I. Departmental/Bureau News

Upcoming:

Current:
Staff of the U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station (LMERS), will be participating in the Bioblitz being organized by the National Geographic Society and the National Park Service on May 15-16, 2009. LMERS will have a USGS booth at the "sustainability" fair at the Bioblitz. They will show powerpoint presentations, have sign up sheets to have fact sheets emailed to those interested, demonstrations of sustainable solar technology, and displays of different organisms. Staff will be conducting public biodiversity hikes and will also participate in biological diversity inventories.
Contact: Noel Pavlovic, npavlovic@usgs.gov, 219-926-8336 x428

Martha Carlson of the U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, will give a lecture on wetlands to the Garden Club Environmental School at Matthai Botannical Gardens in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, May 13. The lecture will cover types of wetlands, ecosystem values, biodiversity, and protection.
Contact: Martha Carlson, mcalrson, 734-214-7221

On May 19, Dr. Noel Pavlovic and Dr. Ralph Grundel of the U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station (LMERS) will host a field trip organized by the Sara Hotchkiss of the Center for Culture, History, and Environment, University of Wisconsin. The place based field trip will focus on the Chicago area with the dune portion focussing on the historical significance of the Indiana Dunes to the science of ecology.
Contact: Noel Pavlovic, npavlovic@usgs.gov, 219-926-8336 x428

Dr. Noel Pavlovic, of the U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station (LMERS) will present a talk titled "Historical and contemporary dune building processes and succession at the Indiana Dunes" to the interpretive staff of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on May 28.
Contact: Noel Pavlovic, npavlovic@usgs.gov, 219-926-8336 x428

Scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center will give the following presentations at the 52^nd Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research of the International Association of Great Lakes Research May 18-22, 2009 in Toledo, OH.

Presentations:

• Warner, D.M., Schaeffer, J. S. and Claramunt, R. M. Abundance and Distribution of Native and Non-native Species in the Changing Pelagia of Lakes Huron and Michigan
• Gorman, O. T. The Demersal Fish Community of Offshore Waters of Lake Superior: Stability in the Midst of Change in Nearshore Communities?
• Stapanian, M. A., Micacchion, M. and Adams, J. V. Soil Chemistry of Natural and Constructed Wetlands: A Multivariate Approach for Determining Biotic Integrity
• Kennedy, Gregory, Manny, Bruce, Craig, Jaquie. Egg Deposition, Distribution and Spawning Habitat Preference of Fish in the Detroit River, North America
• Mida, Julie. Condition of the Opossum Shrimp (Mysis relicta) in Lakes Michigan and Huron, 2007: Preliminary Results of Lipid Analyses
• Kocovsky, P. M. Morphological Differences of Yellow Perch Across and Within Management Units in Lake Erie
• Roseman, E. F., O'Brien, T. P., and Daley, B. Larval Fish Community of the Detroit River.
• Schloesser, D W, J Robbins, T F Nalepa, and N Moorehead. Burrowing Mayflies (Hexagenia spp.) in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron: historic and paleoecologic records. 52^nd Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research.
• Schloesser, D W, F M Soster, W J Edwards, G Matisoff, and K Krieger. Hexagenia spp. in western Lake Erie-- an update of abundance of this sentinel taxon. 52^nd Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research.
• Loope, Walter. Mid-Holocene dune stabilization in interior eastern Upper Michigan: a response to biogeomorphic or physical agents?
• Kowalski, Kurt. Examination of Longnose Gar Movement in a Lake Erie Coastal Wetland Using a High-Resolution Acoustic Camera (DIDSON)

Poster Presentations:

• Porta, M. J., Edwards, W. H., and Bur, M. T. A Comparison of Three Methods for Estimating Ages of Lake Erie White Perch

Special Session Chairs and Co-chairs:

• Jeffrey Schaeffer is co-chair of Upper Great Lakes Food Webs, Conditions, and Assessments.
• Don Schloesser is co-chair of Biological Communities; Changing Benthic Populations in the Great Lakes -- Near and Far.
• Bruce Manny is chair of History, Ecology, and Management of Fisheries in Great Lakes Connecting Channels
• Edward Roseman is co-chair of History, Ecology, and Management of Fisheries in Great Lakes Connecting Channels

Jim McKenna, Research Ecologist, of the U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, has been invited to give a presentation as part of the "Using Best Available Science to Protect and Restore Aquatic Systems: Integrating Advances in Ecological Theory into Assessment Approaches and Management Applications" Symposium at the 57^th Annual Meeting of the North American Benthological Society, May 16-23, 2009 in Grand Rapids, MI. His presentation, "A Flexible, Multi-scale Lotic Habitat Classification System for the Great Lakes" is co-authored with Jeffrey Schaeffer also of the Great Lakes Science Center and Jana Stewart of the USGS Wisconsin Water Research Center.
Contact: Jim McKenna, jemckenna@usgs.gov, 607-753-9391)

Richard Whitman and Murulee Byappanahalli of the U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center, will present a poster co-authored by Meredith Nevers at the 109^thAnnual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) being held May 17-21 in Philadelphia. The presentation, titled “Improving Great Lakes Coastal Recreational Water Quality Monitoring and Forecasting,” highlights work being conducted under the Ocean Research Priorities Plan in coordination with scientists/co-authors from the USGS Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio Water Science Centers. Richard Whitman will be attending the conference in the official capacity as chair-elect for the Division for Environmental and General Microbiology. Murulee Byappanahalli will attend the editorial board meeting for ASM's journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Contact: Richard Whitman, rwhitman@usgs.gov, 219-926-8336 ext. 424)

II. Press Inquiries/Media

Broadcast and Film:

Upcoming News Releases:

Forum meeting, press conference, media training, etc.:

III. Agency Work on Presidential Initiatives

IV. Notable Congressional Activity

V. Key FOIA Requests

VI. Departmental/Bureau News