From left to right, Heather Triezenberg, Michigan Sea Grant, and Dave Hart, Wisconsin Sea Grant, congratulate IISG's Amy Shambach for her 2023 Great Lakes Sea Grant Network Early Career Award.

At the recent Great Lakes Sea Grant Network meeting in Evanston, Illinois, Amy Shambach, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant aquaculture marketing outreach associate, was presented with the 2023 Great Lakes Sea Grant Network Early Career Award.

Shambach has been in her role with IISG since 2019. Since then, she has developed numerous outreach products, including videos, factsheets, and websites. She has organized and led webinars and workshops in the two states and helped lead Great Lakes-wide projects.

Throughout her four years with the program, Shambach has worked closely with fish farmers—she has been someone they can turn to for guidance and information. As a result, she was able to help some farmers successfully secure federal support during COVID and then when an ice storm hit southern Illinois.

“It is unusual for someone to launch so many high-output, high-impact programs so early in their Sea Grant career, especially when they begin the job with little outreach experience,” said Stuart Carlton, IISG assistant director. “However, Amy is not usual, she is special, and is well deserving of recognition for her work.”

Ashley Belle, third from left, and the Spirit Lake Project Team, were presented with a 2023 Western Dredging Association Environmental Excellence Award for Partnerships and Outreach/Education.

Also honored at a recent event, IISG’s Ashley Belle is part of an award-winning team working to inform residents and other stakeholders in a Great Lakes Area of Concern that is undergoing an environmental cleanup. Belle leads outreach efforts for the Spirit Lake Project Team that was recently presented a 2023 Western Dredging Association Environmental Excellence Award for Partnerships and Outreach/Education.

Spirit Lake is located in the St. Louis River between Minnesota and Wisconsin and is part of one of the largest Great Lakes Legacy Act sediment remediation projects. This work takes place near the Duluth, Minnesota neighborhood of Morgan Park and a culturally significant tribal site—Spirit Island.

As the cleanup progresses, Belle and the team have provided public meetings, regular updates delivered to residents, online photo galleries, an onsite kiosk, and more.

IISG Instagram

🚨🚨 New episode alert!🚨🚨 Teach Me About the Great Lakes episode 104 is out!This episode is a scientist’s dream and a nightmare of would-be organizational acronyms. Dr. Drew Gronewold, with his multiple titles and international work, introduces the TMATGL team to the Global Center for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters and the value of data. (As if we didn’t know…)Tune in via the link in bio.
Join us in welcoming IISG’s new communications coordinator, Natty Morrison, to the team! Housed in Purdue University’s campus, Natty will develop and maintain the programs and products that promote and highlight IISG’s research, outreach and education efforts. Full story at the link in bio.
Located in Washington, D.C., the Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources, and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. This is a one-year fellowship open to any student, regardless of citizenship, who is enrolled toward a degree in a graduate or professional program on the day of the deadline.Students enrolled at an Illinois or Indiana university or college should submit their applications through Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant by emailing Angela Archer at amcbride@purdue.edu. Students in surrounding states without a Sea Grant program should contact the National Sea Grant College Program at oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov for a referral. Application deadline: February 19.To learn more about the fellowship, visit the link in bio.
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