When the folks at the Ohio Supercomputer Center reached out to see if the AEL could talk about aquatic ecosystems for a group of 6th & 7th graders, we said, ABSOLUTELY! Their annual Youth Watershed Summer Institute is a weeklong camp for middle school students to learn about applying STEM skills to watershed problems.

On July 8, Jenny Pfaff and Ludsin Lab technicians, Neil Hamrick and Steven Gratz, walked next door to the super computer center to meet with the students. Neil gave a great presentation about foodwebs, ecosystems, and some of the work we do at the AEL. After a small activity to show how much more complex foodwebs can be compared to our simplistic ideas of food chains, we led the students back to the AEL for a tour of our labs.

Matthew Sens showed the students how we process samples from watersheds to assess nutrient content. Megan Garvey showed the students Lake Erie zooplankton and explained their role in the ecosystem. Finally, Neil dissected a yellow perch stomach for the students to see! What followed was a great discussion about how we sample the habitats we study, why we have to sample throughout the season, and how we take care to only take the fish we need to answer the questions we are asking.

Dr. Stu Ludsin hosted the Annual Meeting of the Early Life History Section of the American Fisheries Society in Huron, Ohio, May 12-16. Over four days 70+ researchers from at least 10 different countries across four continents gathered to share larval fish research in 43 talks and 23 posters.

Other AELers involved in the planning and organization of the conference include lab manager Jenny Pfaff, who coordinated most logistics with the conference venue and conference events, AEL alum Kristen Fussell (Ohio Sea Grant & Stone Laboratory), who helped coordinate a field trip and larval fish ID workshop at Stone Lab, and recent AEL graduate Paula Joseph, who presented her undergraduate thesis in the poster session.

AELers gathered for a wonderful picnic potluck hosted by Jim Hood. A great time was had by all, especially everyone who got to watch the new lab members who hadn’t yet learned how difficult it is to outlast the stamina of young children in feats of endurance and strength!

The shortbreads, spring rolls, and kebabs, were hits, and we were all grateful for the opportunity to gather one last time before some of our fellow AELers head off for summer field seasons out of state.

Olivia Houpt and Paula Joseph are both undergraduate researchers with Dr. Stu Ludsin here at the AEL. Both of these accomplished and hard-working students have successfully defended their undergraduate theses in preparation for their upcoming graduation with research distinction!

Olivia’s thesis is titled, Understanding the impact of invasive Bythotrephes longimanus on Yellow Perch angling success in western Lake Erie.

Paula’s thesis is titled, Assessing Sandusky River’s Contribution to Western Lake Erie’s Walleye population: Pre-Dam Removal Perspectives and Management Implications.

Congratulations to both Paula and Olivia on their hard work and diligence in these efforts!

Ludsin Lab PhD student Kylee Wilson and master’s student

Andrew Foley attended the 9th World Fisheries Congress in Seattle at the beginning of March. Kylee and Andrew also met with Jarrod Ludwig, a master’s student at Kylee’s former institution, SUNY Brockport; Jarrod has also helped with sample processing on AEL projects.

Kylee presented a talk at the conference, titled, Determinants of Yellow Perch angling success in Lake Erie.

Ludsin Lab was very well represented at the Ohio Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting March 14-15, 2024. The meeting was organized by current Ohio Chapter of AFS president and Ludsin Lab research technician, Steven Gratz. There were also three presentations by Ludsin Lab members, including the plenary talk by Stu Ludsin and two catfish presentations. Abstracts of presentations can be found here.

• Plenary: Stu Ludsin, Managing fisheries in a changing ecosystem: Lessons learned from 30 years of Lake Erie research
• Steven Gratz, Exploring spatial and seasonal stable isotope variation of Channel Catfish and Blue Catfish within a reservoir
• Jacob Bentley, Food web dynamics and ecological niche of Blue Catfish and other sport fish in Hoover Reservoir using stable isotopes

Dr. Stu Ludsin gave an invited talk to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Board of Technical Experts on Tuesday, March 5th. The talk presented findings from a recently completed GLFC project, entitled “Physiochemical and energy landscapes as a driver of Lake Erie walleye population dynamics: past, present & future”, for which former Ludsin Lab member, David Dippold, did his PhD research and several former AEL post-docs (Noel Aloysius, Michael Fraker, Conor Keitzer, and David Glover) conducted research.

Ludsin Lab was represented at the 84th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, January 28-31, 2024.

Jacob Bentley, MS student studying under Stu Ludsin, and his research technician, Steven Gratz, both presented on Ohio Division of Wildlife funded research on catfish in Ohio reservoirs.

Jacob’s talk was titled, Feeding Ecology of Reservoir-Dwelling Ictalurids in Sympatry and Allopatry.

Steven’s talk was titled, Characterizing Variation in Feeding and Habitat Use of Blue Catfish and Channel Catfish in Reservoirs: A Stable Isotope Approach. Additionally, in his role as Ohio Chapter of the American Fisheries Society president, Steven accepted the award for American Fisheries Society – North Central Division Best Chapter Communications Award.