The panel of participants at the press conference (seated left to right: Al Steinman, AWRI; U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph; U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland; and U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler).

Re-establishment of the Great Lakes Advisory Board

On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler visited the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) to hold a press conference to announce the re-establishment of the Great Lakes Advisory Board (GLAB). The purpose of GLAB is to provide advice and recommendations on matters related to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and the implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada.  The board was discontinued in 2018.

Al Steinman, the Allen I. and Helen J. Hunting Director of AWRI, was one of 14 experts from throughout the Great Lakes who was selected to serve on the re-established board.

Bopi Biddanda contributed to the final NOAA-National Marine Sanctuaries planning discussion and webinar on lakebed studies of Lake Huron for 2020 on June 24^th. 

Bopi Biddanda and lab member Anthony Weinke were featured in AGU’s Postcards from the Field:
Biddanda, B.A. 2020. Painting under a pandemic. Postcards from the Field, American Geophysical Union Tumblr, June 2020. https://americangeophysicalunion.tumblr.com/tagged/postcards+from+the+field

Mike Hassett attended a virtual meeting of the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership on June 2^nd.

Emily Kindervater, adjunct research assistant in the Steinman lab, Jasmine Mancuso, graduate student in the Biddanda Lab, and Ian Stone, summer intern in the Biddanda Lab, virtually attended the annual International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) conference held June 8^th – 10^th.

Al Steinman participated virtually in an Editor’s meeting with Wiley Publishing for the journal Freshwater Biology on June 10th.

Al Steinman participated virtually in a 3-day NOAA panel reviewing proposals from the National Estuarine Research Reserves on June 23^rd-25^th.

Janet Vail (chair), facilitated the West Michigan Clean Air Coalition meeting on June 23^rd.

Janet Vail attended a virtual conference of the Michigan Association of Biology Teachers to share effective strategies for teaching biology in remote or hybrid classroom settings on June 25^th.

Janet Vail attended a virtual meeting of the Groundswell Strategic Action Committee on June 25^th.

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

Bopi Biddanda had an article included in the GVSU Regional Math and Science Center’s monthly publication InterChange:
Biddanda, B.A. 2020. On the 50^th Earth day, a new course: ENS 310 – How the Biosphere Works. In: InterChange –Connections for the STEM Classroom, May 2020.

Al Steinman was a co-author on a publication:
Zhang, M., Steinman, A.D., Xu, Y., Xue, Q., Zhao, Y., and L. Xie. 2020. Effects of erythromycin and sulfamethoxazole on Microcystis aeruginosa: cytotoxic endpoints, production, and release of microcystin-LR. Journal of Hazardous Materials 399:1230121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123021

Presentations

Rick Rediske gave a presentation to the Wolverine Community Advisory Group on June 18^th.

Al Steinman was a featured speaker at US EPA’s special event held at AWRI announcing re-formation of the Great Lakes Advisory Board with Administrator Wheeler in attendance. Al was selected to be a member of the GLAB on June 3^rd.  

There were no awards or recognitions for this issue.  Check again next month!

Al Steinman’s lab received a contract for $17,300 to study salinity and phosphorus issues in Church Lake in Grand Rapids, MI. 

AWRI In The News

“USA: Administrator Wheeler announces selection of 14 individuals to serve on re-established Great Lakes Advisory Board in Grand Rapids”
ForeignAffairs.co.nz, June 3, 2020 (press release from U S EPA headquarters)
The US EPA has re-established the Great Lakes Advisory Board.  AWRI Director Al Steinman is one of the 14 members on this board.  The announcement was made at a meeting held at AWRI.
This article was also carried by:
MITechNews.com, 6/3/2020
WGVU News, 6/3/2020
NewsEdge (news release from Huizenga’s Office), 6/3/2020
Huizenga.house.gov, 6/3/2020
BloombergLaw.com – Environment and Energy report, 6/3/2020
MLive.com, 6/3/2020
WKTV journal.org (Kentwood), 6/4/2020
City-County Observer: a daily online newspaper dedicated to the progress of this region, 6/4/2020.
GVNext News, 6/4/2020
The Holland Sentinel, 6/5/2020
Grand Haven Tribune, 6/5/2020
MyZeeland, 6/7/2020
NewsEdge/Targeted News Service (news release from Rep. David Joyce, Ohio), 6/7/2020
The Ripon Advance, 6/8/2020
Water Quality Products Magazine, 6/17/2020

“‘This one is bizarre’: High water, erosion create floating island in Muskegon Lake”
Detroit Free Press, June 19, 2020
Al Steinman was quoted regarding a floating island currently located in Muskegon Lake.

"Mysterious floating island in Muskegon Lake still floating, less mysterious”
MLive.com, June 22, 2020
Al Steinman was interviewed after he had investigated the island for himself.
This article was also carried by:
Voiceofthehwy.news/Safety Highway Radio, 6/19/2020
WNEW-TV5 (Saginaw) on 6/20 and 6/21/2020
ABC57 news at 6:00 am and 7:00 a.m., 6/21/2020
News965.com, 6/21/2020
Express Digest, 6/21/2020
The Morning Sun, 6/21/2020
WhatsNew2Day, 6/21/2020
Mail On Sunday, 6/21/2020
WEYI (NBC), 6/20 and 6/21/2020
WOOD-TV8 (Grand Rapids) 24-hour news @ 7:00 p.m., 6/22/2020

“Questions raised about adequacy of Rogue River PFAS testing”
MLive.com, June 23, 2020
Rick Rediske was quoted regarding current PFAS testing being done in areas in and around the Wolverine World Wide dump sites.

LMC Events

On June 3, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency held a press conference at the LMC to announce the re-establishment of the Great Lakes Advisory Board.