What does it take to close a deal and acquire the best land for your stormwater management or conservation project? You’re invited to find out during an upcoming webinar titled “Developing a Land Acquisition Strategy.”

Please join us on Thursday, May 28 at 1 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. ET for a webinar hosted by Delta Institute, the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant on the recently completed Land Acquisition Strategy (LAS). Registration is required.

The presentation will highlight the contents of the document including a method for prioritizing land for acquisition, modeling green infrastructure performance and ROI using the Tipping Point Planner and L-THIA Tool, and strategies for navigating the land acquisition process. 

The strategy was developed for municipal partners in Michigan City, Indiana to facilitate the acquisition of land for sustainable stormwater management and natural area conservation. Municipalities, land trusts, watershed groups and more may find the strategies and tools described in this webinar and available in the LAS useful for their immediate and long-term land acquisition initiatives.

Register now. For more information, contact Reilly Manz, Delta Institute, at rmanz@delta-institute.org.

Funding for this project was provided in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Lake Michigan Coastal Program. Local match was provided by the Sanitary District of Michigan City.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

Contact: Reilly Manz, Delta Institute 

One of the most common questions Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) gets during the springtime is, “When will your buoys be out on the water?” When the weather begins warming up for the year, boaters, anglers and other users of Lake Michigan rely on buoy data to make decisions about when they will visit the lake and whether it is safe to boat, swim, kayak, or do other activities.

In Episode 11 of Teach Me About the Great Lakes, titled “An Empty Chunk of Fiberglass,” Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Stuart Carlton and Hope Charters talk with Jay Beugly, aquatic ecology specialist with Purdue University’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources and IISG, about buoy deployment and retrieval each year. He discusses the issues faced during the pandemic, and why university policies and state regulations have delayed deployment. Beugly also gives listeners insights into technical problems the buoys sometimes experience while out on the water. 

Teach Me About the Great Lakes is a monthly podcast in which Carlton—a social scientist who grew up in the South near the Gulf of Mexico—asks people to explain the biology, ecology and natural history of the Great Lakes. A new episode will be released on the first Monday of each month. The latest episode is embedded below.

If this isn’t enough buoy content for you, check out our How Buoys Help page and Two Yellow Buoys on Twitter. 

Love this episode and want to hear more in the future? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast player.

If you have questions you want answered about the Great Lakes, reach out to @TeachGreatLakes on Twitter or email Stuart Carlton at jsc@purdue.edu.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

Teach Me About the Great Lakes is a monthly podcast in which Carlton—a social scientist who grew up in the South near the Gulf of Mexico—asks people to explain the biology, ecology and natural history of the Great Lakes. A new episode will be released on the first Monday of each month. The latest episode is embedded below.

If this isn’t enough buoy content for you, check out our How Buoys Help page and Two Yellow Buoys on Twitter. 

Love this episode and want to hear more in the future? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast player.

If you have questions you want answered about the Great Lakes, reach out to @TeachGreatLakes on Twitter or email Stuart Carlton at jsc@purdue.edu.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

Interested in exploring the Great Lakes even though you’re stuck at home? With the global pandemic causing lockdowns and travel restrictions in many states, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) specialists are moving their usual in-person outreach events to the virtual world. Through live video streaming, IISG scientists will share their expertise on a multitude of topics. As a partner in Michigan Sea Grant’s H.O.M.E.S. at Home series (named after the five Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior), our webinars will be focused on learning more about Great Lakes topics, but many will be general enough that learners across the nation can discover fun facts about their natural environments.

If you miss the livestream lessons, no need to worry. Our H.O.M.E.S. at Home educational content will be archived on the IISG YouTube channel. For more educational resources, visit our Learning at Home page. Below are our upcoming, free webinars.

Rainscaping and Rain Gardens

Friday, May 1 – 9:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. CT

The webinar will introduce participants to rainscaping and will specifically focus on an overview of rain garden benefits, siting, sizing, design, installation and maintenance considerations. This program is a very short introduction to the information shared during the 2 day, 15 hour Rainscaping Education Program workshops.

Presenters:  Kara Salazar and John Orick

Join Webinar Watch on Facebook Live

Community Planning with Tipping Point Planner

Tuesday, May 5 – 10:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. CT

The webinar will introduce participants to the free, online decision support tool features available in Tipping Point Planner for all Great Lakes states. The tools are resources for regional, county and municipal land use planning that focus on identifying natural resource issues and prioritizing critical areas. Tool topics address nutrient loading from agricultural and urban landscapes, land use changes and stream health.

Presenters:  Kara Salazar, Dan Walker, and Lydia Utley

Join Webinar Watch on Facebook Live

Hot and Cold: How do warm summers and icy winters affect fish?

Thursday, May 7 – 10:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. CT

Do you live in a temperate climate with warm summers and cold winters? Have you noticed how lakes and ponds freeze over in the winter but get as warm as bath water in the summer? In this webinar, you’ll learn about the unique annual physical changes that happen to water in your local lakes and ponds. The physical properties of water allow aquatic organisms to survive long, cold winters under thick ice as well as hot summers with warm water temperatures. Temperature can create barriers within ponds and lakes that can be tough for its inhabitants to cross. These annual changes can influence the location of oxygen and food for fish and other aquatic organisms as well as impact our experiences when we swim at the beach.

Presenter: Jay Beugly

Join Webinar Watch on Facebook Live

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

Writer: Hope Charters, 765.494.1614, hope@purdue.edu

Lake levels continue to be above average and reaching near-record highs across the Great Lakes basin, causing problems with coastal erosion, flooding, infrastructure damage and economic loss. In addition to increasing lake levels and more nutrient runoff from stronger storms, the region is also experiencing warming weather and therefore warmer waters. Research points to climate change as the cause. Gabriel Filippelli, professor and director of the Center for Urban Health in the Department of Earth Sciences at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, references the March 2020 Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook Report for the Great Lakes Region—produced by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Midwestern Regional Climate Center and partners—in a climate change story as part of the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative. Read the full story: Climate change threatens drinking water quality across the Great Lakes. Excerpt below. 

“Do Not Drink/Do Not Boil” is not what anyone wants to hear about their city’s tap water. But the combined effects of climate change and degraded water quality could make such warnings more frequent across the Great Lakes region.

A preview occurred on July 31, 2014, when a nasty green slime – properly known as a harmful algal bloom, or HAB – developed in the western basin of Lake Erie. Before long it had overwhelmed the Toledo Water Intake Crib, which provides drinking water to nearly 500,000 people in and around the city.

Tests revealed that the algae was producing microcystin, a sometimes deadly liver toxin and suspected carcinogen. Unlike some other toxins, microcystin can’t be rendered harmless by boiling. So the city issued a “Do Not Drink/Do Not Boil” order that set off a three-day crisis.

Local stores soon ran out of bottled water. Ohio’s governor declared a state of emergency, and the National Guard was called in to provide safe drinking water until the system could be flushed and treatment facilities brought back on line.

The culprit was a combination of high nutrient pollution – nitrogen and phosphorus, which stimulate the growth of algae – from sewage, agriculture and suburban runoff, and high water temperatures linked to climate change. This event showed that even in regions with resources as vast as the Great Lakes, water supplies are vulnerable to these kinds of man-made threats.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

In a recent article, The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation highlighted the tie between the need for frequent hand washing during this worldwide pandemic and the existing problem of rising water rates in the Chicago area, referencing a study published by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Chicago Metropolitan Planning Council and Elevate Energy. Read the full story: Amid COVID-19 pandemic, the need for frequent hand-washing collides with soaring water rates. Excerpt below. 

At a time when hand-washing is critical to preventing the spread of COVID-19, a new study shows water affordability is a bigger problem than previously recognized in a region that borders Lake Michigan — the fifth largest lake on Earth.

Soaring water rates and stagnant income growth over the past decade have made tap water unaffordable for thousands of households in the Chicago metro area, according to a study by the Metropolitan Planning Council, Elevate Energy and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. The study focused on a seven-county region in northeastern Illinois, but researchers said the findings mirror national trends.

A near doubling of water rates in greater Chicago over the past decade has forced some residents to choose between paying the water bill or buying food. Some households in the most economically distressed areas must work 100 hours each month just to pay the water bill, according to the study.

“As water rates increase and incomes remain stagnant, many households are struggling to pay their water bill,” said Caroline Pakenham, water program manager at Elevate Energy. “This study is an important first step to highlight growing issues of water affordability in our region and encourage dialogue around potential solutions.”

Related: Water affordability report helps inform new Chicago water billing policy

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

Contact: Margaret Schneemann 

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/L. Brian Stauffer)

In this episode of Teach Me About the Great Lakes, titled “The Hamster Wheel of Rumination,” Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Stuart Carlton and Irene Miles talk with Kuo, a professor of natural resources and environmental sciences, who has studied how natural environments relate to healthy human functioning. She explains how finding ways to truly relax, or to be awestruck, can help support us through this time, and in general.

Teach Me About the Great Lakes is a monthly podcast in which Carlton—a social scientist who grew up in the South near the Gulf of Mexico—asks people to explain the biology, ecology and natural history of the Great Lakes. A new episode will be released on the first Monday of each month. The latest episode is embedded below.

Love this episode and want to hear more in the future? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast player.

If you have questions you want answered about the Great Lakes, reach out to @TeachGreatLakes on Twitter or email Stuart Carlton at jsc@purdue.edu.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

Update 4/18: We’ve hit our 300-person limit for this free webinar series, so we have to shut down registration early. What a great response from everyone interested in stormwater management and green infrastructure! We’re excited to help you learn more about rainscaping.

The Purdue Rainscaping Education Team is offering a free webinar series called Introduction to Rainscaping and Rain Gardens. The four-part series, comprised of one-hour webinars, will take place on April 21, 23, 28 and 30. Registration is required.

“Since we cannot offer in-person spring workshops due to COVID-19, the Rainscaping Education Program’s short webinar series brings you a way to learn more about rainscaping and rain gardens in your own home,” said Kara Salazar, assistant program leader and extension specialist for sustainable communities. “We hope the series inspires attendees to establish rainscaping practices on their landscape. Additionally, we encourage participants to join us when we can offer the next round of in-person workshops to learn more in depth information and also take tours of existing raingardens and participate in the construction of a demonstration rain garden.”

The four-part series will cover topics ranging from an introduction to rainscaping and rain gardens, to site selection, plant selection and installation and maintenance.

Attendees must register two days before the start of the first webinar (April 19) and should plan on attending all four parts of the series. An email containing the access link will be sent to registrants prior to each session.

Webinar Series Schedule

Introduction to Rainscaping, Rain Gardens and the Purdue Rainscaping Education Program
Tuesday, April 21
Noon – 1 p.m. CT / 1 – 2 p.m. ET
Presenter: John Orick, Purdue Master Gardener State Coordinator

Introduction to Rain Garden Site Selection and Analysis
Thursday, April 23
Noon – 1 p.m. CT / 1 – 2 p.m. ET
Presenter: Curt Emanuel, Boone County Purdue Extension Educator, County Extension Director

Introduction to Rain Garden Plant Selection and Design
Tuesday, April 28
Noon – 1 p.m. CT / 1 – 2 p.m. ET
Presenter: Rosie Lerner, Purdue Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist

Introduction to Installation and Maintenance
Thursday, April 30
Noon – 1 p.m. CT / 1 – 2 p.m. ET
Presenter: Laura Esman, Managing Director, Indiana Water Resources Research Center and Research Associate & Lab Manager, Natural Resources Social Science Lab

For questions, please contact Kara Salazar, Assistant Program Leader and Extension Specialist for Sustainable Communities, Purdue Extension and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant at salazark@purdue.edu.

Resources
Rain Gardens Go with the Flow, Indiana Yard and Garden, Purdue Horticulture
Rainscaping Program
Master Gardeners Program
Rainscaping Education Program Highlighted in NOAA Annual Report, Got Nature? Post, Purdue Extension
What is Rainscaping? Purdue Rainscaping Education Program Video, Purdue Extension
Q&A About Drainage Water Recycling for the Midwest,  The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Become a Purdue Master Gardener, The Education Store
Climate Change: How will you manage stormwater runoff?, The Education Store
Plan Today For Tomorrow’s Flood, The Education Store

Contact: Kara Salazar, Assistant Program Leader and Extension Specialist for Sustainable Communities, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Microbes are everywhere on our planet. As the current health crisis has shown, they have the ability to bring everything to a screeching halt. But are they all bad?

(University of Illinois at Chicago)

In this episode of Teach Me About the Great Lakes, titled “The Really Delicious Carbon,” Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Stuart Carlton and Carolyn Foley talk with Dr. Rachel Poretsky, an assistant professor in biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She studies microbial ecology and biogeochemistry, bacterial diversity, and community structure and interactions in natural environments. These studies include microbial research completed with funding from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Michigan Sea Grant. In the podcast, Poretsky explains the role microbes play in aquatic systems—including the Lake Michigan food web—and their incredible ability to adapt to changes in their surroundings.

Microbes are found everywhere, “from the atmosphere to below the sea floor,” said Poretsky. “These are the organisms that I think of as the base of the food web, and they’re really important in all sorts of aquatic environments. They turn the carbon that comes from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into carbon that’s usable for other [organisms].”

Teach Me About the Great Lakes is a monthly podcast in which Carlton—a social scientist who grew up in the South near the Gulf of Mexico—asks people to explain the biology, ecology and natural history of the Great Lakes. A new episode will be released on the first Monday of each month. The latest episode is embedded below.

Love this episode and want to hear more in the future? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast player.

If you have questions you want answered about the Great Lakes, reach out to @TeachGreatLakes on Twitter or email Stuart Carlton at jsc@purdue.edu.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.