IISG has two Knauss fellows. Here is a post from Priscilla Viana:

I was awarded a 2010 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship through Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant; it started in February 2010. The purpose of this post is to share some of my experiences as a Sea Grant fellow in Washington DC.

The Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship is usually awarded to 40 – 50 students. The selection process comprises two steps. The first selection takes place through state Sea Grant offices. Then, eligible students compete for the fellowship at national level. Finalist students participate in the placement week. It was very interesting to be interviewed by approximately 15 different offices both in the legislative and executive branches. I concluded that working under the guidance of Dr. Phillip Taylor at the National Science Foundation (NSF) provided the best prospects.

Working at NSF has been a very rewarding experience. NSF provides funding for approximately 20 percent of all federally-supported basic research in U.S. I have contributed in the proposal reviewing process and in evaluating grant proposals based on the NSF merit-review criteria. Specifically, I am working on ecology of infectious diseases and I will work on ocean acidification in the near future.

This position offers me not only the experience of working in a federal agency with public policy, but also the benefit of exploring the important process of research funding in U.S. and understanding the necessary features of outstanding research projects. I am now more skilled to evaluate weaknesses and strengths of a research project and also better prepared to write grant proposals for my own research. Thus, it enhances my record of achievements in both academia and public policy. Fostering this knowledge will be helpful in either career I pursue.

This fellowship is very prestigious in Washington D.C. Fellows have the chance to network with researchers and government staff from many different offices, such as NOAA, EPA, USGS, Fish and Wildlife Services, Department of Energy and NSF. As a consequence, we are invited to participate in numerous conferences and receptions. Since February, I have participated in the Ocean Leadership 2010 Public Policy Forum at Capitol Hill and in a conference about ecology of infectious diseases at Atlantic City, NJ. In April, I will participate in a seminar about oceans and human health on Capitol Hill.

Being a Knauss Sea Grant fellow is a unique and gratifying experience. I am looking forward to share more of my experience in my next post!

(Priscilla Viana is finishing her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois – Chicago. Her research focuses on remediation of contaminated sediments. She can be reached at pviana@nsf.gov.)

My name is Mike Allen, and I am one of two Knauss Sea Grant fellows from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant for the 2010 Fellowship class. I’ll be sharing DC experiences on the IISG blog occasionally over the course of my fellowship year to highlight the fellowship and what a “policy position” in the federal government is really like.

In this first post, I’ll share a little bit about my position. I am one of ~35 executive branch fellows in this year’s class. (There are also 10 fellows serving in members or committees in Congress.) We all met in DC in November for a week of interviews to decide where we would be placed in the federal government. Each of us had 12 – 15 half-hour interviews with various offices across NOAA, the Dept. of Energy, the Navy, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Dept. of State, the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies with an ocean, coast, or Great Lakes focus. I had an idea of what sounded interesting going into the week, but sitting down and talking with a variety of offices led me to the conclusion that working at NOAA’s Silver Spring complex would be the right fit for me. I subsequently chose to work with Dr. Mike Uhart, executive director of the Office of Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes in NOAA’s research office.

In this position, I act as the primary liaison between NOAA’s administrative headquarters and our three “wet labs” – the Pacific Marine Environmental Lab (PMEL), the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab (AOML), and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (GLERL). As an aquatic ecologist with a degree from the University of Illinois, this is a fantastic fit for me, as a primary responsibility of my position is to know all about the ongoing research activities and needs of these nationally-renowned research institutions.

What I have learned is incredibly fascinating. For example, PMEL is the world leader in tsunami research and developed the buoy systems that monitor potential tsunamis like the one that occurred after the recent Chile earthquake. AOML is a leader in hurricane research and forecasting, and flies research missions into hurricanes using NOAA’s fleet of P-3 research aircraft. GLERL is the major center of research on the Great Lakes, and is at the forefront of our understanding of invasive zebra and quagga mussel invasions into the largest freshwater system in the world.

Over the course of the next year, I will share some of my perceptions and experiences from my fellowship year. Look for my next post on the Laboratory Review at the Earth Sciences Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado in the near future.

(Mike Allen recently completed his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, where he focused on population and community ecology of freshwater zooplankton. He can be reached at Mike.Allen@noaa.gov.)

From the Executive Summary of Water 2050: Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Supply/Demand Plan:

The prosperity of the greater Chicago region and its status as a global center depend on water availability. Historically blessed with ample fresh water, the region can no longer assume that water supplies are infinite. While other parts of the country struggle to meet growing water demand and some cities are losing their economic competitiveness due to shortage or inadequate planning, the Chicago region must act now to carefully plan and manage its surface and groundwater resources in a coordinated fashion. Nothing less than economic development, environmental protection, and social equity is at stake. It is for these reasons that the region’s water supply plan is timely and important.

Water 2050: Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Supply/Demand Plan was unanimously approved by the Regional Water Supply Planning Group last month. The planning effort was led by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). IISG Environmental Planning Specialist Marty Jaffe served as a member of the planning group and IISG Water Resource Economist Margaret Schneemann provided background and on water pricing for the plan. Ms. Schneemann will continue to assist CMAP in plan implementation going forward. You can download a copy of the plan and learn more about Water 2050 here.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley agrees that the Asian carp present an ecological and economic threat to the Great Lakes. But he disagrees with neighboring states that Illinois should lock down a historic canal that allows the fish to get to Lake Michigan.

In a letter published in the Washington Post this week, Mayor Daley argued that the invasive species – which experts say will destroy the lake ecosystem – is a “national problem that requires national solutions” and therefore Illinois alone should not have to foot the costs associated with addressing the problem. Read more.

Teachers—grades 4-10—and informal educators will have the opportunity to learn about and contribute to Lake Michigan science on a week-long Shipboard and Shoreline Science workshop offered by COSEE Great Lakes (Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence).

The workshop—aboard the U.S. EPA’s 180-foot research vessel, Lake Guardian—coincides with the Lake Michigan Intensive Monitoring Field Year, which is a part of an agreement between EPA and Environment Canada to focus on and conduct intensive monitoring in one of the Great Lakes each year.

“Every workshop has its own sampling design,” said Jacqueline Adams, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) water quality extension associate. “But because this workshop is focused on Lake Michigan and the nearshore, it is very likely that the data collected will contribute to the EPA database for the Lake Michigan Intensive Year.”

Participants will work alongside scientists to explore firsthand a variety of disciplines, including ecology, geology, geography, weather and biogeochemical processes. Throughout the week they will be collecting planktonic and benthic organisms, as well as performing water quality data collection and analysis.

In addition, workshop attendees will have the opportunity to investigate and discuss curricula and other educational resources pertaining to Great Lakes and oceans.

“What the educators learn through their Lake Michigan monitoring and data analysis activities will be taken back and integrated into their classroom instruction,” said IISG Associate Director for Education Robin Goettel, who is coordinating the workshop. “The activities that they experience onboard the vessel complement the research they are doing. This experience also helps participating scientists broaden the impact of their research and better understand teachers’ needs for current scientific information to incorporate into classrooms.”

Fifteen educators will be selected from around the Great Lakes basin to participate in the workshop, which will take place from July 6-12, 2010. For more information or to fill out an application, visit the workshop page. If you have more questions, contact Robin Goettel. Applications are due by April 2, 2010.

In Peru, Illinois, a prescription drug drop-box is now available to the public in the lobby of the police station. There, people can drop off unused and unwanted prescription medication. The box is part of the La Salle County’s Prescription Drug Disposal Program, also known as P2D2.

Drop off boxes are also on-site at state police headquarters in La Salle and at the Ottawa police station. In the last three months, 93 pounds of medicine were brought to the Ottawa police station. Since it was installed in May 2009, 262 pounds of medicine have been collected. So far, the total weight of drugs collected throughout the county is 475 pounds, according to Jennifer Sines, Illinois Valley Community Hospital pharmacist and organizer of the program.

Later this month boxes will be placed at police departments in both Mendota and Streator, and eventually at police departments in Oglesby and Marseilles. Drop boxes also are available at many pharmacies and hospitals.

Sines added that in addition to medicines, prescription vials can be dropped off as well. They are sent to a free AIDS clinic in Africa

The goal of P2D2 is to prevent old or unused drugs from ending up in the wrong hands, in the waste stream or in local wasterways. Prescription drugs can also be a target of thieves or other family members. The program began in Pontiac and has now spread to several counties in Illinois. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant provided the funding for the Peru drop-off box.

Pictured above, left to right: Deb Parisot, LaSalle-Peru Area Career Center graphic arts teacher; Lucas Leonatti, LaSalle-Peru Area Career Center student; Deputy Chief Bob Pyszka, Peru Police Department; Senator Gary Dahl; Peru Mayor Scott Harl; and Jennifer Sines, Illinois Valley Community Hospital pharmacist.

By now many people know that flushing medication down the toilet is harmful to the environment. However, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) is trying to reduce the potential for improper disposal before drugs reach the medicine cabinet.

IISG, in conjunction with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), introduced pharmacists and hospital workers to the discussion at a recent workshop — Collection of Unwanted Medicines in Indiana. According to Elizabeth Hinchey Malloy, IISG Great Lakes ecosystem extension specialist, past workshops featured primarily waste managers, who “deal with the problems created by improper medication disposal.” She said that including pharmacists and hospital workers in the process will help prevent unsafe disposal earlier on.

“We’re trying to reach the frontline of the problem,” said IISG Coastal Sediment Specialist Susan Boehme, who worked alongside Hinchey Malloy at the workshop. “Pharmacists and hospitals are the ones actually handing medicine out, and they want to know how they can help.”

Recent estimates report that up to 40 percent of prescription medication is never used by the patient. Furthermore, according to a survey published in 1996 in Veterinary & Human Toxicology, only five percent of pharmacies had “regular recommendations” for customer medicine disposal.

“Dispensing of unnecessary quantities of medications can be a problem,” said Steve Cummings, director of pharmacy services at Marsh Drugs and a workshop attendee. “Patients should ask their doctor or pharmacist if a small starter quantity is available if the medication is new and the potential for side effects is real. If the therapy doesn’t work out, dollars have been saved by the patient, and unused, unwanted medication has been eliminated from the home.”

Although education is a major component of preventing unnecessary medication disposal, the goal of the workshop was to move beyond awareness-building. “Our audience knew the issues,” said Hinchey Malloy. “They were there because they wanted solutions.” Among the 117 attendees, the workshop featured solid waste managers, wastewater treatment managers, pharmacists, hospice nurses and administrators, recycling educators, community leaders, law enforcement agents, and even a research student.

According to Hinchey Malloy, the workshop provided a forum for the many different players to address questions, such as what can and cannot be dropped off in collection programs, how to get funding, and what the laws are on medication disposal. The workshop also featured several speakers, who have run or are running successful medication collection programs.

Every participant received an IISG toolkit, Disposal of Unwanted Medicines: A Resource for Action in Your Community, which contains the necessary information for a community to start up a collection program. This includes case studies, outreach material, literature on the subject, legislation, and information on international donation.

IISG’s follow-up efforts primarily consist of offering information and resources when needed. For instance, IISG plans to purchase the first two drop boxes for a state-wide effort, led by the Indiana Prosecutor’s Office, to collect unused medication at police stations in Indiana. Police station collections allow people to drop off controlled substances, which would otherwise involve complex legal issues.

Boehme pointed to the recent creation of the Indiana Medication Disposal Task Force, which consists of members of various fields connected to medication disposal, as an important response to the workshop. The purpose of the task force is to get representatives from all sides of the issue to work together to find answers to the problem.

“I think the task force is a really key piece to the solution,” Boehme said. “Anytime IDEM gets new programs off the ground on this issue, they have a panel of experts ready to help them.”

The workshop was also sponsored by the Indiana Board of Pharmacy, the Indiana Pharmacists Alliance, the Indiana Household Hazardous Waste Task Force, and Eli Lilly.

From Circle of Blue Water News:

Federal officials who are protecting the Great Lakes against Asian carp unveiled their multi-pronged plan during a public hearing in Chicago on Friday.

The representatives planned on using the forum to get immediate feedback on their proposed solution.

What they got was a sharply divided range of opinions and raw emotions from the standing-room only crowd. Dozens of Chicago-area business owners and boat captains made emotional comments in anger over the mere possibility of closing the locks on a part-time basis. Meanwhile, other people in attendance called for the locks to be closed immediately, rather than wait several months to conduct a study called for by the plan. Read more.

From the Michigan Messenger:

A $78.5 million dollar federal plan to keep Asian carp from becoming established in the Great Lakes is drawing criticism from diverse groups that say the proposed temporary closure of the locks in Chicago area canals will disrupt the economy without stopping the spread of aquatic invaders.

The Chicago canal system that connects the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes basin conveys much of the Chicago region’s petroleum, coal, road salt, cement, and iron, according to federal officials, along with 15,000 recreational boats and 900,000 passengers that travel through the locks on the system each year.

The canal system is also thought to be the route through which Asian Carp could enter — or perhaps already has entered — Lake Michigan.

Asian carp have been designated a nuisance fish by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because they can out compete other fish and dominate ecosystems. The Bighead carp can grow to 100lbs, and the Silverhead carp has been called a “live missile“ because it can jump several feet out of the water and has caused injuries to boaters. Many worry that these Asian carp, which have no natural predators in this region, could destroy Great Lakes fisheries and recreational boating if they become established in the lakes.

The draft Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework, released last week, includes short and long term action items that range from fish herding and poisoning to construction of new barriers, changes to the operations of the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal and long term studies on the movement of invasive species between waterways.

At a hearing on this framework, convened last Friday by the EPA Office of the Great Lakes in Chicago, it became quickly apparent that the locks are the flashpoint in the growing national debate over how to respond to Asian carp.