Summary report for IISG’s virtual workshop that was held in October 2020 and focused on improving communication about changing lake levels and water level variability in southwestern Lake Michigan and the impacts to the Chicago metropolitan area.

A quarterly roundup of news stories related to the ongoing work of Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant.

2020

December 2020

In this issue:
IISG staff members win outreach and communication awards;
Graduate fellowship opportunities available;
New podcast series discusses the science of ponds;
Illinois Extension searching for assistant dean who will serve as IISG associate director

October 2020

In this issue:
Indiana Master Watershed Steward volunteers dive in to help their local environment;
New toolkit makes finding weather and climate lesson plans easy;
Scientists bring the Great Lakes to students learning from home

July 2020

In this issue:
Lake Michigan Chinook salmon stick with declining alewife as their main meal;
Sea Grant Faculty Scholars program provides new opportunities for researchers in Illinois and Indiana;
New feeding approach promises more robust and healthy farm-raised larval largemouth bass;
Amid COVID-19 pandemic, the need for frequent hand-washing collides with soaring water rates

March 2020

In this issue:
Water affordability report helps inform new Chicago water billing policy;
Social norms help motivate people to adopt practices that protect water quality;
Purdue Extension Land Use Team launches American Citizen Planner program in Indiana;
Microplastics may increase the risk of PFAS entering the Lake Michigan food web

This is the second in a series of fact sheets that describe fish and shellfish produced in the Midwest region of the United States. (See FNR-608-W, Walleye Farmed Fish Fact Sheet.) Yellow perch have been popular among anglers for many years, and since 2002, responding to greater demand, U.S. farmers are raising perch in ponds, aquaponic systems, etc. The fact sheet also includes culinary characteristics, cooking tips and a recipe for Baked Parmesan Perch.

References:

1. Pam Fuller, and Matt Neilson, 2020, Perca flavescens (Mitchill, 1814): U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL, https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=820, Revision Date: 8/15/2019, Peer Review Date: 5/29/2012, Access Date: 10/14/2020
2. Brown T; Runciman B; Bradford M; Pollard S, 2009. A biological synopsis of yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Canadian Manuscript Reports of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 2883. 28 p.
3. Hudson, J. C. and Ziegler, S. S. (2014), Environment, Culture, and The Great Lakes Fisheries. Geographical Review, 104: 391–413. doi: 10.1111/j.1931-0846.2014.12041.x
4. Piavis P. Yellow perch Perca flavescens. In: Funderburk SL, Jordan SJ, Mihursky JA, Riley D, editors. Habitat requirements for Chesapeake Bay living resources. 2nd edition. Solomons, MD: Chesapeake Research Consortium; 1991. p. 14.1-14.15.
5. Malison, J.A. 2003. A white paper on the status and needs of yellow perch aquaculture in the north central region. Reported prepared for North Central Regional Aquaculture Center. Available at: http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/aquanic/ncrac/wpapers/YellowPerch11-21-03.htm

To assist green infrastructure project managers with understanding long-term maintenance issues, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant conducted a needs assessment. This assessment grew out of a recognition that declining infrastructure performance and sufficiency is a fundamental challenge to stormwater management over time.

Anyone who has a home with a yard can help protect and improve water quality. This publication offers practical advice about reducing impervious surfaces, select proper landscape plants, effective management of lawns, installing rain barrels and rain gardens, and proper care of septic systems.

Publication is available through the Purdue Extension EduStore at: https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=ID-523-W.

The Lake Michigan Partnership Working Group, which comprises representatives from federal, state, and tribal agencies in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, identified 14 research priorities for the 2020 Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) Field Year on Lake Michigan. The worldwide COVID‐19 pandemic delayed most sampling plans in 2020; however, CSMI‐related sampling plans have been generated for Lakes Michigan and Superior in 2021. This document describes planned activities for Lake Michigan, to be completed by scientists from the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (NOAA‐GLERL), the US Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center (USGS‐GLSC), the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes National Program Office and Office of Research and Development (EPA‐ GLNPO and EPA‐ORD, respectively), and university partners.