New IISG community decision-making specialist will provide on the ground support

Posted February 14th, 2011 in Education, Great Lakes Data, News, Program

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Kristin TePas recently began her new position at the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) in Chicago. As of Feb. 1, she is IISG’s Great Lakes community decision-making specialist. In this position, Kristin will assist coastal communities and other clients in making informed decisions, strengthening policies, or implementing programs that improve the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem. She will be working with GLNPO scientists to use their monitoring and research data to make products and publications for community leaders.

Kristin previously worked as the program’s aquatic invasives extension associate for almost 10 years, conducting outreach focused on preventing the introduction and spread of invasive species.

“I’m very excited about this new opportunity,” Kristin said. “I’m looking forward to working with the Great Lakes communities and broadening my focus beyond aquatic invasive species.”

One project she is currently working on is acting as a liaison between EPA and Purdue University, which is developing indicators for land use change and agricultural lands. The project is being done in the hopes that EPA will adopt the indicators.

Kristin holds an M.E.M. in coastal environmental management from Duke University and a B.A. in psychology from the University of Notre Dame.

IISG Instagram

Explore the history, impact, and educational power of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).

eeLEARN: MWEE 101 is a free, self-paced online course that walks you through the MWEE framework with examples, planning tools, and downloadable resources that you can use immediately.

Start learning today at the link in bio.

10 0
Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18242530168306858
Explore the history, impact, and educational power of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).eeLEARN: MWEE 101 is a free, self-paced online course that walks you through the MWEE framework with examples, planning tools, and downloadable resources that you can use immediately.Start learning today at the link in bio.

Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

10 0
Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18003364196847976
Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective.

Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

15 0
Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18053780390453750
This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective. Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.