In the news: A swimmable Chicago River on the way?

From Medill Reports, Chicago: 

"Environmentally conscious Chicagoans praised the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s announcement earlier this month to disinfect effluent at the North Side and Calumet water plants, making the Chicago River cleaner and available for primary contact recreation by March 2016."

Read the complete article here. 

IISG's Lawn to Lake program gearing up for spring

IISG’s Lawn to Lake Program is focused on helping homeowners, landscapers, gardeners, and others adopt landscaping practices that reduce chemical runoff to local waterways, protecting and preserving those sources of water while maintaining thriving lawns and gardens.


There are a number of ways that everyone can keep local waterways clean while keeping their lawns green, and IISG has developed materials for homeowners, landscapers, and others to learn about how they can get involved.


The Nearshore Environment is a new factsheet that provides information on water quality in these areas, how and why degradation occurs, and what you can do to improve a nearshore's water quality.

“Don’t ‘P’ on your lawn” is a two-sided card (PDF) with healthy lawn tips and info on safe landscaping practices. The title is aimed at getting homeowners to watch out for phosphorus in their fertilizers, because phosphorus can lead to excessive algal blooms in waterways.


Finally, Lawn to Lake will be holding a series of natural lawn care workshops. At each one, landscape companies, turf managers, municipalities, and school districts can learn about the latest in natural lawn care techniques and principles, and explore how to expand your clientele and develop a profitable program. The first of these workshops will be held March 21, 2012 at the John W. Anderson Library and Conference Center at Indiana University Northwest from 8am until 4pm. Discount registration is available for groups, and you can find more information about the workshop at www.spcpweb.org/training.

The Lawn and Lake Summit will take place March 30-31 at the Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, Ill, and homeowners and lawn care professionals can learn how to create and care for lawns and landscapes using organic methods. Friday, March 30, the all-day summit will be directed to the needs of lawn care professionals—golf course superintendents, groundskeepers, city employees and athletic field curators. On Saturday, March 31, homeowners can take part in presentations and discussions that run all morning. Topics will include organic lawn and garden care, including specifics on dealing with the emerald ash borer. Both days include a variety of speakers, and you can find registration information here.


For information about upcoming workshops, contact Margaret Schneemann. For more information about Lawn to Lake in the Great Lakes visit www.lawntolake.org/Greatlakes. The program is funded through the U.S. EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

In the news: Study shows alarming trend in Great Lakes ice cover

From Canada.com:

"According to a February study in the Journal of Climate, Lake Ontario lost the most ice cover (88 per cent), with Lake Superior placing second at 79 per cent over a 38-year period. Lake St. Clair — which is part of the Great Lakes system but is not normally considered one of the Great Lakes — lost the least (37 per cent). Researchers used historical satellite measurements of the Great Lakes' ice cover from 1973 to 2010."

Read the complete article here.

IISG in the news: Asian carp are just the beginning of invasive species threats to the Great Lakes

IISG's Patrice Charlebois is one of several experts quoted in this article regarding invasive threats to the Great Lakes and Mississippi River ecosystems. From Medill, Chicago: 

“I think there are a number of species [to worry about], but they would be more … this is anthropomorphic, but more stealthy,” said Patrice Charlebois, aquatic invasive species coordinator for Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Illinois Natural History Survey.

“These other species that would come in or might be introduced would be ones that wouldn’t jump out of the water and smack you in the face. So the Asian carp are very visible. And these other ones, some of them could be very, I think, very detrimental to the lakes, but they wouldn’t probably garner the same amount of attention.”

 Read the complete article here. 

NW Indiana students engage in hands-on water quality activities

IISG Environmental Social Scientist Caitie McCoy has been spending a lot of time working with communities, government, Sea Grant programs, and affiliated local and regional organizations to help clean up Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). Recently she had the opportunity to spend some time visiting with students at two schools in northwest Indiana-- sharing a number of interesting water facts with them, as well as getting them to participate hands-on in gathering data and learning about local water issues. Caitie shared some of her experiences and described the help that she’s had along the way.

“Nishaat Yunus, ORISE Fellow for the Great Lakes National Program Office, and I have been working quite vigorously over the last month with the help of others to create educational programming for students in the Grand Calumet AOC. We're working with Robin Goettel and Terri Hallesy to package the programming so it will be ready to apply at other Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA) sites, hopefully to work in conjunction with Sea Grants in other states. 

We visited two schools this week. On Wednesday we went to Hammond Academy of Science and Technology, where we had the chance to talk to and work with about 80 9th grade students from Amanda Miracle's science classes. We went on a field trip to the Grand Calumet River and took water samples from stretches of the river that have been remediated under GLLA. Anne Remek from Indiana Department of Environmental Management helped lead the field trip. The purpose of the sampling was to monitor water quality; the results will be shared with our EPA and GLLA project partners (IDNR, IDEM, & USFWS). During the 2nd half of the day, students used a water testing kit with 12 analytes (copper, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, etc) to see what the water quality readings were and understand what they meant. We plan to take another field trip to the Grand Calumet River at some point to check out the restoration project and its progress. We will visit the classes at least twice more to do lessons on data analysis, data reporting, and using data to make project-level decisions.

Thursday we headed to East Chicago Lighthouse Charter School, where we got to speak to and teach about 50 4th grade students from Andrea Bock's science classes. The students are currently growing native plants provided by EPA in their classroom, and they’ve started sprouting! Nishaat and I will be visiting again and taking a field trip to Roxana Marsh when the plants are more fully grown, and students will get to plant the natives that they have been growing on the site. We also had a chance to give an interactive presentation and activity on habitats, and we will visit the classes at least twice more to talk about the cleanup at Roxana Marsh and how to design a habitat.”

For more information on education initiatives and classroom outreach, visit our website here.

Watering webinar March 13 can save water and money

We all know that watering is essential to healthy plants, lawns, and gardens, but how much is too much? Overwatering doesn’t just deplete available water resources, but it can waste valuable money as well.

Whether you run a landscaping business or a lawn and garden supply, the webinar, titled “Overspray = Overpay: What Your Customers Need to Know about Efficient Irrigation” provides valuable tips and information that you can share with your customers about effective and efficient watering practices. Several irrigation experts will be taking part in the webinar, offering essential info on both residential and commercial water management.

The webinar is scheduled for March 13, at 11:00 a.m. Central Time. Visit the Alliance for Water Efficiency webpage for information on the webinar and to register. 

IISG offers undergrad internships to celebrate 30 years

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is celebrating 30 years of researching, preserving, and protecting our waterways, and we’re looking ahead to the next 30 years as well by offering new undergraduate summer internships.

The Summer Student Internship Program is an opportunity for successful applicants to spend 12 weeks working with a Sea Grant specialist directly on issues affecting the Great Lakes. Internship projects will include research, communications, and outreach components, and applicants will also have the opportunity to participate in activities outside of their specific internship duties.

Internships are available in the following areas:

•             Aquatic invasive species

•             Implementation of a real-time monitoring buoy in Lake Michigan

•             Great Lakes limnological sampling and data management

•             Water supply economics and planning

In addition to these being a terrific way for students to expand their resume and develop on-the-job skills, these are also paid internships. Interns will receive between $10.00-$12.00/hour for 37.5 hours per week, and will be considered temporary employees of either Purdue University or the University of Illinois. The intern positions will be based in either West Lafayette, IN or Chicago, IL, and some travel and/or weekend work may be expected. Interns are responsible for the cost of housing plus transportation to and from their work place.

To apply, send application materials via email to Angela Archer, amcbride@purdue.edu by 5:00 PM ET on March 19th, 2012. Successful applicants will be notified of their acceptance by mid-April 2012. Internships are expected to start May 14, 2012 and end August 3, 2012. You can also contact Angela for additional information at the e-mail above or by phone at 765-496-3722.

For complete information about the internships, including required application materials, specifics for each of the positions, and more, please visit the internship website. And get ready to be a part of the next 30 years of Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s efforts to preserve and protect our water resources.