From Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute, we send the heartiest of wishes for a restful holiday season. Scrolling through this imagery and celebrating the past 12 months of research, education and outreach might contribute to that tranquility.
Worth of Water
What water means for our health and livelihood is incalculable, right? Yet researchers funded by the Water Resources Institute were in fact able to gauge the cost of clean water. James Price, an environmental economist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, compared the relative costs of protecting groundwater at its source versus treating that water at a plant.
Resources for distance learning
Halfway through a disrupted school year, K-12 educators and students alike grappled with learning during the coronavirus. Sea Grant made available new video/worksheet combinations for distance learning and, for a bit of fun, Great Lakes coloring sheets.
Winter
When we virtually gathered for our Fellows Convocation and Awards Event, it was the ideal tonic for the winter blues and pandemic fatigue. More than 70 people came together to honor 20 master’s, Ph.D. or postdoctoral fellows; six undergraduate students who participated in the 2020 Sea Grant Community Engaged Internship Program, one of whom was also the winner of the Weston Scholarship; two federally elected officials who received Friend of Sea Grant Awards; the first-ever Wisconsin Sea Grant Great Lakes Champion Award winner; and two recipients of the Wisconsin Sea Grant Actionable Science Award.
Spring
Flooding
Under a changing climate all of us are going to be called upon to muster resiliency. In Sea Grant’s wheelhouse, that’s both a word and a set of practices, whether it’s assisting property owners on Lake Superior’s shore coping with high water levels, communities wanting to install green infrastructure or residents of homes near Green Bay’s East River, an area prone to spring flooding. Our outreach specialists are working with partners to study the river’s neighborhood and develop mitigation strategies.
Awards
In the spring, our communications team wrapped up a busy time preparing and submitting material for international writing, graphic design, videography and podcasting award competitions. That effort led to an impressive payoff and well-deserved recognition from the University and College Designers Association, Apex and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education for a total of 10 awards in 2021.
Spring Planting
When the snow recedes from the fields and warm spring winds blow, it’s time to plant. For a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension investigator in the Central Sands area that means validating the hypothesis of some Water Resources Institute-funded research on potato cultivation that might reduce nitrate leaching to the groundwater while not reducing crop yield.
Summer
Beach Ambassadors
Sea Grant and partners piloted a well-received program on Milwaukee’s Bradford Beach last summer. The popular Lake Michigan setting was without lifeguards and a corps of beach ambassadors shared water safety information with those enjoying waves and sand.
PFAS Workshops
More than 50 academics and those who work at state agencies participated in a virtual workshop to forge a research agenda on the contaminant and human-health danger per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are found in Wisconsin’s air, land and water — and even the rain that falls in our state. Sea Grant and the Water Resources Institute conducted the meeting along with the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene.
Lab Learners
Sandra McLellan is a prolific and talented researcher who has identified the sources of contamination on Milwaukee beaches. This year, she also provided laboratory and field work experiences for youth involved in a 16th Street Community Health Center summer program who analyzed beach samples in a state-of-the art lab at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.
Fall
Atlantic Salmon Aquaculture
Satisfying U.S. consumers’ taste for fresh Atlantic salmon got easier with the fall announcement of a new five-year $10 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that will build the domestic aquaculture industry, providing Wisconsin jobs and closing the seafood trade deficit that stands at more than $16.8 billion. Partners on this research effort include the Maine and Maryland Sea Grant programs.
Coastal Property Guides
Marine Sanctuary
A new partner joined the Wisconsin roster of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs promoting the stewardship of Lake Michigan when the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary was designated in the fall. Sea Grant has a 30-plus-year history of supporting maritime archaeology, providing funding for projects and a website, wisconsinshipwrecks.org, with details on the more than 250 wrecks in Wisconsin’s Great Lakes waters.