Incoming Graduate Students at AWRI

Graduate students are a vital and critical part of our mission at the Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI). We welcome the 7 new graduate students joining us this fall. 

Kaitlyn Emelander is from Jenison, Michigan, and graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2016 with a B.S. in Natural Resources Management. She will be working with Dr. Carl Ruetz on yellow perch occupancy modeling in the Great Lakes.

Dan Myers is from Charlevoix, Michigan. He received his B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Michigan State University in 2011, and a Certificate of Watershed Management from MSU in 2015. He worked at the Mid-Michigan Environmental Council and Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council prior to joining AWRI. Dan is working with Dr. Rick Rediske to assess erosional and geomorphic sources of sediment and phosphorus in the Bass River.  The project is part of Grand Valley Metro Council’s program to improve water quality and reduce flooding in the Lower Grand River Watershed.

Katie Knapp is from Lakeview, Michigan. She graduated from Northern Michigan University with a B.S. in Earth Science in 2015. She is working with Dr. Bopi Biddanda estimating lake metabolism and water intrusion from Lake Michigan into Muskegon Lake.  

Kim Oldenborg is from East Bethel, Minnesota and graduated with a B.S. in Biology and Ecological Restoration from Northland College in 2016. She will be working with Dr. Al Steinman to study how wetlands can be used to improve water quality within larger watersheds.

Hailee Pavisich is from Madison, Ohio, and received her B.A. in Environmental Science from Lake Forest College in 2013. Since then, she has gained experience working as a restoration and field research technician in various states and for various agencies. She is now working with Dr. Charlyn Partridge on a study of the invasive plant Baby’s Breath in the sand dunes of Northwest Michigan. She will be using a population genetic approach to help inform the management of this species.

Andrew Pyman is from Muskegon, Michigan. He graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2014 with a B.S. in Biology. He is working with Dr. Charlyn Partridge to help develop rapid assessment methods for evaluating cyanotoxin production of harmful algal blooms.

Emma Rice is from Elkton, Maryland. She received her B.S. in Biology from Salisbury University in 2015. She spent the last year working on watershed restoration and outreach projects in the Maryland Coastal Bays. Emma is working with Dr. Jim McNair to create an adaptive management plan for baby’s breath in coastal dune habitats of northwest Michigan.

Greg Chorak, graduate student working with Carl Ruetz, successfully passed his qualifying exam on August 19.

Dave Kraff and Al Steinman hosted the final full stakeholder meeting for the Integrated Water Commission Project Team at the Seidman College of Business in Grand Rapids on August 29.

Jason Lorenz, graduate student working with Carl Ruetz, successfully passed his qualifying exam on August 30.

Carl Ruetz attended the Michigan’s Artic Grayling Initiative & Partnership Meeting in Roscommon on August 18.

AWRI hosted staff from the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies on August 5 at the Lake Michigan Center.

Al Steinman attended a joint meeting of the Community Foundation for Muskegon County and GVSU University Development on August 17 to discuss fundraising opportunities for the institute.

Al Steinman attended the Board of Directors meeting of Goodwill Industries of West Michigan on August 15.

Al Steinman attended the Board of Trustees meeting of the Community Foundation for Muskegon County on August 22.

Al Steinman attended the annual GVSU Unit Heads retreat on the Allendale campus on August 23.

Janet Vail hosted the West Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (GLSI) partner event at AWRI on August 4.  She was at the Zephyr site that same week for the EPA and MDEQ presentations for the WMGLSI.  Teachers from that group met at AWRI on August 22 for a project planning session.

Janet Vail attended the Project Water Education for Teachers (WET) USA Coordinators Council meeting and the annual conference in South Carolina on August 7 – 10.  She is the chair for the 2017 conference.

Graeme Zaparzynski, graduate student who worked with Mark Luttenton, successfully completed his master’s thesis defense on August 10.  The title of his presentation was: Evaluating foraging habits, and estimating prey consumption and growth of brook trout in a coolwater Michigan stream

AWRI staff are bolded, undergraduate students are denoted with a single asterisk*, graduate students are denoted with two asterisks**, and post-doc researchers are donated with three asterisks ***.

Publications

Carl Ruetz and Jordan Allison (former graduate student) are co-authors on a paper published in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society:
Rutherford, E.S., J. Allison**, C.R. Ruetz III, J.R. Elliott, J.K. Nohner, M.R. DuFour, R.P. O’Neal, D.J. Jude, and S.R. Hensler.  2016.  Density and survival of walleye eggs and larvae in a Great Lakes tributary.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 145:563-577.

Al Steinman and Mary Ogdahl (formerly of AWRI) are co-authors on a paper accepted to the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research:
Steinman, A.D. and M.E. Ogdahl.  In Press.  From wetland to farm and back again: water quality implications of a habitat restoration project.  Environmental Sciences and Pollution Research.

Al Steinman is a co-author on a paper accepted for publication in Nature Scientific Reports:
Xue, Q., Su, X., Steinman, A.D., Cai, Y., Zhao, Y. and Xie, L. In Press. Accumulation of microcystins in a dominant Chironomid Larvae (Tanypus chinensis) of a large, shallow and eutrophic Chinese lake, Lake Taihu. Nature Scientific Reports 6, 31097; doi: 10.1038/srep31097.

Al Steinman, Maggie Oudsema, Mary Ogdahl (formerly of AWRI), and Muhidin Abdimalik (former REU student) are co-authors on a paper accepted to the journal Lake and Reservoir Management:
Steinman, A.D., Abdimalik, M.*, Ogdahl, M.E., and Oudsema, M. In Press. Nutrient impact on planktonic vs benthic algae in a eutrophic lake. Lake and Reservoir Management.

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

Bopi Biddanda, Anthony Weinke, and Fallon Januska are co-authors of a poster presented at the 16^th annual International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, in Montreal, Canada from August 21 – 26.
Schmidt, M.L., B.A. Biddanda, A.D. Weinke**, E. Chang, F. Januska* and V.J. Denef.  Poster.
Particle-associated bacteria in a freshwater estuary are more diverse and disproportionately active compared to free-living bacterial community. 

Mark Luttenton gave a presentation about trout habitat use in the Au Sable River to the Anglers of the Au Sable on August 6.

Rajesh Sigdel, graduate student working with Rick Rediske, spoke at an Indian Mill Creek meeting sponsored by Grand Valley Metro Council, which was held at the DeVos Center for Scouting in Walker, MI on August 11.  The title was “Ongoing and future studies of Indian Mill Creek”.

Al Steinman presented to the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust at their Board meeting held at the Lake Michigan Center on August 9.  Janet Vail assisted with a tour after the meeting.

Kurt Thompson presented on the results of his LiDAR work at a Project Clarity meeting held at the Outdoor Discovery Center in Holland on August 17.  Al Steinman also attended.

Janet Vail and Sherry Claflin conducted a session on the GLOBE program at Richmond Park on August 2 for the Groundswell Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (GLSI) teachers.

Sherry Claflin, classroom instructor, has been named the 2016 Earth Science Educator of the Year by the Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association.

Bopi Biddanda has received a National Science Foundation collaborative award in the amount of $40,989 over three years.  The title of the proposal is:  Revealing the interplay between light, sulfur cycling, and O2 production in cyanobacterial mats.

AWRI has received a DEQ award in the amount of $83,573 to develop new monitoring methods to rapidly detect the presence of toxin-producing blue-green algae and determine whether they are producing cyanotoxins at the cellular level. Rick Rediske, Charlyn Partridge, and Kevin Strychar are co-PIs on this project.

AWRI In the News

“Project Clarity Monitoring”
Discovery News, August – September 2016
The research AWRI is doing for Project Clarity is mentioned.  There is a photo with Maggie Oudsema in it.

“Muskegon: Muskegon Lake Boat Tour”
bestevents.us (an online source), August 2016
The Lakeshore Museum Center is hosting a Muskegon Lake History and Restoration Boat Tour on the AWRI research vessel W. G. Jackson on September 8.

“Muskegon mixed-used development embraces long-time industrial shoreline”
MiBiz, August 22, 2016
Al Steinman is quoted regarding the water quality and history of Muskegon Lake.

“John Austin, dedicated advocate for public education, runs for third State Board term”
LegalNews.com, August 24, 2016
Al Steinman is mentioned as a co-author with John Austin on the publication “Michigan’s Blue Economy”.

“DEQ awards Michigan Universities more than $240,000 to address harmful algal blooms”
MIDEQ Bulletin, August 25, 2016
GVSU was awarded $83,573 to develop new monitoring methods to rapidly detect the presence of toxin-producing blue-green algae and determine whether they are producing cyanotoxins at the cellular level. Rick Rediske, Charlyn Partridge, and Kevin Strychar are co-PIs on this project.

“Universities awarded grants to study harmful algae blooms”
Chippewa.com, August 26, 2016
GVSU was awarded $83,573 to develop new monitoring methods to rapidly detect the presence of toxin-producing blue-green algae and determine whether they are producing cyanotoxins at the cellular level. Rick Rediske, Charlyn Partridge, and Kevin Strychar are co-PIs on this project.
(this article was covered by many sources nation-wide)

“Reports from Grand Valley State University provide new insights into Chalcogens (Tracing the seepage of subsurface sinkhole vent waters into Lake Huron using radium and stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen).
NewsEdge.com, August 30, 2016
Bopi Biddanda is one of the researchers on this project.

LMC Events

August 3
Sixth grade students from Bellevue Middle School (Eaton County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson. 

August 4
Students from the West Ottawa Migrant Program (Ottawa County) visited the Annis Educational Foundation Classroom for hands-on activities and took a vessel cruise on the W.G. Jackson. 

August 4 and 22
The West Michigan GLSI held a teacher meeting at the Lake Michigan Center.

August 5
Staff from GVSU’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies held a meeting at the Lake Michigan Center and enjoyed a tour of AWRI facilities. 

August 9
The Great Lakes Fishery Trust (GLFT) held a board meeting at the Lake Michigan Center.

August 18
The Black Women’s Political Caucus held a “Meet & Greet” at the Lake Michigan Center.