Sea Grant’s strategies are already very comprehensive, but in the future I’d like to see Sea Grant continue to strengthen their work with emerging issues that impact people living in and visiting our coastal communities. We often take our water-rich state for granted. I think it’s important that Sea Grant’s efforts are relevant and relatable for those who value and rely on the Great Lakes for work and for play.

The post Get to know the Advisory Council: Q & A with Becky Sapper first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/get-to-know-the-advisory-council-q-a-with-becky-sapper/

Jennifer Smith

On:
In: Advisory Council, Madelyn Leopold

In the Wisconsin Sea Grant online newsroom, we recently introduced four new members of the Advisory Council. Council members help shape Sea Grant’s future, enabling it to better serve the people of Wisconsin.

Now, here on our blog, we’d like to give people a chance to get to know those four newcomers better through Q & As. Our second installment features Madelyn Leopold, a retired attorney and private landowner.

You can find our previous post about Duluth Seaway Port Authority Executive Director Deb DeLuca here. Keep following the blog for future posts on the remaining two new members: Becky Sapper and Lori Tate.

Madelyn Leopold (submitted photo).

Do you have a favorite spot in the Great Lakes, or favorite natural area?

I love rivers, so my favorite spots usually have a river somewhere in the scene.  One favorite is Pikes Peak State Park in Iowa, across the Mississippi from Prairie du Chien, at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers.  The views from the high bluffs in that park always remind me of how vast and grand our Midwestern landscape is.

What drew you to say “yes” to serving on the Advisory Council?  

To be honest, it was (Sea Grant Assistant Director for Communications) Moira Harrington.  She and I serve together on the Board of Park Commissioners in Madison. Moira always brings a broad, science-based perspective to the board discussions. It was clear that her lens was much broader than most, and I credited some of that perspective to her work with Wisconsin Sea Grant. I was curious to know more about her organization and the work that it does.

Is there a special aspect of Sea Grant’s work or mission that speaks to you the most?

I am excited about many elements of Sea Grant’s work and mission. What comes first to mind is its emphasis on engaging young people of diverse backgrounds in science-based projects; we need to broaden the community of people who care and are smart about managing our waters.

I’m also excited about how Sea Grant’s work engages communities and businesses in local projects where the impacts can be seen and appreciated and supported; these connections are important for expanding the public’s understanding and support of scientific research.

It’s also great to see the “Wisconsin Idea” reach into so many corners of the state through Sea Grant’s focus on a resource that all Wisconsinites know and love–their waters and waterways.

Where would you like to see Sea Grant headed in the near future? 

I’d like to see Sea Grant’s work become better known among the general public; the stories coming out of its work are interesting and compelling.

The post Get to know the Advisory Council: Q & A with Madelyn Leopold first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/get-to-know-the-advisory-council-q-a-with-madelyn-leopold/

Jennifer Smith

On:
In: Advisory Council, Deb DeLuca, Duluth Port Authority, Duluth Seaway Port Authority

In the Wisconsin Sea Grant online newsroom, we recently introduced four new members of the Advisory Council. Council members help shape Sea Grant’s future, enabling it to better serve the people of Wisconsin.

Now, here on our blog, we’d like to give people a chance to get to know those four newcomers better through Q & As. We begin with Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

Keep following the blog for upcoming installments with the other three new members: Madelyn Leopold, Becky Sapper and Lori Tate.

Deb DeLuca (submitted photo).

Do you have a favorite spot in the Great Lakes, or favorite natural area?

As a Lake Superior community resident, I spend a lot of free time (as well as work time) within view of, or on the shores of, Lake Superior.  I love disappearing along Lake Superior’s North Shore, including those areas around Minnesota state parks, most often Tettegouche, Temperance River and Cascade River.

Along the South Shore, Pictured Rocks National Seashore and Porcupine State Park (in Michigan) are amazing, as are the Bayfield Peninsula and the Apostle Islands.

I adore any bike route, or hiking or Nordic ski trail, that includes Lake Superior views–especially when you turn a corner or descend a hill and the lake is suddenly spread out before you in all its glory–regardless of weather or season.

What drew you to say “yes” to serving on the Advisory Council?  

My “yes” answer was driven by two trains of thought.  First, I am not only a Wisconsin native, I am also a proud University of Wisconsin graduate.  I earned my master’s degree through the land resources program at (what is now) the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. My research focused on the occurrence of pesticide degradation products in groundwater contaminated by the parent product, and the implications for health-risk-based standards for those pesticides.

My home department was the water chemistry department, whose building was located near the Memorial Union overlooking Lake Mendota.  I was very aware of the Sea Grant program while I was in graduate school. One of our fantastic water chemistry professors, and a huge personality, Anders Andren, was Sea Grant director at the time.

Fast-forward many years: my son recently graduated from UW-Madison, and my father is still a UW emeritus professor. Serving on the Advisory Council keeps me close to my Wisconsin and UW roots and lets me return service to the University of Wisconsin System.

Secondly, I appreciate Wisconsin Sea Grant’s mission to promote “the sustainable use of Great Lakes resources” and its vision, which is “thriving coastal ecosystems and communities.”  Thriving communities must thrive on ecosystem, societal and economic bases, and realistic solutions must balance the intersection of these three realms.

Great Lakes shipping plays an important role in the state and regional economy, yet it is relatively invisible, especially to non-waterfront communities.  I am proud to represent the interests of shipping and waterborne commerce on the Advisory Council. 

 Is there a special aspect of Sea Grant’s work or mission that speaks to you the most?

There are many aspects that appeal to me.  Working waterfronts and resilient coastal communities are key to all of us who live in towns and cities on the Great Lakes and love Great Lakes resources.

Resiliency will only become increasingly important with climate change.  The aquatic invasive species focus is also important in my line of work: as responsible stewards of the Great Lakes, we must be aware and realistic about associated risks and set policy that is effective and practical. 

 Where would you like to see Sea Grant headed in the near future? 

As an incoming member of the Advisory Committee, I think it is important to first engage and listen before articulating or identifying a direction for the organization.

The post Get to know the Advisory Council: Q&A with Deb DeLuca first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/get-to-know-the-advisory-council-qa-with-deb-deluca/

Jennifer Smith

On:
In: Advisory Council, Becky Sapper, Deb DeLuca, Duluth Port Authority, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, Lori Tate, Madelyn Leopold

Four new members joined the Advisory Council of Wisconsin Sea Grant in fall 2020. Invited to serve by the organization and officially appointed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor, these individuals help shape Sea Grant’s future, enabling it to better serve the people of Wisconsin. The four new members are Deb DeLuca, Madelyn Leopold, Becky Sapper and Lori Tate.

With 15 members total, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Advisory Council brings together individuals from academia; state, tribal and local governments; private industry; and the public at large. This body meets two to three times per year. Members’ varied viewpoints and experiences help ensure Sea Grant’s responsiveness and accountability to its constituencies.

Sea Grant is grateful to these individuals for contributing their time to address challenges and opportunities facing our Great Lakes. The brief profiles below will help you get acquainted with them; watch the Wisconsin Sea Grant blog in the coming weeks for more in-depth Q&A features with each.

Deb DeLuca, executive director, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, Duluth, Minn.

Deb DeLuca (submitted photo).

For Deb DeLuca, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Wisconsin Sea Grant is headquartered, is in her blood. She earned her master’s degree at what is now the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies on campus. Said DeLuca, “I was very aware of the Sea Grant program while I was in graduate school,” having crossed paths with former Sea Grant director Anders Andren, who taught water chemistry. DeLuca’s graduate research focused on the occurrence of pesticide degradation products in groundwater contaminated by the parent product, and the implications for health-risk-based standards for those pesticides. 

Now, years later, DeLuca is the parent of a recent UW-Madison graduate, and her father is an emeritus professor there. “Serving on the Advisory Council keeps me close to my Wisconsin and UW roots, and it lets me return service to the University of Wisconsin system.”

DeLuca leads the bustling Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the Great Lakes’ largest port, as its executive director—the first woman in that role in the port authority’s 60-year history. (She spoke about her career journey in a public talk co-presented by Sea Grant last year; you can find a recap of that event on our blog.)

She feels a strong connection to the Sea Grant vision of thriving coastal ecosystems and communities, as well as the sustainable use of Great Lakes resources. As she said, “Thriving communities must thrive on ecosystem, societal and economic bases. Realistic solutions must balance the intersection of these three realms.  Great Lakes shipping plays an important role in the state and regional economy, yet it is relatively invisible, especially to non-waterfront communities.  I am proud to represent the interests of shipping and waterborne commerce on the Advisory Council.” 

Madelyn Leopold, private landowner and retired attorney, Madison, Wis. 

Madelyn Leopold (submitted photo).

Madelyn Leopold, a retired attorney with a commitment to conservation, found her way to the Advisory Council though another body on which she serves, Madison’s Board of Park Commissioners. There, she met Sea Grant Assistant Director for Communications Moira Harrington, a fellow commissioner.

Said Leopold, “Moira always brings a broad, science-based perspective to the board discussions; it was clear that her lens was much broader than most, and I credited some of that perspective to her work with Wisconsin Sea Grant.  I was curious to know more about her organization and the work that it does.”

Leopold finds Sea Grant’s emphasis on “engaging young people of diverse backgrounds in science-based projects” especially appealing.  As she observed, “We need to broaden the community of people who care and are smart about managing our waters.”

“I’m also excited about how Sea Grant’s work engages communities and businesses in local projects where the impacts can be seen and appreciated and supported; these connections are important for expanding the public’s understanding and support of scientific research,” elaborated Leopold. Examples of this include green infrastructure efforts and rip-current safety lights at Port Washington beaches. 

Becky Sapper, director, Wisconsin Master Naturalist Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Division of Extension, Ashland, Wis.

Becky Sapper (submitted photo).For Becky Sapper, the waters of Lake Superior are her lodestar; she has lived near them for 25 years. Based in Ashland, she directs the Wisconsin Master Naturalist Program, which in 2020 was honored with the Dave Engleson Award from the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education. That award recognizes significant contributions to the field of environmental education having statewide, regional or national impact.

As a new Advisory Council member, Sapper looks forward to making an impact with Sea Grant as well. The organization has long been on her radar, and, in 2010 (while she was in a previous Extension role), she collaborated with several Sea Grant staff during the designation of the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Sapper said she finds Sea Grant’s emphasis on both research and education/outreach compelling. “It’s important that we continue to learn more about our Great Lakes, but we also need to understand why it’s important and how that impacts local communities,” she noted.

Looking toward the future, “I’d like to see Sea Grant continue to strengthen their work with emerging issues that impact people living in and visiting our coastal communities,” she said, so that Wisconsinites continue to appreciate and value our water-rich state.

Lori Tate, section chief, Fisheries Management Bureau, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wis. 

Lori Tate (submitted photo).

Lori Tate, of the Wisconsin DNR’s Fisheries Management Bureau, came to Wisconsin in 2009, after growing up and spending her career until to that point in Canada. A fisheries biologist, she has experience with freshwater systems, as well as some exposure to aquaculture farms.

Tate is eager to grow connections between the DNR’s Fisheries Management program and the organizations it partners with, such as Sea Grant and its sister program, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI). She’s already a mentor to a postdoctoral fellow jointly supported by the Bureau of Fisheries Management and WRI (Bryan Maitland, a Wisconsin Water Science-Policy Fellow).

Said Tate, these collaboratively supported fellowships are “a great model for helping to answer research and management questions, and they provide fantastic opportunities for young scientists!”

What’s more, said Tate, she appreciates Sea Grant’s active outreach efforts to connect Great Lakes stakeholders with this research and management decision-making.

Follow our blog for more!

To learn more about our new Advisory Council members, including their favorite spots on the Great Lakes, follow the Wisconsin Sea Grant blog. In the coming weeks, we will add our full Q&A’s with each new member.

The post New Sea Grant Advisory Council members help guide program with their expertise first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/new-sea-grant-advisory-council-members/

Jennifer Smith