Student Achievements
Biology Graduate Student Awarded Equipment for Research
January 20, 2015
Sonotronics, Inc selected Travis Ellens as a recipient of the 2015 Don L. Brumbaugh Scholarship, awarding $1000 of Sonotronics equipment to aid in Travis' research on lake sturgeon. Travis is a graduate student in GVSU's Biology graduate program with an aquatic science emphasis. This project was initiated as part of a collaboration between GVSU’s Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Dr. Carl Ruetz from AWRI is serving as Travis' advisor on this project.
Since the late 1800s, lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) have experienced a drastic decline in abundance primarily due to overharvest, habitat degradation of spawning habitats, and blockage (by dams) of fish migration pathways. Lake sturgeon in the Muskegon River system is the focus of the study, with the goal of achieving a more comprehensive understanding of adult lake sturgeon use of Muskegon Lake and the Muskegon River.
From 2011 to 2013, Sonotronics acoustic tags were surgically implanted in 21 adult lake sturgeon in the Muskegon River system. Nine Sonotronics Submersible Ultrasonic Receivers (SURs) were placed throughout the Muskegon River system to assess movement and residence times of these adult lake sturgeon. Data from the Sonotronics SURs show that many adult lake sturgeon spend substantial amounts of time in the Muskegon River system throughout the year, which was counter to the expectation that adults used the system primarily during the short spring spawning run.
The funds from the Don L. Brumbaugh Commemorative Equipment Scholarship will be used to purchase a new Sonotronics Submersible Ultrasonic Receiver. This new SUR will increase the researcher's spatial resolution. This research is significant because it looks at adult lake sturgeon movement continuously over a longer temporal scale (i.e., multiple years) than is typical.