• Evaluate the polyculture of yellow perch in cages with freshwater prawns in ponds.
• Evaluate the effect of culture temperature on growth and survival of yellow perch.

This research addresses two main questions related to the attitudes and behaviors toward invasive crayfish in the Great Lakes Region to better understand the outreach needs of these communities.

• What are the attitudes and behaviors of teachers in the Great Lakes Region towards invasive species of crayfish? What are effective methods of outreach for this community?
• What are the attitudes and behaviors of individuals involved in the culinary market in the Great Lakes Region towards invasive species of crayfish? What are effective methods of outreach for this community?

Invasive crayfish in the Great Lakes Region pose a threat to local ecosystems as they often outcompete native species and have the potential to damage local freshwater ecosystems. Native crayfish are important consumers and predators within the food web, and the disruption that invasive crayfish cause can have wide-reaching ecological and economic effects. There has been research and outreach done about the spread of invasive crayfish by use as bait by anglers, in aquariums and the pet trade, and through aquaculture. My research explores two additional potential introduction pathways: teachers who use crayfish in the classroom and people in the culinary market who use them as live food products. Both groups have been cited as potential pathways for crayfish introduction and spread. However, there is little understanding of the ways that individuals within these groups feel about and interact with invasive species in general and crayfish specifically.

• Isolate and grow previously unculturable aquatic microorganisms
• Evaluate extracts for anticancer and anti-tuberculosis activities
• Evaluate extracts for anticancer and anti-tuberculosis activities

• Count zooplankton already collected from Green Bay
• Contribute to a lakewide understanding of mechanisms limiting recruitment of yellow perch
• Provide information useful to fisheries managers

This project will address an emerging issue along the coast of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana: microbiological pollution of beach sands due to failing septic systems. We will sample beaches in areas of known septic system failures and the sand for E. coli, human fecal bacterial DNA markers, and common pathogens. Successful execution of this project will result in data that can be used for a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) for beachgoers in the area and an experimental framework that can be expanded to examine beach sands in other Indiana coastal communities with high densities of shoreline septic systems.

This project was funded through the “Social and Economic Impacts of PFAS in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Regions” opportunity. Key objectives are:

• To characterize fish consumption behavior among recreational fishers in two predominantly African American populations in the Lake Michigan area by holding a listening session and conducting surveys at fishing sites.
• To explore these two communities’ familiarity with contaminants in fish including PFAS, their understanding of fish advisories and the potential health risks of eating recreationally-caught fish, preferred sources of health information, and behavior change domains.

Michigan Sea Grant will support outreach efforts for this project.