On:
In: 50th anniversary, Anders Andren, Bob Ragotzkie, James Hurley, Jim Hurley, Robert Ragotzkie

The next installment in Wisconsin Sea Grant’s “Lake Talks” series will focus on the organization itself, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary year.

Headshot of Jim Hurley

Dr. Jim Hurley, Wisconsin Sea Grant director

Sea Grant Director Jim Hurley will present “Sea Grant at 50: Looking back, moving forward,” examining the formation of this science-based organization devoted to the sustainable use and protection of our Great Lakes resources. He’ll also discuss its current work and where it is headed as it looks ahead to the next 50 years.

The online event takes place Thursday, April 14, from 7 to 8 p.m. on Zoom. Registration is required and open now. The hour will include time for audience questions.

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

Bob Ragotzkie stands in front of the doorway to the UW Sea Grant Institute in a vintage photo likely from the early 1970s

Wisconsin Sea Grant owes much to its founding director, Dr. Bob Ragotzkie.

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

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

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

For Lake Talks event and registration information, visit the Sea Grant website, or follow Wisconsin Sea Grant on Facebook or Twitter. You can register for the April 14 presentation now.

For questions about this series, contact Wisconsin Sea Grant science communicator Jennifer Smith.

The post Lake Talks series to explore Sea Grant’s past and future first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/lake-talks-series-to-explore-sea-grants-past-and-future/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lake-talks-series-to-explore-sea-grants-past-and-future

Jennifer Smith

On:
In: Anders Andren, Bob Ragotzkie, Robert Ragotzkie

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post Advocate for Great Lakes science dies at 97 first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/advocate-for-great-lakes-science-dies-at-97/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=advocate-for-great-lakes-science-dies-at-97

Moira Harrington