• Determine whether round gobies interfere with mottled sculpin spawning
• Compare spawning shelter requirements of the two species in a effort to find methods of minimizing round goby spawning success while maximizing mottled sculpin spawning success

• Assess how recreation influences the behavior of the endangered Karner blue butterfly at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
• Identify and predict the implications of such disturbance-related behavior on oviposition rate and larval host plant selection by the Karner blue butterfly
• Identify and devise active management strategies and site designs minimizing recreational disturbance to the Karner blue butterfly at sites with existing populations and restored sites proposed for the species re-introduction

In this one-year research project, I propose a data-driven fragility curve to investigate the damage level of the levee system considering the structural conditions, flooding level and environmental conditions in the Southern Lake Michigan region and provide recommendations on the maintenance strategy suitable for the flooding area. The goal of the proposed research is to mitigate potential losses, improve the current levee system maintenance and therefore enhance the flood resilience of the levee system and coastal communities in the Great Lake region. The goal of the proposed research is to investigate the levee system safety in the Great Lake region.

• The goal of this project was to use a direct method for investigating the speciation of metals in wetlands that is based on the use of Synchrotron Radiation

• 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

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