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GLERL Electronic Newsletter Updates: 2002 Archive |
Links in the archive are not updated - many may be broken over time. URLs which are not linked are no longer valid (retained as historical).
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December 30, 2002Contents 1. Great Lakes Oceanography A field intensive 1-week course (May 4-11)will be taught at NOAA/GLERL's
Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon,MI. Students will participate
in a week long cruise aboard the R/V Laurentian using the latest
physical and biological oceanographic methods (e.g.,moored instrument
arrays,state-o -the-art profiling systems,etc.).The course will
focus on physical measurements,and Despite the limited class size (12 students) we would like your help in advertising the availability of this course broadly. I have a pdf flyer posted off my main web page (www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant) 2. New Reprint - Ice ASSEL, R.A. and D.C. NORTON. Twentieth Century trends in the ice cover of the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. Ice in the Environment: Proceedings of the 16th IAHR International Symposium on Ice, Dunedin, New Zealand, December 2-6, 2002. V. Squire and P. Langhorne (Eds.), pp. 321-327 (2002). 3. Science.gov makes research more accessible to the public A new federal Web site aims to make scientific information gathered
by different agencies more accessible to the public. The site,
www.science.gov, is an offshoot of Firstgov.gov, and is especially
useful because it houses information under one roof from the multiple
agencies that perform scientific research, said Eleanor Frierson,
deputy director of the National Agricultural Library and co-chair
of the science.gov Alliance, the interagency group that created
the site.
"Science.gov provides the unique ability to search across
the content within databases as well as across Web sites," Frierson
said. "It shows that federal agencies can work together to
pull off The site, which is geared toward a wide audience that ranges from
academics to private business owners, offers a compilation of information
from 10 government agencies and 14 scientific and technical organizations.
The Agriculture, Commerce {including NOAA}, Defense, Education,
Energy, Health and Human Services and Interior departments, as
well as the Environmental Users can search for technical reports, journal citations, databases, fact sheets and links to other federal Web sites by clicking on one of 12 subject areas such as "agriculture and food" or "health and medicine." Or they can complete a general search across all subject areas. Access to the site is free and does not require registration. "Science.gov aims to bring the substantial resources of the federal science and technology enterprise together in one place," said John Marburger, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, in a statement. "The site is a great example of e-government in action." |
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December 6, 2002Contents: Dr. Mario N. Tamburri's seminar "Ballast Water Deoxygenation Can Prevent Aquatic Introductions While Reducing Ship Corrosion" originally scheduled for December 9 has been postponed until January. 2. NOAA/GLERL 2003 Internal Proposals GLERL is nearing the end of its annual internal proposal review.
For the second year, GLERL has invited Sea Grant participation
in this review process. Phil Keillor (WI), George Carignan, and
John Schwartz (MI) were able to attend the intense 2 days of presentations
in Ann Arbor and many additional Sea Grant folks were invited to
review the written proposals on-line and provide
3. GLERL Web News - www.glerl.noaa.gov GLERL's web team continues to strive to develop and improve the
GLERL web site. Several new features have been added recently which
may be of interest. We have a new search engine, powered by FirstGov
which offers many improvements over our previous search utility.
On the GLERL web pages, the search button is on the upper right,
above the header bar. Each GLERL researcher now has a Researcher
Profile page featuring contact information, recent publications,
research interests, background and current research projects. Profiles
can be accessed by clicking on the GLERL Research by Researcher
link in the Research area (www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/).
Real-time data accounts for over 50% of the non-GLERL visits to
the web site. We have recently 4. GLERL PROFILE - David Fanslow - NOAA SCUBA diver and GLERL
Lab team member When I first came to GLERL, Tom Nalepa was looking for a person
who could take care of his field-work program, which included becoming
a NOAA SCUBA diver and performing laboratory analyses. After 11
field seasons supporting Tom Nalepa, research is still my primary
duty. This year my research included approximately 30 days of travel
to Muskegon, Milwaukee, Cheboygan, This past year my secondary duty was as a SCUBA diver and field
support person for the newly established NOS Thunder Bay National
Marine Sanctuary (TBNMS). As the only formally trained NOAA certified
diver available in the region, I was designated Unit Diving Supervisor
and given responsibility for all aspects of SCUBA operations at
TBNMS. This included the training and 5. New Faces at GLERL Dennis Schornack, newly appointed chair of the U.S. section of the International Joint Commission, and his assistant John Nevin now have an office at GLERL Stephen Schneider, Managing Editor of the Journal of Great Lakes Research for IAGLR has taken up residence in GLERL. Dr. Stuart Ludsin joined GLERL as a federal research scientist, working with Dr. Brandt on a NOAA-COP project on Ecosystem Forecasting in Chesapeake Bay. His research explores mechanisms that regulate fish population and community dynamics and seeks to apply ecological understanding to management/conservation problems in aquatic systems. Nate Bosch, an incoming PhD candidate at the University of Michigan is currently completing a research fellowship with Dr. Tom Johengen doing nutrient analyses on the NOBOB ballast-residual study. Jessica Bleha (B.S. University of Michigan) will be helping to process trap samples from Lake Michigan through the end of February (when she leaves for graduate work in Australia). Erin Cooney, an undergraduate at the University of Michigan is working with Hank Vanderploeg to convert tabulated files on phytoplankton species composition of Saginaw Bay into electronic format for later statistical and modelling studies (funded by U of M work/study). |
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November 26, 2002NOAA GREAT LAKES SEMINAR SERIES Wednesday, December 4 - 2:00 p.m. Monday, December 9 - 2:00 p.m. Abstract: One of the most important mechanisms for the introduction of aquatic nuisance species is transport in ship ballast waters. Although several ballast tank treatments to prevent transport of aquatic organisms appear promising, all existing approaches will result in significant costs to the shipping industry. This seminar will describe a treatment that can dramatically reduce the survivorship of most organisms found in ballast waters while providing economic benefits to ship owners. Purging of oxygen from ballast tanks with nitrogen was recently found to be a cost-effective technique for reducing corrosion and therefore extending ship life. We tested the tolerance of larvae of known invasive invertebrate species to low levels of oxygen, comparable to those resulting from this anticorrosion treatment, and detected significant levels of mortality. Two separate literature reviews further support the conclusion that few organisms will be able to withstand extended periods of exposure to nitrogen treated ballast water. This novel deoxygenation technique may therefore have direct benefits to both marine conservation and the shipping industry. Currently investigation are being initiated to optimize the oxygen stripping process, to examine Microbially Influenced Corrosion under hypoxia, and to examine deoxygenations's effectiveness at removing ballast water organisms onboard active vessels. |
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November 18, 2002Contents: 1. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL All GLERL seminars can be recorded for viewing by Sea Grant staff on request. Thursday, November 21st @ 10:30 AM The Lake Erie Center was established in 1998 as a multidisciplinary center dedicated to exploring the linkages between land use and water quality in the western catchment of Lake Erie. In 2002, a two-part program was established to help fulfill this mission: I. To monitor the water quality of Maumee Bay and the southwest portion of the Western Basin. II. To establish an interactive database of historic and current data on the Maumee River catchment, Maumee Bay, and western Lake Erie. This seminar will provide an introduction to the Lake Erie Center, including research facilities available to collaborating scientists. We will also present the preliminary results of monitoring efforts in 2002 with conclusions that may have relevance for the "dead zone" phenomenon in Lake Erie. Finally, we will present a prototype of the environmental database. 2. New Reprints - Circulation & Photosynthesis McCORMICK, M.J., G.S. MILLER, C.R. Murthy, Y.R. Rao, and J.H. SAYLOR. Tracking coastalflow with surface drifters during the epispodic events Great Lakes experiment. Verh. Internat. Verin. Limnol. 28:365-269 (2002). FAHNENSTIEL, G.L., C. Beckmann, S.E. Lohrenz, D.F.Millie, O.M.E. Schofield, and M.J. McCORMICK. Standard Niskin and Van Dorn bottles inhibit phytoplankton photosynthesis in Lake Michigan. Verh. Internat. Verin. Limnol. 28:376-380 (2002). |
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November 8, 2002NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series - Climate Thursday, November 14 at 2:00 p.m. "Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Variability through Integrated Assessments: CLIMAS and Seasonal Forecasts" presented by Holly C. Hartmann, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona - Tucson For abstract, check: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/ Contact: Dr. Brent Lofgren |
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October 31, 2002Contents: This week, Earthwatch Radio is featuring a story - "Memories of Great Lakes"with comments by GLERL meteorologist Brent Lofgren. Story is listed at: http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/earthwatch/program.asp?ProgramID=3322 2. MIL - Automated observing systems GLERL's Marine Instrumentation Laboratory (MIL) is developing the first Great Lakes observatory ustilizing wireless/internet technology at the Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon. When fully developed, the observatory will provide chemical, physical and biological data to support long-term research. The goal of this project is to put in place the infrastructure needed to simplify sensor deployment and data acquisition with the goal of providing information that is accessible to scientific researchers, educators and the public. This data will be available to the scientific and educational community via the internet through real-time broadcasts. Over the summer, GLERL staff deployed and tested two vertical profilers with instrumented tripods and a fixed direction communication mooring for over 30 days. More information can be found at: www.glerl.noaa.gov/mil/profiler.html and http://pcrealtime.glerl.noaa.gov/tripods/ 3. Copepod Research Presentations Hank Vanderploeg gave an invited presentation of results at the 8th International Conference on Copepoda in Keelung Taiwan titled "The effects of oligotrophication, interannual variability in weather, and nonindigenous fishes and intevertebrates on the copepod community of Lake Michigan." Gretchen Messnick of NOS Cooperative Oxford Laboratory, who has been working with Hank on the 'zooplankton tumor problem' presented a paper 'Histological Characteristics of Abnormal Protrusions in Copepods from Michigan Lakes'. This paper has also been submitted to the journal, Zoological Studies. 4. Ship News Th addition of the RV/Laurentian to the NOAA 'fleet' on the Great Lakes has greatly increased the amount of shipboard time available for research this summer. Several improvements have been made to the Laurentian including addition of a second conductive cable winch, a reconfigured wet lab, and an electronic charting display so that crew can view ship speed, track lines and ETA to the next station from the lab. Renovation of the Shenehon was also completed, just months prior to her 50th anniversary. Small boat usage is also up with the addition of an A-frame and winch to the Cyclops which increases versatility and capability for larger trawls, net tows and towed electronic instruments. The mix of shipboard projects has also been more diverse than in recent years, with more work in the areas of fisheries, ROVs, towed cameras, side scan sonar, bottom coring and dive operations. Much of the work in Alpena (aboard the Shenehon) is in support of archaeological efforts at the National Marine Sanctuary and the Laurentian was employed to explore an unknown wreck (originally thought to be the Chicora) in Lake Michigan. The Shenehon is now out of the water for the season. 5. New faces Dr. Mary Cardenas joins GLERL as a visiting scientist. Dr. Cardenas is on sabbatical from the Engineering Department at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA. She will be working with Dave Schwab and Dmitry Beletsky on computer modeling of sediment dynamics in Lake Michigan. Dr. Cheegwan Lee joins GLERL as a National Research Council Fellow. Dr. Lee recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin and will be working with Dave Schwab, Nathan Hawley and Brian Eadie on sediment dynamics. David Merkley is a CILER employee pursuing his PhD at the University of MI working on assessment of wetlands of southeastern lower Michigan. David is working with Steve Lozano on wetlands protocol development for the recovery of estuaries (including Great Lakes estuaries). 6. New Reprints Bogdan, J.J., J.W. Budd, B.J. EADIE, and K.C. Hornbuckle. The effect of a large resuspension event in southern Lake Michigan on the short-term cycling of organic contaminants. Journal of Great Lakes Research 28(3):338-351 (2002). CROLEY, T.E. II, and C. He. Great Lakes large basin runoff model. Proceedings, Second Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, Subcommittee on Hydrology of the Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data, Las Vegas, NC, July 28-August 1, 2002, 12 pp. (2002). CROLEY, T.E. II, and R.A. ASSEL. Great Lakes evaporation model sensitivities and errors. Proceedings, Second Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, Subcommittee on Hydrology of the Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data, Las Vegas, NC, July 28-August 1, 2002, 12 pp. (2002). CROLEY, T.E. II. Evaluation of NOAA climate outlooks in extended Great Lakes water levels forecasts. Proceedings, Conference on Water Resources Planning and Management, Roanoke, VA, May 19-22, 2002. Environmental Water Resources Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers, Washington, DC, 10 pp. (2002). EADIE, B.J., D.J. SCHWAB, T.H. JOHENGEN, P. J. Lavrentyev, G.S. MILLER, R.E. Holland, G.A. LESHKEVICH, M.B. LANSING, N.R. MOREHEAD, J.A. ROBBINS, N. HAWLEY, D.N. Edgington, and P.L. VanHoof. Particle transport, nutrient cycling, and algal community structure associated with a major winter-spring sediment resuspension event in southern Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 28(3):324-337 (2002). GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY. Aquatic invasive species (AIS) and the Great Lakes: simple questions, complex answers. NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 2 pp. (2002). GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY. Exotic, invasive, alien, nonindigenous, or nuisance species: no matter what you call them, they're a growing problem. NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 2 pp. (2002). Hancock, G., D.N. Edgington, J.A. ROBBINS, J.N. Smith, G. Brunskill, and J. Pfitzner. Workshop on Radiological Techniques in Sedimentation Studies: Methods and Applications. In Environmental Changes and Radioactive Tracers. Proceedings of the South Pacific Environmental Radioactivity Association (SPERA) 2000, J.M. Fernandez and R. Fichez (Eds.). IRD Editions, Paris, France, pp. 233-251 (2002). He, C., and T.E. CROLEY II. A development framework for two-dimensional large basin operational hydrologic models. Proceedings, Second Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, Subcommittee on Hydrology of the Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data, Las Vegas, NC, July 28-August 1, 2002, 12 pp. (2002). LESHKEVICH, G.A., and S.V. Nghiem, B.M. Lesht, and N. HAWLEY. Using wave statistics to drive a simple sediment transport model. Proceedings, Fourth International Symposium Waves 2001, San Francisco, CA, September 2-6, 2001, pp. 1366-1375 (2001). Lesht, B.M., J.R. Stroud, M.J. McCCORMICK, G.L. FAHNENSTIEL, M.L. Stein, L.R. Welty, and G.A. LESHKEVICH. An event-driven phytoplankton bloom in southern Lake Michigan observed by satellite. Geophysical Research Letters 29(8):18-1 to 18-4 (2002). Madenjian, C.P., G.L. FAHNENSTIEL, T.H. JOHENGEN, T.F. NALEPA, H.A. VANDERPLOEG, G.W. Fleischer, P.J. Schneeberger, D.M. Benjamin, E.B. Smith, J.R. Bence, E.S. Rutherford, D.S. Lavis, D.M. Robertson, D.J. Jude, and M.P. Ebener. Dynamics of the Lake Michigan food web,1970-2000. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59:746-753 (2002). Millie, D. F., G.L. FAHNENSTIEL, H.J. Carrick, S.E. Lohrenz, and O.M.E. Schofield. Phytoplankton pigments in coastal Lake Michigan: Distributions during the spring isothermal period and relation with episodic sediment resuspension. Journal of Phycology 38:639-648 (2002). Mulsow, S., P.F. LANDRUM, and J.A. ROBBINS. Biological mixing responses to sublethal concentrations of DDT in sediments by Heteromastus filiformis using a 137Cs marker layer technique. Marine Ecology Progress Series 239:181-191 (2002). MUZZI, R.W., and B.J. EADIE. The design and performance of a sequencing sediment trap for lake research. Marine Technology Society Journal 36(2):23-28 (2002). QUINN, F.H. Secular changes in Great Lakes water level seasonal cycles. Journal of Great Lakes Research 28(3):451-465 (2002). Radar remote sensing of Great Lakes ice cover. Proceedings, 2002 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium and the 24th Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing, June 24-28, 2002, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2002). REID D.F. and M.I. Orlova. Geological and evolutionary underpinnings for the success of Ponto-Caspian species invasions in the Baltic Sea and North American Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59:1144-1159 (2002). VANDERPLOEG, H.A., T.F. NALEPA, D.J. Jude, E.L. Mills, K.T. Holeck, J.R. LIEBIG, I.A. Grigorovich, and H. Ojaveer. Dispersal and emerging ecological impacts of Ponto-Caspian species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59:1209-1228 (2002). |
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October 18, 2002Contents: A $0.5M proposal developed by David Reid in collaboration with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (West Bethesda, MD) was successful against a field of over 40 competing proposals received by NOAA Headquarters in response to a national RFP for ballast water treatment projects. The new project, titled "Computational Modeling of Ballast Tanks to Improve Understanding and Maximize Effectiveness of Management Practices and Treatment Mechanisms" involves computer-based computational fluid dynamics modeling and scale model experimental validation to study the flow dynamics and predict the efficacy of the flow-through exchange method as a ballast water management and treatment practice. Ballast water discharge is considered to be the number one mechanism responsible for the exponentially increasing successful invasions of aquatic species into coastal ecosystems. There are more than 45,000 commercial cargo vessels operating on the world's oceans. Mid-ocean ballast water exchange (BWE) is presently the primary management practice with widespread acceptance for reducing or preventing the spread of nonindigenous aquatic species via ballast water. Although efforts are underway to replace ballast exchange with technology-based treatment systems, ballast exchange will likely continue for the foreseeable future and may ultimately be combined with some other technologies and management approaches. Therefore, it is essential to fully understand the ballast exchange process and what occurs inside a ballast tank during exchange. Attempts to experimentally determine the effectiveness of BWE have produced inconsistent and generally unsatisfying results. Conducting on-board experiments during exchange is complex, labor intensive, time consuming, and only allows one shot at successfully detecting the relevant conditions inside the tank. Logistics of sampling the conditions inside a large compartmentalized ballast tank make it very difficult to resolve internal fluid dynamics and flow structures in these tanks. Additional experiments are usually delayed until the ship has another ocean crossing, which could be weeks later. Ship schedules are subject to change and often on short notice, thus disrupting planned experiments. These difficulties have limited the experimental design and resolution of sampling needed to determine exchange effectiveness. The GLERL-Carderock proposal suggested that an approach utilizing computer-based modeling of the flow dynamics in ballast tanks makes sense and could provide several advantages over the experimental approaches to date, as well as enhancing understanding of experimental results. The ballast water exchange proposal will build on the experience gained by the Navy modelers over the last six years. We anticipate that the results of the proposed work may help explain the variable results of ballast water exchange experiments documented to date, improve the design of such experiments, lead to ballast tank modification recommendations to improve overall ballast water exchange effectiveness, minimize deadspots, and reduce sediment deposition and accumulation, thus reducing the threat of coastal invasive species being discharged in our coastal ecosystems. The new project will start in early FY2003. 2. Six Month Publications Update April 2002 - September 2002 ASSEL, R. A., D. C. NORTON, and K. C. CRONK. A Great Lakes ice
cover digital data set for winters 1973-2000. NOAA Technical Memorandum
GLERL-121, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor,
MI, 45 pp. (2002). Bogdan, J. J., J. W. Budd, B. J. EADIE, and K. C. Hornbuckle. The effect of a large resuspension event in southern Lake Michigan on the short-term cycling of organic contaminants. Journal of Great Lakes Research 28(3):338-351 (2002). BRANDT, S. B., D. M. MASON, M. J. McCORMICK, B. M. LOFGREN, T. S. HUNTER, and J. A. TYLER. Climate change: implications for fish growth performance in the Great Lakes. American Fisheries Society Symposium 32:61-76 (2002). Bundy, M. H., and H. A. VANDERPLOEG. Detection and capture of inert particles by calanoid copepods: the role of the feeding current. Journal of Plankton Research 24(3):215-223 (2002). CARTER, G. S. Environmental assessment of the benthic macroinvertebrate community of Muskegon Lake, MI 1999 and evaluation of changes since 1972. Masters Thesis, University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources and Environment, Ann Arbor, MI, 67 pp. (2002). Chen, C., R. Ji, D. J. SCHWAB, D. BELETSKY, G. L. FAHNENSTIEL, M. Jiang, T. H. JOHENGEN, H. A. VANDERPLOEG, B. J. EADIE, J. W. Budd, M. H. Bundy, W. Gardner, J. Cotner, and P. Lavrentyev. A model study of the coupled biological and physical dynamics in Lake Michigan. Ecological Modeling 152:145-168 (2002). CROLEY, T. E. II. Evaluation of NOAA climate outlooks in extended Great Lakes water levels forecast. Proceedings, Conference on Water Resources Planning and Management, Roanoke, VA, May 19-22, 2002. Environmental Water Resources Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers, Washington, DC, 10 pp. (2002). CROLEY, T. E. II. Large basin runoff model. Chapter 17. In Mathematical Models of Large Watershed Hydrology, V. Singh, D. Frevert and S. Meyer Eds., Water Resources Publications, Highlands Ranch, CO, pp. 717-770 (2002). CROLEY, T. E. II, and R. A. ASSEL. Great Lakes evaporation model sensitivities and errors. Proceedings, Second Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, Subcommittee on Hydrology of the Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data, Las Vegas, NV, July 28-August 1, 2002. 12 pp. (2002). CROLEY, T. E. II, and C. He. Great Lakes large basin runoff model. Proceedings, Second Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, Subcommittee on Hydrology of the Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data, Las Vegas, NV, July 28-August 1, 2002. 12 pp. (2002). EADIE, B. J., D. J. SCHWAB, T. H. JOHENGEN, P. J. LAVRENTYEV, G. S. MILLER, R. E. Holland, G. A. LESHKEVICH, M. B. LANSING, N. R. MOREHEAD, J. A. ROBBINS, N. HAWLEY, D. N. Edgington, and P. L. VAN HOOF. Particle transport, nutrient cycling, and algal community structure associated with a major winter-spring sediment resuspension event in southern Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 28(3):324-337 (2002). Fritz, H. M., and P. C. LIU. An application of wavelet transform analysis to landslide-generated impulse waves. Proceedings, Fourth International Symposium Waves 2001, San Francisco, CA, September 2-6, 2001. American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 1477-1486 (2001). GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY. Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) and the Great Lakes: Simple Questions, Complex Answers. NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 2 pp. (2002). http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/ GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY. Exotic, invasive, alien, nonindigenous, or nuisance species: No matter what you call them, they're a growing problem. NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 2 pp. (2002). http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/ GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY. Met Stations and Web Cams. NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 2 pp. (2002). http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/ GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY. Selected projects
of GLERL's Marine Instrumentation Laboratory. NOAA, Great Lakes
Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 2 pp. (2002). Hancock, G., D. N. Edgington, J. A. ROBBINS, J. N. Smith, G. Brunskill, and J. Pfitzner. Workshop on radiological techniques in sedimentation studies: methods and applications. In Environmental Changes and Radioactive Tracers. Proceedings of the South Pacific Environmental Radioactivity Association (SPERA) 2002, J.M. Fernandez and R. Fichez (Eds.), IRD Editions, Paris, France, pp. 232-251 (2002). He, C., and T. E. CROLEY II. A development framework for two-dimensional large basin operational hydrologic models. Proceedings, Second Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference, subcommittee on Hydrology of the Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data, Las Vegas, NV, July 28-August 1, 2002. 12 pp. (2002). Holcombe, T. L., J. S. Warren, D. F. REID, W. T. Virden, and D. L. Divins. Small rimmed depression in Lake Ontario: An impact crater? Journal of Great Lakes Research 27(4):510-517 (2001). Ji, R., C. Chen, J. W. Budd, D. J. SCHWAB, D. BELETSKY, G. L. FAHNENSTIEL, T. H. JOHENGEN, H. A. VANDERPLOEG, B. J. EADIE, J. Cotner, W. Gardner, and M. Bundy. Influences of suspended sediments on the ecosystem in Lake Michigan: A 3-D coupled bio-physical modeling experiment. Ecological Modeling 152:169-190 (2002). LANDRUM, P. F., M. L. GEDEON, G. A. Burton, M. S. Greenberg, and C. D. Rowland. Biological responses of Lumbriculus variegatus exposed to fluoranthene spiked sediment. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 42:292-302 (2002). LANDRUM, P. F., and J. P. Meador. Is the body residue a useful dose metric for assessing toxicity? SETAC Globe May-June:32-34 (2002). Lee, J.-H., P. F. LANDRUM, and C.-H. Koh. Prediction of time-dependent PAH toxicity in Hyalella azteca using a damage assessment model. Environmental Science and Technology 36:3131-3138 (2002). Lee, J.-H., P. F. LANDRUM, and C.-H. Koh. Toxicokinetics and time-dependent PAH toxicity in the amphipod Hyalella azteca. Environmental Science and Technology 36:3124-3130 (2002). LESHKEVICH, G. A., and S. V. Nghiem. Radar remote sensing of Great Lakes ice cover. Proceedings, 2002 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium and the 24th Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing, Toronto, Canada, June 24-28, 2002. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., Piscataway, NJ, 1 pp. (2002). Lesht, B. M., and N. HAWLEY. Using wave statistics to drive a simple sediment transport model. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Waves 2001, San Francisco, CA, September 2-6, 2001. American Society of Civil Engineers, pp. 1366-1375 (2001). Lesht, B. M., J. R. Stroud, M. J. McCORMICK, G. L. FAHNENSTIEL, M. L. Stein, L. J. Welty, and G. A. LESHKEVICH. An event-driven phytoplankton bloom in southern Lake Michigan observed by satellite. Geophysical Research Letters 29(8):18-1 to 18-4 (2002). LIU, P. C., and N. HAWLEY. Wave grouping characteristics in nearshore Great Lakes II. Ocean Engineering 29:1415-1425 (2002). LOFGREN, B. M. Global warming influences on water levels, ice, and chemical and biological cycles in lakes: some examples. American Fisheries Society Symposium 32:15-22 (2002). Lotufo, G. R., and P. F. LANDRUM. The influence of sediment and feeding on the elimination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the freshwater amphipod, Diporeia spp. Aquatic Toxicology 58:137-149 (2002). Madenjian, C. P., G. L. FAHNENSTIEL, T. H. JOHENGEN, T. F. NALEPA, H. A. VANDERPLOEG, G. W. Fleischer, P. J. Schneeberger, D. M. Benjamin, E. B. Smith, J. R. Bence, E. S. Rutherford, D. S. Lavis, D. M. Robertson, D. J. Jude, and M. P. Ebener. Dynamics of the Lake Michigan food web, 1970-2000. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59:736-753 (2002). Millie, D. F., G. L. FAHNENSTIEL, H. J. Carrick, S. E. Lohrenz, and O. M. E. Schofield. Phytoplankton pigments in coastal Lake Michigan: Distributions during the spring isothermal period and relation with episodic sediment resuspension. Journal of Phycology 38:639-648 (2002). Mori, N., P. C. LIU, and T. Yasuda. Analysis of freak wave measurements in the Sea of Japan. Ocean Engineering 29:1399-1414 (2002). Mulsow, S., P. F. LANDRUM, and J. A. ROBBINS. Biological mixing responses to sublethal concentrations of DDT in sediments by Heteromastus filiformis (capitellidae) using a 137Cs marker layer technique. Marine Ecology Progress Series 239:181-191 (2002). MUZZI, R. W., and B. J. EADIE. The design and performance of a sequencing sediment trap for lake research. Marine Technology Society Journal 36(2):23-28 (2002). NALEPA, T. F., D. L. FANSLOW, M. B. LANSING, G. A. LANG, M. FORD,
G. GOSTENIK, and D. J. HARTSON. Abundance, biomass, and species
composition of benthic macroinvertebrate populations in Saginaw
Bay, Lake Huron, 1987-96. NOAA Technical Memorandum GLERL-122,
Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 32 QUINN, F. H. Secular changes in Great Lakes water level changes. Journal of Great Lakes Research 28(3):451-465 (2002). REID, D. F., and M. I. Orlova. Geological and evolutionary underpinnings for the success of ponto-caspian species invasions in the Baltic Sea and North American Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59:1144-1158 (2002). RUBERG, S. A., H. A. VANDERPLOEG, J. F. CAVALETTO, G. A. LANG, J. R. LIEBIG, T. C. MILLER, and M. AGY. Plankton survey system. Proceedings of the Oceans 2001 MTS/IEEE Conference, Honolulu, HI, November 5-8, 2001. Marine Technology Society, Washington, DC, pp. 1899-1903 (2001). Schloesser, D. W., and T. F. NALEPA. Comparison of 5 benthic samplers to collect burrowing mayfly nymphs (Hexagenia spp: Ephemeroptera:Ephemeridae) in sediments of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 21(3):487-501 (2002). Steevens, J. A., and P. F. LANDRUM. Development of a biological-effects-based approach to assess the significance of contaminant bioaccumulation. ERDC/TN EEDP-01-48, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, EEDP Technical Notes Collection, 9 pp. (2002). VANDERPLOEG, H. A., T. F. NALEPA, D. J. Jude, E. L. MILLS, K. T. HOLECK, J. R. LIEBIG, I. A. Grigorovich, and H. Ojaveer. Dispersal and emerging ecological impacts of Ponto-Caspian species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59:1209-1228 (2002). ZHU, Y., and B. M. LOFGREN. Spatially distributed water surface temperature modeling for the Great Lakes. Proceedings, 14th Conference on Hydrology, Dallas, TX, January 10-15, 1999. American Meteorological Society, pp. 431-434 (1999). |
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October 8, 2002Contents: _______________________________________________ "Met Stations and WebCams" provides information of the
Real-time Meteorological Observations Network operated by GLERL
on Lake Michigan. Real-time information from 6 stations around
southern Lake Michigan is available on-line via this system. See
also: "Selected Projects of GLERL's Marine Instrumentation Laboratory" is a good introduction to MIL - the GLERL laboratory which designs and creates the instruments which GLERL scientists use in our most cutting-edge research projects. Three projects are profiled - the plankton survey system, Lake Michigan Wireless Environmental Observatory, and the sequential sediment sampler. MIL is a dynamic subgroup here at GLERL - with Great opportunities for collaboration on both research and outreach projects. See also: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/products/techdev/TechDevelop.html Fact sheets are available in pdf formats at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/ 2. GLERL Display at ANS Prevention Day in Lansing GLERL scientists participated in ANS Prevention Day at the state capitol in East Lansing. A new display focusing on ANS research was created for the event and the entire suite of GLERL ANS-related fact sheets was updated - along with the creation of several new fact sheets. The new fact sheets are not yet available on the GLERL website - I'll be sure to let you know as soon as they are available on-line. 3. New reprint - Freak Waves Mori, N., P.C. LIU, and T. Yasuda. Analysis of freak wave measurements in the Sea of Japan. Ocean Engineering 29:1399-1414 (2002). 4. Brandt receives Presidential Rank Award 11 of NOAA's very best leaders have been selected to receive 2002 Presidential Rank Awards - including GLERL director Dr. Stephen Brandt. Presidential Rank Awards are the most prestigious recognition bestowed on career Senior Executives. Selectees are officially recognized as "strong leaders who achieve results and consistently demonstrate strength, integrity, industry and a relentless commitment to excellence in public service" - all hallmarks of NOAA's core values. Each recipient was selected following a rigorous selection process. After being nominated by NOAA and endorsed by the Department, each was evaluated by a board of private citizens, receiving final approval from the President himself. They will be recognized personally in separate ceremonies by both Secretary Evans and President Bush. DR. STEPHEN B. BRANDT, director of the OAR Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, is cited for excellent organizational leadership. Since arriving at NOAA's only multidisciplinary laboratory focusing on Great Lakes and coastal issues, Steve has engaged staff at all levels in decision-making and problem-solving; fostered recruitment, retention and training of next-generation scientists; and generated strong partnerships with universities, state and federal agencies that have resulted in new science programs for NOAA, joint academic-federal appointments, plans for a multi-institutional facility, and acquisition of a research vessel. His initiatives created new multidisciplinary programs critical to science-based decision-making. Other NOAA recipients include Dr. Thomas R. Karl, Dr. James Balsiger, Dr. Eddie N. Bernard, Gary K. Davis, Dr. David J. Hofmann, Dr. James E. Hoke, Dr. Edward R. Johnson, John Kelly, Louisa Koch and Gregory W. Withee. 5. Reid and Eadie receive NOAA Bronze Medal Awards It gives me great pleasure to announce that Dr. David Reid and Dr. Brian Eadie have each won the NOAA Bronze Medal Award. The Bronze Medal Award is the highest honorary award given by the head of NOAA and is defined as superior performance characterized by outstanding or significant contributions which have increased the efficiency and effectiveness of NOAA. To warrant a Bronze Medal, a contribution must focus on qualitative and quantitative performance measures cited in the Department's Strategic Plan and be identified in one of the following areas: leadership, personal and professional excellence, scientific/engineering achievement, employee development, customer service, administrative/technical support, or public service or heroism. Brian Eadie is recognized for his Scientific Leadership in NOAA and, in particular, for his leadership in the EEGLE program and his innovation and leadership as a Science Branch Chief during the last two years. David Reid is recognized for his Scientific Leadership in NOAA and, in particular, for his leadership in developing GLERL as the leader in NOBOB/Ballast research on Invasive Species within NOAA. There will be a ceremony in Washington on October 22, recognizing Brian and Dave and the other NOAA Bronze Medal winners. 6. Martin to leave GLERL for Army Corps Keith Martin is very excited about his new job with the Army Corps
of Engineers at the Engineering Research and Development Center,
Vicksburg, MS. He begins working with the ACE on October 21. His
position will be a Research Physicist and he will be running hydrodynamic
models in estuaries. |
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September 2002 |
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September 24, 2002Contents Title: Effects of omnivory in marine planktonic food webs Abstract: Omnivory in marine calanoid copepods was manipulated by the presence/absence of microzooplankton in model food webs. The presence of microzooplankton caused changes in abundances of various phytoplankton groups, and enhanced reproduction in calanoid copepods. Further experiments on calanoid copepods with diatoms and heterotrophic dinoflagellates as prey revealed that positive effects of microzooplankton on copepod reproduction cannot be attributed to differences in the copepod's feeding efficiency. Rather, microzooplankton caused 'trophic upgrading' of the phytoplankton prey for calanoid copepods. Recent findings about negative effects of pure diatom diets on reproduction in calanoid copepods may be relativized by these results, since diatom blooms are usually accompanied by high abundances of heterotrophic dinoflagellates. Contact: Dr. Radka Pichlova (CILER/GLERL). Phone 734-741-2269. 2. Muskegon Field Station Facilities Upgrade Approved Thanks to Dennis Donahue's outstanding facilities management and proposal writing skills, the Lake Michigan Field Station will receive $270,000 for needed improvements from the NOAA's Facilities Maintenance Project Prospectus program. Although this will not cover the entire amount of improvements, it will make a significant impact on revitalizing LMFS. Improvements were requested under three categories: 3. 2003 NOSB GLERL will again be co-sponsoring the NOSB Midwest Regional Competition. The 6th Annual Competition which will be held on Saturday, February 8, 2003. In this upcoming competition, we will include team challenge questions
in addition to the multiple choice / short answer questions we've
used previously. Team challenge questions are analytical / problem-solving
questions in which all team members confer and work together to
answer the question for a few minutes following the end of the
first half of a match. The written answer is then Each of the Regionals is responsible for generating their own
Team Challenge questions for their own competition, so we need
to develop 15 questions/ answers for our event. If you're interested
in developing questions, please let Mike Quigley know and we will
send on copies of the example questions ASAP. Currently only hard
copies of these examples are available. We need to have Also, if you know of new prospective volunteers willing to develop Team Challenge questions, or work on other aspects of the 2003 Midwest Regional NOSB, please encourage them to contact us. Contact Mike Quigley 4. New publications Schloesser, D.W., and T.F. NALEPA. Comparison of 5 benthic samplers to collect burrowing mayfly nymphs (Hexagenia spp: Ephemeroptera:Ephemeridae) in sediments of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 21(3):387-501 (2002). Selected projects of GLERL's Marine Instrumentation Laboratory. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI. 2 pp. (2002). http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/ Met Stations and Web Cams. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI. 2 pp. (2002). http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/ |
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September 12, 2002Contents 1. GLIN SITE OF THE MONTH for September: NOAA GLERL >> http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/ << The newly redesigned GLERL web site features easy access to detailed
descriptions of GLERL research projects, browsable by research
program, geographical region and subject area. Other popular features
include general information about the Great Lakes, webcams, water
level data, real-time weather station data on lakes Michigan and
Huron, online brochures and fact sheets, and 2. GLERL In the NEWS - National Geographic - Water Levels Great Lakes water levels are the subject of the National Geographic article "Down the Drain: The Incredible Shrinking Great Lakes" in the September issue. The article includes imagery and background information provided by GLERL. 3. New reprints - Climate change LOFGREN, B. M. Global warming influences on water levels, ice, and chemical and biological cycles in lakes: some examples. American Fisheries Society Symposium 32:5-22 (2002). BRANDT, S.B., D.M. MASON, M.J. McCORMICK, B.M. LOFGREN, T.S. HUNTER, and J.A. Tyler. Climate change: implications for fish growth performance in the Great Lakes. American Fisheries Society Symposium 32:61-76 (2002). 4. FYI Passed along from NOAA Headquarters...Fellowship Announcement!! NOAA's Estuarine Reserves Division is soliciting applications for graduate fellowship funding within the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Twenty-seven Graduate Research Fellowships will be competitively awarded to qualified graduate students whose research occurs within the boundaries of at least one reserve. The amount of the fellowship is $17,500; at least 30% of total project cost match is required by the applicant. Applicants may apply for between one and three years of funding. Minority students are encouraged to apply. Fellowships will start June 1, 2003. Applications must be postmarked no later than November 1, 2002. Notification regarding the awarding of fellowships will be issued on or about March 1, 2003. Visit www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/nerr/fellow.html for information on the Graduate Research Fellowship Program and complete guidelines for applying. Please contact Erica Seiden if you have any questions at erica.seiden@noaa.gov or (301) 563-1172. |
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August 2002 |
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August 23, 2002Contents 1. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL As I was unable to reschedule Dr. Elise Ralph's seminar, the 2001-2002
series featuring Sea Grant scientists is now complete. Streaming
video of the entire series is now available on CD (it will remain
archived on the web for some time as well - The technology series will continue through spring 2003. Presentations
for this series will focus on exploring new developments in remote
sensing and other technology; speaker suggestions welcome. Schedule
is available at www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/ and 2. Tall Ships Festival in Alpena 3. GLERL in the News - Ballast Water ...Among the scientists studying the ballast water problem are
David Reid at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Hugh McIsaac at the University of Windsor.
The group tested ships last year -- usually ones that made their The resting eggs hatched readily in lab conditions, so this year they'll look for any evidence of hatching on board, work that's done with the help of companies such as Montreal-based Fednav, which says it let scientists test empty ballast tanks on a ship last season. Reid says the work is difficult, especially because the researchers can't interfere with the ships' operation. He also says it's tough to adequately sample a ballast tank, which he describes as a honeycomb of cells. Reid says samples taken directly under access hatches may not represent what's really happening throughout the tanks, where water may not mix thoroughly and where it may stay trapped. 4. New Grants - Ballast Tanks Dave Reid has received a two year $500,000 grant from NOAA to work with the Navy on modeling ballast tanks. 5. New Reprints Ji, R., C. Chen, J.W. Budd, D.J. Schwab, D. Beletsky, G.L. Fahnenstiel, T.H. Johengen, H.A. Vanderploeg, B.J. Eadie, J. Cotner, W. Gardner, and M. H. Bundy. Influences of suspended sediments on the ecosystem in Lake Michigan: a 3-D coupled bio-physical modeling experiment. Ecological Modeling 152:169-190 (2002). Chen, C., R. Ji, D.J. Schwab, D. Beletsky, G.L. Fahnenstiel, M. Jiang, T.H. Johengen, H. Vanderploeg, B.J. Eadie, J.W. Budd, M.H. Bundy, W. Gardner, J. Cotner, and P. Lavrentyev. A model study of the coupled biological and physical dynamics in Lake Michigan. Ecological Modeling 152:145-168 (2002). |
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August 12, 2002Thanks to everyone who helped in updating my list! For those new
to the list, GLERL updates are sent approximately once per week
- with this message being typical of message length. Messages are
also archived to the web at Contents 1. Wind and Wave Forecasts The Grand Rapids NWS Office is now making the Great Lakes Wind
and Wave Nowcast/Forecasts available via their website: 2. GLERL Hot Item - GLERL Scientist Visits NOS on Great Lakes Forecasting System On July 23-24, GLERL scientist Dave Schwab visited NOAA's
National Ocean Service (NOS) offices in Silver Spring, Maryland
to discuss possible implementation of the Great Lakes Forecasting
System (GLFS) by the NOS Center for Operational Oceanographic During the meetings, the group met with NOS Management, reviewed GLFS model evaluation and NOS standards, examined and discussed operational implementation issues for the GLFS, and explored future cooperative research opportunities among GLERL, OSU, and NOS. The meeting concluded with a session that defined next steps in the effort, including a planned agreement among GLERL, OSU, NOS and the National Weather Service (NWS) for the operational implementation of the GLFS at CO-OPS and for future collaboration in research and development. 3. Estuary Restoration Act Activities David H. Merkey started at GLERL July 22. David joins the staff for at least the next year to work with Steve Lozano on a CILER contract on wetlands protocol development for the recovery of estuaries including the Great Lakes. A little background on the project... If interested, I have a 2-pager on the project available. Contact: Rochelle Sturtevant 4. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL Seminars can be recorded or live broadcast via internet on request. Please allow as much lead time as possible in making a request to record. August 13, 2002 - 10:30am 5. Reprints Lotufo, G.R., and P.F. LANDRUM. The influence of sediment and feeding on the elimination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the freshwater amphipod, Diporeia spp. Aquatic Toxicology 58:137-149 (2002). Lee, J.-H., P.F. LANDRUM, and C.-H. Koh. Prediction of time-dependent PAH toxicity in Hyalella azteca using a damage assessment model. Environmental Science and Technology 36:3131-3138 (2002). Lee, J.-H., P.F. LANDRUM, and C.-H. Koh. Toxicokinetics and time-dependent PAH toxicity in the amphipod Hyalella azteca. Environmental Science and Technology 36:3124-3130 (2002). LANDRUM, P.F., M.L. Gedeon, G.A. Burton, M.S. Greenberg, and C.D. Rowland. Biological responses of Lumbriculus variegatus exposed to fluoranthene-spiked sediment. Achives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 42:292-302 (2002). |
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July 2002 |
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July 25, 2002Apologies for the long list of addresses at the top. I opted not to blind cc this message because I need assistance in updating the mailing list. Sea Grant directors, program leaders and communicators, in particular, please check that I am not sending to anyone who no longer exists in your organization and that I have all new staff added as appropriate. If you are routinely forwarding these messages and would prefer that I send directly, please send the names/addresses to me and I will add to the list. If you prefer to continue forwarding, please at least let me know the names (regular recipients) so that I can keep an accurate estimate of how many people receive these. I will be out of the office the week of July 29 - August 2 and most of the week of August 5-9, so the next GLERL update will be sometime the week of August 12. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ The GLERL web redesign is complete and has gone live. Please check it out. Several elements of the new design (e.g., research by region) were incorporated in response to feedback from Sea Grant staff regarding information needs. Like all websites, this is phase one of a wrok in progress. Please send suggestions for additional content types or navigation needs to me (rochelle.sturtevant@noaa.gov). If you have difficulty reading the pages with your browser, please send description of the difficulties to Janet Szczesny (Janet.Szczesny@noaa.gov). Assuming that you like what you see, at this time GLERL is also asking our partners (including all of you) to provide links to the GLERL website from your websites. Links can be from your homepage to ours and/or from specific content pages to relevant content on our site. Janet can send you a file for the button to put on your page(s). Note re GLSGN@GLERL pages. The URL's haven't changed, but the navigation has...from GLERL's homepage click 'Partnerships' in the top bar (rather than facilities) and scroll to the link for Great Lakes Sea Grant Extension Office under 'Onsite Partnerships'. That leads the homepage for my segment of the web. Note my new look - thanks to an assist from Janet in designing a template. I'm gradually working on applying the template to all my web pages. 2. GLERL High School Summer Interns As part of our Partners-for-Excellence Progam with the Ann Arbor
School System, CILER and GLERL provide an opportunity for 2-4 students
to work with scientists on specific projects every summer. Students
targeted are those just completing their The high school interns this summer are Josh Mosberg and Lu Chen.
Josh is from Pioneer High and Lu is from Huron High. Josh is working
with Tom Nalepa on tasks related to the benthos program, while
Lu is working with Tom Johengen, in the nutrient 3. NOSB Team To Visit GLERL Field Station A&M Consolidated High School's National Ocean Sciences Bowl
(NOSB) team from College Station, Texas will visit GLERL's Lake
Michigan Field Station (LMFS) July 31-August 4 in Muskegon, Michigan.
The team won the all expense paid trip to LMFS 4. GLERL in the News - Water Levels ... although Lake Michigan's water levels are up from last year, they still are below normal, said Cynthia Sellinger, a hydrologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich. "Since 1997, Lake Michigan's levels have been dropping off," Sellinger said. "But we're up 10 inches from last year - putting us back to the 2000 levels." The reasons for this drop - and recent increase - are pretty well understood. But what is less apparent is whether this year's increase is a sign of things to come - or an aberration in a larger decline of water levels. Since 1997, Lake Michigan's surface has dropped 3.4 feet. "It's been a pretty steady decline," said Sellinger, who, like other researchers studying the fluctuations of water levels in Lake Michigan, thinks the trend of decreasing levels is related to the weather. "It's a combination of low precipitation and higher-than-average temperatures," she said. "And because we've had warmer winter temperatures than usual for the past five years," and therefore, no ice, she said, the amount of water lost to the air has been enormous. Last winter, however, the situation was ameliorated by "a combination of near-record snowfall and a bigger supply of water into the lake" through streams and rivers, said Keith Kompoltowicz, physical scientist and meteorologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit. But whether this latest resurgence of water into the lake is the beginning of a new trend "is anybody's guess," Kompoltowicz said. The article also highlights research by Todd Thompson, associate scientist at the Indiana Geological Survey, on at ancient climatological records and by Brent Lofgren, a physical scientist at GLERL, on climate change predictions. |
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July 18, 2002A short one this week... Contents: ABSTRACT: Herein, we document changes in the Lake Michigan food web between 1970 and 2000 and identify the factors responsible for these changes. Control of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) populations in Lake Michigan, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, had profound effects on the food web. Recoveries of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and burbot (Lota lota) populations, as well as the buildup of salmonine populations, were attributable, at least in part, to sea lamprey control. Based on our analyses, predation by salmonines was primarily responsible for the reduction in alewife abundance during the 1970s and early 1980s. In turn, the decrease in alewife abundance likely contributed to recoveries of deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and burbot populations during the 1970s and 1980s. Decrease in the abundance of all three dominant benthic macroinvertebrate groups, including Diporeia, oligochaetes, and sphaeriids, during the 1980s in nearshore waters (less than or equal to50 m deep) of Lake Michigan, was attributable to a decrease in primary production linked to a decline in phosphorus loadings. Continued decrease in Diporeia abundance during the 1990s was associated with the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) invasion, but specific mechanisms for zebra mussels affecting Diporeia abundance remain unidentified. REPRINTS: Madenjian, CP,US Geol Survey, Great Lakes Sci Ctr, 1451 Green Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 USA |
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July 10, 2002Contents _______________________________________________________________ "The Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) Program of NOAA's Office of Global Programs (OGP) represents an important innovation in how our nation conducts science related to climate variability and society. Explicit in the RISA program is real partnership between the scientific community and the users (decision-makers or "stakeholders") of scientific knowledge. Close stakeholder involvement is new to the climate research enterprise, but the RISA's clearly demonstrate the value of this involvement. All RISA effort is focused on climate research and communication of information required by stakeholders to support their decision-making, as well as to reduce their vulnerabilities to climate variability. The RISA's focus on regional- and local-scale science and information, and thus form the critical link between national science programs and the inherently regional ("place-based" or local) users of scientific knowledge." Excerpt from http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/mpe/csi/risa/teams.html GLERL's Brian Eadie is spearheading an effort to get a Great Lakes RISA designated in the next round (RFP expected in 2003). The existing 5 RISA's are located in the Interior West, the Northwest, Southwest, California and Florida. We are likely to see considerable competition from the Northeast in the next round. As a precursor to building the partnership needed to develop a proposal, he has asked me to develop a one page description of the potential clientele, issues, and product needs of the coastal community with regard to climate change and its impacts. So, I need your help in identifying such. If you have ideas that I could/should incorporate into a one-page description of specific clientele (no more 'general public'), specific issues related to climate change which are important to those clientele, specific products related to climate change generally or to specific climate research needed by these client groups and/or specific climate-related research priorities please send them my way asap (by 7/24/02 if possible). A few thoughts from the researchers to give you an idea of the types of research and products a Great Lakes RISA might encompass: Can climate change impacts be seen in fish species (recruitment)? What is the role of upwellings on fish productivity and how will climate changes impact upwelling? What impacts will climate change have on thermal structure of the lake? Will alterations to the Great Lakes lower food web be sufficient to support the predictions of increased fish production? Improved ice cover forecasting, Probabilistic ice cover forecasting, modelling changes to lake effect snow under global climate change scenarios, modelling changes to lake circulation under climate change scenarios, addition of land use parameters to hydrology models (which can already interface to some extent with global climate change models). enhancing the interface between the current Great Lakes hydrology models and the mesoscale climate change models. For more information about what other RISA's are doing browse: http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/mpe/csi/risa/index.htm 2. GLERL Hot Items: Congressman Ehlers Keynotes at R/V Laurentian Ceremony Keynote remarks by U.S. Representative Vern Ehlers from Michigan's 3rd District highlighted a July 2nd ceremony honoring a new partnership between GLERL and the University of Michigan. Through a 15-year lease agreement, GLERL will operate and maintain the University's science vessel, the R/V Laurentian. The ceremony was held dockside at GLERL's Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon, Michigan where the Laurentian is now based. Following remarks by Representative Ehlers, GLERL Director Steve Brandt and University of Michigan Associate Vice President for Research, James Penner-Hahn spoke about development of the partnership and mutual benefits in advancing Great Lakes research activities of the two institutions. The ceremony ended with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in recognition of the operational transition and invited guests joined GLERL and university officials for a vessel briefing and cruise demonstrating instrumentation and sampling capabilities. Representative Ehlers is co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force for the 107th Congress and has a long history of Great Lakes leadership on Capitol Hill. He also chairs the House Science Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards with oversight of NOAA activities related to weather, weather services, climate, the atmosphere, marine fisheries and oceanic research. See also 3. GLERL Hot Items: GLERL Scientist Presented 2002 Editor's Award GLERL scientist Tom Nalepa was recently presented with the 2002 Editor's Award by the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR). The award was made on the basis of Nalepa's outstanding contributions to the review process of the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Journal Editor Gerald Matisoff noted that he had found Nalepa's solicitation and handling of manuscript reviews to be "fair, of the highest caliber and meticulous". Nalepa has served as an Associate Editor in the area of aquatic zoology since 1991 with responsibilities for coordinating peer review of submitted manuscripts and making recommendations on their publication. The International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) is a scientific organization made up of researchers studying the Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world, as well as those with an interest in such research. Specifically, the Association promotes all aspects of large lakes research and communicates research findings through publications and meetings. Contact information: Thomas F Nalepa 4. Technology Seminar Series at GLERL Recorded yesterday by request... SPECIAL JOINT PRESENTATIONS - Lake Level Monitoring Using Space Geodetic Technologies. Dr. C.K. Shum and Digitalization of Coastal Environmental Monitoring Supported by Multi-Dimensional Geospatial Information and Analysis: A Demonstration by Tarig Ali, both of the Laboratory for Space Geodesy and Remote Sensing Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, The Ohio State University. Seminar video--ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/webcast/2002/shum/20020709.wmv Technology seminar series is recorded and posted to the internet by request only. Please give me as much lead time as possible in making requests. Calendar of upcoming seminars is generally posted as seminars are scheduled at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/ 5. Larissa Sano Receives Poster Award Although the 22nd annual meeting of SETAC occurred last November in Baltimore, the results of the student awards for presentations have just been released. Larissa Sano recieved a third place finish out of 220 posters for her poster "Biocide Treatment of Ballast Water: Efficacy." Larissa's poster is the basis for the fact sheet I recently sent to you for review on the "Treatment of Ballast Water with Chemical Disinfectants." 6. Call for Question Writers for the National Ocean Science Bowl Question Writers Needed. A question writer can be anyone who has knowledge of the material and can write coherently. CORE is offering $3 a question. A minimum of 25 questions is required Please send any interested parties my way Thanks Great Lakes questions always in short supply! |
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June 2002 |
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June 28, 2002Contents: 1. Sea Grant Update I plan to begin putting out a monthly Sea Grant update in format similar to the GLERL updates. Circulation will be to all GLERL and CILER staff as well as to the full mailing list of the GLERL update. Expect the first issue within the next 2 weeks. Sea Grant staff, please send me short text about projects that you have going on that you feel may be of interest to this audience. Feel free to clip from exisitng news releases, reports or other sources easily at hand. If each program were to send me 2 items, that would be easily fill a newsletter. If I get nothing from a particular program, I will tap the communicators for articles, but information direct from the extension agents is welcome. 2. GLERL Hot Items: New Digital Great Lakes Ice Cover Data Set GLERL recently completed digitizing historical Great Lakes ice
charts from 1973 to 2000 in cooperation with the OAA/USN/USCG National
Ice Center (NIC) and the Canadian Ice Service (CIS). At GLERL the
ice cover data sets are being used for: Worldwide distribution and amounts of ice and snow (the cryosphrere) are important indicators of climate and climate change, and lake ice is a sensitive index of regional change in the Great Lakes. Given the growing concern over global warming and its potential impacts on the Great Lakes, GLERL began updating all ice cover data starting in 1994 under the auspices of NOAA's Earth System and Data Information Management (ESDIM). Ice cover has an effect on almost every aspect of life on the Great Lakes, from hydropower generation to commercial shipping to the fishing industry. The typical extent and duration of the winter ice cover changes from year to year, and long-term changes may occur because of global warming. These data sets are available on the web at: ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/ice/charts/ The readme.txt file describes the data format, file naming conventions, and ice cover codes Subcategories by winter season contain: The data set and methods used to digitize and quality control these data are documented in two Technical Memoranda which are also available on GLERL's Web Page: ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/publications/tech_reports/glerl-121/ ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/publications/tech_reports/glerl-117/ Data set users include: Contact information: Raymond A Assel, (734) 741-2268 3. GLERL Hot Items: Shenehon Attracts Hundreds at Riverfest On Saturday June 8th GLERL's research vessel, the R/V Shenehon joined the annual Riverfest celebration in Alpena, Michigan for the first time and was toured by an estimated 500 visitors. The Shenehon made its move last month from its home base in Muskegon to Alpena to spend the summer assisting the newly designated Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve while continuing research on the Great Lakes. It will be used by the Sanctuary for deploying new mooring buoys as well as for gathering data on shipwrecks. Additionally, GLERL will continue to use the vessel for gathering water and sediment samples along with other research activities. The Shenehon was originally stationed at the Lake Michigan Field Station (LMFS) in Muskegon. However, recently a new partnership between GLERL and the University of Michigan provides for GLERL operation of the University's vessel R/V Laurentian under a fifteen-year lease agreement. The Laurentian will operate from the Field Station to support GLERL research on Lake Michigan as well as the needs of select University of Michigan scientists. A July 2nd ceremony is planned at the LMFS to recognize the new operational partnership. Contact information: Dennis J Donahue, (231) 755-5173 4. Laurentian Press Release 5. GLERL in the News: Climate Change and Water Levels Earthwatch Radio is a service of the Sea Grant Institute and the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of WI-Madison Water levels in the Great Lakes have dropped about two feet over the past five years due to dry weather. Brent Lofgren says this change is probably due to natural ups and downs in the weather, but it's also a sign of what we might see in the future with global warming. Lofgren is a climatologist at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "I would not attribute this fairly fast change in water levels to global warming, but it is similar to something that we anticipate over a longer period of time in the future." Lofgren says the drop in water levels on the Great Lakes was caused by an increase in evaporation. It's been accelerated by stronger winds and warmer air and water temperatures. On top of that, there's been more evaporation during the winter because there has not been as much ice cover. Lofgren says the result is a picture of what might become the norm as the Earth grows warmer. 6. Dr. Al Beeton is GLERL's first Emeritus Scientist I am happy to announce that Dr. Al Beeton is now GLERL's (and
NOAA's) first Emeritus Scientist. As an Emeritus, Dr. Beeton will
work closely with the Director and GLERL scientists on program
issues. Specifically, Dr. Beeton will: (1) support specialized
scientific expertise that is of long-range importance to GLERL
and the Nation; (2) investigate science research frontiers that
have potential future importance to the Nation; (3) provide seasonal
counsel to managers, individuals scientists, and teams; (4) conduct
or engage in special projects that require specialized scientific
perspectives or knowledge and that supplement and enhance normal
GLERL As part of the Emeritus process, Dr. Stephen Brandt will serve as Dr. Beeton's project scientist and will provide broad guidance on the program scope. 7. ISI Citations Dr. Pete Landrum was recently notified by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) that he is among the top 250 most cited invesitgators in the field of Ecology/Environment. Dr. Landrum's recent publications include: Quigley, M.A., P.F. Landrum, W.S. Gardner, C. Stubblefield, and W.M.Gordon. Respiration, nitrogen extretion, and O:N ratios of the Great Lakes amphipod Diporeia sp. NOAA Technical Memo GLERL-120. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Ann Arbor, MI, 16 pp. (2002). Hwang, H., S. W. Fisher, and P. F. Landrum. Identifying body residues of HCBP associated with 10-d mortality and partial life cycle effects in the midge, Chironimus riparius. Aquatic Toxicology 52:251-267 (2001). Landrum, P. F., E. A. Tigue, S. Kane-Driscoll, D. C. Gossiaux, P. L. Van Hoof, M. L. Gedeon, and M. Adler. Bioaccumulation of PCB congeners by Diporeia spp.: Kinetics and factors affecting bioavailability. Journal of Great Lakes Research 27(2):117-133 (2001). Lee, J. H., P. F. Landrum, L. J. Field, and C.-H. Koh. Application of SPAH model and a logistic regression model to sediment toxicity data based on a species-specific, water-only LC50 toxic unit for Hyalella azteca. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 20(9):2102-2113 (2001). Van Hoof, P. L., J. V. Kukkonen, and P. F. Landrum. Impact of sediment manipulation on the bioaccumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from field-contaminated and laboratory-dosed sediments by an oligochaete. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 20(8):1752-1761 (2001). 8. Recent articles Beeton, AM. Large freshwater lakes: present state, trends, and future. Environmental Conservation 29 (1): 21-38 MAR 2002. ABSTRACT: The large freshwater lakes of the world are an extremely valuable resource, not only because 68% of the global liquid surface fresh water is contained in them, but because of their importance to the economies, social structure, and viability of the riparian countries. This review provides decision makers with the knowledge of large lakes (greater than or equal to500km(2)) essential to establishing policies and implementing strategies compatible with sustainable development. This is achieved by considering the present state of the lakes, the extent of changes and factors causing them, long-term consequences of these changes, major threats and possible states of the lakes into the year 2025. Case studies of lakes are presented, namely the St Lawrence Great Lakes of North America as representatives of glacial scour lakes of North America, northern Europe and Asia, and the African Great Lakes as representatives of tropical tectonic lakes. Lake Baikal is also included because it is unique for its species, great age, and largest single volume of liquid surface fresh water. The Aral Sea is further included because of the ecological disaster following diversion of water away from its basin. The major impacts on large lakes are diversions, eutrophication, invasive species, land-use change, overexploitation of resources, and pollution. These impacts can or do affect all the representative lakes, but to varying degree. The St Lawrence Great Lakes have been severely impacted by eutrophication, land-use change, overfishing, invasive species and pollution. Eutrophication has been reversed for these lakes and constraints are now in place on land use change, such as shoreline alteration and destruction of wetlands. With the demise of most commercial fishing, overfishing is no longer as important. Invasive species have become a major problem as increasingly non-indigenous species gain access to the takes. Pollution continues as a major impact. These problems are likely to continue and seriously impact use of the resources as well as bring about changes in the biota. Among the African Great Lakes, invasive species are a major problem in Lake Victoria, and eutrophication associated with land-use change and overexploitation of resources is a growing problem. Many endemic species have been lost and many are threatened, so that species associations will have changed by 2025. The Aral Sea continues to disappear and in the future, the remaining largest part of it will continue to become increasingly saline and eventually disappear. A small body of water will remain as a freshwater lake with a productive, although small, fishery. Lake Baikal shows evidence of pollution in the southern basin and is likely to be impacted by land-use changes, primarily logging. Some non-indigenous species are present, but so far, they are not a major problem. Overexploitation of resources in the watershed could lead to adverse impacts on inshore waters. Overfishing has been recognized and appears under control. The major threat to Baikal is continued and growing pollution. Climate change and pollution are global problems that will affect all lakes, large and small. At present, while some warming has occurred, climate change appears not to have impacted large lakes. Present studies on the Laurentian Great Lakes predict possible major impacts. Pollution, especially from persistent toxic substances such as PCBs, is a global problem. Diversion of water out or away from large lakes will become more of a threat as global human population growth continues and water supplies from rivers and ground water become depleted. Lotufo, GR;Landrum, PF. The influence of sediment and feeding on the elimination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the freshwater amphipod, Diporeia spp. Aquatic Toxicology 58 (3-4): 137-149 AUG 2002. ABSTRACT: The elimination of non-polar organic contaminants from sediment dwelling aquatic invertebrates was thought to be dominated by fecal elimination. This was particularly thought to be the case for the amphipod, Diporeia spp. that encapsulates the fecal material in a peritrophic membrane. The elimination of selected PAH congeners by Diporeia spp. was determined in the presence of three solid substrates and under water only conditions. The elimination was generally enhanced by the presence of a solid substrate whether or not the organism employed the material as a food source. The greater the sorptive capacity of the substrate, the greater its influence on the elimination process. Elimination via the fecal route was generally insignificant except for the elimination of BaP in the presence of sediment. In this case, the fecal elimination accounted for up to 40% of the total elimination, and the extent of elimination via the fecal route increased with the amount of fecal material produced. Thus, it is clear from the above effort that the main mechanism for elimination of contaminants in the presence of a substrate is primarily via passive diffusion from the organism with subsequent sorption to the solid substrate, which maintains the chemical activity gradient between the organism and the water. This effort refutes the earlier hypothesis that fecal elimination is the dominant route of elimination for Diporeia spp., and that the peritrophic membrane plays any substantial role in the elimination process. Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. Liu, P.C., and N. Hawley. Wave grouping characteristics in nearshore Great Lakes II. Ocean Engineering 29:1415-1425 (2002). Ruberg, S.A., H.A. Vanderploeg, J.F. Cavaletto, G.A. Lang, J.R. Liebig, and T.C. Miller. Plankton survey system. Proceedings, Oceans 2001 MTS/IEEE Conference, November 5-8, 2001, Honolulu, HI. pp. 1899-1903 (2001). Steevens, J.A., and P.F. Landrum. Developmenmt of a biological-effects-based approach to assess the significance of contaminant bioaccumulation. EEDP Technical Notes Collection (ERDC/TN EEDP-01-48), U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS, 9 pp. (2002). Landrum, P.F., and J.P. Meador. Is the body residue a useful dose metric for asssessing toxicity? SETAC Globe, Learned Discourses: Timely Scientific Opinions, pp. 32-34 (2002). |
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June 18, 2002Contents: 1. Invitation to the Laurentian Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony June 11, 2002 I am pleased to inform you that NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) has recently finalized a new partnership with the University of Michigan in which our laboratory will operate and maintain the University's Research Vessel Laurentian. Under the agreement, GLERL is leasing the ship for 15 years to support its Great Lakes research missions while also providing ongoing vessel access and support to University of Michigan scientists. In recognition of the R/V Laurentian's operational transition, we invite you to join us and our university partners for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, briefing and vessel cruise starting at 1:00 PM, Tuesday, July 2, 2002 at our Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon, MI. We expect the event to last about two hours and conclude at approximately 3:00PM. If you will attend this event, please RSVP by Monday, June 29 to Mike Quigley (TEL 734 741-2149; FAX 734 741-2003; email Michael.A.Quigley@noaa.gov) We hope to see you on July 2nd! 2. IAGLR's June 4th Special Meeting on Linking Great Lakes Science and Policy IAGLR 2002 included a session on ways to IAGLR can work to increase the linkages between Great Lakes science and policy. A summary of the meeting is posted at http://www.iaglr.org/scipolicy/manitoba_summ.php. I draw this to your attention particularly because Sea Grant is mentioned in the recomendations segment. 14.IAGLR could enter into a more formal relationship with organizations like Sea Grant by working with them to add "working with IAGLR to strengthen the science-policy linkage" to the job descriptions of Sea Grant Extension agents (thereby making it part of their performance appraisals); 15.IAGLR could get Sea Grant Extension agents to sponsor workshops to identify issues that would benefit from stronger science-policy linkages; As a member of the steering committee for IAGLR's work in this arena under the Joyce Grant, I think it would be beneficial for Sea Grant folks to take a serious look at ways in which we might work together with IAGLR. I unfortunately missed the actual meeting as it was scheduled back-to-back with the Education and Outreach session. So I don't have a lot of additional information, but would be happy to pose questions and comments to the steering committee. 3. Sea Grant Update - Feedback Requested Over the last year I have received frequent requests and inquiries about whether I am doing or would consider doing a 'Sea Grant Update' for GLERL staff similar to these GLERL updates. I've talked this over with several people and find that the arguments in favor of such a piece are starting to add up. A few questions: 1) Would Sea Grant staff be interested in receiving GLSGN Updates (assuming they include information from all the other Great Lakes programs and so could serve as a tool for communications within the network)? 2) Is there a simple mechanism for getting your information to me? The GLERL updates have proven surprisingly easy to write as most of the information is already being passed around in house - just a matter of getting on the right e-mail lists. Do your programs currently have mechanisms (preferably e-mail) for circulating information among the agents and communicators to which I could easily be added? Regardless of whether this concept flies as a newsletter, I personally would find it extremely valuable to receive regular information on the who, what, when and where of your individual programs. 3) What time frame would be appropriate? Most of the folks that I have discussed this concept with think that weekly would be too often for such a piece. Would monthly be a good option? 4. GLERL Web Redesign - Beta test help requested The GLERL web team is pleased to announce that the redesigned GLERL web site is nearing an official launch! Before the launch, however, we would like to get additional feedback.
For comments to be incorporated prior to official launch, please
respond by Friday, June 28. ------------------------------- 2. Are there areas of the site that you found confusing or difficult to navigate around? 3. Were the font type, font size, and font colors hard to read? Too small, too big? If so, please provide your operating system (Windows 98, Mac OS 9, etc) and your browser (IE 5.1, Netscape 4.7, etc). 4. Let us know if there is content or functionality that you would
like to see added. We appreciate your feedback, please send your comments to Janet Szczesny at Janet.Szczesny@noaa.gov . |
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June 10, 2002Contents: 1. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL Seminars can be recorded on request. Please request recording as far in advance as possible. Schedule for the series is posted at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/news/seminars/ Next: Tuesday, June 18, 2002 10:00am- Recent Developments in Cabled Seafloor Observatories and Autonomous Vehicles at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Tom Austin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. ABSTRACT: Suggestions for seminar speakers relating to technology development welcome! CONTACT: Steve Ruberg, NOAA/GLERL, 734-741-2271 2. GLERL's Adjunct and Visiting Scientist Program The Adjunct and Visiting Scientist program allows scientists from other agencies and institutions to be housed at GLERL in order to participate in collaborative or complementary research, which enhances GLERL's programs and serves the public. Visiting scientist appointments are for a predetermined duration, usually one year or less. Adjunct scientist appointments are not fixed in duration, but are renewable on an annual basis. The purpose of the Adjunct and Visiting Scientist Program is to utilize the expertise, intellect, and creativity of scientists from other agencies and institutions to enhance the programmatic activities of GLERL and serve the public. Please help advertise the GLERL Adjunct and Visiting Scientist Program within the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and your affiliated Universities. Full program details (a 4 page document anyway) are available on request (contact Rochelle Sturtevant). 3. New Manager Hired for Great Lakes Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve NOAA and the state of Michigan announced the hiring of Jefferson J. Gray as manager of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve in Lake Huron. Gray begins his work with the Sanctuary in Alpena, Mich., on July 15, 2002. As manager for the nation's first Great Lakes Sanctuary, Gray will oversee monitoring and preservation of the shipwrecks and other significant cultural resources in Thunder Bay. NOAA is an agency of the Commerce Department. Gray has a strong background in research, management, and protection.
Serving as State Underwater Archaeologist at the Wisconsin Historical
Society since 1998, Gray managed a statewide cultural resource
program and developed and implemented the Wisconsin Maritime Trails
system. He also acted as a scientific diver and lab technician
for NOAA's National Undersea Research Center in Key Largo,
Fla. in addition to conducting other archaeological work in North
Carolina, Wisconsin, the Dominican Republic, Chile and Greece.
Gray also has extensive experience developing partnerships among
and working with government agencies, businesses, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve was designated in October 2000. The designation established a partnership between NOAA and the state of Michigan for the cooperative management and protection of Thunder Bay's cultural resources. As partners, NOAA and the state of Michigan work with local agencies as well as private and nonprofit organizations to protect these resources, develop educational activities centered on Lake Huron's maritime heritage and conduct research to further identify and interpret the area's shipwrecks. For more information, please visit: www.tbnms.glerl.noaa.gov. The National Marine Sanctuary Program, established in 1972 by the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, is administered by the National Ocean Service (NOAA Ocean Service). The goal of the Sanctuaries Act is to set aside and manage areas for resource protection, research, enhanced public education and compatible public and private uses. Today, 13 national marine sanctuaries encompass more than 18,000 square miles of America's ocean and Great Lakes natural and cultural resources. NOAA Ocean Service manages the National Marine Sanctuary Program
and is dedicated to exploring, understanding, conserving, and restoring
the nation's coasts and oceans. NOAA Ocean Service balances environmental
protection with economic prosperity in fulfilling its mission of
promoting safe navigation, supporting coastal communities, sustaining
coastal habitats and mitigating coastal hazards. To learn more
about NOAA Ocean Service and the National Marine Sanctuary Program,
please visit 4. New reprints - Copepods, Lake Huron Benthos, Circulation Bundy, M. A., and H.A. VANDERPLOEG. Detection and capture of inert particles by calanoid copepods: the role of the feeding current. Journal of Plankton Research 24(3):215-223 (2002). NALEPA, T.F., D.L. FANSLOW, M.B. LANSING, G.A. LANG, M. FORD,
G. GOSTENIK, and D.J. HARTSON. Abundance, biomass, and species
composition of benthic macroinvertebrate populations in Saginaw
Bay, Lake Huron, 1987-96. Beletsky, D. Modeling wind-driven circulation in Lake Ladoga. Boreal Environment Research, 6 (4): 307-316 2001. 5. IAGLR 2002 Presentations at IAGLR 2002 by and large went well, despite some glitches with AV. In addition to my presentation on the renewed partnership between GLERL and Sea Grant encompassed by my position, the Environmental Education and Outreach session included presentations by Sea Grant's Frank Lichtkoppler, Helen Domske, Walt Hoagman and Carol Swinehart. GLERL presentators in the scientific sessions included: Joanne Cavaletto, Brent Lofgren, Steve Ruberg, Jim Liebig, and Dave Fanslow. |
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May 2002 |
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May 21, 2002Note - As I am on travel nearly the entire weeks of May 27-June 7, the next GLERL Update is likely to be around June 10th! Have a nice Memorial weekend! Contents: 1. IAGLR - Who's Going? Anyone out there planning to attend IAGLR? Interested in spending some time talking with GLERL folks about a couple of potential projects? These could include some of the items I've asked about in previous GLERL updates - GLERL's new effort to increase 'societal relevance', publication availability (cost-sharing/cost-recovery), ANS/Food Web poster, fact sheet topics, web redesign, etc. Let me know when you plan to be there and I will try to set something up - I imagine a dinner meeting on Monday if we have a small group. 2. GLERL Presentations at IAGLR
3. New Project Summary Available - Mysis in Lakes Michigan and Huron Ecology of Mysis relicta in the Great Lakes Project at 4. New Research Funded (Externally) - Estuaries, Fisheries, and Monitoring T. Miller, M. Kemp, S.BRANDT, M. Roman, E. Houde. Ecosystem Variability and Estuarine Fisheries, NOAA Coastal Ocean Program, 2002-2004, $1,377,218 ($196,839 to GLERL). S.BRANDT: Development of a Portable Great Lakes Observing System. NOAA Ocean Exploration Program, 2002-03, $50,000. S. LOZANO and S. BRANDT. Estuary Restoration Act Monitoring Protocols: The Great Lakes. NOAA - NCCOS, 2002-03. $60,000. 5. Research Vessels - Shenehon in Lake Huron The Shenehon is on its way to Alpena! Summer schedule for the Shenehon includes: setting out moorings for the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, an ROV demo, assessment of seasonal depth distribution and diet of lake whitefish, evaluation of the potential of underwater hydroacoustics as a tool to evaluate mysids, and evaluation of the seasonal abundance, depth distribution, size structure, and reproductive characteristics of Mysis - all on Lake Huron. 6. GLERL in the News - Water Levels Water Levels Interviews with Cynthia Sellinger: CNN interview part of a Moneyline story - aired May 17th. Sorry I'm a little late with the notice, Mike Quigley does have a tape available. Recent Erie Times article is at: |
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May 13, 2002Contents: 1. GLERL Web Redesign - Volunteers needed for User Test GLERL's Web Team has been working on a redesing of the GLERL website for several months now. We expect to have the site ready for user testing within the next few weeks. The redesign focuses on making the webstie more accessible to the general public and incorporates several features (e.g., access to projects by geographic location) which have been mentioned by Sea Grant staff. User testing will take place May 21-24. I need some Sea Grant
folks to volunteer to participate in the user testing. No computer
or other expertise required. We estimate testing will take about
30 minutes of your time. Ideally, I would like testers from various
'walks' - web designers, extension agents, educators, and communicators
to help us judge useability for a broad spectrum of audiences.
Special request of MI Sea Grant folks - Janet stated a preference
to have a few folks Volunteers - please contact me asap. 2. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL Dr. Ralph's seminar marks the end of the Sea Grant focused series. It will be recorded to streaming video and posted to the archive. The archive will be maintained on the web for at least a month. I plan to burn the entire series to a CD - if you would like a copy of the CD, please let me know. Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 10:30am - GLERL Main Conference Room ABSTRACT: Measurements of the circulation of Lake Superior have
traditionally been limited in space and time and our knowledge
of its patterns has been sketchy. New measurements of time series
of currents from the Keweenaw Current and observations of currents
and near-surface temperature fields from central Lake Superior
will be presented. These observations indicate the importance of
a large-scale wind-driven flow which is responsible for a significant
fraction of CONTACT: Dr. Rochelle Sturtevant, NOAA/GLERL, 734-741-2287 3. Summer Interns Starting this Week Most of GLERL's largest-ever class of summer CILER interns (16) will be starting this week. Profiles: Elyse Bolterstein from the University of Michigan. Aquatic Biology Intern working with Thomas Nalepa and Steve Pothoven. Elyse will be involved in a study to examine the seasonal depth distribution and diet of lake whitefish collected in Lake Huron off Alpena, Michigan. Diet will be correlated with the amount and types of available prey. The study is relevant since the primary prey of whitefish, the benthic amphipod, is declining in this region of Lake Huron. Whitefish may be forced to feed on less nutritious prey items with a subsequent decline in condition and reproductive success. She will be measuring and weighing fish, dissecting fish stomach and identifying ingested items, and counting and sorting benthic organisms. Nitin Jaiswal from Michigan State University. Unix Supercomputer Programming Intern working with Brent Lofgren in Ann Arbor. Nitin will assist in porting and optimizing a regional climate model, currently resident on single-processor Unix platforms, into a massively parallel supercomputer. Anna Ritchie from Grand Valley State University. Biological Laboratory Technician Intern working with Stephen Brandt and Darryl Hondorp. Anna will assist GLERL scientists in examining the impacts of zebra mussel colonization on the behavior and interaction of bottom-dwelling fish and invertebrates. The primary focus of the analyses will be to determine if mussel beds impede the burrowing ability of the benthic amphipod Diporeia and if changes in burrowing behavior increase vulnerability to fish predation. Infrared videography will be used to study the behavior of Diporeia and fish in a laboratory setting. Her duties will include monitoring the progress of experiments and performing the video editing and review component of the data analysis. Lauren Johnson from the University of Chicago. Data Analysis Intern working with Michael McCormick. Lauren will work with current meter data collected in Saginaw Bay over a three-year period. The major objective is to describe the seasonal circulation in the outer bay and its interaction with Lake Huron from both data analyses and circulation modeling. Steven Skripnik from the University of Michigan. Marine Instrumentation Engineering Intern working with Steven Ruberg. Steven will assist Marine Instrumentation Laboratory staff in scientific instrumentation preparation for field deployments, participate in field deployments, and assist engineering staff in instrument development. Sara Felker from Michigan State University. Communications and Outreach Intern working with Michael Quigley. Sara will assist in supporting GLERL communications and outreach activities including: (1) Developing and writing short summaries of GLERL research activities for distribution to a diverse constituent audience; (2) Working with GLERL scientists and support staff in responding to constituent requests for GLERL products, services, and expertise; (3) Supporting GLERL outreach events such as laboratory open houses, tours and related activities. Kristen Phillips from Eckerd College and Jocelyn Lewis of Bryn Mawr College Aquatic Biology/Toxicology Interns working with Peter Landrum. They will pursue aquatic toxicity testing to establish the fundamental response of the amphipod, Hyalella azteca, to DDE and to establish the body residue required to produce toxic responses. The studies will involve the use of radio labeled contaminants as tracers. The work is part of a project to establish improved methods for interpreting the hazard of bioaccumulated contaminants. Liza Liversedge from the University of Michigan. Aquatic Ecology Intern working with Steve Pothoven. Liza will assist with analysis of abundance and life history characteristics of the macrozooplankton Mysis relicta. The project will also involve the evaluation of acoustics as a tool to assess Mysis populations. Josh Noling from Grand Valley State University and Andrew Yagiela from the University of Michigan. Field Sampling Technician Intern working with Dennis Donahue. They will assist with science activities onboard GLERL research ships and will assist researchers in a wide variety of sampling and monitoring programs conducted from vessels based at the Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon, Michigan. Jianjun Hu from Michigan State University. Ecosystem/Ecological Modelling Intern working with Scott Peacor. Jianjun will assist in developing an individually based model of interacting species using the SWARM platform. The objective of the project is to use "virtual ecosystems" to gain insight into species invasions and other processes. Lenka Stara from the University of South Bohemia. Aquatic Biology Intern working with Hank Vanderploeg. Lenka will be involved in examining temporal and spatial trends of zooplankton in Lake Michigan. Tasks will include sorting, identifying, and counting and measuring lengths of zooplankton, particularly the invading cladocerans Bythorephes and Cercopagis. Wes Anastasi from Buffalo State College. Data Analsis Intern working with Stephen Lozano. Wes will work on an environmental database of data collected for the Lake Michigan Long Term Monitoring Programincluding creation of a web page and statistical analyses on the data. Lauren Nalepa from the University of Pittsburgh. Support Technician Intern working with Brian Eadie. Lauren will spend approximately one half time analyzing sediment samples and entering data into a large data base, including reviewing and editing the data base for completeness. The remaining half time will be spent developing an extensive bibliography for climate related activities at GLERL. Susan Miller from Owens Community College. Data Analysis/Computer Network Intern working with John Fenton and Mike McCormick. |
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May 6, 2002Contents Steve Brandt noted to GLERL staff that he is "adding a new element to the 'Pre-eminence Goal' of GLERL -- to increase the societal relevance of our research. This could take the form of new scientific endeavors that have immediate and high profile societal relevance to making sure that the research we do is put in a form that society can use. We need to identify our core constituents and their core needs as well. Dr. Brandt requested that I engage the Sea Grant Network in a
discussion of ways in which GLERL might address this goal. Short-term
(e.g., immediately), I'm looking for suggestions from all of you
in extension as to forums and/or formats to initiate such a discussion.
This strikes me as too complex a topic for e-mail or survey discussion
- but not necessarily warranting a special meeting either. Longer-term,
I/we need answer to questions such as 'how do we identify our 2. 2002 CILER Pilot-project Awards Six projects have been selected for funding for proposals submitted to CILER's 2002 Science Enhancement RFP. The projects represent a good diversity of research topics, build upon some valuable ongoing collaborations, and most importantly, establish several new collaborations. The proposals which were awarded are: 1. Investigation into the Decline of the Amphipod Diporeia in Lake Michigan: Changes in Potential Food Using the Sedimentary Record of Diatoms - Eugene Stoermer, University of Michigan & Thomas Nalepa and John Robbins, NOAA-GLERL 2. Molecular and Isotopic Paleotemperature Proxies in Great Lakes Sediments: Keys to Climate Prediction - Philip Meyers, University of Michigan & Brian Eadie, NOAA-GLERL 3. High Resolution Two-way Nested Grid Model of Coupled Large Lake and Nearshore Processes - Nik Katopodes, University of Michigan & David Schwab, NOAA-GLERL 4. Improving Interpretation of Bioaccumulation Data through Development of Tissue-Residue Toxicity Relationships - Michael Lydy, Southern Illinois University & Peter Landrum, NOAA-GLERL 5. In-Situ Simultaneous Measurements of Flow and Sediments in Bottom Boundary Layer in the Great Lakes - Chin Wu, University of Wisconsin-Madison & David Schwab and Paul Liu, NOAA-GLERL 6. Evaluating Seasonal Changes in Net Basin Supply for Lake-Michigan-Huron Since 1950 - Steven Forman, University of Illinois-Chicago & Brent Lofgren, NOAA-GLERL 3. NOAA GREAT LAKES SEMINAR SERIES Note: This begins the technology series. Streaming video by request only! CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF FRESHWATER USING SILICON SENSOR MICRO-ARRAYS by S. J. PACE, GENERAL MANAGER, SENSICORE INC. TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2002 -- 10:00 A.M. -- GLERL Main Conference Room ABSTRACT: Sensicore Inc. is developing sensor arrays based on
silicon integrated circuit structures and proprietary membrane
patterning processes. Selective membrane chemistry is coupled with
electrochemical transduction to generate highly specific and sensitive
chemical profiles for various analytical sample matrices. Such
profiles are application specific and the arrays are tailored to
provide complete product solutions in a timely and cost effective
manner. This seminar will CONTACT: Steve Ruberg, NOAA/GLERL, 734-741-2271 |
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April 2002
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April 29, 2002Contents I fielded a call from Joy Mulinex, Great Lakes Task Force Coordinator. Joy is looking for state-specific information on Aquatic Nuisance Species in the Great Lakes states for use in developing fact sheets for each state for the Congressional delegation. I promised to forward this information to the appropriate folks in the Sea Grant Network. Appropriate materials would include newsletter articles, fact sheets, and webpages. If you have anything which might suit her needs, please e-mail her directly at Joy_Mulinex@levin.senate.gov (cc me so I can judge whether I need to do additional follow-up on this request) to discuss. Materials can be mailed (snail mail) to her attention at Northeast-Midwest Institute 2. GLERL Hot Item: Successful Completion of Great Lakes Winter Experiment 2002 On March 22, GLERL scientist George Leshkevich, in cooperation with NASA/JPL and the U.S. Coast Guard, successfully completed the Great Lakes Winter Experiment 2002 (GLAWEX'02). The purpose of the study was to compare radar imagery of ice cover on the Great Lakes collected during aircraft overflights with concurrent measurements of actual in situ ice/snow type and ice thickness and density on the lake surface. The datasets will then be compared and analyzed to produce new algorithms to improve satellite-based imagery of Great Lakes' ice distribution and characteristics. This information has applications in ice forecasting and modeling, climate and winter ecology research, hazard mitigation, as well as operational use. During approximately 30 hours of overflights onboard NASA's Airborne Science DC-8 aircraft, the agency's AIRSAR Science Team used polarimetric and interferometric C, L, and P band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) to record images of ice distribution at several Great Lakes locations. Working with Son V. Nghiem from the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Leshkevich used near real-time RADARSAT SAR satellite imagery to locate ice-covered regions of the lakes and coordinate navigation on the lakes' surface by the U.S Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw with the aircraft overflight routes. Onboard the Mackinaw, Leshkevich and Nghiem used a satellite phone link to download the satellite imagery to a laptop that was also connected with the ship's GPS, allowing them to track and record the vessel's position on the image and the ship's course over time. The cutter's movements were coordinated so that within a 3-4 hour timeframe of aircraft overflights, the vessel traveled to select locations where Leshkevich and Nghiem worked off the deck of the ship and on the ice to collect data on lake ice properties including ice type, cores/thickness measurements and photo/video documentation. Leshkevich said that analysis is now underway to compare the data on actual ice surface conditions with corresponding aircraft radar and satellite imagery. He noted that among the radar bands used by the aircraft, the C and L bands would probably be most useful for measuring properties of Great Lakes ice cover and that these bands were important in terms of current and future use in satellite sensors. During overflights, the DC-8 flew at an altitude of 8 kilometers (26,000 feet) at a speed of 215 meters per second (480 mph). Leshkevich said that during flights, the onboard radar systems collected ground imagery in a 10-kilometer wide swath in high-resolution mode (2-2.5 m resolution) and a 20-kilometer wide swath in low-resolution mode (5-6 m resolution). Contact information: George A Leshkevich 3. Lease of the Laurentian The lease for the research vessel Laurentian has been signed by the University of Michigan and NOAA. Effective April 15, 2002, GLERL will lease the Laurentian for 15 years. Muskegon Chronicle article at: The University of Michigan's 80-foot research ship, the Laurentian, will make Muskegon its new home under a 15-year lease agreement signed recently by the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. The addition of the Laurentian gives GLERL two research ships and extends the lab's reach into Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Plans call for the Shenehan, the 66-foot research ship currently based in Muskegon, to be stationed in Alpena. Under terms of the new lease agreement, U-M scientists and students will still have use of the Laurentian f or at least 35 days each season, as long as time is reserved by April 1 each year. 4. NOAA GREAT LAKES SEMINAR SERIES THE INVERSION OF OPTICAL MEASUREMENTS TO OBTAIN BIOGEOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS Dr. Ron Zaneveld, WET Labs/Oregon State University TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2002 - 2:00 P.M.- GLERL Main Conference Room ABSTRACT: The spectral light scattering, absorption, and fluorescence
characteristics of natural waters- the Inherent Optical Properties,
or IOP- are determined by the distributions of particle size, complex
index of refraction, and shape, and the chemical characteristics
of the dissolved materials. The complex index of refraction of
the particles in turn is determined by the chemical nature of the
particles, including pigments. Each component of the IOP (light
scattering at a given angle and wavelength, for example) depends
on a different mix of particulate and dissolved properties. This
also means that it may be possible to derive different particulate
and dissolved characteristics from different IOP measurements.
The objectives of measuring IOP in natural waters are twofold:
1) To measure those parameters that affect radiative transfer,
including optical remote sensing, and 2) To determine characteristics
of the particulate and dissolved materials by inversion of the
IOP. A list of parameters that can potentially be obtained from
specific CONTACT: Dr. David Reid, NOAA/GLERL, 734-741-2019 5. New reprints - waves, runoff Fritz, H.M., and P.C. LIU. An application of wavelet transform analysis to landslide-generated impulse waves. Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium Waves 2001, September 2-6, 2001, San Francisco, CA, pp. 1477-1486 (2001). CROLEY, T.E. II. Large basin runoff model. Chapter 17. In Mathematical Models of Large Watershed Hydrology. V.P. Singh, and D.K. Frevert (Eds.). Water Resources Publications, Highlands Ranch, CO, pp. 717-770 (2002). |
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April 22, 2002Contents: Winner was incorrectly listed as Edward Sander in the original ... Name: Edmund Sander More from NY Sea Grant... New York native Edmund Sander, a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology and retired manager for the Xerox Corporation, is passionate about Lake Ontario and its fisheries. As an advisor to the United States Section of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission since 1998 and Chair of New York Sea Grant's Program Advisory Council since 1999, Ed is proactive about Great Lakes research and fisheries management issues. An avid member of the Rochester Trout and Salmon Anglers since the late 80s, Ed went from being solely a recreational fisherman to someone deeply committed to the fishery and its management. As president of that association in the early 90s, Ed did much to support conservation efforts by fostering stream and hatchery improvements. Since 1992, he's been on the Monroe County Fishery Advisory Board. As chair (since 1996), Ed's provided valuable leadership and guidance to the county on all fisheries-related businesses. He's been delegate to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Fishing Congress and currently is a representative for Monroe County to the Lake Ontario Sportfishing Promotion Council. 2. Aquatic Nuisance Species Fact Sheet(s) - Reviewers Needed I've just completed my first outreach factsheet. It is a project specific fact sheet for Dr. Landrum's work on Chemical Disinfection of Ballast Water. I would greatly appreciate reviews from Sea Grant folks on this sheet - text, style, ability to meet a target audience (general), usefullness to/by Sea Grant extension, etc. I've posted a pdf version of the fact sheet at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/Review.html along with the rest of the suite of GLERL ANS-related fact sheets (comments on these appreciated too as well as ideas for other topics which might make good additions to the suite) and a brief set of questions to guide review. Please email comments to me by May 15. 3. Lake Michigan Food Web - Fact Sheet or Poster? Just posted on the web page for Doran Mason's project "Impact
of Exotic Invertebrate Invaders on Food Web Structure and Function
in the Great Lakes: a Network Analysis Approach" is a beautiful
diagram of the Lake Michigan Food Web. Check it out at: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/Task_rpts/nsmason10-1.html 4. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL Archive files (pdf of slides and streaming video) available at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.html for: Assessing Fishery Dynamics: Recent Advances with Applications to the Great Lakes. Dr. James R. Bence, Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University. Recorded Wednesday, April 3, 2002. Benthification of Freshwater Lake Ecosystems - Myth or Reality? Dr. Edward L. Mills, Director, Cornell Biological Field Station. Recorded Thursday, April 18, 2002. 5. New reprints - Lake Ontario Bathymetry, Copepod feeding behavior Holcombe, T.L., J.S. Warren, D.F. REID, W.T. Virden, and D.L. Divins. Small rimmed depression in Lake Ontario: An impact crater? Journal of Great Lakes Research 27(4):510-517 (2001). Bundy, MH;Vanderploeg, HA. Detection and capture of inert particles
by calanoid copepods: the role of the feeding current. Journal
of Plankton Research, 24 (3): 215-223 MAR 2002. ABSTRACT: Although
there is a scarcity of supporting empirical evidence, it has long
been suspected that calanoid copepods use |
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April 10, 2001Please join me in congratulating Cynthia Sellinger for winning the 2002 NOAA Administrator's Award. This is indeed an honor for her and for GLERL. _________________________________________________________________ Contents: 1. Winners of NOAA's Environmental Hero Award Name: Edward Sander 2. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL I did get a video of Dr. Bence's seminar last week. I'll get it posted to the web just as soon as the computer support person who helps me with converting/posting the video gets back from vacation. Next week: Thursday, April 18, 10:30 a.m. - GLERL Main Conference Room BENTHIFICATION OF FRESHWATER LAKE ECOSYSTEMS - MYTH OR REALITY?" Dr. Edward L. Mills, Director, Cornell Biological Field Station. Restoration of native fish and invertebrate species through improved water quality has been a principal management goal in freshwater lake ecosystems over the last 20 years. Consequently, many North American lakes have experienced improved water quality through nutrient reductions leading to a process known as oligotrophication (in contrast to eutrophication). Reductions in free-floating algae concentrations have resulted in increased water clarity and have released shallow water habitats from light limitation. Increased water quality has been associated with both the expected effect of increased native species community diversity and biomass and the unexpected effect of making these habitats more vulnerable to invasion by non-native species. Proliferation of non-native and filter-feeding Dreissena sp., for example, has further enhanced water clarity and increased light penetration. The combined effects of nutrient abatement, grazing by dreissenids, and increased water clarity act synergistically to redirect energy production from the pelagic to the benthos in lake ecosystems. One might consider this ecological process in freshwater lakes as benthification. Evidence for benthication will be discussed and its utility for understanding and quantifying current changes in freshwater lakes will be assessed. 3. GLERL Ship Schedules The RV Shenehon will be operating on Lake Huron out of Alpena Michigan during the summer of 2002. Current plan is to launch the Shenehon from Muskegon on April 4 for local research and transit to Lake Huron the first week of May. GLERL's aquisition (long-term lease) of the RV Laurentian is proceeding. The Laurentian will operate on Lake Michigan out of Muskegon, MI during the summer of 2002. Current plan is to launch the Laurentian April 22. GLERL's smallest vessel, the RV Cyclops, will also operate out of Muskegon. Current plan is to launch the Cyclops April 16. With the expansion in capabilities afforded by the Laurentian, ship time may be available to Sea Grant researchers. Please direct inquiries to Dennis Donahue dennis.donahue@noaa.gov 4. GLERL Hot Item - EPA Administrator Visits GLERL Field Station On Tuesday, April 2, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman visited GLERL's Lake Michigan Field Station (LMFS) in Muskegon, Michigan. During the two-hour visit, Whitman toured the EPA research vessel Lake Guardian and then formally unveiled Great Lakes Strategy 2002 - a new ambitious plan to protect and restore the Great Lakes. Speaking before an audience of some 60 federal, state, tribal, and local officials, as well as the media, Whitman said that: "Since President Bush and I took office, we have been highlighting the need to use partnerships to solve the environmental challenges we face. Thanks to the work of a great partnership, today is an exciting day for the health and safety of the Great Lakes." She also noted that: "The Great Lakes Strategy, and the aggressive goals it sets, will provide a framework for specific actions to protect and restore the lakes over the next several years." Key goals of the plan include: In leadoff welcoming remarks, GLERL Director Steve Brandt noted
that GLERL's Lake Michigan Field Station has served as a key base
of operations for launching the lab's scientific missions. And
given that, he said that the site was a most appropriate location
for the formal start-up of a new plan to protect and The strategy was created by the U.S. Policy Committee, a partnership
of senior environmental officials from federal, state, and tribal
agencies. In addition to the EPA, the Committee is comprised of
representatives from the eight Great Lakes states, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. During her visit, Whitman also spoke about the President's Clear Skies Plan, an initiative that will use mandatory reductions over the next decade to remove 35 million more tons of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and mercury from the air than will be eliminated by the current Clean Air Act. Clear Skies will achieve these reductions more quickly and with greater certainty than under current law and is modeled on the Acid Rain Trading Program, the most successful clean air program in history, having achieved more tons of pollution reduction than all other 1990 Clean Air Act programs combined. The Great Lakes strategy is posted online at More information: GLERL Hot Items are posted to the OAR website at 5. New Reprints - Particle transport, Grand Traverse Bay, sediment toxicity Schneider, AR;Eadie, BJ;Baker, JE. Episodic particle transport
events controlling PAH and PCB cycling in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake
Michigan. Environmental Science & Technology, 36 (6): 1181-1190
MAR 15 2002. ABSTRACT: To evaluate the influence of episodic events
on particle and hydrophobic organic contaminant (HOC) cycling in
the Great Lakes, we deployed sequencing sediment traps at two locations
in the western arm of Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. The traps
collected integrated samples of Landrum, PF;Gedeon, ML;Burton, GA;Greenberg, MS;Rowland, CD. Biological
responses of Lumbriculus variegatus exposed to fluoranthene-spiked
sediment. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology,
42 (3): 292-302 APR 2002. ABSTRACT: Lumbriculus variegatus was
used as a bioassay organism to examine the impact of the sediment-associated
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fluoranthene on behavior,
reproduction, and toxicokinetics. The number of worms increased
between the beginning and end of the experiment at 59 mug g(-1)
fluoranthene, but at the next higher treatment (108 mug g(-1))
the number of worms found was lower and not different from the
control. Worms exposed to 95 mug g(-1) also exhibited increased
reproduction when fed a yeast-cerophyl-trout chow mixture. On a
total biomass basis, only the 95 jig g(-1) exposure with food exhibited
a statistically significant increase over the nonfed control. Evaluation
of reproduction at the two highest treatments was compromised by
a brief aeration failure 2 days before the end of the experiment.
The behavioral responses were followed as changes in biological
burial rate (sediment reworking rate) of a Cs-137-labeled marker
layer. The biological burial rate increased toward a plateau as
the concentration increased from the control (3.9 mug g(-1) dry
weight total PAH) to 355 mug g(-1) dry weight fluoranthene in sediment.
The aeration failure had minimal impact on the determination of
reworking rate because all the data for the rate determination
were 6. GLERL Letter Supporting Sea Grant Fisheries Extension Proposal I thought I would share with you the great support letter that GLERL folks (mostly Doran Mason) wrote in support of the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network fisheries extension proposal: Dear Reviewer: I strongly support the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network (GLSGN) proposal
for a Great Lakes Fisheries Leadership Institute. Several of my
senor-level scientists were involved in the Great Lakes Sea Grant
sponsored workshop where this concept was presented. They unanimously
concur with the identified need for in-depth training to the next
generation of leaders and enthusiastically support the concept
of a Great Lakes Fisheries Leadership Institute as an appropriate
mechanism to meet this goal. GLERL scientists have expressed a great deal of interest and enthusiasm towards providing scientific expertise for the development of a science-based curriculum, suitable for the Great Lakes Fishery Leadership Institute. I believe that GLERL expertise in the areas of Great Lakes food webs, ecosystem modeling, aquatic nuisance species impacts and contaminants will be especially important for these developments. GLERL is willing to provide copies of our publications (fact sheets,
scientific publications, etc.) for inclusion in the curricula and
experts to serve as presenters, instructors, or discussion leaders
in the various sessions of the Institute. I believe that the contact
of the Great Lakes Fishery Institute participants with key staff
from In recent years GLERL has developed a strong fish program as part of its ecosystem approach to research in the Great Lakes. For example, in the last four years, GLERL scientists have published more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific papers related to fisheries and fish ecology. This figure does not include the sum of research relevant to fisheries issues from a broader ecosystem perspective, such as food webs, physical-biological interactions and aquatic nuisance species impacts, which has long been, and continues to be, one of the major strengths of GLERL research. So, GLERL is well positioned to offer this endorsement and support. In short, through in-kind support and consultation, the NOAA Great
Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory is pleased to support the
development of the Great Lakes Fishery Leadership Institute and
I look forward to the many benefits this project will bring to
the region and to this agency. Sincerely, |
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April 1, 2002Contents: 1. NOAA GREAT LAKES SEMINAR SERIES _________________________________________ ASSESSING FISHERY DYNAMICS: RECENT ADVANCES WITH APPLICATIONS TO THE GREAT LAKES Dr. James R. Bence, Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2002 - 10:30 A.M. Classical methods for assessing harvested fish populations, based on age structure population models, were originally quite rigid and were not well adapted for accommodating the extent of biological change (e.g., dramatic changes in growth or predatory mortality) commonly seen in the Great Lakes. Modern advances have blurred the distinction between assessment and detailed modeling of these biological changes. The power and flexibility of these new approaches will be illustrated with examples of assessments that have recently been applied to lake trout, whitefish, chinook salmon, yellow perch, and forage fish complexes in the Great Lakes. 2. Exotic Waterflea Reports Website As many of you may recall, last summer I operated a website for anglers to report infestations of spiny and fishhook waterfleas. The researchers indicated that the anecdotal information which we received was useful to them in formulating their research and in beginning to understand the seasonal dynamics of these organisms. Feedback from anglers also indicated that they found the site useful, or at least interesting. The research is continuing and so will the website. Your help is needed in getting the word out to anglers and boaters about the existence of the site - before the population densities begin to rise this summer. I've put together a series of targetted flyers which can be used in advertising the website. These are currently available as html files on the web (I'm going to try to get pdf versions up soon). These are at: www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/cercopagis/SuperiorWeb/ This webpage is collecting only anecdotal reports - not specimens. If your local DNR (or other state or federal agency) is compiling formal sitings and/or requesting samples, please let me know asap. I will add that information to my reporting instructions segment of the site. 3. GLERL/Sea Grant Printing - Feedback requested A recent request for copies of GLERL handouts by a Sea Grant Extension agent brought to my attention the possibility that requests might exceed GLERL budget/capability for printing these items. I've discussed the matter with Mike Quigley and Steve Brandt at some length and they have asked me to estimate what numbers of these flyers the Sea Grant programs might want (or be willing to distribute in the regular course of events) so that we can get a handle on budgeting and other capability issues. I'm also want to ensure that distribution to all of you is on an equitable basis. As I have no idea of you needs or capabilities in this regard, I'm turning the question over to you. Please do not misconstrue the tone of this message - Steve Brandt and Mike Quigley were both excited about the possibility of increasing public access to our information and outreach products through Sea Grant - we just aren't yet sure how to handle it. Currently our entire suite of fact sheets is available print-on-demand
from the GLERL website. Larger issues arise if you would like us to print and mail a set of some quantity to you (as was the case with the recent request). GLERL currently prints all copies in house (our only option for off-site printing is a government contract through the government printing office to the lowest bidder - which has generally resulted in very poor quality) and keeps only limited quantities on hand. Significant lead time (weeks) is going to be needed for any requests of more than 100 sheets. As an example, Ohio Sea Grant requested 500 copies of each of 6 different fact sheets with a one-week notice - we were only able to generate about 200 of each in that time frame (and we were lucky not to have any other demands on the printer during that time). Budget also becomes an issue - one which we may be able to resolve if we can estimate the total quantity of requests we are likely to receive in a year. The example above wasn't a strain as a one-shot request, but if multiplied over several similar events around the basin I can see how it could quickly become a strain. GLERL currently has no mechanism for selling our outreach products to aid in cost-recovery. We would love to explore partnerships and possibilities in this regard with Sea Grant. Bottom line - take a look through our on-line library of fact sheets and decide if any of them might be useful to you during your regular outreach activities (and/or special events) in the course of a year - if so, drop me a line letting me know what quantities you think you might need and what alternatives might work to get them to you. If not, please let me know what I might do to make these products more useful to you. 4. New Reprint - Grand Traverse Bay Schneider, A.R., B.J. EADIE, and J.E. Baker. Episodic particle transport events controlling PAH and PCB cycling in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. Environmental Science and Technology 36(6):1181-1190 (2002). |
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March 29, 2002Contents 1. New Distinguished Visiting Scientist 1. New Distinguished Visiting Scientist GLERL's new Distinguished Visiting Scientist has arrived. Professor William Taylor will be spending about 1 day per week at GLERL for a one-year period. He is interested in developing new collaborative ties with GLERL scientists and expanding his existing collaborations (e.g. Assel). Dr. Taylor is also interesting in fostering continued and increased collaboration between GLERL and Michigan State University. Professor Taylor is current Chair of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State. He is also the Associate Director of the Michigan Sea Grant Program and past president of the American Fisheries Society. He has considerable experience working on fisheries issues in a diversity of aquatic ecosystems and particularly the Great Lakes. His research is often closely associated with management agencies and focuses on fish ecology, population dynamics, policy and management. GLERL's Distinguished Visiting Scientist program is new - Dr. Taylor is the first GLERL Distinguished Visiting Scientist. GLERL also offers a Visiting Scientist program, sabbatical program, post-doc and fellowship opportunities. 2. GLERL Funding The President's budget requests a significant funding increase for GLERL. The budget request for GLERL is listed as $9.070M. Last year we received $8.232M. That shows an increase of $838k. However, we will only receive a real increase in the budget (if passed) of $377k which is an adjustment to our base. The additional $461k is listed under 'CSRS Legislative proposal' and is a funding transfer from OPM to fund retirement costs for staff in the civil service retirement system. These costs were previously paid from OPM's budget. Bottom line is a welcome funding increase. Steve Brandt is confident that this increase will survive the Congressional budget process resulting in a real incrase in discretionary funding for science (for the first time in a long time). In fact, his confidence is such that he has requested each of GLERL's Branch Chiefs (Branchs = Field Station, Technology & Scientific Support, Information Services, Administrative Services and Science Branch) to produce a prioritized staffing plan prior to the start of the fiscal year. During this same time frame, GLERL will also produce a new '5-Year Facilities Plan', a short and long-range plan for Technology Development at GLERL, and and overall strategic plan. 3. Steve Ruberg to Act as Program Manager for Technology Development and Application As part of our effort to enhance Technology Development and Application at GLERL (one of GLERL's fundamental goals), Steve Ruberg will take charge of developing a short and long-range plan for Technology Development at GLERL. This will be an 18 month, 50% appointment effective immediately. Steve will remain the Marine Instrumentation Lab Team Leader but work directly with the Director in the capacity of Program Manager for Technology Development and Application. In this capacity, Steve will have full program responsibility. He will consult with the P.I.'s to aid in the development of a planning document for GLERL technology development and application. Steve will take the lead in developing GLERL's next seminar series on Technology, helping with the funded Great Lakes Observing Workshop, leading GLERL's effort in developing a Portable Great Lakes Observatory and writing internal and external proposals and papers to help fund and publicize GLERLs endeavors in this field. As always, GLERL welcomes feedback from Sea Grant partners on how to make its programs more relevant to society. Send ideas my way and I will forward to Steve. These could range from the simple (speakers to participate in a Technology-focused seminar series) to the sublime (technologies for which you or your constituents see a need). 4. Retirement - Gerald Miller, Physical Scientist Dr. Gerald Miller, Physical Scientist, is retiring from GLERL. Dr. Miller's research focused on Coastal Dynamics and Lake Circulation, particularly in Lake Champlain. Recent Publications include: EADIE, B. J., G. S. MILLER, M. B. LANSING, and A. G. WINKELMAN. Chapter 2. Settling particle fluxes and current and temperature profiles in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. In Final Report. Trophic Transfer of Atmospheric and Sedimentary Contaminants into Great Lakes Fish: Controls on Ecosystem-Scale Response Times, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Solomons, MD, pp. 25 (2001). BELETSKY, D., D. J. SCHWAB, M. J. McCORMICK, G. S. MILLER, J.H. SAYLOR, and P. J. Roebber. Hydrodynamic modeling for the 1998 Lake Michigan coastal turbidity plume event. Proceedings of the Conference on Estuarine and Coastal Modeling, New Orleans, LA, November 3-5, 1999. American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA, pp. 597-613 (2000). Manley, T.O., K. Hunkins, J. Saylor, G. Miller and P. Manley. Aspects of summertime and wintertime hydrodynamics of Lake Champlain. Water Resources Monograph No. 14, American Geophysical Union, pp. 67-115 (1999). Miller, G.S., J.H. Saylor, and M.J. McCormick. Detecting storm-generated suspended materials in Lake Michigan using ADCP echo intensities. Proceedings of the IEEE Sixth Working Conference on Current Measurement, IEEE, March 11-13, 264-268 (1999). 5. New Reprint - Lake Michigan Whitefish and Diporeia Pothoven, SA; Nalepa, TF; Schneeberger, PJ; Brandt, SB. 2001. Changes in diet and body condition of lake whitefish in southern Lake Michigan associated with changes in benthos. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 21 (4): 876-883 NOV 2001. ABSTRACT: |
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March 20, 2002My apologies for the long hiatus in GLERL Updates - Combination of travel and a bad strep throat infection. Contents: 1. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL - March Seminars Wednesday, March 6 (Available in the Web Archive) Wednesday, March 13 (Available in the Web Archive) Thursday, March 21 - 10:30am in the GLERL Main Conference Room CONTACT: Dr. Rochelle Sturtevant, NOAA/GLERL, 734-741-2287 2. New Reprints - Herring, Salmon, Diporeia and Ice Norcross, B.L. E.D. Brown, R.J. Foy, M. Frandsen, S.M. Gay, T.C. Kline, D.M. MASON, V. Patrick, A.J. Paul, and K.D.E. Stokesbury. A synthesis of the life history and ecology of juvenile Pacific herring in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fisheries Oceanography 10(10:42-57 (2001). Willette, T.M., R.T. Cooney, V. Patrick, D.M. MASON, G.L. Thomas, and D. Scheel. Ecological processes influencing mortality of juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fisheries Oceanography 10(1):14-41 (2001). QUIGLEY, M.A., P.F. LANDRUM, W.S. GARDNER, C. STUBBLEFIELD, AND
W.M. LESHKEVICH, G.A., and S.V. Nghiem. The 2002 Great Lakes winter experiment (GLAWEX 2002) three-dimensional mapping of the Great Lakes ice cover. Proceedings, of the 2002 AirSAR Earth Science Applications Workshop. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, March 4-6, 2002, 10 pp. (2002). 3. Presentation The Fate of Long-Lived Fallout Radionuclides in Lake Michigan Presentation by GLERL's John Robbins. On Friday, March 8 2002 at the Weekly Colloquium of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, University of Michigan. Contact John Robbins at John.Robbins@noaa.gov if you are interested
in more information on this topic. |
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March 6, 2002Contents: 1. New Reprints - Alaska Fisheries Norcross, B.L. E.D. Brown, R.J. Foy, M. Frandsen, S.M. Gay, T.C. Kline, D.M. MASON, V. Patrick, A.J. Paul, and K.D.E. Stokesbury. A synthesis of the life history and ecology of juvenile Pacific herring in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fisheries Oceanography 10(10:42-57 (2001). Willette, T.M., R.T. Cooney, V. Patrick, D.M. MASON, G.L. Thomas, and D. Scheel. Ecological processes influencing mortality of juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fisheries Oceanography 10(1):14-41 (2001). 2. NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL Nonindigenous Species: Occurence, Impact, and Risk Analysis" Dr. David Lodge (IL/IN Sea Grant) University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Science. Streaming Video to be available shortly at www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminars A must see for anyone interested in rusty crayfish, nonindigenous fishes in the Great Lakes and ANS generally. Coming soon! Wednesday, March 13 ABSTRACT: A suite of piston cores recoverd from the north basin
of Lake Malawi, East Africa, shows diatom productivity to have
been lower during the last glacial than during the Holocene. Superimposed
on this glacial/interglacial signal is one of millennial-scale
variability, with higher diatom productivity in the north As usual, we plan to make streaming video available via the web. If you would like a live broadcast, please contact me asap. |
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March 1, 2002Contents: Nonindigenous Species: Occurrence, Impact, and Risk Analysis. Dr. David Lodge University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Science. As examples of the importance of nonindigenous species as a cause
of biodiversity loss and ecosystem change, Lodge will present case
studies of fish, zebra mussels, and crayfish invasions in inland
lakes and the Great Lakes. In addition, he will present a framework
and examples of risk analysis for future invaders into Presentation will be taped for the web video archive. If you would prefer a live broadcast, please contact Rochelle Sturtevant as soon as possible. 2. Computational Tools Workshop at U/M 2/15 & 2/16 Scott Peacor organized and facilitated a workshop on using new
computational tools to address ecological issues. The workshop
took place at the University of Michigan on Feb. 15 and 16. Ecologists
and computer scientists form the University of Michigan and Michigan
State University attended. Contact Scott for more 3. GLERL in the News - Wind, Ice and Water Levels - Global Warming? Excerpt from...Winds may take toll on lake level. Chicago Sun-Times. February 27, 2002. By Gary Wisby. Full text at http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-wind27.html You won't notice it on your sailboat, but the summer wind is blowing faster on Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the change may be evidence of global warming. And the brisker breezes may be boosting the major force that takes water from the lakes: evaporation. "From 1981 to 2001, there's a definite trend to increasing wind speed," said oceanographer Mike McCormick of NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich. The difference in May-October wind speeds is only 1 or 2 mph. But McCormick said, "A lot of climate change signals are very small, but if they persist over a long time they can have a large effect." Some of the results may be because of global climate change and some because of natural variations. Higher wind speeds could have a "dramatic effect" on evaporation by increasing air volatility and bringing dry air in contact with the water, McCormick said. Midwest Living article - "Are We Losing the Great Lakes?" in the March/April 2002 issue, pages 36-37; includes quotes by GLERL meteorologist Brent Lofgren and hydrologist Cynthia Sellinger. Excerpt from...An unfrozen Lake Erie. Lorain Morning Journal.
February 24, 2002. By Kate Moore. Full story at Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, is typically frozen by late December, and by February its splintered floes are jammed together in a jagged, forbidden no-man's land stretching to the horizon. This winter, however, the waves just kept crashing ashore. Lake Erie didn't freeze, causing concern for everyone from ice fishermen, atmospheric scientists and environmentalists to shippers, boaters and marina owners. The missing frozen mantle means millions of gallons of water are evaporating from the Great Lakes. Put-in-Bay's commerce is feeling the immediate effects of no lake ice, but the long-term effects of warmer winters are what concerns National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrologist Cynthia Sellinger. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie are experiencing the lowest water levels in the past 35 years. Between 1997 and 2001, Lakes Michigan and Huron dropped by 3.4 feet, and Lake Erie dropped 3.13 feet, according to NOAA data. Sellinger said at this point even if there were heavy snowfall from now until April, it would still not bring the lake levels up. "We need a return to cold winter weather and a lot more precipitation, and we need it consistently for a couple of seasons," she said. If global warming trends continue and future weather predictions are accurate, the trend of lower lake levels could remain a problem for years to come, according to Sellinger. 4. Recent Reprints - salmon, herring Willette, TM; Cooney, RT; Patric, V; MASON, DM; Thomas, GL; Scheel, D. 2001. Ecological processes influencing mortality of juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fisheries Oceanography, 10: 14-41 Suppl. 1 2001. ABSTRACT: Our collaborative work focused on understanding the system of mechanisms influencing the mortality of juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Coordinated field studies, data analysis and numerical modelling projects were used to identify and explain the mechanisms and their roles in juvenile mortality. In particular, project studies addressed the identification of major fish and bird predators consuming juvenile salmon and the evaluation of three hypotheses linking these losses to (i) alternative prey for predators (prey-switching hypothesis); (ii) salmon foraging behaviour (refuge-dispersion hypothesis); and (iii) salmon size and growth (size-refuge hypothesis). Two facultative planktivorous fishes, Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) and walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), probably consumed the most juvenile pink salmon each year, although other gadids were also important. Our prey-switching hypothesis was supported by data indicating that herring and pollock switched to alternative nekton prey, including juvenile salmon, when the biomass of large copepods declined below about 0.2 g m(-3). Model simulations were consistent with these findings, but simulations suggested that a June pteropod bloom also sheltered juvenile salmon from predation. Our refuge-dispersion hypothesis was supported by data indicating a five-fold increase in predation losses of juvenile salmon when salmon dispersed from near-shore habitats as the biomass of large copepods declined. Our size-refuge hypothesis was supported by data indicating that size- and growth-dependent vulnerabilities of salmon to predators were a function of predator and prey sizes and the timing of predation events. Our model simulations offered support for the efficacy of representing ecological processes affecting juvenile fishes as systems of coupled evolution equations representing both spatial distribution and physiological status. Simulations wherein model dimensionality was limited through construction of composite trophic groups reproduced the dominant patterns in salmon survival data. In our study, these composite trophic groups were six key zooplankton taxonomic groups, two categories of adult pelagic fishes, and from six to 12 groups for tagged hatchery-reared juvenile salmon. Model simulations also suggested the importance of salmon density and predator size as important factors modifying the predation process. Norcross, BL; Brown, ED; Foy, RJ; Frandsen, M; Gay, SM; Kline, TC; MASON, DM; Patrick, EV; Paul, AJ; Stokesbury, KDE. 2001. A synthesis of the life history and ecology of juvenile Pacific herring in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Fisheries Oceanography, 10: 42-57 Suppl. 1 2001. ABSTRACT: Physical and biological variables affecting juvenile Pacific herring (Clupea pallasi) in Prince William Sound (PWS) from 1995 to 1998 were investigated as part of a multifaceted study of recruitment, the Sound Ecosystem Assessment (SEA) program. Though more herring larvae were retained in eastern PWS bays, ages-0 and -1 herring used bays throughout PWS as nursery areas. Water transported into PWS from the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) contributed oceanic prey species to neritic habitats. Consequently, variations in local food availability resulted in different diets and growth rates of herring among bays. Summer food availability and possible interspecific competition for food in nursery areas affected the autumn nutritional status and juvenile whole body energy content (WBEC), which differed among bays. The WBEC of age-0 herring in autumn was related to over-winter survival. The limited amount of food consumption in winter was not sufficient to meet metabolic needs. The smallest age-0 fish were most at risk of starvation in winter. Autumn WBEC of herring and winter water temperature were used to model over-winter mortality of age-0 herring. Differences in feeding and energetics among nursery areas indicated that habitat quality and age-0 survival were varied among areas and years. These conditions were measured by temperature, zooplankton abundance, size of juvenile herring, diet energy, energy source (GOA vs. neritic zooplankton), WBEC, and within-bay competition. |
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February 21, 2002Contents: Wednesday, March 6 10:30am As examples of the importance of nonindigenous species as a cause of biodiversity loss and ecosystem change, Lodge will present case studies of fish, zebra mussels, and crayfish invasions in inland lakes and the Great Lakes. In addition, he will present a framework and examples of risk analysis for future invaders into the Great Lakes. This seminar will be recorded for the video archive on the web
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.html. 2) NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL - Artificial Reefs Streaming video of Dave Kelch's 2/20 presentation on artificial reefs is available at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.html 3) Summer Course at Muskegon Field Station For full announcement see http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/CoursePage.html Your help is requested in advertising this offering at appropriate institutions in your state. We are particularly interested in targetting small, liberal arts colleges whose students may not otherwise have such large lakes research opportunities. We can handle only up to 12 students and prefer to include students from a variety of backgrounds. Instructors wishing to serve as local contacts (i.e., to handle the interface at their home institution) should contact Gary Fahnenstiel directly. Color copies of the announcement can be downlowed from this webpage or I can mail printed copies directly. Field methods in Great Lakes Limnology A field intensive 1-week course (May 5-11) will be taught at NOAA/GLERL's Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon, MI. This course is open to advanced undergraduates and graduate student who want to experience field sampling techniques in the offshore, open-water environment of the Great Lakes. Students should register for two credit hours at their home institution or through Ohio State University, Stone Lab. Accomodations will be provided free of cost at either the Lake Michigan Field Station and/or the R/V Laurentian. A meal fee of $150 will be required. This course is presently supported by Stone Laboratory at Ohio State University, Hope College and Concordia College. For more information Contact: Gary Fahnenstiel at fahnenstiel@glerl.noaa.gov 4) New Reprints - Water Levels QUINN, F.H., R.A. ASSEL, and C.E. SELLINGER. Hydro-climatic factors and socioeconomic impacts of the recent record drop in Laurentian Great Lakes water levels. Proceedings, 13th Symposium on Global Change and Climate Variations, Janaury 13-17, 2002, Orlando, FL. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. pp. 91-93 (2002). |
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February 14, 2002Contents: Note - this is not part of our NOAA seminar series, but was organized by the USFWS. The Cal-Sag and Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal: A Perspective on the Spread and Control of Selected Aquatic Nuisance Fish Species. Presentation by Jerry Rasmussen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Thursday, February 14, 2002-9:00am Room 105 Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, 2205 Commonwealth Boulevard, Ann Arbor, MI At the request of the extension program leaders, I've made arrangements for a recording of the presentation and discussion to be made available via streaming video at www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.htm. Jerry Rassmussen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will describe the role the Cal-Sag and Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal plays in the transfer of species between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins. Jerry will focus the talk on Asian Carp species: their history of introduction, economic use, the method and timing of invasions to the Mississippi River, current distribution, impacts, and finally, the threat they pose to the Great Lakes. There is a sense of urgency to prevent further movement of aquatic nuisance species between the two basins and Jerry's talk seeks to open a dialogue on threats and potential solutions. Discussion to follow. Craig Czarnecki, Supervisor of the East Lansing Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will also be available to answer questions. 2) GLERL Boat Schedules Note: availability refers principally to internal GLERL availability, though arrangements can be made for outside groups such as Sea Grant to use ship time. At this point, the Shenehon will be launched early April and will be available for about six weeks before heading over to Alpena for much of the summer. The Laurentian should be ready in early April and will be working Lake Michigan for the season. In the Fall, both boats could be run out of Muskegon if necessary. The Cyclops should be in Muskegon all year with the exception of a couple weeks in the Straights. 3) GLERL In the News - Ice The Iceman Sayeth: Lack of Great Lakes ice could mean a lot --
or nothing ANN ARBOR -- Raymond Assel plucks a color-coded Great Lakes map featuring a colorless Lake Erie from the charts overflowing an enormous desk. "This is remarkable," he says excitedly. "It's amazing there is that much open water on Lake Erie." The scientist's mind races with the ramifications: "What is it doing to the little critters and the plants in the lake? Will it have any effect on the fishery?" He shrugs and offers up a longtime frustration: "In general there is not a lot of research in the winter on the lakes' ecosystems. It's such a hostile environment to get out into." It's not simply the absence of ice on the shallowest of the Great Lakes that has caught Assel's attention. He is astonished at the relative scarcity of ice across the entire Great Lakes system for almost five straight winters. Assel has never seen such a streak during the more than 30 years he's studied Great Lakes ice. And now he is trying to figure out if it's evidence of a long-term warming trend that could dramatically change an entire ecosystem or just a blip in a record that will correct itself. "Whether it's unique or not will take a little more time to tell," said Assel, who works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "If we get another two or three or four (winters) like this, then you start to suspect a new ice cover regime in the lakes." If anyone can figure it out, Great Lakes experts say it's Assel, 58, who keeps in his office a 30-year-old caricature of a maniacal man standing on a sled with teeth barred, whip in hand and the words "Ice Power" written across the bottom. "He is definitely THE ice climatologist of the Great Lakes," says Roger Gauthier, who measures, monitors and predicts Great Lakes water levels for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "He's got more expertise than anybody has ever had." And Gauthier uses it. Ice dramatically slows how fast the Great Lakes evaporate and that has a significant impact on water levels. This year's ice scarcity is one reason Gauthier predicts water levels this summer will at best be only slightly higher than the low levels that gave headaches to boaters last year. Ice also keeps open water from producing lake-effect snow. A lack of Great Lakes ice is why Buffalo, N.Y., and Petoskey got nailed hard by snowstorms earlier this winter, Gauthier said. Armed with a University of Michigan degree in meteorology, Assel went to work for the Army Corps in 1967. He transferred to NOAA in 1970 and works in the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Early in his career he used computer punch cards and made 11-hour flights over the lakes to assess ice. Nowadays he examines satellite images downloaded over the Internet from the National Ice Center in Suitland, Md., a research center operated by NOAA, the Coast Guard and the Navy. With equal passion, Assel describes the beauty of foot-thick black ice formed in the center of the lakes, and the physics of thermal expansion that bulldozes ice sheets through shoreline homes. He is one of the few people to have crossed Lake Superior in the middle of the winter, firing a temperature probe from a freighter to determine the feasibility of winter navigation. "It might be 20 below zero and he'd be all bundled up in arctic gear, standing outside and leaning out over the ship," said Frank Quinn, Assel's now retired former boss. "I think he said it was cold, and it was interesting." Despite his lengthy tenure, Assel is challenged by a relative paucity of data. For this time of year, ice typically covers about 12 percent of Lake Superior, 18 percent of Lake Michigan, 30 percent of Lake Huron and 65 percent of Lake Erie. This year ice covers well less than 10 percent of each of those lakes. The problem is that only a couple decades of measurements are now used to determine what is typical. Assel is updating an ice atlas that will double that span to give greater context to the current warmth. The longest record he has to work with is 150 years worth of reporting on Grand Traverse Bay. It indicates that until now, there have never been five consecutive winters when the bay did not freeze over. But that's only one point on the lakes, and Assel has the scientist's reluctance to draw generalized conclusions from inadequate information. "Our record is so short," he said. "And nature has a funny way of surprising you and giving you a whale of a winter." Great Lakes ice conditions can be viewed on the Internet at 4) GLERL In the News - Climate Summer wind speeds over the Great Lakes have been increasing slightly during the past 25 years, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists. Though slight, the increase could be further proof of global warming and be contributing to the main force that takes water from the Great Lakes: evaporation. Wind direction is changing more frequently as well, said oceanographer Mike McCormick of NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab in Ann Arbor. "A lot of climate change signals are very small, but if they persist over a long time they can have a large effect," said McCormick. So "it's too soon to tell." Although lower lake levels are one possible result of increasing wind speeds, there's no direct evidence yet linking the two, said McCormick. "There's so much we don't know about climatology. This could be a short-term trend." McCormick is studying wind data from eight National Data Buoy Center monitors located in the middle of lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron and Erie. The buoys were put in place in response to the 1975 sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Earlier Great Lakes studies have indicated that average water temperatures in the Great Lakes are going up from year to year and that the lakes are warming up earlier and earlier each summer. "It's really hard to say that these effects are directly related to climate change," said Gary Fahnenstiel, director of NOAA Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon. "But they are consistent with what has been predicted by regional climate change models." Because of the higher temperatures, the lakes are losing more water by evaporation than they have in the past. More evaporation and less rainfall have led to lower lake levels in the past five years. Warmer winters have led to little or no ice cover on the lakes, which means even more evaporation. 5) Recent Reprints - Climate, Ice, Porewater, Microbial Food Web Comment on "application of the Canadian Regional Climate Model to the Laurentian Great Lakes region: Implementation of a lake model". Lofgren, BM. Atmosphere-Ocean, 39 (4): 503-505 DEC 2001. ABSTRACT: ASSEL, R.A., and L.R. HERCHE. Coherence of long-term ice records. Verh. Internat. Verin. Limnol. 27:2789-2792 (2000). Soster, F.M., G. Matisoff, P.L. McCall, and J.A. ROBBINS. In situ effects of organisms on porewater geochemistry in Great Lakes sediments. In Organism-Sediment Interactions, J.Y.Aller, S.A. Woodin, and R.C. Aller (Eds.). University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, pp. 279-294 (2001). Carrick, H.J., A. Padmanabha, L. Weaver, G.L. FAHNENSTIEL, and C.R. Goldman. Importance of the microbial food web in large lakes (USA). Verh. Internat.Verin. Limnol. 27:3170-3175 (2000). 6) NOAA Great Lakes Seminar Series at GLERL - Artificial Reefs "LAKE ERIE'S ARTIFICIAL REEF PROGRAM: A PROJECT AND RESEARCH OVERVIEW" Dave Kelch, Associate Professor, District Specialist, Ohio Sea Grant College Program. February 20, 2002 10:30 a.m. - GLERL Main Conference Room ABSTRACT: From 1984-1989, artificial reefs were constructed at two locations in central Lake Erie by the Ohio State University's Sea Grant College Program. The goals were to improve sportfishing opportunity in near shore waters, evaluate the effectiveness of these structures as fish concentration devices, and eventually assist other coastal communities in developing artificial reef programs. Underwater video assessment of these reefs during 1992-1995 indicated fish concentrations on reefs were 20 to 50 times geater than non-reef control sites. An economic research project during 1992 valued the Lorain Artificial reef in excess of $275,000; three time the construction cost. During 1996, Ohio Sea Grant recommended to the City of Cleveland that portions of the old Cleveland Browns Stadium be used for nearshore artificial reefs. Assisting the city with this project, three new artificial reefs were constructed offshore of Cleveland during 1998. Ohio Sea Grant also provided assistance to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in their construction of artificial reefs offshore of Chicago in 1999. During 1999-2000, Ohio Sea Grant, in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Lake Erie Geological Survey Unit, conducted side-scan sonar evaluation of all Lake Erie artificial reefs. These images now appear on the Ohio Sea Grant website for angler and diver use. We conclude that, when properly planned and located, artificial reefs would provide beneficial fish habitat along most of Lake Erie's near shore zone, and may have application Great Lakes wide. |
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February 7, 2002FYI - As part of upgrades to the GLERL e-mail system designed to increase speed of the external connections, I have a new e-mail address (the old one still works too) - Rochelle.Sturtevant@noaa.gov Contents: _________________________________________________________ Streaming video is now available for Dr. Gary Parker's presentation "Modeling of Sedimentation at River Deltas, with Application to the Nemadji River at Lake Superior." Due to a technical malfunction, streaming video will not be available for Dr. Marina Orlova's presentation "The Ponto-Caspian Region as Donor and Recipient of Biological Invasions: Current State and Future Perspectives." However, her PowerPoint presentation is available for viewing. The seminar web archive is at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.htm. 2) GLERL Summer Student Fellowship Program The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA), Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), and the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research (CILER) administered by the University of Michigan, announce a Great Lakes Summer Student Fellowship Program. We seek to fill fourteen (14), full time, three-month positions. Preference will be given to currently enrolled or just-graduated undergraduates, although graduate student applications will be considered. The starting date will be between May 15 and June 15, 2002. Successful applicants will receive a stipend of $5,000 for the three-month fellowship. The fellow will be expected to provide a written project report at the completion of the work. University credit for the experience may be arranged either through the University of Michigan or through your home institution. Details for obtaining university credit will be provided with acceptance letters. Each student fellow will gain experience by working at a federal environmental research laboratory under the mentorship of an individual scientist or professional. Most fellows will be located at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan as guest students of the University of Michigan. The Plankton Ecologist, Aquatic Ecologist, Field Sampling Technician and possibly the Aquatic Biologist positions will be based in Muskegon, Michigan at the Lake Michigan Field Station. Summer fellowships are available in a broad range of fields, Aquatic Biologist, Unix Supercomputer Programmer, Biological Laboratory Technician, (2) Data Analyst, Marine Instrumentation Engineer, Communications and Outreach Specialist, Aquatic Biologist/Toxicologist, Aquatic Ecologist, Plankton Ecologist, Field Sampling Technician, Ecosystem/Ecological Modeler, Aquatic Biologist/Ecologist and a Support Technician. A description of each of the available fellowships and information about GLERL may be found on the GLERL web site at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pr/ssfp/. Information about CILER may be found on the CILER web site at http://www.ciler.org. Applications must be received by March 11, 2002. Funding decisions will be made by April 1, 2002. Applications must contain a resume, transcripts (unofficial copies are acceptable), one reference letter, and a cover letter specifically stating which opportunity(ies) you are interested in. Submit all documentation to: Ms. Sarah Mark For specific questions about each opportunity, contact the mentor. Their email address is provided with the opportunity description. The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. 3) Class Request for Sand Samples Request for sand received by NOAA/GLERL. We will be sending a sample from Muskegon. Anyone in Sea Grant willing to help? Forwarded Message: I'm looking for some help collecting sand for the following 8th grade class. They have sent this request to the NOAA Ocean Explorer web site. If possible, please forward this request to any NOAA facility near sand who may be able to help this class. Thank you. Subject: Sand Project! To Whom It May Concern: We are a class of 8th grade science students and we are doing
an Oceanography/Hydrology project in which we are collecting, analyzing
and categorizing sands from around the world. We collect beach,
river, lake, and desert sands. Would it be possible for someone
to help us by collecting and sending us small samples of local
sand? We only require 35ml samples ( an empty film can size). This
is an ongoing project (we are in our 3rd year now and hope to put
up a sand website this year with photos of sands and online activities.
If you cannot help us would you be kind enough to forward this
message to someone who might want to assist us with our project.
NOAA has become one of our favorite sites and has helped us a great
deal in our reserch projects in Oceanography/ Meteorology this
year, our new motto is: NOAA; it's everywhere we want to be! And
so far that has been true! Mrs. Brice's Scientists-in-training 4) New reprints - Exotic Waterfleas, freak waves, ice, and circulation POTHOVEN, S.A., G.L. FAHNENSTIEL, and H.A. VANDERPLOEG. Population dynamics of Bythotrephes cederstroemii in southeast Lake Michigan. Freshwater Biology 46:1491-1501 (2001). LIU, P.C., and N. Mori. Characterizing freak waves with wavelet transform analysis. Proceedings, Rogue Waves 2000. M. Olagnon and G.A. Athanassoulis (Eds.), November 29-30, Brest, France, pp. 151-156 (2000). RODIONOV, S., R.A. ASSEL, and L.R. HERCHE. Tree-structured modeling of the relationship between Great Lakes ice cover and atmospheric circulation patterns. Journal of Great Lakes Research 27(4):486-502 (2001). BELSTEKY, D. Modeling wind-driven circulation in Lake Ladoga. Boreal Environment Research 6:307-316 (2001). |
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January 29, 2002Contents ________________________________________________ Monday, February 4 - THE PONTO-CASPIAN REGION AS DONOR AND RECIPIENT OF BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS: CURRENT STATE AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES. Dr. Marina I. Orlova, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia. The Caspian, Black, and Azov Seas and their estuaries comprise
the modern Ponto-Caspian region. There are three groups of endemic
species in this region: endemics in the Ponto-Azov basin proper,
Caspian autochthonous fauna, and evolutionarily young estuarine
liman relicts. The latter two faunal groups are The success of endemic Ponto-Caspian species' establishment in recipient regions is based on their biological characteristics and the availability of vectors and corridors of natural and human-mediated dispersal. Biodiversity in recipient ecosystems, similarity of environmental characteristics, and recent trends in ecosystem changes in both donor and recipient regions also contribute to invasion success. The Ponto-Caspian Seas have also demonstrated high susceptibility as recipients of biological invasions, especially after opening of navigation through the Suez and Volgo-Don canals and intentional introductions of commercial organisms. Invasions in the Black and Azov seas are contributed mostly by coastal and estuarine species from North America, Indian and Pacific, and North Atlantic oceans. The Caspian basin is a recipient of both primary and secondary invasions from the Ponto-Azov basin. The role of inland invasion corridors between Ponto-Caspian seas and northern European basins is increasing and the Volga-Baltic waterway serves as a major south-to-north invasion corridor between the Ponto-Caspian Seas and northwest Russia. However, the flow of species from north-to-south has been considerably less. Rapid intensification of human use of this corridor is expected in the near future. The intensification of vessel traffic to the eastern Baltic will inevitably increase the risk of primary bioinvasions to the Baltic basin from various geographical sources, particularly the Ponto-Caspian region. From this perspective, the role of the Baltic Sea as a source of secondary invasions of European species to the Great Lakes basin may become more significant too. Wednesday, February 6. MODELING OF SEDIMENTATION AT RIVER DELTAS, WITH APPLICATION TO THE NEMADJI RIVER AT LAKE SUPERIOR. Gary Parker, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Sea Grant. Deltas flowing into lakes and reservoirs have long been characterized in terms of coarse topset and foreset deposits and fine bottomset deposits. Yet to date remarkably little effort has been expended to model these features in a mechanistic way. The Nemadji River as it flows into Lake Superior provides an example of such a delta, with the topset and foreset consisting mostly of the ten percent of the delivered sediment that is sand, and the bottomset consisting mostly of the ninety percent that is mud (silt or clay). The topset deposit is emplaced by fluvial deposition, and the foreset by avalanching. The bottomset deposit is emplaced by either rainout from a surface plume or a plunging turbidity current. A moving-boundary numerical model of deltas which captures these features is presented and used to study various scenarios of lake sedimentation. Please contact me if you would like a live broadcast of either of these speakers. 2. Lake Michigan Request for Information/Educational Resources Hoping folks at Sea Grant will be able to answer these questions and perhaps send some literature. Thanks. Tom Dear Tom, 1. Find out the different plants live in and along the shores of Lake Michigan. What are some unusual or unique plants? 2. What animals live in the Lake? Which animals are native to the Lake? Discover exotic species (animals that came from somewhere else in the world) that have invaded Lake Michigan. 3. What are the many ways that people use Lake Michigan? 4. How do people affect Lake Michigan by using it? 5. How is Lake Michigan polluted in various ways? 6. What effect does the Lake have on the climate around it? 7. Learn about the Lake's seasonal "turnover." They are having particular trouble with finding native plants of Lake Michigan and the shoreline. We have will have other questions as well as the children develop them. Would you be willing to answer questions they might have? Thank you. Chris Geiselhart 3. GLERL In the News: Lake Levels Excerpt from Lower lakes mean less electricity for New York's hydro projects By Michael Hill, Associated Press, 1/20/2002 11:58 Low water levels on the Great Lakes last year forced the New York Power Authority to repeatedly reduce hydroelectric allocations to businesses and other power customers. The persistently low levels have slowed the flow of water through turbines at the two authority power plants fed by the Great Lakes: the Niagara Power Project near Niagara Falls and the St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project in northern New York. That, in turn, resulted in decreased amounts of electricity delivered to more than a hundred businesses and other customers that receive the low-cost power, such as municipal systems and rural cooperatives. The authority said it had shortfalls every month in 2001 except December. The largest, in September, was 17.8 percent. Readings from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this month showed each of the Great Lakes at least 4 inches below average except for Lake Ontario, which was at an average level. Rich Thomas of the Corps' Buffalo-area office said Lake Erie has been below average for a couple of years, although he added ''we aren't as bad as we were last year.'' The low lake levels are blamed on a lack of rain and snow. Researchers with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., said insufficient snow melt last spring helped cause the current low levels. Also blamed are higher than normal temperatures last winter, which slowed the formation of lake ice and increased evaporation. The authority projects there will be a shortfall of 5.4 percent for January and sees them continuing in the coming months. Cynthia Sellinger, a hydrologist with the Great Lakes laboratory, noted that there are predictions of normal temperatures and precipitation in the coming months. If that happens, ''the lakes will not reach their normal levels, but they will not drop any more.'' 4. New Internet Connection at GLERL's Lake Michigan Field Station in Muskegon GLERL - Lake Michigan Field Station provides a base of operations for GLERL's primary research vessel and provides a focal point for GLERL's research on Lake Michigan. Good News for Muskegon computer users... the Internet connection has been upgraded as part of GLERL's IT Plan. The Not-for-Profit Support Team is pleased to announce that on Tuesday, January 22, 2002, Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (GLERL)'s Lake Michigan Field Station connection to MichNet was upgraded from 56Kbps to 256Kbps. |
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January 22, 2002Contents ______________________________________ GLERL has agreed to host the Great Lakes Sea Grant Fisheries Extension
meeting on February 11-12, 2002. The meeting will start at 1:00
PM on the 11th and end at 11:30 AM on the 12th. The meeting on
the 11th will be with GL Sea Grant program leaders and selected
communication and program staff (attendance determined by each
state). The meeting on the 12th will incorporate staff from GLERL,
GLFC, USFWS, and Great Lakes Science Center to try to develop collaborations
and partnerships with these groups on fisheries extension projects.
Have we left out any groups that should be included? I will be
issuing the invitations. John Schwartz will be sending attendees
local hotel information. If anyone is interested in a tour of GLERL
before or after the meeting (or on the evening of the 11th) please
let me know. Likewise, if you are interested in taking the opportunity
to meet individually with GLERL scientists. 2. Reprints - Ice, Lake Ontario bathymetry Rodionov, S;ASSSEL, R;HERCHE, L. 2001. Tree-structured modeling of the relationship between Great Lakes ice cover and atmospheric circulation patterns. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 27 (4): 486-502 2001 ABSTRACT: Seasonal maximum ice concentration (percentage of lake surface covered by ice) for the entire Laurentian Great Lakes and for each Great Lake separately is modeled using atmospheric teleconnection indices. Two methods, Linear Regression (LR) and Classification and Regression Trees (CART), are used todevelop empirical models of the interannual variations of maximum ice cover. Thirty-four winter seasons between 1963 and 1998 and nine teleconnection indices were used in the analysis. The ice cover characteristics were different for each Great Lake. The ice cover data lent itself better to CART analysis, because CART does not require a priori assumptions about data distributions characteristics to perform well. The stepwise LR models needed more variables, and in general, did not explain as much of the variance as the CART models. Two variables, the Multivariate ENSO index and Tropical/Northern Hemisphere index, explained much of the interannual variations in ice cover in the CART models. Composite atmospheric circulation patterns for threshold values of these two indices were found to be associated with above-and below-normal ice cover in the Great Lakes. Thus, CART also provided insight into physical mechanisms (atmospheric circulation characteristics) underlying the statistical relationships identified in the models. Holcombe, TL;Warren, JS;Reid, DF;Virden, WT;Divins, DL. 2001. Small rimmed depression in Lake Ontario: An impact crater? Journal of Great Lakes Research, 27 (4): 510-517 2001. ABSTRACT: Detailed bathymetry of Lake Ontario reveals a small
circular feature and adjoining SW-trending ridge associated with
a small topographic high identified as Charity Shoal on nautical
charts. The feature consists of a circular basin 1, 000 in in diameter
and 19+ in deep, completely surrounded by a low-relief rim that
rises to within 5 m of the water surface over much of its extent.
A N53E tapering ridge is 3. CILER Announces Call for Proposals The Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research (CILER) at the University of Michigan is pleased to announce a call for proposals for Joint Investigator Pilot Projects as part of its Scientific Enhancement Program 2002. This program is designed to foster scientific research and cooperation between CILER and the NOAA/Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL). A total of $100,000 is available starting May 1, 2002 for research activities to be completed by August 31, 2003. The maximum award for any one project is $20,000. Joint Investigator Pilot Projects are designed to provide seed funding for long-lasting, collaborative joint research efforts and by definition may be "high risk". These projects require collaborative participation of a university faculty member at any university within the Great Lakes Basin and a GLERL scientist and must closely match GLERL's current research interests and must also clearly fall within CILER's research themes: - climate and large-lake dynamics The deadline for proposal submission is March 1, 2002. See CILER's web site http://www.ciler.org for detailed research theme descriptions and for further information on applying for funds. Please forward to any Sea Grant researchers who might be interested. 4. Looking for History of 'Mona Lake Channel at Lake Michigan' Region A Mr. Mike Krivitzky contacted me about the Great Lakes Water Levels Photo Gallery - to offer some historic photos he has unearthed of the Mona Lake Channel. He is working on a project on the local history of the area and I promised I would reciprocate his photograph offer by checking to see if any Sea Grant folks have historic photos or other information on the region which might be of use in his project. Help greatly appreciated, details from Mike below. Regarding Mona Lake Channel at Lake Michigan: This particular area was a well known regional resort from about 1890 through about 1920 and many photos and postcards exist of it, probably many at the lakeshore. Finding them is a challenge. I am three months into collecting data (on a part time basis) about the channel area. ... This is a hobby for me. My particular interest in the area is that I believe the first post office in Norton Township (aka Norton Shores) was in 1855 along the waterfront. I have a picture of the building that may have been the post office and I am now in the process of trying to confirm it through other sources. This was also the site of the first "town" in Norton Township and existed along the waterfront from about 1855 to 1869. It was called Crimea and there is virtually no record of it locally. Supposedly, from old newspaper accounts, about 80 people lived there. I most recently have concluded that these may be squatters, but I can't reconcile that with a post office being there. What confuses the issue is that this particular area was part of Ottawa County at that time. I am heading to Ottawa County's archives in two weeks. If I can substantiate the presence of the post office and "town", I will approach the city to see if they would endorse an historical marker for the channel entrance recognizing the area as the first settlement and post office in Norton Shores. |
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January 17, 2002Contents 1. GLERL Fisheries Resources 1. GLERL Fisheries Resources I have compiled a listing of all GLERL fact sheets, publications and research projects relating to fisheries. The list is available at www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/fisheries. I could use feedback from Sea Grant folks as to what outreach products could be developed from these materials. For example, are there particular research topics that should be translated into fact sheets which you could use in your outreach programs? Other ideas? 2. GLERL in the News - Water Levels January 3rd Chicago Tribune article "Lake-effect snow not falling; water levels are" includes quotes from GLERL's Brent Lofgren. http://chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0201030294jan03.story |
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January 10, 2002Contents: 1) NOAA Great Lakes Seminar at GLERL - Ostrom Seminar Added to the Archive Video and PDF version of the slides from Dr. Ostrom's seminar "Isotopes and Isotopomers of O2 and N2O: New Perspectives on Primary Production and the Origins of N2O" are available in the seminar video archive at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/seminar.htm I believe the difficulties with viewing presentations from the
archive as 'streaming' video have been fixed. For reasons beyond
my comprehension, it still generally won't launch as a 'plug-in'.
To view the video, first open Windows Media Player. Click 'File'
'Open URL' and then paste in the video link (ftp://ftp.glerl.noaa.gov/webcast/2002/ostrom/20020109.wmv).
Use the PDF version (open in a separate window) to view slides
which are dark, contain small print or are complex. Still having
problems viewing? Please let me know so that we can work on it.
If the problem is with the modem connection, I can write the 2) Great Lakes Water Level Photo Gallery Featured on GLIN News The Water Levels Photo Gallery which I have been developing was featured on today's GLIN NEWS "What's New on GLIN". Still very much 'under construction' the gallery now contains in excess of 200 images. Recent revisions include subdividing pages and limiting file sizes to decrease download times as well as annotating images to include credit lines. Wish list: Lake Huron Photos, Canadian shoreline photos, historical photos dating to the record low/record high water periods, photo series. 3) FY 2002 GLERL Internal Proposals GLERL is in the final stage of allocating time and money for the internal proposals for 2002. All projects have been approved, though many have been modified substantially. For a complete listing of proposals, see the GLERL Update of November 27, 2001 at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/GLERLUpdates2001.htm I would be happy to make copies of the proposals (and memo on modifications) available on request. Dr. Brandt has requested Principal Investigators for several specific projects to work with me to "help this program get more exposure through Sea Grant Extension and media outreach." In most cases, these are proposals or portions of proposals which I or Dr. Carignan highlighted during our participation in the internal proposal review process. All are continuing research projects (or spinoffs of continuing projects). I'll be including the details and requests for help on some of these projects in future GLERL updates as I talk to the Principal Investigators in more detail about the projects and their perceptions of outreach needs. For now... Dr. Hank VanderPloeg is the Principal Investigator on "Implications of Cercopagis and Bythotrephes to alewife recruitment and stability of the Lake Michigan pelagic food web". While the project is nominally focused on Lake Michigan, laboratory-based studies of the interactions of Bythotrephes and Cercopagis are relevant throughout infested regions of the Great Lakes (as well as areas likely to become infested with time). Last summer I worked to develop a website for public reporting of local changes in densities of exotic waterfleas. Dr. VanderPloeg indicated that the information collected by the site has been valuable to the research. I plan to continue the effort next summer. I believe Sea Grant assistance in publicizing the site, particularly to fishermen (commercial and charter) and angler groups, would greatly enhance the quality and quantity of reports received on the site. Information is needed on seasonal changes in local densities throughout the Great Lakes (not just Lake Michigan). I could use feedback now on improvements to the site which would make it more useful to the boating/angling community: including types of information to collect (relating to the exotic waterflea problem) via reports which would be useful to those communities or to Sea Grant extension, useful background information to include, valuable links, etc. I will also be working with Doug Jensen (MN Sea Grant) on development of the WatchCards for the exotic waterfleas (getting GLERL scientists to contribute and review). Suggestions for other useful outreach activities in this arena are welcome! GLERL has two projects relating to preventing the introduction of aquatic nuisance species via ballast water. Dr. Peter Landrum is the Principal Investigator on "Disinfection of Ballast Water with Chemical Disinfectants", now in its 4th year. Biocide treatment is a potentially attractive option for treatment of ballast water since it can be readily incorporated into both existing and future vessel designs and may be effective against a broad range of organisms; however, the safety of such a treatment option may be limited by the degradation rate of the biocide and the potential release of biocidal concentrations into receiving waters. This objectives of the project include: 1. Establish the relative potency of glutaraldehyde (with adjuvant) versus calcium (sodium) hypochlorite. 2. Establish a concentration of hypochlorite and glutaraldehyde with adjuvant that is effective in the presence of sediments. 3. Demonstrate the effectiveness of treatment of ballast water. 4. Demonstrate the degradation of the biocide with dilution with local water. The project is also exploring ways to simulate ballast water treatments for effective testing of treatment options. The project should produce 2-3 publications this year relating to toxicity and degradation of glutaraldehyde. I've talked with Dr. Landrum about the possibility of writing articles for NY Sea Grant's "Biological Invader" relating to the materials slated for publication. I will also be working on a 2 page fact sheet on the overall project. Dr. Dave Reid is the Principal Investigator on "Assessment of Transoceanic NOBOB (no-ballast-on-board) Vessels and Low-salinity Ballast Water as Vectors for Nonindigenous Species Introductions to the Great Lakes" which is just completing its first field season of effort. The project will develop detailed biological and physical characterizations of NOBOB ballast tanks, investigate the relationship between ship management practices and invasion risk, test the significance of filling and discharging NOBOB ballast tanks to the introduction of nonindigenous organisms, quantify the effectiveness of open-ocean exchange in decreasing the diversity and concentration of nonindigenous species that enter the Great Lakes with "exchanged" ballast water, especially focusing on ships originating from European freshwater ports. A two page fact sheet detailing this project has already been developed (http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/broch.html). Outreach may include development of a photo gallery relating to this project. I could use suggestions as to opportunities to raise awareness of these projects - opportunities to include lay articles in your publications, opportunities for the scientists to give presentations on the research, etc. I could also welcome general feedback from Sea Grant folks as to what information from these projects might be most useful to your audiences and how we should package that information. Dr. Tom Nalepa is the Principal Investigator on "Ecology of Lake Whitefish and Response to changes in Benthic Communities in Lake Huron." This is a new project building from Nalepa's recent work on Diporeia declines in Lake Michigan (also continuing under a separate title); extending that work into Lake Huron (sampling will be off Alpena) and up the food chain. For a related Fact Sheet see Decline in Lake Michigan bottom life at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pubs/brochures/broch.html. As Lake whitefish is a commercially important fish species on Lake Huron, I feel it is important to keep local Sea Grant agents well informed on the progress of this study. Suggestions welcome as to particular products that might be useful. Tom Nalepa has given numerous presentations to public forums on Diporeia decline and will most likely be available for similar presentations as this new work takes shape. The Lake Michigan Mass Balance Project is a multi-investigator, multi-institutional effort to test the efficacy of the mass balance modeling approach for the management of contaminants in large aquatic ecosystems and is sponsored (primarily) by EPA as a national demonstration project under the Clean Air Act. The overall objective is to quantify the absolute flows of target contaminants (PCB, trans non-achlor, Atrazine, and mercury) through the Lake Michigan Ecosystem and to test the applicability of mass balance models to simulate those flows. Outreach is likely to focus on the inventory and accumulation rate maps and simulations. I could use feedback from Sea Grant folks on target audiences and how best to get the information to them. 4) GLERL Submits proposals for NOAA Administrator's Discretionary Fund GLERL has submitted 9 proposals totalling $837,880 in competition for the $600,000 national NOAA Administrator's discretionary fund. I thought I would share some excerpts from the proposals with you as they give an interesting insight into the direction in which NOAA/GLERL is moving. I can share confidential copies of the (very short) proposals if anyone is interested. Acquisition of equipment for physical oceanographic and sediment transport field studies ($389,000) - purchase of acoustic Doppler current profilers and associated equipment. "GLERL is beginning to expand its research focus to more actively investigate Lakes Huron and Superior. Future work in Lakes Huron and Superior will require physical oceanographic studies to place the other work in the context of the circulation and temperature fields of these lakes. Such information will also be required for model validation if the circulation modeling and numerical forecast systems developed at GLERL are applied to these lakes." "During the coming year, GLERL will deploy its newly-developed autonomous vertical profiler in Lake Michigan in conjunction with an ADCP and current meter to examine the short-term variability in both the vertical temperature structure, and in the benthic and intermediate nepheloid layers. Deployment of the ADCP and current meter alongside GLERL's newly developed Autonomous Vertical Profiler should allow us to determine the causes of changes to the benthic and intermediate nepheloid layers which may affect the food-web and fisheries recruitment. " Forecasting zebra mussel impacts in freshwater systems - ($79,000) Purchase of a digital dual frequency sidescan sonar system. "A promising method developed at the Oxford Laboratory for assessing oyster beds was adapted to the Great Lakes allowing us to accurately survey large areas of the lake floor independent of water depth...using a rented sidescan sonar system to map the bottom and to extrapolate detailed information from a limited number of in situ observations. This information was used in a GIS to accurately reflect the distribution of substrate types and the distribution of dreissenids in the area." "In addition, this technology will be used to quantify essential fish habitat (natural reefs) in the Big Bend region (Florida) of the Gulf of Mexico...The sidescan sonar system will be shared between projects and will be used to develop new research projects in the Great Lakes and coastal marine systems." Innovative broadband acoustics technology: The first of its kind - Cooperative with Woods Hole - ($150,000) Purchase of a SciFish 2000 broadband sonar dual beam system. "Activities earmarked using this technology will focus on current high priority and high profile research and monitoring activities which focus on sustainable fisheries and essential fish habitat, and the development of new innovative research programs." "Current projects that will directly benefit from the acquisition of this technology include: (1) The development of a lake wide fishery-independent monitoring program for Lake Superior, and (2) mapping essential fish habitat in Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico. Moreover, application of this technology will be critical for the development and implementation of research and fisheries-independent monitoring in the northeast with a focus on mapping essential habitat of scallops and herring assessments." "Broadband Acoustics is the cutting edge of technology in acoustic assessment of fishes. NOAA has the opportunity to be a global leader..." Portable Environmental Observatory - ($48,000) Development of a prototype environmental observatory including an underwater hub and surface buoy providing web-accessible data and instrument control. "The portable environmental observatory [1] will allow data collection during extreme weather events, facilitate local studies of coastal processes, support long term research and support sensor and system development." "Data collected from the system will be integrated with GLERL's Real-Time Meteorological Observations Network (www.glerl.noaa.gov/metdata) and Great Lakes Water Resources Institute Waterbase real-time observations (waterbase.uwm.edu)." "A portable observatory supports long term research. To successfully manage our coastal resources, long-term records are needed. Long-term monitoring and research requires that environmental measurements be collected at the appropriate temporal and spatial scale. There is a need for permanent, continuously operating, coastal observation systems. Real time data from remote sensors would benefit fisheries recruitment studies by providing information on the timing of episodic events. The timing of episodic events to life history events has been hampered by the paucity of real time data. Fish reproduction, growth, transport and survival are constrained by events that occur over a short time period, events that can only be measured by high frequency observation systems." Rogue Waves - ($99,830) exploratory freak waves measurement and analysis task of making continuous measurements of surface wave time series and other relevant meteorological parameters using the NDBC open-ocean platform offshore from the Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina. "The existence of freak waves is well known and poses severe hazard to the navy fleets, merchant marines, offshore structures, as well as other sea-going ventures. Two of the worst ship disasters in the last part of 20th century: the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975 and the M.V. Derbyshire in western Pacific Ocean on September 9, 1980, have both been generally attributed to an encounter of freak waves." Completing New Bathymetry for Lake Superior - ($30,950) student research assistant to complete the compilation of detailed bathymetry for Lake Superior. "To date this project has resulted in new bathymetric poster-maps and digital Data CDs for three of the Great Lakes - Michigan, Erie-Lake St. Clair, and Ontario. Compilation and contouring of Lake Huron bathymetry has been completed except for a small area in Canada which our Canadian team member will complete this winter. Production of the Lake Huron poster-map and digital files is underway at NGDC, with a projected publication date of mid-2002 for the map, and late 2002 for the Data CD. This leaves only Lake Superior in order to complete the map series and the project.""Compilation and contouring of the U.S. side of Lake Superior is about 80-85% complete as of January 1, 2002. However, progress has been slowed due to lack of funds and dwindling availability of dedicated NOAA resources, and completion of the remaining Lake Superior basin area is in question." "Projected completion of project is 2004 with and 2006-2007 without requested funding." Modifications to 26' research vessel (CYCLOPS) - ($6500) Purchase of upgraded winch and davit. "Field research projects proposed for the 2002 field season require full utilization of all research vessels operated out of GLERL's Lake Michigan Field Station. There is a significant growth in small boat usage and the diversity of projects deployed from these platforms." Lake Michigan Field Station Renovations - ($14,600) Improvements to the Lake Michigan Field Station including insulation, consolidation of lab space, and dormitory improvements. "Significant growth in ship operations, dormitory accomodations, laboratory and office spaces are required to support the next field season. The 2002 field season is expected to triple the number of cruises supported by ship operations with more shoreside laboratory work and visiting scinetists." "Recent efforts to reduce travel costs include greater utilization of the dormitory rooms in building #1 by visiting scientists and field research crews. During the 2001 field season, there were 600 overnight accomodations at the field station and usage is expected to increase." Not to mention the plans for additional field courses! Purchase of Digital Telephone System - ($100,000) "The current phone system at GLERL does not meet the needs of a 21st century Federal government laboratory...In the current work environment, where employees work varied hours and days of the week and are often required to travel, the ability to leave messages and retrieve them from remote sites is essential. The majority of offices don't even have answering machines. Callers often find it extremely difficult to reach laboratory scientists. A scientist working away from his office, either in one of the laboratories or in a travel status is nearly impossible to reach." |
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January 2, 2002Happy New Year! Contents: _______________________________ The seminar will be recorded for web-broadcast. If you would like a live broadcast, please let me know by January 4. _______________________________ POTHOVEN, S.A., T.F. NALEPA, P.J. Schneeberger, and S.B. BRANDT. Changes in diet and body condition of Lake Whitefish in southern Lake Michigan associated with changes in benthos. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 21:876-883 (2001). Holmes, C.W., J.A. ROBBINS, R. Halley, M. Bothner, M. TenBrink, and M. Marot. Sediment dynamics of Florida Bay mud banks on a decadal time scale. Bulletins of the American Paleontology 361:31-40 (2001). _______________________________ On Saturday, February 23, 2002 teams of high school students will square off in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Fifth Annual Midwest Regional Competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB). The daylong event, to be held on the University of Michigan's North Campus, will be one of twenty-two regional competitions around the U.S. among teams who compete in short answer "quiz bowl" matches testing knowledge of ocean science, technology and social science. GLERL has served as the host institution for the Midwest Regional Competition since 1998 and coordinates the event in partnership with its Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research, Michigan Sea Grant, the University of Michigan, Smith Group JJR and the USGS Great Lakes Science Center. The effort is aimed at raising student interest in coastal and ocean science, while encouraging teachers to use lake and ocean processes in teaching fundamentals of biology, physics, chemistry, geology and math. Carole Fletcher, Midwest Regional NOSB Coordinator said that the
2002 Competition would feature a field of 12 teams from Michigan
and Ohio. The winning team in the Midwest Regional NOSB Competition
will travel on an all-expense paid trip to compete in the national
final competition to be held in Providence, RI, April 26-29, 2002.
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl is coordinated by the Consortium
for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) and the National
Marine Educators Association (NMEA). The competition is supported
by U.S. government agencies through the National More information: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pr/nosb/2002/ or contact: Michael A Quigley (734) 741-2149 quigley@glerl.noaa.gov |
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