AWRI Vessel Maintenance

AWRI operates two research vessels, the W.G. Jackson and the D.J. Angus. Maintaining these vessels is not a trivial task, but thanks to the hard work and dedication of Fleet Captain Tony Fiore and his crew, they operate flawlessly and look great, even though the Jackson and Angus are almost 20 and 30 years old, respectively. These photos show just some of the work done on them this past winter, as the crews get ready for the 2014 season. Specific maintenance activities included:

W.G. Jackson:

• Removed all the old nonskid and rust from the exterior weather decks, applied new primer, paint and non-skid coating;
• Removed four original build nonfunctional escape hatches and installed new upgraded hatches;
• Removed two nonfunctional HVAC units and installed two new units and associated duct work;
• Upgraded main engine Detroit Diesel Electronic controls from level 1 to level 2; and
• Installed antiglare shades throughout the vessel

D.J. Angus:

• Prepped, primed, and painted the entire engine room bilge; and
• Prepped, primed, and painted the hull white

Left: The hatches and nonskid are on the main deck.

Right: The AC units are under the pilothouse.
 

Left: The DDEC upgrade is an interface.

Right: Cabling and new controls are in the engine room.

LMC Events

Mar 11 & 12
The Science Advisory Board met at AWRI to conduct their tri-annual external review.

Mar 21
Seminar Speaker: Dr. Carolyn Malmstrom, Associate Professor of Plant Biology at Michigan State University, presented: "Everyone has a plan for grasslands: challenges in working landscapes".

Mar 25
The Mona Lake Watershed Council held a technical advisory meeting at the LMC.

Mar 26
Public Health Muskegon County held an Environmental Health Regulations meeting at the LMC.

Mar 28
Sarah Stamann, graduate student working with Rick Rediske, successfully passed her qualifying exam.

 

Activities

Nick Albrecht, graduate student working with Mark Luttenton, successfully defended his master's thesis on March 3. He has been hired by the state of Washington to work in their fisheries division.

Bopi Biddanda and Carl Ruetz attended the GVSU Office of Sponsored Programs event Grants on the Grand held in Grand Rapids on March 13.

Carl Ruetz and Dave Janetski attended the Lake Michigan Yellow Perch Summit in Chicago on March 22.

Carl Ruetz participated in an oral examination and committee meeting via teleconference on March 26 for PhD candidate Nathan Evans (University of Notre Dame); Carl is a member of his graduate committee.

Al Steinman and Bopi Biddanda participated in a meeting via teleconference on March 24 for PhD candidate Kateri Salk (MSU); they are both on her committee.

 

Presentations

(When citing presentations, the presenter is first listed. When citing articles or presentations, AWRI staff are bolded, graduate students are denoted with a *, and undergraduate students are denoted with **.)

AWRI was represented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Aquatic Plant Management Society held in Lombard, IL from March 2  5.
Thum, R.A., D. Grimm**, and J. McNair. Oral. Intraspecific hybridization between distinct Eurasian watermilfoil biotypes results in vigorous genotypes of pure Eurasian watermilfoil.
Grimm, D.** and R.A. Thum. Oral. First generation hybrid watermilfoil display greater invasiveness than parental species.
(Danielle won second prize in the student presentation competition.) Schulte, L.* and R.A. Thum. Oral. Variation in 2,4-D sensitivities among hybrid watermilfoil genotypes.
(Lindsey won first prize in the student presentation competition.) Parks, S.* and R.A. Thum. Oral. Benefits of incorporating genetic identifications into aquatic vegetation mapping.

Rick Rediske gave a guest lecture and played the role of a Planning Commissioner to review student zoning proposals in GPY 301, Land Use Planning, on March 12.

Rick Rediske gave a guest lecture about Environmental Toxicology of Flame Retardants for CHM 311, Green Chemistry, on March 19.

Rick Rediske was the guest speaker for the Michigan Environmental Laboratory Association meeting in Lansing on March 20. His presentation was titled: Point of use water treatment systems for developing countries.

Al Steinman gave a presentation to the Muskegon Power Squadron group on March 5.

Al Steinman was one of the plenary speakers at the Council of Michigan Foundations annual retreat held at the Frauenthal in Muskegon on March 13.

Al Steinman was a guest lecturer in the Restoration Ecology class and presented to Brad Cardinale's lab at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on March 20.

Al Steinman presented on Great Lakes issues at the Forest Hills Senior Center on March 25.

Janet Vail presented a MEECS Climate Change Workshop at the annual conference of the Michigan Science Teachers in Lansing on March 6.

 

Publications

(When citing articles or presentations, AWRI staff are bolded, graduate students are denoted with a *, and undergraduate students are denoted with **.)

Jared Homola, a recent masters graduate who worked with Carl Ruetz, had a manuscript from his thesis research accepted for publication in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences:
Homola, J.J.*, C.R. Ruetz III, S.L. Kohler, and R.A. Thum. In press. Weak effects of a microsporidian parasite on mottled sculpin in Michigan streams. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

 

Grants & Contracts

Carl Ruetz is part of a team led by the Gun Lake Tribe that received a grant (2014-2017) from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for a project titled Spawning habitat restoration and egg and larval surveys in the Kalamazoo River; AWRI will receive $21,165 for this project.

 

AWRI In the News

"What will it mean for the Great Lakes once spring finally gets here and the ice melts?"
Michigan Radio, March 5, 2014 Al Steinman was interviewed regarding Great Lakes water levels.

"Oceanography international conference 2014 to be held from July 21-23, 2014 at Las Vegas, USA"
PRWEB, March 19, 2014 Kevin Strychar is named as one of the speakers at an upcoming OMICS Group Conference to be held in Las Vegas in July.

"CMU, GVSU to host national event on Great Lakes policy"
CBS Detroit (online), March 20, 2014 The article gives an overview of the April 4 event to be held at CMU. GVSU-AWRI and CMU are co-sponsors.