The objective of this project is to develop a rapid, sensitive assay for detecting the exposure of fishes to carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in contaminated aquatic ecosystems.

Evaluate the following:

• Surfactant when present at nontoxic concentrations will increase the rate and extent of utilization of high three-and four-ringed PAHs
• Components of mixtures of PAHs may inhibit the degradation of PAHs which are otherwise utilized by bacterial strains
• A sediment slurry system will be favorable for bioremediation of contaminated sediments

• Determine what factors impact year class strength in yellow perch

• Establish methods for the culture of fish primordial germ cells (PGCs)

• Determine the importance of the trades in live bait, pets, water gardens, and biological supplies as pathways for the introduction of nonindigenous freshwater species
• Estimate the ecological and economic risks associated with given species in trade
• Reduce the numbers of high risk species in trade and to reduce the likelihood of release of organisms by customers

• Reconstruct the chronology of invasions of Orconectes rusticus and other nonnative crayfishes into the Great Lakes
• Use genetic analyses of the regions in Lake Michigan where O. rusticus is displacing O. propinquus
• Predict the future distribution of O. rusticus in the Great Lakes by comparing the environmental requirements of O. rusticus (especially substrata) with the characteristics of Great Lakes littoral zones