Coastal residents, businesses and decision-makers around the country will consider how their communities can adapt to climate change through eight newly awarded NOAA National Sea Grant College Program grants.

Each of these $25,000 climate engagement mini-grants will support projects focused on preparing for changing climate conditions. The projects will be led by principal investigators from local Sea Grant programs and NOAA Regional Collaboration Teams in eight regions including Alaska, the Pacific Islands and sections of the mainland United States.

“Since our Sea Grant researchers and extension agents serve the local coastal communities in which they live, Sea Grant is well-suited to connect NOAA science to the needs of local coastal communities,” said Leon Cammen, director of the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program. “Issues related to climate change are a Sea Grant priority.”

The mini-grants will fund projects in the following regions:

• Great Lakes – To create training modules to prepare leaders of coastal communities around the Great Lakes to develop climate adaptation plans necessary to keep their communities safe and productive into the next century. Principal investigators: Rochelle Sturtevant, Great Lakes regional Sea Grant extension educator of Michigan Sea Grant and Elizabeth Mountz, NOAA Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management.

• Alaska – To produce a short video on the effects of climate change on Alaska and how Alaska marine-dependent communities can plan for adaptation. The video will be a focal point of community workshops around the state and will be shown on statewide television and on the internet. Principal investigators: Paula Cullenberg, Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Amy Holman, NOAA Alaska regional coordinator.

• Central – To sponsor the Native Peoples and Native Homelands II Workshop to give NOAA and Sea Grant opportunity to engage Native American, Alaskan and Hawaiian people on climate variability and impacts on tribal communities. Principal investigators: Bethany Hale, NOAA Central regional coordinator and Penelope Dalton, Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington.

• Gulf of Mexico– To present a week-long training session for local government, Sea Grant and NOAA staff on how local communities can adapt to impacts of climate change such as sea level rise, increased flooding and more extreme weather events. Following the workshop, participants will be able to continue collaborations through a discussion forum on the NOAA Coastal Storms web site. Principal investigators: Buck Sutter, NOAA Gulf of Mexico regional Team leader; Karl Havens, Florida Sea Grant College Program at the University of Florida; and LaDon Swann, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

• North Atlantic – To establish a regional network of “climate ambassadors” through training for staff of NOAA’s North Atlantic Regional Team and Sea Grant extension agents. Sessions will cover the latest science as well as climate information and tools available from NOAA. The initial trainees will hold local training sessions in their home states. Principal investigators: Peyton Robertson, NOAA North Atlantic Regional Team leader and Sylvain De Guise, Connecticut Sea Grant College Program at the University of Connecticut.

• Pacific Islands – To prepare a Pacific Climate Change Impacts Resources Guide. Funding supports production of two stand-alone chapters of the guide planned for educators. The guide is for use in a larger effort of climate outreach and education activities. Principal investigators: Darren Okimoto, University of Hawaii Sea Grant; Eileen Shea and Lynn Nakagawa, NOAA Integrated Data and Environmental Applications Center/Pacific; and James Weyman, NOAA National Weather Service Climate Information System.

• Southeast and Caribbean – To establish a regional network of climate extension and outreach professionals and strengthen the network’s ability to provide information, tools, and assistance related to climate change impacts and adaptation. This project will bring extension and outreach personnel together to share information and will maintain a network for on-going communication. Principal investigators: Charles Hopkinson, Georgia Sea Grant Program at the University of Georgia; Jessica Whitehead, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium; Stephanie Fauver, NOAA Coastal Services Center in Charleston, South Carolina; and Geno Olmi, NOAA Southeast and Caribbean regional coordinator.

• Western – To present a workshop to engage recreational fishers, resource managers, scientists, and environmentalists in assessing and planning for climate change impacts on West Coast fisheries. The workshop will be the first step toward implementing a climate change plan for west coast fisheries. Principal investigators: John Stein, NOAA Western Regional Team leader and Penelope Dalton, Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington.

The Climate Engagement Mini-Grant Program is modeled after the NOAA Stakeholder Engagement Mini-Grant program, which distributed grants in 2009 to fund regional pilot projects engaging communities in issues of interest to both NOAA and local residents. The goal of the new program is to leverage NOAA and Sea Grant resources to help coastal communities adapt to climate change.

Sea Grant is a nationwide network of 32 university-based programs that work with coastal communities. The National Sea Grant College Program engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training, and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

As of February 1, Nab the Aquatic Invader! is featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History as part of the Ocean Today Kiosk in the Sant Ocean Hall. It will also be on display at Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers throughout the country.

This educational web site about aquatic invasive species (AIS) was created by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant along with Sea Grant programs in New York, Louisiana, Connecticut, and Oregon to provide the latest information about AIS through colorful characters and a crime-solving theme. Since its inception, the project has expanded to include species from coastal regions around the country.

“In addition to being clever and fun, the site is rich with curriculum for teachers, ideas for stewardship projects, and creative educational activities for students and other online audiences,” said Robin Goettel, IISG associate director for education.

The Ocean Today Kiosk, developed by NOAA in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution , presents news, video stories and in this case, interactive pages that highlight some of the most interesting, surprising, and pressing issues facing our ocean today. Through a large touch-screen interface, kiosk visitors are offered a variety of information about ocean life, current science and technology, and recent discoveries. The kiosk also features a ‘current news’ section, presenting users with near real-time data about ocean and weather conditions around the U.S.

The Nab the Aquatic Invader! feature will focus on the suspects–aka the invasive species–in four regions of the country: Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf, and Great Lakes. In each region, visitors can see read interrogation interviews with the 10 Most Wanted AIS and learn their origin, problems they cause, and some control methods used to slow the spread of these species.

“The Ocean Today Kiosk team is excited to partner with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant to turn content from the Nab the Aquatic Invader web site into an interactive feature,” said Katie Snider, kiosk executive producer at NOAA’s National Ocean Service. “The Ocean Today Kiosk was designed to educate the public on fundamental ocean literacy concepts. There’s no better way to teach kids (and big kids!) about invasive species than by letting them “touch screen” their way through the crimes and profiles of invasive “suspects” around the country.”

In addition to the Sant Ocean Hall, Ocean Today Kiosks will be located at a growing network of aquariums across the nation through the Coastal America’s Ecosystem Learning Centers, including one already installed at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. This partnership will ultimately provide opportunities for 20 to 30 million people to engage with Nab the Aquatic Invader! and many more ocean resources.

You can find the new issue of the HELM, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s newsletter, here.

Here are headlines from this issue:

• Strategies for water conservation: Is the price right?

• Wingspread Accord expands its reach

• Restoration master plans build on community clean ups

• SOLEC spotlights Great Lakes nearshore conditions

• Invasive hydroid may strain food source of young fish

From Dave Kelch, Ohio Sea Grant:

The Cleveland Mid-America Boating and Fishing Show, was held at the Cleveland I-X Center from January 15-24, 2010. Over 75,000 individuals attend this event from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and other states within the region.

Information on safe disposal of unwanted medicines was part of our exhibit this year, and included IISG’s poster, brochures, and pills boxes. We printed 600 copies of the brochure, and ran out of them on Saturday, January 23. The pillboxes were also all given out by the 23rd. We estimate that, during the course of the show, at least 5000 individuals visited our display, learning more about issues and concerns facing the Great Lakes.

We know that at least 600 people became more educated about disposal of unwanted medicines due to the brochures and pill boxes, which were distributed during the show.

We had many individuals asking about disposal of unwanted medicines. We did not physically count each contact made, yet we know it was into the hundreds of one-on-one discussions.

We have another large event upcoming February 11-14, 2010, the Cleveland Sport, Vacation and Travel Show, to be held at the Great Lakes Expo Center on Babbitt Road in Euclid, Ohio, outside of Cleveland. We expect over 50,000 people at this four-day event, as it is one of the most popular in the area. In addition to displaying our other projects, we will be distributing information on disposal of unwanted medicines.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a request by Michigan to slam shut two navigation locks that are the last physical barrier between the invading Asian carp and Lake Michigan.

The court issued its announcement Tuesday with no explanation. Read more.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Environmental DNA samples taken in recent weeks reveal that Asian carp apparently have infested another waterway just below the shores of Lake Michigan, this time north of downtown Chicago, the Journal Sentinel has learned.

U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan made reference to some “initial indications” of more waters infested with the jumbo-sized fish in a Jan. 6 memorandum to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kagan is opposing the State of Michigan’s request for a Supreme Court injunction to close some navigation locks to keep the invasive fish from spilling into Lake Michigan. Read more.

In 2010, two IISG Knauss fellowship candidates were chosen for positions in the executive branch of the federal government. Michael Allen of the University of Illinois and Priscilla Viana of the University of Illinois Chicago will be going to Washington for a year of hands-on government experience. Mike will be in NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research division in the Office of Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes. Priscilla will be working at the National Science Foundation, Division of Ocean Science.

The National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, established in 1979, provides a unique educational experience to students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. The program matches highly qualified graduate students with “hosts” in the legislative and executive branch of government located in the Washington, D.C. area, for a one year paid fellowship. The program is named in honor of one of Sea Grant’s founders, former NOAA Administrator, John A. Knauss.

From the New York Times:

Asian carp, the voracious, nonnative fish whose arrival near Lake Michigan is threatening to cause havoc in the Great Lakes, are now setting off strife on land as well.

In an urgent effort to close down Chicago-area passages that could allow the unwanted fish to reach Lake Michigan, the State of Michigan is suing the State of Illinois and other entities that govern the waterways here. Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin have filed documents in recent days supporting Michigan’s move, and Indiana says it will soon do the same.

The new rift between these Midwestern states, which would reopen a nearly century-old legal case in the United States Supreme Court over Great Lakes waters, comes at a particularly sensitive moment — just as the numerous entities with interests in the Great Lakes had united in what lakes advocates consider some of their most significant progress in decades. Read more.

From the U.S. EPA:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today released its most comprehensive study of the nation’s lakes to date. The draft study, which rated the condition of 56 percent of the lakes in the United States as good and the remainder as fair or poor, marked the first time EPA and its partners used a nationally consistent approach to survey the ecological and water quality of lakes. A total of 1,028 lakes were randomly sampled during 2007 by states, tribes and EPA.

“This survey serves as a first step in evaluating the success of efforts to protect, preserve, and restore the quality of our nation’s lakes,” said Peter Silva, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “Future surveys will be able to track changes in lake water quality over time and advance our understanding of important regional and national patterns in lake water quality.”

The National Lakes Assessment reveals that the remaining lakes are in fair or poor condition. Degraded lakeshore habitat, rated “poor” in 36 percent of lakes, was the most significant of the problems assessed. Removal of trees and shrubs and construction of docks, marinas, homes and other structures along shorelines all contribute to degraded lakeshore habitat.

Nitrogen and phosphorous are found at high levels in 20 percent of lakes. Excess levels of these nutrients contribute to algae blooms, weed growth, reduced water clarity, and other lake problems. EPA is very concerned about the adverse impacts of nutrients on aquatic life, drinking water and recreation. The agency will continue to work with states to address water quality issues through effective nutrient management.

The survey included a comparison to a subset of lakes with wastewater impacts that were sampled in the 1970s. It finds that 75 percent show either improvements or no change in phosphorus levels. This suggests that the nation’s investments in wastewater treatment and other pollution control activities are working despite population increases across the country.

The results of this study describe the target population of the nation’s lakes as a whole and are not applicable to a particular lake. Sampling for the National Rivers and Streams Assessment is underway, and results from this two-year study are expected to be available in 2011.