On:
In: Elise Ertl, Marie Zhuikov, Moira Harrington, Tim Campbell, Wisconsin Sea Grant summer internship 2020

By Elise Ertl, University of Wisconsin-Superior

An internship can be a gateway to someone’s future, to a better career, and the beginning of a lifelong learning opportunity. This summer, I was fortunate enough to have had one of those opportunities through the Coastal Science Communications Internship at Wisconsin Sea Grant with my mentors Marie Zhuikov, Moira Harrington and Tim Campbell.

This year, however, the internships through Sea Grant presented themselves a little differently as they were virtual due to COVID-19. Not only was this a new experience for me, but for everyone at Sea Grant. Despite not being able to meet in person, the internship remained equally educational and exciting.

Elise Ertl. Submitted photo

Throughout the internship, I was given a calendar of tasks I was expected to complete day by day. However, I did not know at the time that those tasks would lead me to learning more about science communication than I could’ve imagined. This included what seemed to be a recurring theme for me, getting my foot in the door, exploring different forms of work, and learning the processes of being a part of a communications team. There are so many parts to communication. All of those parts are intersections that connect not only the work of many people within an organization, but at the very base, connect the people themselves. After realizing just how important communication really is, it is hard to imagine where we would all be without it. This was just the beginning of my ten-week long learning process.

My first project was to write an intern news release. I had never written a news release before, but now I was going to do it for eight interns, including myself. This new and challenging endeavor gave me the opportunity to meet and learn more about all of the interns as I contacted each to hear about what they would be working on during their own internships. The intern news release got posted on the Wisconsin Sea Grant website as well as sent to their individual hometown newspapers.

As each intern’s internship continued, so did our communication. Each week, we would attend a “brown bag” meeting where all of us would share their current progress throughout their week. Afterward, just the interns would talk together to share common experiences and bounce ideas off each other. Communicating with the interns made me more aware of my own communication style and led me to become more confident reaching out to people.

As the internship went on, I became constantly reminded of the essence of time. Even when I may feel something is time-sensitive, it probably is not that way for everyone. It is just as important to be patient with people as it is to not be a pushover when it comes to contacting them, especially about interviews.

I interviewed two people over the course of the internship, which was yet another completely new skill for me. I was surprised by the amount of time it took to get an interview, do the interview and write a story. However, in this, I was able to discover what methods work best for me such as using a recorder to recall and sort through information.

Outside of writing and interviews, I was also able to learn how to create podcasts. This work was very exciting especially because of how podcasts are increasing in popularity. I learned the online software, Audacity, and how to use several pieces of recording equipment such as the Sonus iTwo audio box, microphones and headsets. As I worked on the podcasts, I was able to gradually increase in the amount I was able to do. I started initially with editing quotes and narration and, by the last Wisconsin Water News podcast, was able to make a whole podcast almost completely on my own.

Beyond my tasks, I also attended meetings and helped set up meetings as well, giving me a taste of the interworkings of an organization, while increasing my communication skills. The more you practice communication, the less scary the idea becomes.

The skills I learned in this internship are invaluable and are something I can not only apply directly to future careers, but can apply anywhere in my life. I plan to bring the knowledge and skills I have gained from working for Wisconsin Sea Grant with me wherever I go, and I will always remember the people and place who put faith, time and energy into me and guided me through the beginning of the rest of my career. For what I know now and for what I have experienced, I am forever grateful.

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/one-interns-reflection/

Wisconsin Sea Grant

On:
In: Elise Ertl, Lake Guardian shipboard science project, Sarah DeZwarte, YMCA Camp Y-Koda

By Elise Ertl, University of Wisconsin-Superior

Sarah DeZwarte, education director at YMCA Camp Y-Koda in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, had the opportunity to, not only once, but to twice take part in the Lake Guardian teacher cruise and Shipboard Science Workshop. While each trip entailed a different experience, both provided fundamental learning and education that DeZwarte was able to carry on to the students and residents of the Lake Michigan coastal area.

Sarah DeZwarte

DeZwarte believes that the knowledge of students and community has the power to change how we treat our environment and ecosystems, especially when speaking locally. After her experience with the Lake Guardian teacher cruise and the Shipboard Workshop, DeZwarte is taking her knowledge and collaborating with the Sheboygan Area School District to inform and create field experiences for students to learn about Lake Michigan.

“In the past, they’ve been learning about Arctic ecosystems, which is great, but that is not in their backyard. We’ve been able to provide new textbooks for students to learn about Lake Michigan for about a month and then, I will meet with them at Kohler-Andrae State Park, where we will do three different activities. They will then continue learning about Lake Michigan for the next three weeks,” DeZwarte said.

The most important thing to DeZwarte is that kids in her area are finally able to learn about Lake Michigan.

One activity DeZwarte carries out with students is to collect macroinvertebrates using leaf bags, which are mesh bags filled with leaves that soak in a wetland for 21 days prior to the activity. The macroinvertebrates will make their way into the bag and slowly work on decomposing and shredding the material. All the students need to do is pour the bag contents into a pan and then they can pick out and identify the macroinvertebrates present. The other two activities involve piping plovers and sturgeon. These activities show the productivity of the coastal wetlands and just how important every part is to its success.

Students from YMCA Camp Y-Koda learn about macroinvertebrates from Lake Michigan.

Developing these activities for kids has provided them with an early, real-world experience that gives them a taste of what research is like. It inspires them to learn about their local area and protect environmental areas that already exist right before their eyes and in their backyard and hopefully, continue to spread their knowledge throughout their communities.

The Shipboard Science Project has not only impacted local students but also DeZwarte herself. “As an educator, I’ve been impacted in terms of my passion. Whenever you get to be a scientist yourself, I think it just elevates your ambition to share it with children.”

These experiences have elevated DeZwarte’s opportunities and need to reach out to her community about the importance of being aware of local ecosystems and environments.

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/sea-grant-learning-programs-help-environmental-educator-put-students-in-touch-with-lake-michigan/

Wisconsin Sea Grant

On:
In: Elise Ertl, J. Philip Keillor coastal management fellow, Lydia Salus

By Elise Ertl, University of Wisconsin-Superior

Tackling the challenge of developing resilience in coastal communities across the Great Lakes region is a two-way process that combines both science and policy.

Through the J. Philip Keillor Wisconsin Coastal Management Sea Grant Fellowship, the recipient, Lydia Salus, plans to do just that by building on what past fellows have accomplished, which includes writing and editing a coastal processes manual and outreach to local stakeholders.

Lydia Salus. Submitted photo.

“I am looking for some real-world policy experience to see water management on a broader scale,” Salus said. “There are a lot of different facets and opportunities for water management in Wisconsin, especially being placed between two Great Lakes.”

The fellowship is a full-time, yearlong position that will allow Salus to help communities build coastal resilience and make informed decisions. It places a recent master’s or doctoral graduate alongside mentors who will assist in developing water resource management and technical skills regarding water issues. In this case, Salus will be working closely not only with Sea Grant mentors but also with staff at the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program.

When asked what drew her to this fellowship Salus said, “This fellowship is a lot about actionable science, which is very attractive to me. It is going to allow me to take those technical skills and actually be able to do something with them and give that information to communities who will be able to solve problems and make themselves more resilient to coastal processes.”

During the fellowship, Salus hopes to develop her career and focus her career goals. Previously, she worked as a restoration field technician in southeastern Wisconsin to restore areas anywhere from prairie fields to coasts. Since then, her career goals have been focused on water resource management.

“Often, there is a gap between science and decision making and with this position, one of my goals is to be the bridge for that gap and connect science and decision making, especially in the Great Lakes communities,” Salus said.

During her graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Salus was also presented the opportunity to work with Sea Grant as a project assistant on the Southeastern Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Project. Before that, Salus worked to gain an extensive water resource and environmental science background but said having that direct experience with coastal management with Sea Grant drove her to a new section of water resource management, science and policy, and has launched her into this fellowship.

After completion of the fellowship, Salus wants her “future work to be less about the actual position I have and more about the work that I’ll be doing. I want to be able to connect scientific knowledge to fit the needs of different communities and to help them use that knowledge to make informed decisions about the area they live in.”

 

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/new-keillor-coastal-management-fellow-hopes-to-bridge-the-gap-between-science-and-policy/

Wisconsin Sea Grant

On:
In: Elise Ertl, J. Philip Keillor coastal management fellow, Lydia Salus

By Elise Ertl, University of Wisconsin-Superior

Tackling the challenge of developing resilience in coastal communities across the Great Lakes region is a two-way process that combines both science and policy.

Through the J. Philip Keillor Wisconsin Coastal Management Sea Grant Fellowship, the recipient, Lydia Salus, plans to do just that by building on what past fellows have accomplished, which includes writing and editing a coastal processes manual and outreach to local stakeholders.

Lydia Salus. Submitted photo.

“I am looking for some real-world policy experience to see water management on a broader scale,” Salus said. “There are a lot of different facets and opportunities for water management in Wisconsin, especially being placed between two Great Lakes.”

The fellowship is a full-time, yearlong position that will allow Salus to help communities build coastal resilience and make informed decisions. It places a recent master’s or doctoral graduate alongside mentors who will assist in developing water resource management and technical skills regarding water issues. In this case, Salus will be working closely not only with Sea Grant mentors but also with staff at the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program.

When asked what drew her to this fellowship Salus said, “This fellowship is a lot about actionable science, which is very attractive to me. It is going to allow me to take those technical skills and actually be able to do something with them and give that information to communities who will be able to solve problems and make themselves more resilient to coastal processes.”

During the fellowship, Salus hopes to develop her career and focus her career goals. Previously, she worked as a restoration field technician in southeastern Wisconsin to restore areas anywhere from prairie fields to coasts. Since then, her career goals have been focused on water resource management.

“Often, there is a gap between science and decision making and with this position, one of my goals is to be the bridge for that gap and connect science and decision making, especially in the Great Lakes communities,” Salus said.

During her graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Salus was also presented the opportunity to work with Sea Grant as a project assistant on the Southeastern Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Project. Before that, Salus worked to gain an extensive water resource and environmental science background but said having that direct experience with coastal management with Sea Grant drove her to a new section of water resource management, science and policy, and has launched her into this fellowship.

After completion of the fellowship, Salus wants her “future work to be less about the actual position I have and more about the work that I’ll be doing. I want to be able to connect scientific knowledge to fit the needs of different communities and to help them use that knowledge to make informed decisions about the area they live in.”

 

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/new-keillor-coastal-management-fellow-hopes-to-bridge-the-gap-between-science-and-policy/

Wisconsin Sea Grant

On:
In: Canada geese deterrence on St. Louis River, Elise Ertl, geese and wild rice, River Talks, Sam Hansen

Canada geese swimming through wild rice on the St. Louis River. Image taken by a trail cam.

By Elise Ertl, University of Wisconsin-Superior

The final River Talk of the season, “Deterring Geese on the St. Louis River to Protect Wild Rice,” was presented by Sam Hansen, a former summer undergraduate research fellow with the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, on May 13. The presentation was done virtually via Zoom, which allowed people to come together during the Coronavirus pandemic. It is available on YouTube.

Hansen completed his research in the summer of 2019. In his talk, he discussed the effects of low-impact kayaking on the Canada geese population in bay areas and the relationship between these geese and wild rice.

Wild rice is an important resource in our area, not only economically, but socially and culturally as well. Hansen began his talk by discussing the current situation of declining rice in the St. Louis River and what could be causing levels to drop. “There are a couple reasons for the depletion of wild rice in recent years. One is rising water levels, sulfide levels and the focus of this study, goose predation.”

Canada goose. Image credit: Sam Hansen

Canada geese were once endangered in our area, however since then, geese have replenished their population, reaching around 5 million breeding geese in 2013. Hansen says the increase in the population is likely due to the increase in agricultural grain, meaning the geese have more feeding opportunities. This includes wild rice in their diet.  This increase in goose population means a decrease in wild rice.

To test whether human activity, such as low-impact kayaking, would have an effect on goose visitation in areas with wild rice, Hansen set up eight trail cameras: four on visited lakes (lakes with frequent human visitors), and four on unvisited lakes (lakes with no visitors). The trail cams took photos every ten minutes, totaling around 30,000 pictures that he had to sort through at the end of the observation period. 

Hansen acquired kayakers for the visited lakes through volunteerism, Craigslist, and geocache opportunities. Geocaches are small, hidden containers that usually include a notepad and pencil or a small item inside with which people are then able to leave a small note or exchange an item of their own bringing with an item inside the container. This is something that is a unique addition to the study to attract more people that may normally not have visited the lakes otherwise. People that were not volunteers for the study, but were still present on the lake, were also taken into account.

Hansen said, “The geocaches were meant so that people would have to kayak out to find them and, therefore, deter geese. Some people, however, did just grab them from land, but fortunately, we were able to still count them as visitors.”

For his research, Hansen recorded what time of the day geese were most likely to be active and what stage of growth the wild rice was in when most geese were present. Hansen said, “There is a higher abundance of geese during the flowering leaf stages of wild rice and the bays are most frequently visited during dawn and dusk, while midday times were avoided. Kayaking or visiting the bays during morning and night will most effectively deter geese.”

Hansen’s overall results showed non-motorized water recreation could be a goose deterrence method and would be most effective in areas with more wild rice in the flowering stages.

One audience member noted that goslings are grown by the time the rice flowers, and speculated that more geese are present during the flowering stage because the young geese increase the population counts.

Another audience member asked if bringing a dog while paddling could also help deter geese. While Hansen said no further studies on goose deterrence are being conducted right now, both of these ideas could be a potential study in the future.

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/deterring-geese-on-the-st-louis-river-to-protect-wild-rice/

Wisconsin Sea Grant

On:
In: Elise Ertl, leatherback sea turtles, Pacuare Reserve

A leatherback sea turtle. Image credit: Alastair Rae

By Elise Ertl, University of Wisconsin-Superior

Our student blogger intern, Elise, shares a story about her experience a few years ago helping leatherback sea turtles in Costa Rica. An estimated 34,000 to 36,000 nesting females are now left worldwide, compared to 115,000 in 1980.  Elise traveled with her mother, who is a biology teacher in north-central Wisconsin. We hope you enjoy this virtual trip to the tropics!

The air is hot and humid. The summer breeze smells of sea salt and wet sand, something the trees experience all the time. How luxurious for the trees — moisture-laden air, golden, sunny rays and fertilized ground. Their trunks are weathered, yet untouched and strong. The soil materializes to a dark, moist brown that I could imagine seeping through my toes as my feet begin to sink.

I envy the Costa Ricans their way of life. They seem happy, carefree and to enjoy living a simple life. One of their sayings, “Pura Vida,” means pure life, better translated to, “don’t take life so seriously,” or, “take it easy.” I wish life could always be thought of in this way. I want to relax and take life slowly, one step at a time. That’s not the kind of life that I am used to, but is something for which I deeply long.

Something else I deeply cherish is Costa Ricans’ regard for nature. In Costa Rica, harming or killing any animal is illegal, including the minute mosquito or spider.  I think of it as a recognition of the delicate balance of the ecosystem that can be found in the rainforests of their country. As one Costa Rican explained, “We are just one small part of nature. Nature is our home. We must respect every living creature as we respect ourselves.” Every hour I spend learning and exploring the grounds of Costa Rica, the more I fall in love with the people and their values.

Elise Ertl and friend. Submitted image.

I am on my way to Pacaure Reserve, a small research center for leatherback sea turtles, the largest species of sea turtle. I am sitting in the back of a van whipping down a long winding road. I pull out my water bottle and take a sip of my warm water to try and ease the nausea of motion sickness. Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up.

I wish my spinning head would still. I am aware that alongside the road waterfalls flow over bright green vines, clay and rock, but my head blends it all together.

We finally veer off the never-ending bending road, and I never thought I would be so happy to feel the bumpiness of a gravel surface. Any road is better than the previous one! The spinning slowly subsides the more I focus on the view outside my window. This area is not like what I had seen so far but rather dry and could probably use a good day of rain. The van pulls up alongside a river where two men wait for us with their two boats. Normally, I would not hop in a boat with a strange man, but these men smile, laugh, and obviously care about my safety as they hand me a life jacket.

The boats are nothing fancy, made of tin and painted dark green with metal seats. Knowing the boats are a bit tipsy, the man reaches for my hand and I reluctantly take his offer. I tumble into the rocky boat, catching myself and scorching my hand on a hot metal seat. My skin turns bright red and feels like it is on fire. I am an inch away from sticking my hand in the water to find relief when I feel my wrist snatched.

A Costa Rican crocodile. Image by Craig Hemsath.

“No, no, no,” the man says, looking at me with wide eyes and gaping mouth. “Keep your hands inside the boat at all times. There are crocodiles everywhere.”

An alarm goes off in my head. “There’s crocodiles everywhere!?” I say as my expression begins to match the man’s. I look around and sure enough, every 10 feet along the river edge, crocodiles lurk. Dark brown, yellow-eyed crocodiles and their babies await their next meal. “Thank you,” I say as he lets go of my wrist, and we both sigh in relief.

The boat ride is stunning, and I even grow to like the crocodiles soaking up the sun on the sand pits of the water’s edge. Birds whose songs I do not recognize are singing louder and louder in a call and response to one another. I see one peculiar black, skinny beak sticking up from the water, moving from one area to the next. The man driving my boat is a native, and I ask him what that animal with the long sharp beak is called.

An anhinga. Image by Craig Hemsath.

He responds, “That is an Anhinga. They eat crocodiles.” Alarmed at first, I find comfort in the thought that this small but mighty bird is my protector against the crocodiles.

The boats stop by a short sand pathway that leads to our final destination, the Pacuare Reserve. As we walk up the shore with our gear on our backs, the first thing we notice is a small brown building with a concrete patio out front. People are gathered at the picnic tables, eating a meal of rice, black beans and fried plantains. What we don’t know is that meal would become the same one we would eat for the next two weeks. Everyone gathered introduces themselves as the researchers of the project and the ones who will be helping us with our sea turtle research. They all look fresh out of college and happy to be spending their time on this reserve.

Soon after meeting the researchers, the owner of the reserve shows us where we will be staying. Long, tan and skinny yurts reminiscent of a Girl Scout camp stand before me, except this time, the spiders will be enjoying their stay with us, since we cannot kill them here. To avoid ants and other animals coming into the yurts, we are told to make sure there is absolutely no food in our bags, and to come back to the concrete patio as soon as we are ready. We are starting our training right away.

Down at the patio, the researchers split us into groups and take us down to the beach. On our way, I notice signs written in Spanish lining the rocky trail, showing pictures of the different types of Tortugas (turtles) that come to nest on this beach. We are here to document the number of leatherback sea turtles that come to nest, measure their length and width, collect their eggs and relocate them to safe place on the beach where poachers and predators cannot find them.

Our training begins with a group activity to build the best, and most accurately sized, leatherback sand sea turtle. We start sculpting turtles out of the moist sand, having no idea how big these turtles really are. Our sand modeling done, the researchers teach us how to properly measure a turtle, but note that our turtles are only three feet long, when the average leather back turtle is six- to seven-and-a-half-feet long.  My group can’t imagine a turtle longer than an arm’s length.

The instructors teach us everything we need to know to assist the researchers. As we learn, I realize how ingenious these creatures are. Leatherbacks implement a defense against predators by laying different-sized eggs. The first 100 or so eggs are fertilized and about the size of a billiard ball, while the next 30 to 50 eggs are unfertilized and ping-pong-ball-sized. By placing fake eggs on top, the mother leatherback increases her young’s chance of survival.

The researchers tell us we are now ready to begin our first night shift out of 14, but none of us realizes how unprepared we are for what we are about to witness.

Night after night, we scour the beaches, hoping our group will be the next to help the half-ton, egg-bearing mother leatherback sea turtle deliver her young to safety. As the days go on, the outlook becomes more and more grim as we have not seen any turtles, but both of the other groups had seen and helped one, if not two, already.

It’s my group’s final night shift at the reserve. After walking down the beach, I gaze over the darkened water, only seeing as far as the moonlight allows. The sound of the ocean waves swaying so gracefully makes me feel as if I could close my eyes and lie down to drift away. Taking in a deep breath of fresh, warm air, I almost don’t care if I see a turtle or not. As magnificent as it would be, I have so much magnificence already in front of me — a vast ocean joined by never-ending rainforest — and I am standing on the centerpiece. Bioluminescent algae make the water glow in the dark and the sands sparkle in every direction. In the night, I hear waves, and I feel wind. I even smell the alarming and musky scent of a jaguar.

Life doesn’t stop at night. When the Earth falls silent and the lights turn off, the creatures of the night awake. Not monsters and ghosts, but hidden gems that gleam in daylight’s absence. A new world is brought alive without the sun’s perpetual shadow.

Our group leader, Laura, interrupts my wandering thoughts with a hushed voice telling us to crouch down. When my eyes settle, I see a massive creature emerging from the many-thousand-mile trip she endured across the ocean. The group falls silent in awe and disbelief. Two front flippers rise from the ground in tremendous effort to pull herself through the sand and up toward the trees lining the beach edge. Ten seconds between each pull forward and nine seconds of heavy, laborious breathing. I can hear the air being inhaled through her nostrils and exhaled with every task, leading to her utter exhaustion.

She reaches the top of the beach and turns her body to face the ocean. Using her two back flippers, she forms a scoop and begins to dig and dig until her flippers can reach no farther, and falls into a trance to begin the laying process.

We slowly move closer to the mother sea turtle. The nearer I get, the more I realize she’s been here longer than any of us have been alive and her ancestors longer than humans have been on Earth. Sea turtles truly are dinosaurs of the sea.

We use a red light to not awaken or disturb her. If she were to see white light, she would think it is daytime and descend back to the water to lay her eggs another time.

We take the measurements of her five-ridged shell. Her length measures six feet, seven inches. Her width from front flipper to front flipper measures six feet, ten inches. We place a large, sturdy bag into the dug-out hole behind the mother turtle just before she begins to lay, and we count. One, two, three, four, one after another, billiard-ball-sized eggs stack slowly filling up toward the top.

We count 83 eggs and then she lays 30 unfertilized, golf-ball-sized eggs over her children as a blanket of disguise against potential predators. The temperature of the upcoming days will determine the sex of the baby turtles. If temperatures are warm, females will be born, and if temperatures are cooler, the turtles will be male.

After around 45 minutes, we close the bag and allow her to fill the hole back up with sand. She soon departs back down toward the water. I hear her take one last breath, this time sounding of relief, and watch her fade away to spend her life in the mysterious sea.

I realize I have just experienced a small slice of her life, and I am forever grateful to have been a part of something so special.

We remove the eggs from the original hole dug by the mother and relocate them to one of our own making with the exact same measurements of 28 inches deep, which we dug in a safer spot. We place the eggs bottom to top, largest to smallest.

I can’t help but think of the long, dangerous journey these baby turtles will embark on once they hatch, and hope they live to experience a life like their mother. I hope these turtles return to this same beach at the Pacuare Reserve to lay their eggs. I hope another young person like myself will get share the chillingly beautiful experience of hearing a mother sea turtle’s breath, and I hope they will cherish being a part of such a pivotal moment in her life. Maybe one day, my child and one of this mother sea turtle’s children will meet on this very same beach, and share the same experience we had today.

As we head back to the reserve, I’m overwhelmed to have witnessed something so grand and so beautiful. I want to stay here forever and feel this again and again like it was the first time, but tonight is my last night and tomorrow, we leave.

The people here are immersed in these surroundings every day. They live in nature, nature doesn’t live around them. They take moments to slow down and remember what is truly important in life and what is worth valuing, such as the endangered leatherback sea turtles. That is now something I strive for day after day, and I hope one day, I too will find myself saying “Pura Vida” on the sunny, tan beaches of Costa Rica.

 

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/dinosaurs-of-the-sea/

Marie Zhuikov

On:
In: Akinomaage, Elise Ertl, River Talks, Vern Northrup photographer

By Elise Ertl, University of Wisconsin-Superior

As part of the River Talks series, Vern Northrup presented his five-year photography journey titled, “Akinomaage: Teaching from the Earth,” on March 3 at the St. Louis River Summit held at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. He explained how he was able to use photography to show connection between Earth and spirit and the relationship between sustainability, growth and fire.

“Biboon” (winter) — an image from Vern Northrup’s photography book.

Northrup got his start when he was asked five years ago to have an exhibit at Duluth’s American Indian Community Housing Organization. He was presented with his next opportunity when the Duluth Art Institute asked him to create an exhibit, which is his now photography book, “Akinomaage: Teaching from the Earth,” the first book the institute has published. 

Northrup, a member of the Fond Du Lac Tribe of Lake Superior Chippewa, began his talk by explaining how the tribe finds their connection with nature.  “The way we look at everything out there is that everything has a spirit. Everything that has been created, the Earth, the moon, the river, the water, has a spirit, and that is how we treat them, one spirit to another.”

Having this deeper connection with nature led to the inspiration that lies behind Northrup’s photos. As he began showing the contents of his photo book, he provided the audience with insight into how these spirits have influenced the way tribal members live. Gitchi-Gami-zibi, also known as the St. Louis River, has been a major influence in their lives.

“In the water, there are mermen and mermaids. They love us so much, they want us to come live with them. Of course, we cannot, so we show our appreciation by making offerings to them, and in return, they protect us,” Northrup said.

This is only one example of many that have become integrated as a part of their lives. The sumac tree, milkweed buds and wild animals are a few more of the important integrated benefits in their lives, providing food, medicine and tools. Northrup showed one unique photo of red leaves on a tree forming a phoenix, representing a culture that is ever rising, and the adaptation that it takes to thrive.

Vern Northrup

Northrup also worked with ishkode (fire) for a number of years and was invited to Stockton Island to return fire to sustain this part of the Apostle Island National Lakeshore. Northrup said the Anishinaabe used to burn there for thousands of years for blueberries. Island blueberries became a valuable trade item because of their varying, yet close, harvest time compared to berries on the mainland.

“The indigenous people in America had over 700 uses of fire to shape their environment. For whatever reason. It could have been anything from war, to cooking bugs, to everything,” Northrup said.  

He added that the purpose for fires was to attract different types of animals at certain times of the year, to encourage blueberry growth, or to add nutrients for the wild rice. “Fire is a cleanser of the land and the air,” he said. By burning the land, they were able to encourage new growth of food and plants that otherwise had not emerged in years.

Flowering wild rice — an image from Vern Northrup’s photography book.

A member of the audience asked how Northrup chooses what to photograph. His response was, “Some days I go out there, and I tell myself to sit down and listen to what’s around me to try and learn something. I enjoy taking pictures of the woods here. I’ve spent my time travelling, and now the woods are where I want to stay.”

The April River Talk, “What Tourism Means for the River,” will be postponed until a later date due to the Cornonavirus. If you’d like to get on the email list for River Talk notifications, please contact Science Communicator Marie Zhuikov at mzhuikov@aqua.wisc.edu.

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/catching-spirits-through-a-lens/

Wisconsin Sea Grant