• Initiate embryonic stem (ES) cell cultures derived from zebra fish embryos and maintain the cultures for multiple passages in vitro
• Construct targeting vectors that can be used to disrupt the zebra fish aromatase genes
• Introduce the targeting vectors into the ES cells and develop methods to isolate homologous recombinants
• Use the ES cell cultures to generate zebra fish aromatase knockout
  lines of fish

Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) blood serum will be tested for PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Each sample will be analyzed three times, once for ionic PFAS, once for neutral PFAS, and once for oxidizable precursors. These analyses will achieve the research goals of determining:

1. What concentration of ionic and neutral PFAS are in bald eagle samples?
2. How do oxidizable precursors affect the concentration of ionic PFAS in the samples?
3. What does the “big picture” indicate about the health of the bald eagles and the surrounding ecosystem?
4. What does this “big picture” suggest about environmental and human health?

This will give previously unavailable insights into the amount of PFAS and PFAS precursors in bald eagles and their surrounding aquatic ecosystems. These concentrations, which will give us an estimate of the PFAS contamination in bald eagles, will be compared with known thresholds of toxicological effects for the bald eagles, which in turn will give us an indirect assessment of the surrounding environment.

• Estimate the recreational value of single-day visits to two nature centers within Metropolitan Chicago

• Obtain the full-length perch growth hormone (GH) cDNA.
• Clone and express the yellow perch GH mRNA in a protein expression system.
• Assay the recombinant perch GH for growth promoting activity in juvenile perch.
• Produce antibodies to the recombinant perch GH.

This project proposes to measure the economic benefit of water quality improvements by applying difference-in-difference analysis to local market outcomes in the Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern (AOC). The implementation of remediation projects in this AOC provides a unique opportunity to observe and compare affected ecosystems and economic outcomes before and after remediation. The analysis will use data on local housing market conditions and socioeconomic outcomes and the timing and location of sediment removal and habitat restoration projects in the Waukegan Harbor AOC. 

• Determine the effectiveness of the current electric barriers and proposed carbon dioxide barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System at deterring the passage of invertebrate species from a wide range of taxonomic groups
• Determine whether different voltages and frequencies of electricity affect the effectiveness of the electric barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System at deterring species passage
• Determine whether different concentrations of carbon dioxide affect the effectiveness of proposed carbon dioxide barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System at deterring species passage.