October 30th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Tomas Hook, IISG’s associate director of research, was recently the subject of Purdue University’s “Ag Research Spotlight.”
From the article:
“Höök’s research focuses on fish and fisheries ecology in the Great Lakes. Fish communities and populations—species numbers and their traits—change a great deal from year to year, he explains. Höök studies past, current and projected future conditions to examine the factors that lead to these changes over time and across habitats. He uses a variety of research methods, including lab experiments on how fish respond to different situations, field studies and computer modeling.”
October 22nd, 2013 by Irene Miles
Allison Neubauer, a University of Illinois Senior, was a summer intern with IISG’s Kristin TePas. Among the projects Allison worked on, she was part of the effort to develop a new website for the research vessel Lake Guardian. She wrote in to tell us more about her work this summer and her plans for the future following this internship experience.
“As an indecisive, undeclared sophomore I enrolled in a course titled Environmental Sustainability. Though I registered with low expectations, I found myself completely captivated by the readings and discussions we had in class. By the end of the semester I knew environmental sustainability was a passion I wanted to pursue, and I declared a major in Earth, Society, and the Environment. I also added a Geography and GIS Major and Business Minor along the way. Studying and working in these fields has afforded me the opportunity to engage in a wide range of academic and extracurricular experiences that have truly shaped my outlook on the world and secured my commitment to responsibly addressing environmental issues.
My internship with the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant this summer has been the most rewarding experience of my collegiate career thus far. As the Great Lakes Education Intern I worked under the leadership of my mentor Kristin TePas to develop a website for the U.S. EPA research vessel Lake Guardian that effectively communicates the ship’s research and educational activities to the general public. The Lake Guardian is a unique and extremely valuable resource that has facilitated Great Lakes research for over 25 years, which in turn promotes better understanding and awareness of environmental issues affecting the lakes.
Kristin and I, through the creation of a user friendly Lake Guardian website, hope to expose teachers, students, and the general public to current Great Lakes research projects and inspire communication between scientists and their communities. By interviewing our target audience we determined what people wanted to see on the website and then developed some of the items they requested, including a ship specifications chart, science equipment videos, an ‘Ask a Scientist’ form, FAQ page, Science and Marine Career videos, as well as a YouTube channel and Flickr gallery to give a sense of life and work on the ship. The overarching goal is for the Lake Guardian site to be a fun and engaging way to compel people to be invested in the health and vitality of the Great Lakes.
My experiences this summer have opened my eyes to the importance of protecting the Great Lakes, which had not previously been in the forefront of my environmental concerns. Even growing up in Chicago I took Lake Michigan for granted because I did not understand how fragile the Great Lakes ecosystem truly is, or how critical the Lakes are to people’s livelihoods. Increasing awareness is vital to conserving the Great Lakes, and my position with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant this summer gave me great exposure to environmental outreach. I have thoroughly enjoyed my work, especially all the valuable input I received from an assortment of teachers, scientists, Lake Guardian crew, and Sea Grant staff. This internship has been an excellent growing experience for me. I have vastly improved my communication, planning, and organizing skills as well as enhanced my understanding of the Great Lakes.”
Allison is one of four interns who worked with IISG this summer.
October 15th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has just announced more than $300,000 in funding awards for three research projects taking place over the next two years. These projects seek to improve understanding of the Lake Michigan nearshore food web, uncover connections between sediment removal projects and a community’s ability to weather environmental hazards, and identify why people adopt stormwater management practices.
“We are very pleased to continue our support of outstanding research projects on topics with real significance for the region,” said Tomas Hook, IISG associate director for research. “These projects address some of the biggest concerns facing the Great Lakes and their results will help policy makers and natural resource managers preserve Lake Michigan habitats and strengthen lakeside communities.”
IISG is continuing to fund projects focused on Lake Michigan nearshore food webs with a study examining the importance of wetlands in the lives of sport fishes like yellow perch, walleye, and largemouth and smallmouth bass. Gary Lamberti from the University of Notre Dame will use location monitoring data and tissue samples from fish across the lake to pinpoint the types of wetlands species rely on the most for food and shelter. The results will help natural resource managers target protection and restoration efforts on areas critical to the overall health of the lake. Lamberti will work with Patrick Forsythe from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay as part of a larger project with Wisconsin Sea Grant.
A community’s vulnerability to environmental hazards depends on a lot of factors—things like average incomes, education levels, hazard awareness, and public engagement. Bethany Cutts and Andrew Greenlee from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will investigate how these factors change when a community becomes involved in sediment removal projects. Using towns in the Lincoln Park-Milwaukee Estuary and Grand Calumet Areas of Concern as models, Cutts and Greenlee will develop tools urban policy makers can use to identify the best ways to help communities prepare for and recover from hazards such as pollution, natural disasters, and changing weather patterns.
Linda Prokopy and Nicholas Babin will use Sea Grant funding to better understand what motivates landowners to adopt and continue practices that reduce stormwater runoff, such as using rain barrels to catch runoff from roofs or building rain gardens to absorb water and filter out pollutants. Stormwater runoff is one of the biggest culprits in lake and river pollution, and community-wide adoption of best management practices is key to protecting water quality. Armed with their findings, the Purdue University researchers will team up with the non-profit organization Save the Dunes to improve stormwater outreach and education efforts in northwestern Indiana.
Visit the IISG research page to learn about past research projects and their results.
October 14th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Last month, we announced that six teachers from the Champaign-Urbana area had won tool kits for constructing simple, remotely operated underwater robots with their students. With the help of online lesson plans, the winning teachers will use the SeaPerch robots to teach their students about topics including buoyancy, propulsion, circuitry, and biological sampling.
Along with the kits, teachers got an opportunity to learn construction techniques and practice using the equipment during one of two SeaPerch Build Sessions held in October. During the sessions, Blake Landry, coordinator of the University of Illinois SeaPerch Program, took teachers step-by-step through the build process.
The winning teachers have big plans for their robots. Some will use them to introduce their younger students to basic engineering concepts for the first time. In other classrooms, the robots will provide an opportunity for students to test their knowledge of things like simple circuits. Some teachers are even considering partnering up to start an after-school club that will compete in the national SeaPerch Challenge. With these six teachers now using SeaPerch, there is also a possibility that they may launch a regional SeaPerch Challenge.
The SeaPerch giveaway contest was funded by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant to help teachers in the Great Lakes region integrate science education with engineering and math.
Visit the SeaPerch homepage to learn more about the tool kits and the SeaPerch program.
*Photos*
Top: Blake shows Carol Smith and Geoff Frymuth how to use the tools provided in the SeaPerch teacher’s kit. Carol is a 5th grade teacher at Leal Elementary School in Urbana, and Geoff teaches 7th grade science at Champaign’s Jefferson Middle School.
Middle: Carol practices stripping electrical wires used to connect the three motorized propellers that steer the underwater robots. Stripping wires and building motors are just a few of the many engineering tasks her students will have to do when they build their own robots in the spring.
Bottom: Carol, Geoff, and Jen White, an 8th grade science teacher at Jefferson Middle School, take notes as Blake shows how to install and waterproof the motors and secure the frame of a completed SeaPerch robot.
September 25th, 2013 by Irene Miles
The Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) celebrated their centennial anniversary from September 20-22, and included back-to-class sessions, tours of FNR buildings including the aquaculture research laboratory, and a Saturday evening banquet. More than 250 guests, including many FNR alumni, joined in the celebrations.
FNR has spent the past 100 years training professional foresters, fishery and wildlife scientists, and natural resource managers who help to preserve and protect environmental resources throughout the country.
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) has proudly partnered with FNR for more than 30 years. Brian Miller, IISG Program Director, said, “The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program highly values our 30 year partnership between NOAA, Purdue University, and the University of Illinois. This type of bi-state partnership only works in one other Sea Grant college in the country, and only works because of the mission-driven spirit of collaboration that exists on both of our campuses. The innovation, dedication and creativity of FNR have helped make the Illinois-Indiana Sea grant college program successful and enabled us to achieve positive impacts for local communities and the Great Lakes ecosystem.”
Recent IISG work was showcased during a welcome reception Friday night, and IISG staff assisted in organizing several of the celebration events throughout the weekend. Numerous current IISG staff members have worked closely with FNR, including Miller, Angela Archer, Carolyn Foley, Tomas Hӧӧk, Kwamena Quagrainie, and Kara Salazar, and the partnership continues to offer a crucial link in protecting coastal areas and waterways.
*Photos courtesy the FNR Centennial Committee
September 20th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Recent research in the Chicago area shows that bacteria are developing a resistance to a common antibacterial chemical used in many household and personal care products.
From The Cary Institute:
“Invented for surgeons in the 1960s, triclosan slows or stops the growth of bacteria, fungi, and mildew. Currently, around half of liquid soaps contain the chemical, as well as toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, liquid cleansers, and detergents. Triclosan enters streams and rivers through domestic wastewater, leaky sewer infrastructure, and sewer overflows, with residues now common throughout the United States.
Emma Rosi-Marshall, one of the paper’s authors and an aquatic ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York explains: ‘The bacterial resistance caused by triclosan has real environmental consequences. Not only does it disrupt aquatic life by changing native bacterial communities, but it’s linked to the rise of resistant bacteria that could diminish the usefulness of important antibiotics.'”
Read more about this recent research and some of the implications of these antibacterial compounds at the link above.
September 16th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Recent research indicates that even a handful of Asian carp, between just ten and twenty fish, could establish an ecologically damaging population in the Great Lakes.
From ScienceDaily.com:
“Published this week in the Biological Invasions journal, research from Professor Kim Cuddington of the Faculty of Science at Waterloo indicates that the probability of Asian carp establishment soars with the introduction of 20 fish into the Great Lakes, under some conditions…
‘This species will have a huge impact on the food web,’ says Professor Cuddington. ‘Not only is it a fast-growing fish physically, but the population itself grows very quickly. A female can lay well over a million eggs a year, and with no known predators present in the Great Lakes, the Asian carp could dominate the waters and impact fisheries.’…
Individual fish have already been caught in two of the Great Lakes. The probability of Asian carp establishment changes dramatically if only 10 of the creatures are introduced. With 10 fish, the probability of a population of Asian carp is only 50 per cent, but with 20 fish, it jumps to 75 per cent, under some conditions.”
September 12th, 2013 by Irene Miles
IISG staff will have the opportunity to see aquaculture in action next week while touring the Bell Aquaculture facility in Albany, IN. IISG’s Kwamena Quagrainie has been studying and providing expert advice to aquaculture operations in the Midwest and worldwide for many years, and will be giving the staff more information on how the facility provides millions of pounds of sustainably grown fish to the market each year.
Aquaculture has been a growing food field in the state of Indiana, and a recent feasibility study funded in part by IISG (available online soon at our research projects page) shows that it may have significant potential in Illinois as well.
Additionally, Purdue University produced this great video about aquaponics, which is an extension of aquaculture where fish and plants are raised sustainably and simultaneously in a mutually beneficial system.
Learn more about aquaculture on our aquaculture page.
September 11th, 2013 by Irene Miles
A group of researchers from Purdue University spent a week aboard a research vessel in Lake Michigan, attempting to track and map the way that the currents move and transport marine life and pollutants with them.
“The Great Lakes lack the predictable regularity of tides; a combination of factors including winds, temperature and current depth influence currents. Combined, these factors cause a complex, spiraling water flow, producing a type of interior (rather than surface) waves called inertial waves.
The researchers hypothesize that the inertial waves are the primary mechanism governing the movement and dispersion of particles. ‘You can get currents as strong as a half-meter per second in the middle of Lake Michigan,’ Cary Troy of Purdue’s School of Civil Engineering said prior to the study. ‘The effect is strongest in the middle of each of the Great Lakes, so that’s why we are doing the research there.’
‘The goal is to do dye-release experiments and to track the dye patch over time to see where it diffuses and where it moves and to relate that to the information we have about the lake currents and waves,’ Troy said. ‘One obvious application is for something like an oil spill or any sort of contaminant spill in the Great Lakes. If you have a spill, you need to predict where it’s going to go and how quickly it’s going to dissipate.'”
Read the complete article, including more information about how they tracked the current flow through the lake, at the link above.
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