• 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.

• Quantify the impacts of acute hypoxia events on fishes, using the Chicago Area Waterway System as a test environment

The main objectives of this project are to:

• Describe the population dynamics of zebra mussels in nine inland lakes (seven in Michigan, one each in Indiana and Ohio).
• Measure reproductive output, larval abundance, recruitment and adult growth adult mussel density, size distribution and availability of suitable substrata within each study lake.

Cities can be shaped to mitigate potential risks and improve the safety of citizens. However, modifying the urban setting to expand autonomous vehicle safety could negatively impact the community’s water systems health. This graduate student scholars research project aims to leverage a shift in transportation technologies, in a period of climate crisis, for the benefit and safety of people and natural systems – including water systems. This researcher will compile ideas on a multidisciplinary effort, representing different aspects of the city and diverse effects on the influence of technology in urban water systems to present a comprehensive document that questions the possible outcomes in the physical, political, and social aspects.

This one-year research project is dedicated to investigating the viability of utilizing dredged sludge from the Great Lakes as a substitute for fine aggregates in cementitious composites. The research encompasses experimental investigation such as the chemical and physical properties of the dredged sludge and the fresh and mechanical performance of cementitious composites incorporating this material. Subsequently, a “cradle to gate” life cycle assessment will be conducted for cementitious composites with dredged sludge.

The primary goal of this project is to propose an innovative recycling approach for managing pollutant-laden dredged sludge, aiming to reduce the reliance on traditional sand in the construction industry.

Three major research questions that we aim to address are:

• Are the secondary environmental impacts of the existing nutrient loss management BMPs significant so that they pose substantial challenges in their sustainability?
• How could redesign the existing technologies/practices to minimize these challenges?
• How can we offer techno economically viable solutions to boost the technology adoption of the existing nutrient loss management strategies in the larger scale?

Lake Michigan, a significant global freshwater resource, has been constantly afflicted by nutrient pollution leading to eutrophication due to draining of excess nutrients from the most intensively managed agricultural landscapes in the Midwest. Many BMPs have been in practice in the urban and agricultural watersheds and are effective in reducing nutrient loss via surface runoff, yet lake Michigan’s nutrient concentrations and HABs are still serious problems. Recent research suggests that the existing BMPs render secondary environmental impacts which could undermine their functions of nutrient loss reduction and challenge their sustainability. For example, multiple BMPs that have been tremendously effective in controlling surface runoff and the subsequent associated nutrient loss, have dramatically altered the nutrient loss pathways from surface to sub-surface drainage whose subsequent negative impacts are profound on the Great Lakes region. Agricultural and stormwater BMPs such as conservation tillage, strip tillage, riparian buffers, bioretention cells, woodchip mulching etc. have been particularly effective in sediment and nutrient loss reduction from surface runoff in field scale, while inadequate to override nutrient export from the subsurface drainage when observed in the watershed scale. In that regard, researchers have identified woodchip based BMPs as important green infrastructures to overcome these challenges and keep pace with the rising ecological impacts of urbanization and agricultural practices.