• Provide and enhance the description of recreation participants in the nature based and specfiically
  water related learning activities
• Segment recreation participants by applying the Three-step Procedural Model (activity packages,
  sociodemographic background, trip-related characteristics, environmental attitudes; and expenditure information)
• Determine how the activity segments differ in terms of geographic, sociodemographic, travel trip, expenditure, attitudes and other characteristics
• Provide recommendations for public and private recreation organizations interested in the outdoor
  recreation market

This project proposes to collect samples from various parts of Lake Michigan as proof of concept for a new “Environment to Bioassay” approach being developed. Using this approach, we can accomplish many stages of the microbial drug discovery pipeline directly from single bacterial colonies in a semi-automated fashion, bringing a huge advantage in terms of scale and capacity to access diverse portions of Lake Michigan’s microbiome for rapid antibiotic discovery. Furthermore, understanding the bio-assets from Lake Michigan will be key in informing how to best sustainably manage a critical resource and preserve this area. I plan to integrate my research project with an educational outreach program in partnership with the James Jordan Boys and Girls Club of Chicago. 

• Develop a historical database of environmental processes and anthropogenic disturbances determined to have caused coastal geomorphic changes for Illinois Beach State Park and Waukegan Beach
• Produce list of probable future (within next 50 years) beach and dune changes for coastal managers
• Engage stakeholders in order to understand how data can be readily visualized and utilized in the planning and decision-making process

• Build a network (“PhragNet”) to serve as the foundation for an adaptive management framework focusing on reducing uncertainty associated with Phragmites management

• Test the ability of a mobile atmospheric sounding system, and best deployment methods, to observe marine boundary layer (MBL) structure and evolution across Lake Michigan
• Compare observations from this sounding system to nearby standard NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) sounding data in the Great Lakes region
• Conduct initial tests of theories by Workoff (2010) on cross-lake changes in marine boundary layer vertical stability and wind structure
• Use pilot data gathered during these field tests to develop a more complete observational field study of interactions between Lake Michigan marine boundary layers and deep convective storm systems

Our three major objectives are to determine:

• The potential competitive interactions between exotic
  Eurasian ruffe and native yellow perch in Lake Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes, through new knowledge of their preferences for prey and habitat.
• How predators (e.g., pike) and another exotic animal, zebra mussels, might affect the success of ruffe and their interactions with yellow perch in the Great Lakes.
• The current composition of benthic macroinvertebrates in Lake Michigan to generate a baseline prior to the anticipated invasion by ruffe.