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Nerd Nite #65 - A Tale of Two Lakes: Eutrophy in Western Lake Erie and Oligotrophy in Lake Michigan
In Western Lake Erie, massive mats of blue-green algae blossom every summer, stirring up memories of the 2014 Toledo Water Crisis with every reappearance. Meanwhile, in Lake Michigan, there are nearly as many invasive mussels in the lake as there are gallons of water. Each mussel is the size of a thumbnail and, under the right conditions, their combined force can filter the entire volume of water in Lake Michigan in less than a week. The resulting crystal clear waters are great for beachgoers but extremely problematic for the lake ecosystem. In this talk, Christine discusses some of the causes of eutrophy (too much vegetation) in Western Lake Erie and oligotrophy (too little vegetation) in Lake Michigan and how lake-wide management strategies for one problem can exacerbate another.
About Christine:
Christine Kitchens is a research technician at the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research at the University of Michigan. She graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science from North Carolina State University and an M.S. in Conservation Ecology from the University of Michigan. While she performs a variety of tasks at the cooperative institute, she primarily spends her days helping monitor and understand harmful algal blooms in Western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. When she does manage to find some free time, she spends it running around doing more volunteering with the Huron River Watershed Council and other various local environmental organizations, playing video/board games, and basically being a massive nerd in all facets of life.
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League of Women Voters Forum: Line 5 and Other Challenges Impacting the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes Committee of the Ann Arbor chapter of the League of Women Voters hosts a panel discussion on challenges facing the Great Lakes, with an update on the Line 5 oil pipeline. A panel of experts, including Dr. Eric Anderson (NOAA) and Liz Kirkwood (Executive Director, FLOW), presents and discusses the issues.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
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Author Maureen Dunphy Discusses Her Michigan Notable Book "Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure"
The Great Lakes Basin is the largest surface freshwater system on Earth and there are more than 30,000 islands dotted throughout. A surprising number of islands—each with its own character and often harboring more than a bit of intrigue in its history—can be reached by merely taking a ferry ride, or crossing a bridge, offering everyone the chance to experience a variety of island adventures.
Author Maureen Dunphy made numerous trips to a total of 135 islands that are accessible by ferry or bridge in the Great Lakes Basin. On each trip, Dunphy was accompanied by a different friend or relative who provided her another adventurer’s perspective through which to view the island experience. Her book, Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure, explores over 30 of these islands.
This 2017 Michigan Notable Book covers islands on both sides of the international border between the United States and Canada and features islands in both the lakes and the waterways that connect them. Anyone interested in island travel or learning more about the Great Lakes will delight in this comprehensive collection.
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Michigan Notable Author Anna Clark Discusses Michigan Authors and Her Book "Michigan Literary Luminaries: From Elmore Leonard to Robert Hayden"
From Ernest Hemingway’s rural adventures to the gritty fiction of Joyce Carol Oates, the landscape of the “Third Coast” has inspired generations of the nation’s greatest storytellers.
Michigan Notable author Anna Clark explores Michigan’s extraordinary written culture as she discusses Michigan authors and her new book, Michigan Literary Luminaries: From Elmore Leonard to Robert Hayden.
This fascinating book is a shines a spotlight on this rich heritage of the Great Lakes State with a mixture of history, literary criticism, and original reporting. Discover how Saginaw greenhouses shaped the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Theodore Roethke. Compare the common traits of Detroit crime writers like Elmore Leonard and Donald Goines. Learn how Dudley Randall revolutionized American literature by doing for poets what Motown Records did for musicians.
Anna Clark is a freelance journalist in Detroit. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The American Prospect, Grantland, Vanity Fair, the Columbia Journalism Review, Next City, and other publications. She is the director of applications for Write A House and founder of Literary Detroit. Anna also edited A Detroit Anthology, a 2015 Michigan Notable Book.
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Still Missing: Michigan's Mysterious Disappearances and Shipwrecks
What do a mild mannered grocery store manager from Northern Michigan and the infamous skyjacker D.B. Cooper have in common? How can a married couple and the aircraft they were traveling in just disappear over a populated area? What really happened to the freighter that sailed out of Grand Haven, over the horizon and into oblivion?
Join author and shipwreck hunter Ross Richardson in exploring the baffling disappearances of a person, a plane, and a ship, and other mysterious unsolved disappearances in the Michigan Region.
Ross Richardson was the National Writer Series Author Next Door for October 2014, and the Grand Traverse Scene Magazine named his book Still Missing to their Notable Michigan Books list. He has spent the last decade and a half researching Great Lakes maritime history and searching for the Michigan Region’s missing aircraft and ships. He has been involved with over a dozen shipwreck discoveries, including recent discoveries in Northern Lake Michigan. Previously, Richardson penned the book The Search for the Westmoreland, Lake Michigan's Treasure Shipwreck. He operates a popular website, Michigan Mysteries, which is dedicated to missing persons, missing aircraft, and missing ships.
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Long Distance Hiking: Tales from the Trail
Long distance hiker Chris "Wolverine" Hillier earned his "Triple Crown" title by completing the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail, covering a total distance of about 7,900 miles. He was also the first to hike Michigan's 924-mile trail that reaches from Belle Isle to Ironwood. Chris will share his love for hiking through photos and stories, and pass along some of the lessons he has learned firsthand on the trail.
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Tom Hayden: A Call to Battle Against the Climate Crisis
Tom Hayden, a U-M graduate and California environmental leader, discusses his work as an activist, and how Michigan and the Great Lakes region can move the U.S. towards the protections of a clean energy economy. He believes the problems of economic recession and climate crisis must be addressed in a Global Green New Deal.
After over 50 years of activism, politics, and writing, Tom Hayden is still a leading voice for ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, for eradicating sweatshops, saving the environment, and reforming politics through a more participatory democracy. He was a leader of the student, civil rights, peace and environmental movements of the 1960s, and went on to serve 18 years in the California legislature, where he chaired labor, higher education and natural resources committees.
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AADL Productions Podcast: AA/Ypsi Reads Author Jerry Dennis
In this episode, 2010 Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Reads author Jerry Dennis stops by to talk about Reads title The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas. Apart from being an award-winning nature writer, Jerry is also a lifelong Michigander whose experience of the Great Lakes reaches back to boyhood fishing trips. In this interview we learn about his life as a writer and what he has learned about the lakes through his research and many conversations with the people who live along them. We also get to hear his feelings about what makes the lakes so important to Michigan and Michigan so important to the fight to keep the lakes healthy. You can also watch the video of Jerry's presentation at Washtenaw Community College in the AADL Video Collection.
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US Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center will discuss their research that takes place on the Great Lakes, including deep-water science, invasive species, coastal ecosystems, restoration ecology, and environmental health. Speakers include: Dr. David Warner (USGS Deepwater Science Program); Dr. Bruce Manny (Restoration of Fish Spawning Habitat in the Huron-Erie Corridor); Joseph Baustian (Reconnecting Coastal Wetlands in the Great Lakes Basin to Improve Ecosystem Functioning); David Galbraith (Forecasting Invasive Phragmites Expansion in the Great Lakes Coastal Zone) Headquartered in Ann Arbor, The Great Lakes Science Center exists to meet the Nation's need for scientific information for restoring, enhancing, managing, and protecting living resources and their habitats in the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. The Center has biological stations and research vessels located throughout the Great Lakes Basin and is the only federal agency that has a large research vessel (70 ft.+) operating on all five Great Lakes!
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Women's History Month Event: Michigan History Magazine Editor Patricia Majher Discusses Her New Book "Ladies Of The Lights: Michigan Women In The U.S. Lighthouse Service"
Michigan leads the country in the number of lighthouses, and they're still a central part of the mystique and colorful countryside of the state. What even lighthouse enthusiasts might not know is the rich history of female lighthouse keepers in the area.Join us as Michigan History Magazine Editor Patricia Majher discusses the history of more than 50 of these women who served the Michigan sailing community with dedication and distinction from 1849 to 1954. She will tell the fascinating stories of 10 of these women, who are also featured in her new book "Ladies Of The Lights: Michigan Women In The U.S. Lighthouse Service." A booksigning will follow and books will be on sale at the event.Lighthouse keeping was a rugged life of long hours and hard work punctuated by periods of real peril. Imagine how it felt to be one of the rare women admitted into this profession: challenged to their limits, yet loving every minute of it. Celebrate Women's History Month and learn more about this unique facet of Michigan history.