“The exercise – including intensive netting and electro-fishing – will be the first of its kind utilizing provisions of the new Mutual Aid Agreement for Combating Aquatic Invasive Species, signed at the Council of Great Lakes Governors meeting on April 26 in Chicago…Crews coordinated by the Illinois and Indiana Departments of Natural Resources are deploying boats on Chicago’s Calumet Harbor, and on adjoining waters of Lake Michigan on both sides of the Illinois-Indiana state line, for electro-fishing and netting to determine whether invasive Eurasian ruffe are present.‘Aquatic invasive threats know no national or state boundaries. Our ability to sample fish communities, respond quickly, and effectively communicate on efforts could be critical in the future to respond to a threat within the Great Lakes basin,’ said Indiana DNR Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator Eric Fischer.Eurasian ruffe, an eastern European species of fish, have been found in Lake Superior since the mid-1980s, have a similar diet and feeding habits of native fish, and could present problems for the food web in Lake Michigan. Researchers detected environmental DNA of Eurasian ruffe in Calumet Harbor last year.”
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To every educator who has brought the Great Lakes into their classroom, thank you. 🍎
Your curiosity is contagious. Your lessons last. And the students who learn to love these waters? They’ll protect them.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week from all of us at IISG.
Trash talk + trivia + Great Lakes science at a brewery on Earth Day.
Science Sips: Trash Talk about Chicago Waterways brought together researchers, curious locals, and trivia bingo to talk about what’s really floating in Lake Michigan and what we can do about it.
Thank you to everyone who came out and to @sketchbookbrew for hosting!
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: June 3, 2026.
To learn more about the fellowship, visit the link in bio.
PD hours + Great Lakes science + hands-on learning? Yes please.
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has five educator workshops lined up for spring and summer 2026, covering birds, watersheds, coastal science, earth systems, and engineering design.
🐦 May 3 · 💧 June 10 · 🌊 July 16 · 🌍 July 31–Aug 1 · 🏗️ Aug 18
Real-world connections. Field experiences. Takeaways your students will actually feel.
🔗 Register at the link in bio.
