March 5th, 2014 by iisg_superadmin
February was a busy month for those interested in improving coastal outreach and education with social science. The topic took center stage at national and regional conferences. And IISG’s Caitie McCoy—along with other members of the Great Lakes Social Science Network—was onsite for each to discuss new research and provide tips for engaging the public, collecting reliable qualitative data, and evaluating projects.
It all started with the NOAA Social Coast Forum in South Carolina. During the two-day event, Caitie talked with representatives from academia, government agencies, non-profits, and the private sector about everything from how social science has improved risk communication to the best ways to engage Great Lakes tribes in sediment removal projects. The biggest draw, though, was her presentation on the effectiveness of a new severe weather warning system with fellow Sea Grant social scientists Jane Harrison and Hilarie Sorenson along with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Katie Williams.
The system is part of NOAA’s Weather-Ready Nation, a collaborative project designed to boost community resilience to tornadoes, storm surges, and other extreme weather events. It is intended to keep broadcast meteorologists and emergency managers up-to-date on expected impacts with messages like “tornadic winds could throw automobiles into the air” and “the entire neighborhood will be destroyed.” Caitie, Jane, Hilarie, and New York Sea Grant’s Katherine Bunting-Howarth were brought on board to ensure that messages meet the needs of those who rely on them most when the big storms hit.
Just a few days later, Caitie, Jane, Hilarie, and others brought social science information and recommendations to Superior, Wisconsin for the St. Louis River Estuary Summit. The summit brought together researchers, natural resource managers, educators, and members of the community interested in protecting this tributary to Lake Superior.
For her part, Caitie reported on a needs assessment conducted last year to learn how local communities feel about remediation and restoration efforts in Spirit Lake, one of several sites that make up the St. Louis River Area of Concern. The case study uncovered several important views and concerns that will help Caitie and other members of the outreach team tailor their efforts to these communities. For example, learning that residents often struggle to see how remediation efforts fit together will help them design simple messages that connect cleaning up Spirit Lake with the ultimate goal of removing the St. Louis River from the AOC list. Although clean up won’t begin until at least 2015, the needs assessment has already influenced outreach and helped Caitie develop strong relationships within the community that will help the project move forward.
The St. Louis River cleanup and Caitie’s work to improve public engagement here and at other AOCs is possible because of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Great Lakes Legacy Act.
(Photo credits: Photo 1: St. Louis River AOC, courtesy of EPA
Photo 2: Caitie McCoy and former intern Emily Anderson near the St. Louis River AOC)
February 28th, 2014 by iisg_superadmin
Will Tyburczy’s Knauss fellowship may be over, but his time at NOAA headquarters is not. The IISG-funded fellow will stay with the Office of Program Planning and Integration for another six months to continue some of the work he began as a Knauss Fellow. Please visit the IISG Fellowship page for more information about the Sea Grant Knauss fellowship as well as other fellowship opportunities.
A Ph.D. candidate at University of Chicago, Will spent the bulk of the last year helping NOAA’s Regional Collaboration Network coordinate the work of NOAA’s five main offices—Weather Service, Fisheries Service, Satellite and Information Service, Ocean Service, and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. The efforts of these offices often overlap on major issues like climate change, habitat conservation, and emergency response. It was Will’s job, along with the other network members, to find opportunities for collaboration and help NOAA make progress on these issues. He also served as a liaison between NOAA regional staff and organization leaders, ensuring that each group had the information and resources they need to effectively meet program goals.
“It was challenging at times,” said Will. “Sometimes it feels like people are talking past each other and you just aren’t making progress. But we have great people who share a lot of the same goals. It is very satisfying to help them work together to meet those goals.”
But one of the highlights of the fellowship involved a very different kind of coordination. Will organized the fall edition of Earth Science Monitor, a bi-annual publication that reports on NOAA environmental data and programs. He worked closely with representatives from the network’s eight regions to develop articles showing what NOAA is doing to address environmental issues in each region. He also worked with NOAA head Jane Lubchenco on the lead article.
Even after he leaves NOAA, Will hopes to continue working at the nexus of science and policy, translating scientific findings into actionable policy advice. And he has advice for others who think they might be interested in doing similar work: “Apply for the Knauss fellowship. It is a great program.”
December 13th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Two student applicants sponsored by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant were selected as Knauss fellowship winners this year, and last month they traveled to the nation’s capital to find their respective positions working on water resource and environmental issues.
Katherine Touzinsky and Sara Paver both wrote in to update us on the positions they selected and the specific areas where they will be focusing their energies.
“Placement week – what to say?” Katherine writes. “Over the course of three days, I had 17 interviews for different positions, and each and every one seemed like something I had dreamed up. It was one of the most stressful and exciting experiences I’ve ever had.
I was placed as a navigation R&D advisor for the US Army Corps of Engineers. The US Army Corps of Engineers provides vital public engineering services in peace and war to strengthen our nation’s security, energize the economy, and reduce risks from disasters. I get to take a leadership role in research and development by helping to manage a national R&D agenda, make decisions about technical approaches, and integrate technical teams from federal, academic, and industry sectors. And I’ll get to actively participate in actual research projects too. For at least one week each month, I will be traveling to national DoD labs to meet scientists, get to know their research, and work to make connections between them and other governmental and non-governmental sectors.
I’m in the second year of my master’s program in ecological sciences and engineering (ESE). My thesis work is on the plasticity of Asian carp between the Illinois and Wabash Rivers, and I’ve been lucky enough to work closely with bowfisherman through most of my Asian sampling and extension activities. Right now I’m trying to choose whether or not I will continue on for my PhD and if so, on what topic. I’ve gained some crucial insight on my interests through working with ESE – what I love about ecology is studying interactions and, more broadly, systems. I’m so excited about the Knauss Fellowship year because it is going to let me get a bird’s eye view of the intersections between high-level government, scientists and researchers, the ecology of specific areas, and end users (fisherman, recreationalists, commercial operators, etc.).”
Sara also found placement week to be quite the experience. “Knauss placement week was a fun, speed-dating-esque marathon. It provided an amazing opportunity to get a glimpse of the breadth of work being done within NOAA and other host agencies. I really enjoyed meeting and talking with representatives from various host offices as well as incoming, current, and former fellows.
I selected a position at the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences. Part of my responsibilities will be to facilitate peer review and award decisions for proposals submitted to the Ocean Section, including the Coastal Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (Coastal SEES) program. I am really excited to be exposed to cutting-edge research and to see the grant review process first hand. I think that reading and participating in the review of the Coastal SEES proposals will be particularly enlightening due to their interdisciplinary nature.
I am graduating in December with a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, having studied aquatic microbial ecology in Dr. Angela Kent’s lab. I am looking forward to broadening my understanding of how policy and the needs of society influence science and how science, in turn, informs policy. I plan to return to microbial ecology research armed with this knowledge following my year as a fellow.”
To learn more about the fellowship program, visit the National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship website. And to find out about all of the fellowships available to undergraduate, graduate, and post-grad students, visit our fellowship page.
November 12th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Staff members from 20 different Sea Grant programs across the U.S. attended two Sea Grant Academy sessions this year (one week in April, and one in October). The academy was developed to give Sea Grant employees valuable training and professional development information in a variety of fields, benefiting their work and the work of all Sea Grant programs at large.
Five staff members from Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant were able to attend, and participated in sessions ranging from the history of Sea Grant to project design and evaluation, social science training, time management, communicating the importance of ocean science to various audiences, and much more.
IISG’s Danielle Hilbrich, Greg Hitzroth, Kristin TePas, Kara Salazar, and Sarah Zack were among the more than 40 Sea Grant professionals who completed both weeks of training and graduated from Sea Grant Academy with new information and skills to bring to their work protecting the Great Lakes.
“Sea Grant Academy was a really unique opportunity to meet people from around the country that are working on the same issues we are,” said Sarah. “I thought that it was a great way to foster both partnerships between programs and friendships between specialists. I really enjoyed meeting all the attendees and hearing all about the great work they’re doing.”
And Kristin TePas wrote, “It was a great opportunity to connect with other Sea Grant specialists from around the country. Also, hosting the meeting in Duluth provided a great opportunity to showcase our freshwater coast and the issues surrounding the Great Lakes.”
To learn more about the National Sea Grant program and the work being done to protect America’s coastal resources, visit the NOAA Sea Grant webpage.
July 16th, 2013 by Irene Miles
“Thank you for providing an awesome, informative, and very educational workshop,” said one teacher after last month’s B-WET field experience. “It was extremely helpful to me and, as a result, I feel very confident in addressing my students regarding the Great Lakes, knowing that now I have a plethora of resources, information, lessons, etc. at my disposal.”
All of the attendees at this year’s B-WET Field Experiences for Watershed Educators workshop shared similar positive feedback on the experience, and were genuinely excited at the opportunity to expand their science lessons. IISG’s education team led last month’s four-day training for teachers in Illinois and Indiana, where participants gained new hands-on skills and knowledge from invited speakers to take back to their classrooms.
Teachers got to see a number of practices in action, including habitat restoration at Cowles Bog, a remediated and revitalized Roxana Marsh, water quality testing at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum pond, and more. They also got their hands dirty planting native species and performing a beach cleanup.
The workshop was designed explicitly to provide educators with a way to connect classroom concepts and scientific principles with real-world examples of watershed stewardship in action. Teachers engaged in fieldwork and collaborated with participating agency and organization educators who shared their program examples. As a result, teachers will be able to offer their students information that complements their science curricula. Additionally, the workshop gave them a chance to brainstorm new activities and lessons they could use with their students this fall.
Terri Hallesy, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant education specialist explained, “As a result of this workshop, students will develop awareness and understanding about these critical environmental watershed issues based on the teachers’ new understandings. Educators will bring this increased confidence to their students to help excite them about engaging in Great Lakes stewardship.”
Added Rafael Rosa, Vice President of Education at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, “What I was most impressed with was the enthusiasm of the teachers the program attracted. They asked great questions and more importantly were very open to sharing ideas and working with one another. I think I learned as much from them as they did from me.”
Funding was provided through a grant from the NOAA B-WET education program (linked above), and the workshop was made possible with assistance from Indiana Dunes State Park, the Great Lakes Research and Education Center at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
June 4th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Swimmers, boaters, and anglers visiting Indiana’s coastline this summer will again be able to learn about conditions in Southern Lake Michigan thanks to real-time data collected by the Michigan City buoy. The buoy, launched for the first time last fall, returned to its post four miles from shore last week to collect data on wave height and direction, wind speed, and air and surface water temperatures. It will stay in the water until November.
The relaunch comes just in time to help make summer trips to Michigan City and the Indiana dunes safer. Throughout the season, scientists at the National Weather Service (NWS) in northern Indiana will use wave height and frequency data collected by the buoy to better anticipate likely locations of strong waves and rip currents that cause dangerous swimming conditions. The only one of its kind in the Indiana waters of the lake, the Michigan City buoy gives forecasters access to historically unavailable nearshore data where conditions are much different than at the center of the lake. Real-time data from the buoy has already helped NWS improve their wave height forecasts.
“This information is vital for NWS forecasters to access and accurately forecast the potential for dangerous swimming and boating conditions along southern Lake Michigan,” said John Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS office in northern Indiana. “Our hope is that by accurately forecasting when high waves and rip currents along the shoreline will result in dangerous swimming conditions, we can reduce the number of tragic drownings that occur in these waters every summer.”
The site lets visitors see real-time snapshots of lake conditions—updated every 10 minutes—as well as trends over 24-hour and 5-day periods.
And this year, the Michigan City buoy joins the ranks of environmental monitors that contribute to NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center. The addition makes it possible for people to easily access data older than five days and track trends over longer periods of time. This archived data is particularly important for researchers and natural resource managers who rely on the buoy’s data to improve weather forecasts, protect water quality, and predict where best to fish.
The buoy launch also coincides with Rip Current Awareness Week, and is just one piece of a larger effort to protect people from the dangers of rip currents. Visit the Rip Current Awareness Week website to learn more about rip currents and what you can do to protect yourself this summer.
May 10th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) outreach team was recognized along with many other collaborators in a NOAA Spotlight article for their work on the Great Lakes Risk Assessment Tools. This tool estimates the potential invasiveness of species being sold for use in trade and hobbies such as aquaculture, live bait, and water gardens etc. It provides insights for resources managers that may guide future policies with the goal of preventing the spread of invasive species. This is also a tool that hobbyists and people working in the trades can use proactively use to help choose less threatening species. IISG “will be talking with retailers, hobbyists, and water gardeners – going to shows and posting information in stores – about how they can use the risks assessments as a guide to get ahead of regulations and make responsible decisions now,” said Pat Charlebois, IISG AIS Coordinator.
April 26th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Two student applicants sponsored by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant were selected for Knauss fellowships this year, and both have begun their respective positions working on issues related to protecting water resources.
Najwa Obeid and Will Tyburczy both wrote in to update us on the positions they selected and the specific areas where they will be focusing their energies.
“My host office is the Division of Ocean Sciences at NSF,” writes Najwa. “I will be involved in activities under the Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) cross-foundation portfolio, and in particular, the new Coastal SEES program. The goal of Coastal SEES is to support interdisciplinary research on the dynamic interactions between human behavior, physical forces, and ecological processes in the coastal zone. This program will support fundamental research to facilitate the nation’s ability to maintain sustainable coastal systems.
My involvement with Coastal SEES will allow me to broaden my interdisciplinary understanding by participating in the peer review panels and by conducting background research to help the program. I will also gain exposure to policy though my involvement in the National Ocean Policy Ecosystem-based Management interagency taskforce.”
Meanwhile, Will is working in NOAA’s Office of Program Planning and Integration, “which helps to coordinate activities across NOAA to ensure that the organization is using its resources effectively to meet NOAA’s mission and the nation’s needs. Specifically, I work on NOAA’s Regional Collaboration Network. The Network was formed to improve communication, coordination, and collaboration across NOAA’s programmatic line offices (Weather Service, Fisheries, Satellite and Information Service, Ocean Service, and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research). This is critical for issues that transcend traditional line office boundaries, such as providing stewardship for aquatic habitat or integrating NOAA’s emergency and disaster response capabilities. The network also provides a direct conduit between NOAA leadership and NOAA’s regional partners and stakeholders, allowing the administration to respond more rapidly and effectively to local issues and concerns. Recent examples of network activities include helping the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative to provide training on climate adaptation planning to 104 cities, and helping to prioritize and coordinate efforts in Alaska to manage tsunami debris.
Thus far in my fellowship, I have had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects for PPI and the network. They include presenting NOAA leadership with the ongoing impact of federal sequestration on network activities, preparing proposals to improve the efficiency in oversight for network travel needs, and helping the network to develop documents that effectively convey to headquarters the key priorities, emerging issues, and network activities in each of the network’s eight regions. I am also participating in a NOAA-wide project to optimize the execution of NOAA’s corporate planning. These activities are improving my workplace skills, such as effective writing, project management, and facilitation, as well as helping me to learn about the diverse array of critical services that NOAA provides to communities across the nation.”
Stay tuned for future blog posts to learn more about how these IISG fellows progress in their new positions. To learn more about the fellowship program, visit the National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship website.
December 18th, 2012 by Irene Miles
Will Tyburczy, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Chicago, and Najwa Obeid, a Ph.D. student working with Dr. Charles Werth at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, were the two IISG-sponsored graduate students selected for the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. As part of the fellowship, each of them spent a week in Washington, DC interviewing with leaders in marine policy and were selected for positions related to their research and career interests.
Will Tyburczy writes, “I ultimately selected a fellowship position in NOAA’s Office of Program Planning and Integration. Specifically, I’ll work with a nationwide network of employees across NOAA’s various offices and centers known collectively as the Regional Collaboration Network. The network specializes in finding collaborative solutions to achieve NOAA national and regional priorities. As a fellow, I will help to further develop the existing regional network and synthesize input from each of the network’s eight regions in order to brief NOAA leadership on how efforts are progressing across the country. I will also have the opportunity to meet with top administrators throughout NOAA and gain a working knowledge of how policy is used to effectively manage our oceans.”
Najwa Obeid also wrote to share her experience and her excitement at being selected for one of the fellowships. “Like many of my fellow fellows, I found Knauss placement week to be like speed dating or rush week. Every 30-minute interview was an experience in itself – from traveling to a host office to learning more about what each does. Placement week allowed me to learn in more depth about the breadth of topics and research related to the Great Lakes, coastal waters, and atmosphere that NOAA undertakes, and gave me the opportunity to meet a dynamic group of people dedicated to upholding NOAA’s mission and vision of the future.
My placement at National Science Foundation meshes well with my current research, which takes a multidisciplinary approach to managing urban stormwater runoff in communities around the Great Lakes. I will be working in the Coastal Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability Program (SEES) where I will be exposed to all facets of coastal ecosystems. These include land that is closely connected to the sea, with its beaches, cities, wetlands, and maritime facilities; the Great lakes, the continental seas and shelves; estuaries; and the overlying atmosphere. A goal of the Coastal SEES is identification of natural and human processes that will better inform societal decisions about the use of coastal systems. Likewise, my research contributes to assessing the impact that restoration activities have on hydrologic processes, and also provides insights on decision making through economic evaluation. In general, it presents a modeling approach based on the concept of coupled human-natural systems.”
Congratulations to both Will and Najwa on being selected as Class of 2013 Knauss Fellows. To learn more about the fellowship program, visit the National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship website.
;
