New IISG research projects will address coastal concerns and recruit young scientists

Posted April 28th, 2022 in Featured, Sea Grant Scholars, Uncategorized

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) will award $892,000 to 14 research projects in 2022. Five projects are already underway and will inform decision making for some of the region’s pressing coastal issues, including protecting shorelines, improving aquaculture, and preventing drownings. Several projects will recruit youth to engage in research, opening up opportunities and potentially inspiring tomorrow’s scientists.

This summer, nine more projects will form the latest cohort of the IISG Faculty and Graduate Student Scholars Program, which, through one year of funding, helps develop a community of scientists to research critical issues related to Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes region.

The five 2-year research projects in progress will support and expand IISG efforts in key areas.

  • Robin Mattheus of the Illinois State Geological Survey will engage in research to support coastal resilience. This team will build on previous work with the Chicago Park District and the Illinois Coastal Management Program, specifically studying how the lake bottom near Chicago affects movement of sand and sediment, and how that impacts shorelines.
  • Paul Brown and Yu-Ting Chu of Purdue University will study the potential for expanding marine aquaponics in the Midwest. Aquaponics is a circular system for growing plants and fish simultaneously. The team will identify possible salt-tolerant plant species, explore marine aquaponic systems, and quantify the demand for marine aquaponic products in Chicago markets. 
  • Michelle Macy of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago will lead a team focused on decreasing drownings at Lake Michigan beaches. They will assess the impact of the Chicago Park District’s community water safety training and develop a swimming instruction program in Evanston, Illinois that will be adapted for implementation in other Chicago communities.
  • Brian Murphy of the University of Illinois Chicago and Will Edmonson at the James R. Jordan Boys & Girls Club of Chicago will directly involve students in Great Lakes-based antibiotic discovery research. Students will help collect samples from the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Plus, they will learn how to use robotics to build a bacteria library and to test their samples against human pathogens.
  • Nadine Folino-Rorem of Wheaton College will lead a team of community scientists and students as they investigate invasive freshwater jellyfish blooms in Lake Michigan to get some insight into how the organisms may respond to climate change.

The 2022 group of IISG Faculty Scholars includes Jessica Ward of Ball State University, who will study the effect of microplastics and contaminants on larval fish and Lopamudra Chakraborti from Loyola University Chicago, who will conduct economic analyses on tourism in response to the cleanup of the Waukegan Area of Concern. In addition, Eleftheria Kontou at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Chengcheng Tao of Purdue University will use modeling to explore improving the resiliency of southern Lake Michigan communities to flooding.

Five new IISG Graduate Student Scholars from University of Illinois Chicago, Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago, Ball State University, and Purdue University will improve their research in the areas of antibiotics, thermal pollution in the Chicago River, economic benefits of water quality improvements in Great Lakes Areas of Concern, and fish health, specifically alewife and lake sturgeon. Their projects and stories will be featured in the IISG newsroom and on social media channels throughout 2022 and 2023.

 “We are so excited to support these research projects,” said Carolyn Foley, IISG research coordinator. “They cover a broad set of issues in support of the Lake Michigan communities we serve, including introducing younger students to scientific research, and we cannot wait to see the outcomes.”

The full set of research projects supported through IISG’s competitive process can be explored through our Research Project Database: https://iiseagrant.org/research/research-projects/.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

Contact: Carolyn Foley

IISG Instagram

Exciting news! Our new aquaponics curriculum is here! Designed for 9-12th grade classrooms with operating aquaponics systems, this curriculum, created by educators for educators, teaches STEM concepts through the lens of aquaponics, aligning with NGSS and Great Lakes Literacy Principles. Learn more via the link in bio.

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@ilextension
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@eeaindiana

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Exciting news! Our new aquaponics curriculum is here! Designed for 9-12th grade classrooms with operating aquaponics systems, this curriculum, created by educators for educators, teaches STEM concepts through the lens of aquaponics, aligning with NGSS and Great Lakes Literacy Principles. Learn more via the link in bio. @seagrant_noaa@ilextension@purduefnr@noaaeducation@environmental_ed_of_il@eeaindiana

🚨🚨 New episode alert! 🚨🚨 Teach Me About the Great Lakes episode 106 is out!

Growing up with multiple newspapers delivered to her home and spending a lot of time outside in Michigan, maybe it was inevitable that Kelly House would become an environmental journalist extraordinaire. She joins TMATGL to talk about her work, why journalism matters, and what gives her hope for the future of her profession and the natural world.

Tune in via the link in bio.

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🚨🚨 New episode alert! 🚨🚨 Teach Me About the Great Lakes episode 106 is out!Growing up with multiple newspapers delivered to her home and spending a lot of time outside in Michigan, maybe it was inevitable that Kelly House would become an environmental journalist extraordinaire. She joins TMATGL to talk about her work, why journalism matters, and what gives her hope for the future of her profession and the natural world.Tune in via the link in bio.

We are here at the Hoosier Association for Science Teachers Inc (HASTI) annual conference in Noblesville, Indiana today and tomorrow, as we share resources for educators looking to implement some hands-on learning opportunities about Lake Michigan, natural resources, and aquaponics into their classrooms.

Don`t miss Megan Gunn`s presentation “Empowering Future Environmental Stewards: Resources and Strategies for Educators" during Monday`s afternoon breakout session at 2 pm in Room 2074.

Stop by the booth to say hi and learn more!

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We are here at the Hoosier Association for Science Teachers Inc (HASTI) annual conference in Noblesville, Indiana today and tomorrow, as we share resources for educators looking to implement some hands-on learning opportunities about Lake Michigan, natural resources, and aquaponics into their classrooms. Don't miss Megan Gunn's presentation “Empowering Future Environmental Stewards: Resources and Strategies for Educators" during Monday's afternoon breakout session at 2 pm in Room 2074. Stop by the booth to say hi and learn more!
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