On:
In: Anne Moser, Denise Lajimodiere, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, India-Bleu Neihoff, Maadagindan! Start Reading! book club, Maya Reinfeldt, Morgan Coleman, Nicole Neidhardt, Sea Grant Ojibwe book club

The calendar has flipped to 2024. Our staff members are already tackling new projects. Before they move too deeply into the new year, however, some staff members took a moment to retain the glow of their favorite 2023 project. Anne Moser, senior special librarian and education coordinator, shared her thoughts. This is the final post in this series.

My favorite project in 2023 was the Maadagindan! Start Reading! book club. Each month, educators, librarians, parents (anyone who loves to read with children) meet on Zoom to explore a children’s book written by an Ojibwe author.

Anne Moser. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant

The book club was launched in the spring of 2022 and was created by Morgan Coleman, an intern shared between the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and Wisconsin Sea Grant. The project has been a labor of love since the start, and I owe much of its success to two groups of people: the incredible students I have mentored over the years and the inspiring honored guests that join us for discussions.

Two community-engaged scholars planned our 2023 meetings: Maya Reinfeldt chose the books in the spring and India-Bleu Neihoff in the fall. Neither had experience in choosing books for discussion or in researching and writing supporting materials for our meetings but both took on the challenge with passion. Mentoring these talented students is an inspiration for me.

The other key to our success was the honored guests who shared their knowledge, insights and wisdom. It is essential that we include a Native voice in our meetings to guide our conversation. In 2023, we were fortunate to have both authors and illustrators join us. Two of our guests stand out: Denise Lajimodiere, author of Josie Dances and enrolled Citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Belcourt, North Dakota, and Nicole Neidhardt, a Diné (Navajo) of Kiiyaa’áanii clan and illustrator of Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults. Both talked about their craft of writing and illustration, their own experiences as a young Native person reading books by Native and non-Native authors and their connections to the words and pictures in these beautiful stories. Each left us with thoughts on how to integrate the work into our lives and how to move forward in the world with a new perspective.

Every month when our meeting ends, I can’t wait to meet again. It has transformed the way I do my work as an educator and a librarian.

Please join us! Visit our web page to learn more.

The post Ojibwe book club inspires and educates first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/ojibwe-book-club-inspires-and-educates/

Anne Moser

On:
In: Freshwater@UW Summer Research Scholars Opportunities Program, GLIFWC, Grace Bulltail, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Laura Zapata, wild rice

In summer 2023, 31 undergraduates in the Freshwater@UW Summer Research Opportunities Program fanned out across Wisconsin, connecting with mentors and others within their cohort. They gained valuable research, career-building and, well, life experiences. Then they gathered their thoughts from the previous 10 weeks and put them into a reflections document.

Sea Grant provided support for the program, along with the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School. The Sea Grant blog will periodically share these student reflections.

This post features Laura Zapata, mentored by Prof. Grace Bulltail of UW-Madison, who analyzed wetlands’ water quality data to better understand impacts on wild rice, particularly under a changing climate.

I’m from Pacoima, a largely low-income Latine neighborhood that happens to be the most polluted area in the area of LA County, California, where I am from. During my senior year of high school, the news that the power plant by my house had been leaking methane for years reaffirmed my decision to pursue a career in the environment. Although harmful to my community, that event opened my eyes to the reality of environmental injustice and the need for people from diverse backgrounds to work on problems relating to the environment to ensure our communities are served equitably.

Now, I’m studying chemical engineering at UCLA where I expect to obtain my bachelor’s in June of 2025. My desire to create solutions to environmental problems has led me to pursue research in a variety of areas. Most recently, I completed a project at the UCLA SEALab on the post-compaction behavior of common soil-based biofilter amendments, as well as a group project where we provided data visualizations for UCLA Sustainability. Through my academic and research experiences, I’ve become interested in water treatment and management, particularly stormwater treatment as well as green infrastructure and environmental remediation.

This interest led me to apply to the Freshwater@UW program where I had the pleasure of conducting an analysis of Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) monitored wild rice sites from the lens of water quality.

Wild rice is a grain native to the Great Lakes region and a key part of Ojibwe culture. Unfortunately, it has faced a decline from historic levels due to habitat loss and degradation. Organizations that work to preserve remaining wild rice beds, such as GLIFWC, face the challenge of assessing the effects of various water quality parameters in their areas of work. GLIFWC in particular has water quality data that has yet to be examined for use in wild rice work; the potential of this data from wild rice sites is unfulfilled without analysis.

Graph of blue, magenta and red lines

Image credit: Laura Zapata

I was able to assist by identifying key contaminants and water quality factors for wild rice growth and graphing their presence at all sites. Data was supplied from GLFIWC’s lab reports that reported 31 parameters for 13 sites and field data with nine parameters from 17 sites. Historical water quality data for a site of interest, Chequamegon Waters Flowage, was obtained from the EPA. The data was visualized through histograms, a trend graph, and heat maps of various contaminant concentrations. My project presents data visualizations that can be used to guide GLIFWC’s wild rice preservation initiatives.

In this project, I used Python to process and graph the data provided by GLIFWC and downloaded from the EPA. I also made use of ArcGIS to map key water quality indicators. This was a particularly rewarding experience since I was able to learn how to use Python for data analysis, an area I had scarce experience with, through the course of my project. I also became familiar with the basics of ArcGIS, which I look forward to applying in my future work.

The post Research scholars’ reflections first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/research-scholars-reflections/

Moira Harrington

On:
In: Andre Bennett, Christine Custer, Emily Cornelius Ruhs, Eve Muslich, Gavin Dehnert, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Jonathan Gilbert, Lac Courte Orielles Ojibwe University, lake water, maple sap, maple syrup, Ojibwe Ceded Territories, PFAS, quantifying PFAS, Robert Flynn, Sean Strom, tree swallows, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USGS, Voigt Intertribal Task Force, walleye, wild rice, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, wolves and PFAS levels, Zhewaab Reggie Cadotte
Eve Muslich, University of Wisconsin-Madison, pours maple sap from a collecting bag into a bottle for testing for PFAS. Image credit: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant

April 3, 2023
By Marie Zhuikov

When Jonathan Gilbert, director of biological services with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, received a report about levels of PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) in wolves taken during the 2021 hunting season in Wisconsin, he was flummoxed. The scientific report contained terms and measurements that he, even as a biologist, didn’t understand. Gilbert’s quest for answers led to a larger project that is testing maple syrup, walleyes and lake water for PFAS in areas of the Midwest where Ojibwe tribal members harvest food.

During the wolf season, hunters volunteered their wolf remains to GLIFWC for PFAS testing. Gilbert said about 40% of the wolves had detectable levels of these chemicals. He was given Gavin Dehnert’s name as someone who could help answer his questions about the PFAS report. Dehnert, an emerging contaminants scientist, specializes in PFAS. Dehnert works for Wisconsin Sea Grant, a sister agency to the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI).

Jonathan Gilbert, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. Image credit: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant

“So, I called him up and we had a nice conversation and he answered all my questions and educated me quite a bit on this,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert needed to present the wolf data to the Voigt Intertribal Task Force – a group composed of 10 of the 11 Ojibwe tribes that harvest from Ceded Territories in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The task force ensures safe harvest limits and is advised by GLIFWC. Gilbert invited Dehnert to attend the meeting.

Dehnert said, “We spent probably two to three hours just listening to the questions they had, concerns they had – big questions they were really hoping to answer.” Those questions involved PFAS levels in fish, wild rice, and maple syrup and other things tribal members harvest on a regular basis.

“Gavin kept saying, ‘Well, we don’t know, we don’t know.’ But he took what he heard there, and he wrote up a grant proposal to test the waters in rice lakes and in walleye lakes, and to test the sap of maple trees. That’s exactly what the tribes were telling him they were really concerned about,” Gilbert said.

The three-year tribally driven project, “Quantifying PFAS bioaccumulation and health impacts on economically important plants and animals associated with aquatic ecosystems in Ceded Territories,” was recently funded by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Resources Research Act Program, the same program through which WRI is funded.

The project has three goals: 1) Assess aquatic environments for PFAS contamination in the Ceded Territories, 2) Determine the accumulation of PFAS in different plants and animals and 3) Understand the health impacts from PFAS exposure. In addition to Dehnert and Gilbert, the project involves Emily Cornelius Ruhs with the University of Chicago, Sean Strom with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Christine Custer and Robert Flynn with USGS.

“Zhewaab” Reggie Cadotte, Native American Studies Faculty and Cultural Coordinator, Lac Courte Orielles Ojibwe University, and Gavin Dehnert, Wisconsin Sea Grant, inspect a maple tree for sap sampling on Lac Courte Orielles tribal land in northern Wisconsin. Image credit: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Dehnert said that part one of the project will explore lakes where there’s high harvests of walleye and other fish species and wild rice in Ceded Territories. Researchers will look for the presence of PFAS and determine the levels.

Maple trees were tapped for maple sap collection on Lac Courte Orielles tribal lands to determine levels of PFAS. Image credit: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Part two involves understanding the bioaccumulation of PFAS in harvestable goods. “If we know that it’s in the water source where these walleye or wild rice are living, we want to be able to have some sort of correlation between how much PFAS is in the lake water and then how much is then getting into the fish and wild rice,” Dehnert said. Gilbert stressed that they don’t know how much PFAS moves from the water into fish and plants. They will also test vats of maple sap harvested by tribal members.

Part three will look at impacts on organisms that live in the aquatic environments, focusing on tree swallows. This part, led by Ruhs, will explore how PFAS can impact the immune function of tree swallows in different life stages, from nestlings to adults. The swallows are considered an indicator species for contaminated water because they feed near their nesting area almost solely on aquatic insects. Researchers will take blood samples from the birds and look at white blood cell count and antibodies.

Part one will begin this spring with sampling of maple sap and lake water in 25 lakes.

Dehnert is looking forward to the project.

“It’s not focusing on just science for science. There’s a true actionable side to it. That was why we chose the plants and animals that were highly harvested by these tribes. If you’re finding high concentrations of PFAS in these types of harvestable goods, they are going to disproportionately impact the tribes because they are relying on them for their sustainability and food consumption. Sometimes in science people might look at different plants and animals that don’t really have a cultural tie. So that, to me, has always been why we got so excited about this project,” he said.

A research project team collects maple tree sap for PFAS sampling on Lac Courte Orielles tribal land in spring 2023. Pictured, left to right, are Eve Muslich, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Andre Bennett, Lac Courte Orielles Ojibwe University; Gavin Dehnert, Wisconsin Sea Grant; Jonathan Gilbert, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission; and “Zhewaab” Reggie Cadotte, Lac Courte Orielles Ojibwe University. Image credit: Bonnie Willison, Wisconsin Sea Grant
The post New project tests Ceded Territories for PFAS at request of tribes first appeared on WRI.

Original Article

News Release | WRI

News Release | WRI

https://www.wri.wisc.edu/news/new-project-tests-ceded-territories-for-pfas-at-request-of-tribes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-project-tests-ceded-territories-for-pfas-at-request-of-tribes

Marie Zhuikov

On:
In: Anne Moser, Brenna DeNamur, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, water is life

A new website is available that details what Indigenous communities in the Upper Midwest are doing to conserve and protect water. Named Bimaadiziwin Nibi, Water is Life, the story map is divided into sections, each centered around a different environmental issue. These include wild rice, fish, nonlocal beings (invasive species), mining, contaminants and beach sampling. Within each section are photos, reports and videos from tribal natural resource departments and a summary of interviews with scientists.

The project was created by Brenna DeNamur during her internship with Wisconsin Sea Grant in 2020. DeNamur, a recent University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, partnered with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) to develop the content in a culturally responsive manner.

Image courtesy of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission

“It’s my hope that visitors to the site will gain a better understanding of the challenges faced in the intersection of conversation efforts and tribal culture, and that they be introduced to the diverse voices working in this area,” DeNamur said.

For instance, in the nonlocal beings section, DeNamur writes, “Although Indigenous science teaches respect and consideration for all, these nonlocal beings still pose a threat to biodiversity and the individual species, such as manoomin (wild rice) and ogaa (walleye), that Native Americans have had deep relationships with for generations.”

In response, GLIFWC has taken action against nonlocal beings. They conduct surveys, control actions and follow up monitoring for both terrestrial and aquatic species. The web page details how the commission divides its efforts into prevention, early detection and rapid response, control and management, research, and cooperation and coordination.

“This story map is a great tool for understanding how the collaboration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science methodologies can produce strategic and respectful conservation efforts concerning water throughout the Ceded Territories and beyond,” said Hannah Arbuckle, GLIFWC Outreach Coordinator.

Anne Moser, Wisconsin Sea Grant senior special librarian/education coordinator and DeNamur’s mentor, hopes to see the story map grow in the coming years. “I am grateful and honored to collaborate with GLIFWC on this project. It helped me gain a deeper understanding about Great Lakes literacy and how to incorporate Indigenous approaches into my work in education and outreach.”

“Ultimately, teaching Indigenous science is about understanding the world from different perspectives. If more people lived by this, we could sustain a healthier, more prosperous world,” DeNamur said.

To access the story map, visit go.wisc.edu/4n6n3n.

The post An Indigenous Story Map Experience About Water first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Original Article

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/an-indigenous-story-map-experience-about-water/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-indigenous-story-map-experience-about-water

Marie Zhuikov

On:
In: American Indians, Bad River Band, book club, children's literature, Chippewa, First Nations, GLIFWC, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, indigenous, Lake Talks, Native American, Ojibwe

As fall leaves continue their colorful turn and cooler winds blow, it’s a perfect time to curl up with a good book—and encourage the young readers in your life to do the same.

Wisconsin’s Sea Grant’s “Lake Talks” continue on Thursday, Nov. 11, from 7-8 p.m. with a literary theme. The evening’s presentation will be “Maadagindan! (Start Reading!) Literature for Young People about the Great Lakes and Ojibwe Culture.”

The virtual event, held on Zoom, is open to all. Registration is required. (Register for this event now.) The hour includes time for audience questions.

It will feature a trio of speakers:

  • Hannah Arbuckle, outreach coordinator for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), member of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians
  • Morgan Coleman, a summer 2021 Wisconsin Sea Grant intern who focused on Great Lakes literacy and Ojibwe culture
  • Anne Moser, senior special librarian and education coordinator, Wisconsin Water Library and Wisconsin Sea Grant

All who are interested in books for young readers are welcome at this event, including—but not limited to—parents, librarians and educators.

Attendees will learn about a related book club, also free and online, that will launch in spring 2022 and further explore the topics discussed. The book club will mainly center on books for children from birth through age 12.

Morgan Coleman (submitted photo)

As a summer intern, Morgan Coleman was sponsored by Wisconsin Sea Grant and placed with GLIFWC, where she worked on a book club discussion guide. Coleman will discuss how and why she created it. A recent graduate of UW-River Falls, she is now pursuing graduate studies in English at the University of St. Thomas.

Hannah Arbuckle (submitted photo)

Hannah Arbuckle, who helped mentor Coleman, will talk about the role of GLIFWC and some of the publications it produces, which range from a quarterly newsletter to the book for young readers, “Growing Up Ojibwe.” Formed in 1984, GLIFWC represents 11 Ojibwe tribes in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan and their hunting, fishing and gathering rights according to their treaties with the U.S. government. The commission provides natural resource management expertise, conservation enforcement, legal and policy analysis, and public information services.

Anne Moser

Moser, librarian of the Wisconsin Water Library since 2008, works to ensure that it maintains a broad and diverse collection, from water quality reports to children’s books that reflect diverse perspectives. Said Moser, “I’m eager to talk about what we know about effective strategies for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education for young people, and how diversity is key to many of the approaches.  Black, Indigenous and children of color have not received enough attention either in children’s publishing or in science education.” Moser presents frequently at libraries throughout Wisconsin and provides curricular support to educators statewide.

After this event, one more fall Lake Talk remains: a Dec. 9 event, also on Zoom, with Minnesota-based poet Moheb Soliman, for whom the Great Lakes are an important subject and source of inspiration.

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 Nov. 11 presentation now.

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

The post Lake Talks series to explore books for young readers with an Ojibwe and Great Lakes focus 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-books-for-young-readers-with-an-ojibwe-and-great-lakes-focus/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lake-talks-series-to-explore-books-for-young-readers-with-an-ojibwe-and-great-lakes-focus

Jennifer Smith