#228 September 2022 Newsletter
INTERIM DIRECTOR
We would like to welcome Dr. Mark Luttenton as the Interim Director of AWRI. Although Dr. Luttenton started as Interim Director in August, he is no stranger to AWRI. In fact, he was hired to assume the teaching responsibilities of the first AWRI director, Dr. Ron Ward. Since he was hired at Grand Valley in 1989, he has had a long affiliation with AWRI, holding various research appointments during his 30 years at GVSU, and serving as Acting Director when the previous Director, Dr. Alan Steinman, was on sabbatical leave. Luttenton noted that during his time at GV, he has watched AWRI grow and mature into an extraordinary resource for West Michigan and the Great Lakes region.” “With Dr. Steinman as the Director, AWRI has been able to advance our understanding of water resources in the region and improve those resources” Luttenton said. “I plan to fully support the continued growth and success of AWRI” Luttenton added.
During his career at GVSU, Dr. Luttenton has taught a wide range of courses in the Biology Department, served as the Program Director for the M.S. in Biology, worked on numerous GVSU faculty committees, was the Associate Dean of the Graduate School, and is currently the Program Director for the recently approved M.S. in Water Resource Policy. He received the GVSU Alumni Association’s Outstanding Educator Award in 2006 and has received several awards from conservation organizations for his work. His research has covered a wide range of aquatic systems and organisms and he has mentored nearly 90 undergraduates and over a dozen graduate students conducting research projects. His current research has focused on the ecology of the Au Sable River and Higgins Lake.
FACULTY, STAFF, AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES
AWRI and EGLE will be hosting the Great Lakes Beach Association Conference in Muskegon from October 31st – November 2nd. The Rediske lab has seven oral presentations and two posters scheduled for this meeting. Kevin Strychar will be chairing a session at this event.
The Biddanda lab’s operation and maintenance of the Muskegon Lake Observatory Buoy continues. They are preparing for the end of the season retrieval from Muskegon Lake.
Bopi Biddanda is teaching BIO 370, Marine Biology during fall 2022.
Sarah Hamsher’s graduate student, Davis Fray, finished his field work in Alpena and eastern Michigan collecting algae from high sulfur, low nitrogen habitats and is shipping samples to colleague, Dr. Dale Casamatta (University of North Florida), for metabarcoding analyses as part of his thesis project.
Two of Sarah Hamsher’s students, Kelsey Inman-Carter (undergraduate) and Davis Fray (graduate), are continuing to analyze next-generation sequencing data generated by Dr. Charlyn Partridge at AWRI. They are using metabarcoding analyses to explore the diatom epiphytes of starry stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa) collected from Pentwater and Muskegon Lakes.
Sarah Hamsher is teaching BIO 121, General Biology II and BIO 376, Genetics Laboratory during fall 2022.
Mark Luttenton attended the Board Meeting of the Anglers of the Au Sable
Mark Luttenton attended the Wild Trout Symposium held in West Yellowstone, Montana from September 28th – 30th.
Jim McNair is teaching two graduate-level classes this semester; both are Independent Study courses. One is a modeling-techniques class and the other is a review of R programming as applied to basic statistical methods.
Charlyn Partridge met on September 21 with Victoria Fewster, from the Canadian Forestry Service (CFS), and staff from the Invasive Species Center to discuss the eDNA traps developed by the Partridge lab. The Invasive Species Center is interested in using the traps for a citizen sciences project to monitor for the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (HWA) around Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
The Partridge lab will also be meeting with CFS on Oct 27th and 28th. The CFS tested out some of their eDNA traps for HWA around Niagara this summer and would like to learn how to do the DNA processing.
Charlyn Partridge continues to attend weekly Zoom meetings to discuss the COVID wastewater project and the summer beach sampling project.
Charlyn Partridge was invited to give a talk at Daemen College in Amherst, NY on October 6th.
The Rediske lab continues to test wastewater samples for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and they are seeing an increase in levels on campus with the return of students.
The Rediske lab started testing Crockery and Sand Creeks for microbial source tracking (MST) markers with the Ottawa Conservation District this month.
Rick Rediske attended the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team - Citizen’s Advisory Workgroup meeting on September 13th.
Rick Rediske attended the Wolverine Citizen’s Advisory Group meeting on September 15th.
Carl Ruetz attended the Wild Trout Symposium held in West Yellowstone, Montana from September 27th – 30th.
Carl Ruetz is teaching BIO362, Biology and Diversity of Fishes, both lecture and lab during fall 2022.
Al Steinman attended a pre-RFP meeting at the Mona Lake celery flats with graduate student Nick Vander Stelt to discuss project design with engineers on September 14th.
Al Steinman hosted GVSU’s new Provost Fatma Mili for a tour and overview of AWRI on September 19th.
Al Steinman is working with University Development and the President’s Office on a case statement for an AWRI mini campaign to raise funds to create endowments for the next permanent director, postdocs, GAs, undergraduate interns, and programming.
Al Steinman has been invited to join the CIGLR All Partners Committee.
Al Steinman has joined the Board of Directors for the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Al Steinman attended board meetings for Goodwill Industries of West Michigan and the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Al Steinman is teaching an independent studies class, Emerging Issues in Water Resources during fall 2022.
Kevin Strychar is currently working with Rick Rediske to characterize E. coli in beaches in and around Lake Michigan.
Kevin Strychar is currently working with local producers to develop a research project looking at E. coli in agricultural water.
Amanda Syers hosted a group of GVSU Honor's students from Dr. Lane's class on September 14th. Dr. Bopi Biddanda, Nate Dugener, and Dr. Rick Rediske provided presentations for the students at this event.
Amanda Syers is teaching the classroom visits that accompany some of the trips aboard the W. G. Jackson. These lessons are being held outdoors on AWRI's campus. Classroom dates for September include the 19th, 22nd, 26th, 29th, and 30th.
Sean Woznicki was invited to attend the 2021-22 NASA LCLUC (Land-Cover and Land-Use Change) Science Team meeting & Silver Jubilee Celebration in Bethesda, Maryland from October 18th – 20th.
Presentations and Publications
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 is the lead author of an article accepted to Journal of Great Lakes Research:
Biddanda, B., A. Weinke, and I. Stone. In Press. Extant mat world microbes synchronize migration to a diel tempo. Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Bopi Biddanda is the lead author of an article recently published in Eos:
Biddanda, B., M. Villar-Argaiz, and J. M. Medina-Sánchez. 2022. Protecting the mountain water towers of Span’s Sierra Nevada. Eos, American Geophysical Union (September 16, 2022).
https://eos.org/opinions/protecting-the-mountain-water-towers-of-spains-sierra-nevada
Bopi Biddanda was a co-author of an article recently published in Eos:
Villar Argaiz, M., G. Garrido-Cañete and B. Biddanda. 2022. Sierra Nevada’s Laguna Caldera turns chocolate brown. Eos, American Geophysical Union, September 2022, p. 48.
https://pdf.live/edit?url=https%3A%2F%2Feos.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F08%2FSept22.pdf&source=f&installDate=060222
Mike Hassett and Al Steinman are co-authors of a publication accepted to the journal Land:
Hassett, M.C. and A.D. Steinman. In Press Wetland restoration through excavation: sediment removal results in dramatic water quality improvement. Land 11(9), 1559; https://doi.org/10.3390/land11091559.
Anthony Weinke, technical call-in for the Biddanda lab, and others from AWRI had an article published in Lakes Letter:
Weinke, A., I. Stone, J. Greene, S. Woznicki, J. Cook, N. Dugener, and B. Biddanda. 2022. Great Lakes estuaries: Hotspots of productivity, problems, and potential. Lakes Letter, International Association for Great Lakes Research, Summer 2022, p. 9-10. https://pdf.live/edit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fiaglr.org%2Fll%2F2022-3-Summer_LL14.pdf&source=f&installDate=060222
Presentations:
Charlyn Partridge presented at the Michigan Inland Lakes Conference on September 18th, along with other members of the MLSA Board of Directors. The talk was focused on citizen science.
Rick Rediske gave a presentation on Cyanobacteria at the Michigan Inland Lakes Partnership on September 16th.
Rick Rediske was a guest lecturer for WAT 651, Emerging Issues in Water Resources, to talk about PFAS on September 27th.
Carl Ruetz presented a poster at the Wild Trout Symposium held in West Yellowstone, Montana from September 27th – 30th.
Ruetz, C.R., III, and J.N. McNair. Poster. Remote site incubators: recommendations for managers.
Al Steinman gave a presentation titled “Church Lake water quality update” to the Church Lake Homeowners Association in Grand Rapids, MI on September 12th.
Al Steinman gave a virtual oral presentation titled “Social and economic benefits of shoreline restoration: Muskegon Lake as a case study” at the Michigan Inland Lakes Convention on September 16th.
Grants, Contracts, Awards, and Recognition
GRANTS & CONTRACTS
Al Steinman received a grant titled “2022 Great Lakes long-term research program” from University of Michigan/CIGLR, in the amount of $111,883.
Al Steinman received a grant titled “Developing a Great Lakes quagga mussel bioenergetic and nutrient cycling model to predict response of harmful and nuisance algae to tributary nutrient inputs - DEB” from NOAA via University of Michigan, in the amount of $33,032.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
The Muskegon Conservation Club generously donated $5,000 to help fund the Research Vessel Program.
AWRI News and Events
AWRI IN THE NEWS
“Mona Lake restoration project involving former celery fields topic of public meeting”
MLive, September 11, 2022
AWRI is mentioned as a partner in this proposed project.
https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2022/09/mona-lake-restoration-project-involving-former-celery-fields-topic-of-public-meeting.html
“Drones set to join Lake Michigan beach cleanup crews”
The Lakeshore West Michigan, September 19, 2022
Al Steinman and Jamie Cross (science instructor) were interviewed regarding the BeBot and drone. AWRI is a partner in this venture.
Drones set to join Lake Michigan beach cleanup crews (secondwavemedia.com)
LMC EVENTS
The D. J. Angus and W. G. Jackson Research Vessels have begun the fall season of educational cruises.
Sept. 8 – GVSU Seidman College of Business - Economics Department and a delegation of faculty from The Krakow University of Economics in Poland toured AWRI and toured Muskegon Lake economic development sites aboard the W.G. Jackson.
Sept. 9 – AWRI Seminar – Joel Betts, Kent County MAEAP Coordinator presented, “Illegal deforestation, fish poisoning, and complex land politics: Research on Impacts to Nicaraguan rain forest streams and fishing communities”
Sept. 14 – GVSU Honors College visit and tour
Sept. 30 – AWRI Graduate Assistant, Nate Dugener, gave his thesis defense presentation “Running out of oxygen: Revealing the inter and intra-annual dynamics of bottom water hypoxia in a Great Lakes estuary using time-series observations, experiments, and analyses”