Bob Annis Legacy

I would like to use this opener to thank the R.B. Annis Educational Foundation (hereafter Foundation) for their financial support of the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) over the years. AWRI simply would not have enjoyed the successes we have had over the past 25 years without the outstanding support from first Robert B. Annis and, following his passing, this Foundation.

Consistent with the vision of Bob Annis, who was a life-long learner, Foundation support has targeted internships for students working at AWRI. Below, we list both the undergraduate interns and graduate students that have received support from the Robert B. Annis Fellowship Program since it began Summer 2009.

Undergraduate Summer Interns
The following summer Interns were funded by Annis Fellowship program. Their current status is listed after their name.

• Aaron Ferguson  - M.S. Student (Public Administration), GVSU
• Kaitlyn Driza - Research Technician, Logos Energy, Cleveland, OH
• Maggie Weinert - Research Technician, AWRI
• Andrea Koster - M.S. Student, Univ Wisconsin-Stevens Point
• Amanda Maycroft - Teacher, Krueger Middle School, Michigan City, IN
• Lee Schoen - M.S. Student (Biology), Central Michigan Univ.
• Erika Arndt - Senior (Natural Resource Mgmt), GVSU (start MS in Fall, 2012 at Indiana Univ.)
• Travis Bisson - Senior (Chemistry), GVSU
• Zachary Madaj - Senior (Mathematics), GVSU

Graduate Students
The following graduate students were funded by Annis Fellowship program. Their current status is listed after their name.

• Whitney Nelson - Research Technician, GVSU (starts PhD program in Fall 2012 at University of Arkansas)
• Hannah Tavalire - PhD Candidate, Department of Zoology, Oregon State Univ.

I am confident that the AWRI students that have received support from the Annis Foundation would have made Bob Annis proud. We are grateful for the Foundations generous and continued support.

I would like to use this opener to thank the R.B. Annis Educational Foundation (hereafter Foundation) for their financial support of the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) over the years. AWRI simply would not have enjoyed the successes we have had over the past 25 years without the outstanding support from first Robert B. Annis and, following his passing, this Foundation.

Consistent with the vision of Bob Annis, who was a life-long learner, Foundation support has targeted internships for students working at AWRI. Below, we list both the undergraduate interns and graduate students that have received support from the Robert B. Annis Fellowship Program since it began Summer 2009.

Undergraduate Summer Interns:
Table 1. Summer Interns funded by Annis Fellowship program and their current status.

Summer Intern Current Position

• Aaron Ferguson M.S. Student (Public Administration), GVSU
• Kaitlyn Driza Research Technician, Logos Energy, Cleveland, OH
• Maggie Weinert Research Technician, AWRI
• Andrea Koster M.S. Student, Univ Wisconsin-Stevens Point
• Amanda Maycroft Teacher, Krueger Middle School, Michigan City, IN
• Lee Schoen M.S. Student (Biology), Central Michigan Univ.
• Erika Arndt Senior (Natural Resource Mgmt), GVSU (start MS in Fall, 2012 at Indiana Univ.)
• Travis Bisson Senior (Chemistry), GVSU
• Zachary Madaj Senior (Mathematics), GVSU

 

Graduate Students:
Table 2. Graduate Students funded by Annis Fellowship program and their current status.

Graduate Student Current Position

• Whitney Nelson Research Technician, GVSU (starts PhD program in Fall 2012 at University of Arkansas)
• Hannah Tavalire PhD Candidate, Department of Zoology, Oregon State Univ.

I am confident that the AWRI students that have received support from the Annis Foundation would have made Bob Annis proud. We are grateful for the Foundations generous and continued support.

 

LMC Events

March 9
GVSUs Regional Math and Science Center held a Project PRIME workshop (second in a series of five) for Muskegon and Newaygo area teachers.

March 13
Series Seminar: Dr. Greg Druschel, microbial geochemist with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, presented: "Nutrient mobility and speciation controlled by changing redox geochemistry in freshwater lake systems"

March 14
The Mona Lake Watershed Council held a Mona Lake Celery Flats restoration project update meeting.

March 22
Muskegon County held a FY 2012-2013 Budget Process Kick-off meeting.

March 26
Members from AWRI and the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council held a collaborative meeting.

March 28
GVSU's Regional Math and Science Center held a Project PRIME workshop (third in a series of five) for Muskegon and Newaygo area teachers.

 

Activities

AWRI was represented at the Science Olympiad event held at GVSU in Allendale on March 24. Rick Rediske was the Event Supervisor for the Water Quality session, with help from Bopi Biddanda, Scott Kendall, Heather Snyder, Whitney Nelson, Elizabeth Mullins, and Mike Snider. Kurt Thompson, Rod Denning and Jean Conzelmann worked at a Remote Sensing session.

Janet Vail traveled to West Shore Community College on March 6 for a planning meeting for a summer trip of the W.G. Jackson to Ludington for three days.

 

Presentations

Scott Kendall gave a presentation on the Muskegon Lake Observatory Buoy at the Torresen Marine Open House on March 10.

Rick Rediske gave a presentation about Malaria and Public Health Issues in Ghana to the Muskegon County Environmental Coordinating Council on March 13.

Rick Rediske was a guest lecturer for Environmental Studies 201 on March 13. He spoke about World Water Issues.

Rick Rediske gave an invited presentation to the White Lake Public Advisory Council on March 14 on the status of the degradation of benthos beneficial use impairment in the White Lake Area of Concern.

Carl Ruetz gave an invited presentation to the White Lake Public Advisory Council on March 14 titled White Lake AOCevaluating targets for delisting two BUIs: loss of fish habitat and degradation of fish populations.

Al Steinman gave an invited presentation at LimnoTech in Ann Arbor on March 20th. He spoke about AWRI and explored collaborations with the company.

Al Steinman was invited by Jeff Potteiger to speak to the Graduate Education Task Force on the value of graduate education on March 15.

Al Steinman was invited to give a presentation about AWRI to GVSU's Office of University Development on March 16.

Al Steinman was a guest lecturer for NRM 150, Introduction to Natural Resources on March 27.

Amanda Syers and Maggie Weinert presented sessions at a career fair for Reeths Puffer schools on March 6.

Amanda Syers presented a Population Connection workshop and a session on the vessel data at the Michigan Science Teachers Association Conference in Lansing on March 9.

Amanda Syers presented three programs at the Spring Lake Career Fair on March 15.

Ryan Thum was a guest lecturer for CMB 250, Introduction to Biotechnology on March 22. His presentation was titled Introduction to Molecular Ecology.

Janet Vail facilitated the EPA Lake Michigan Forums quarterly meeting on March 8.

Janet Vail and Amanda Syers presented a three-hour workshop on the MEECS Air Quality and Climate Change Units at the Michigan Science Teachers Association Conference in Lansing on March 10.

 

Publications

Bopi Biddanda was a co-author on a recently published article:

Voorhies, A. A., B. Biddanda, S. Nold, S. Kendall, S. Jain, D. Marcus, N. Sheldon and G. Dick. 2012. Cyanobacterial life at low O2: Community genomics and function reveal high metabolic versatility and extremely low diversity in a Great Lakes sinkhole mat. Geobiology. DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-4669.2012.00322.x.

Bopi Biddanda was lead author on a recently published article:

Biddanda, B., S. Nold, G. Dick, S. Kendall, J. Vail, S. Ruberg and C. Green. 2012. Rock, Water, Microbes: Sinkholes in Lake Huron are habitats for ancient microbial life. Nature Education Knowledge 3 (3):13.

Carl Ruetz was a co-author with two former GVSU students (Matt Cooper and Aaron Parker) on a recently published article:

Parker, A.P., M.J. Cooper, C.R. Ruetz III, D.P. Coulter, and D.G. Uzarski. 2012. Chemical and physical factors associated with yellow perch abundance in Great Lakes coastal wetlands: patterns within and among wetland types. Wetland Ecology and Management 20:137-150.

Al Steinman and Mary Ogdahl were co-authors of an article accepted for publication; it will be available online soon:

Steinman, A.D. and M.E. Ogdahl. In Press. Macroinvertebrate response and internal phosphorus loading in a Michigan Lake following alum treatment. Journal of Environmental Quality.

Ryan Thum and members of his lab have two manuscripts currently in press:

Zuellig, M. P. and R. Thum. In Press. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP)s identify multiple distinct biotypes of Eurasian (Myriophyllum spicatum) and hybrid (M. spicatum x M. sibricum) watermilfoils. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management.

Thum, R.A., A. Mercer, and D. Wcisel. In Press. Loopholes in the regulation of invasive species: genetic identification techniques identify the sale of prohibited invasive aquatic plants. Biological Invasions. (Online).

 

AWRI In the News

"AWRI director attends White House summit"
GVNext (online) posted March 2, 2012 Al Steinman attended a Summit on the Great Lakes held at the White House.

"Scientist update on White Lake restoration will be March 14"
White Lake Beacon, March 4, 2012 Rick Rediske and Carl Ruetz each gave presentations at this meeting.

"GVSU researcher finds salmon link to contamination in brook trout"
Grand Rapids Business Journal, March 5, 2012 Dave Janetskis research on Chinook salmon is briefly discussed.

"AWRI director attends White House summit"
Forum: a newsletter for the Grand Valley State University Community, March 12, 2012 Al Steinman attended a Summit on the Great Lakes held at the White House.

"Is White Lake closer to removal from list of toxic hotspots? Scientists to present Wednesday"
MLive.com/Muskegon Chronicle, March 13, 2012 Rick Rediske and Carl Ruetz each gave presentations at this meeting.

"White Lake aquatic life on rebound: GVSU scientist delivers good news"
Muskegon Chronicle, March 15, 2012 Rick Rediske and Carl Ruetz are quoted regarding their studies of White Lake.

"Owasippes natural assets worth $600,000, group says"
Muskegon Chronicle, March 15, 2012 The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services Tool (INVEST), which AWRI had a part in formulating, was discussed.

"Muskegon River walleyes eggs set for collection by DNR for stocking"
MLive.com, March 20, 2012 AWRI is a partner in the collection of eggs.

"Sinkhole Soup: Great Lakes sinkholes host exotic ecosystems"
Astrobio.net, March 2012. Bopi Biddanda's research in the sinkholes of Lake Huron is discussed.