AWRI Welcomes New Faculty

Sean Woznicki is a newly hired Assistant Professor of Water Resources at AWRI.  Sean received his B.S. (2009), M.S. (2011), and Ph.D. (2015) in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering from Michigan State University. His dissertation developed a modeling framework to characterize the impacts of climate change on nonpoint source pollution and water quality in Michigan watersheds. Prior to joining GVSU, Sean spent four years as a postdoctoral researcher at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. At the EPA, Sean was a member of the EnviroAtlas, where he developed methods to model and map various ecosystem goods and services, the benefits that society receives from nature.

Sean’s ongoing research aims to understand how environmental change (i.e. climate change, urbanization, and agricultural expansion) alters the hydrology and water quality of rivers and streams by using watershed modeling, geospatial analysis, remote sensing, and long-term monitoring.

Al Steinman was on Beaver Island from August 4^th – 6^th to participate in the tri-annual Science Advisory Board for CMU’s Biostation and Institute of Great Lakes Research.

Al Steinman hosted the Grand Haven Young Professionals for a cruise onboard the research vessel W. G. Jackson on August 20^th and gave a tour of AWRI after.

Al Steinman attended a meeting on August 23^rd to address Bear Lake issues.

Al Steinman hosted a strategic planning meeting at the Lake Michigan Center for the Community Foundation for Muskegon County on August 25^th - 26^th.  Al is a trustee.

Al Steinman was interviewed by Tanya Cabala on August 28^th on various water issues for the Muskegon Channel.

Janet Vail hosted an Aquaculture workshop for educators in the lab classroom on August 6^th – 8^th.  Dr. Barbara Evans from Lake Superior State University; Dr. Hamdy Helal, retired faculty of West Shore Community College; and Ron Kinnunen and Elliot Nelson from Michigan Sea Grant were the instructors.  Janet assisted with logistics.

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

There were no new publications for this issue.  Check again next month!

Presentations

(Presenter listed first)

Bopi Biddanda attended NASA’s Imaging for Life Detection meeting held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from August 28^th – 30^th.  While there, he gave a presentation titled “Migration of filaments in modern microbial mats”.

There were no new awards and recognition for this issue.  Check again next month!

Mark Luttenton received an award in the amount of $5,799 by the Higgins Lake Foundation to fund a Starry Stonewart project.

Charlyn Partridge received an award in the amount of $30,628 from the USDA for a proposal titled “Development of eDNA technology for the early detection of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA)”. 

Carl Ruetz received a contract in the amount of $2,700 from the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians to hold juvenile sturgeon in the AWRI mesocosm tanks while a lampricide treatment is done.  Juvenile sturgeon do not fare well if exposed to the lampricide.

“From the Field”
IAGLR Lakes Letter, Summer 2019
Members of the Biddanda Lab are pictured at a sampling site on Muskegon Lake.

“Is it pollution? Lake Michigan beach worries triggered by photos on social media”
MLive, August 7, 2019
Rick Rediske is interviewed regarding the plume of sediment the Kalamazoo River was putting out into Lake Michigan.
This article was also carried by Grand Rapids Press on 8/15/19.

Video with Rick Rediske in it discussing PFAs.  CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/08/07/hush-puppies-shoes-wolverine-worldwide-pfas-drinking-water-contamination-rockford-michigan.html

“Competing visions for a famed river in a Midwest hotspot – Part 2”
Environmental Health News, August 20, 2019
Al Steinman was interviewed regarding the possible environmental effects of dredging in the Grand River.

Video with Rick Rediske in it discussing PFAs.  MLive. https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/08/how-was-michigans-pfas-water-crisis-overlooked-for-years.html

“Removing sturgeon from Big Manistee, Muskegon rivers before sea lamprey treatment”
The Outdoor Wire, August 28, 2019
AWRI is mentioned as a partner in this process to house juvenile sturgeon while lampricide treatments are applied to parts of the Muskegon River.

LMC Events

Aug 6
The Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership held a public meeting at the LMC.

Aug 6, 7 & 8
Janet Vail hosted an Aquaculture Workshop at the LMC.

Aug 15
The West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission held a joint meeting at the LMC.

Aug 23
The Disability Network of West Michigan held a meeting at the LMC.

Aug 26
The Community Foundation for Muskegon County held a strategic planning retreat at the LMC.