Kylee Wilson participated in a Women in STEM panel for her alma mater, Le Moyne College, on Monday, February 27. She joined three other alumnae to give young women in STEM majors information on graduate school. We are very proud of Kylee helping the next generation of women in STEM!

Dr. Stu Ludsin co-chaired the Scientific Committee for the Great Lakes of the World (GLOW) Conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania this week. The conference was titled, “GLOW10: Celebrating 25 years of Great Lakes of the World: Lessons learned and future perspectives for the Great Lakes.”

Dr. Ludsin and conference co-chair Dr. Mohi Munawar

GLOW is a chapter of the Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management Society (AEHMS). The conference was sponsored by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, and Lake Tanganyika Authority. The conference will result in a special issue of the journal Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management.

Stu gave three talks throughout the week, including a keynote address:

• Needs for and challenges to successful implementation of ecosystem-based approaches in the world’s Great Lakes.
• Overview of the 2019 CSMI program designed to understand harmful algal bloom & hypoxia impacts on Lake Erie’s webs.
• Keynote: Understanding and anticipating fish community change in large, human-dominated lakes: lessons learned from North American Great Lakes.

Researchers and fisheries biologists from across the state gathered in Columbus for a two-day conference on the status of research on the fisheries of Lake Erie and Ohio’s inland waters on December 8 & 9. Dr. Ludsin and the Aquatic Ecology Lab hosted the event at the 4H center on OSU’s campus.

Stu presented a talk titled, “The wicked problem of managing multiple fishery and water quality services: insights from a century of change in Lake Erie.”

Many other folks from the AEL, the Ohio Division of Wildlife, and many other universities in Ohio presented on many topics and taxa related to fisheries management in Ohio.

Dr. Ludsin was invited to give a talk to the Biology Department at Ball State University on Friday, Novemeber 18.

He presented a talk titled, “Past and anticipated impacts of human-driven environmental change on Lake Erie’s fisheries and fish communities: a tale of change and tradeoffs.”

Kylee Wilson was invited to give a talk at Millersville University in Pennsylvania by Dr. Isaac Ligocki, a one-time technician for Stu Ludsin at the AEL.

Kylee briefly presented via Zoom on November 9 on her ongoing PhD project here at the AEL as well as a more thorough look at her master’s project on Lake Ontario yellow perch.

Dr. Ludsin is welcoming Kylee Wilson as his new PhD student this fall. Kylee joins us from SUNY Brockport after completing her master’s on Lake Ontario yellow perch. Kylee will work with Stu on a project in coordination with the Ohio Division of Wildlife exploring the relationship with Lake Erie yellow perch and the invasive zooplankton Bythotrephes.

Kylee has hit the ground running with her first few weeks filled with field work, helping out on Yifan’s catfish project, and even spending a week at Stone Lab to help coordinate the Fisheries Science Training workshop!

Long-time AEL postdoc, Dr. Rich Budnik is off to join the Ohio EPA’s fish contaminants division. We are excited to have another AEL alum at the Ohio EPA, and we look forward to seeing the great science Dr. Budnik will surely produce!

Dr. Ludsin and colleagues at the AEL, Ohio Sea Grant, NOAA, and Michigan State University coordinated the Great Lakes Fisheries Science Training (FST) Workshop in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics from July 29 through August 6 of this summer.

Participants arrived in Columbus on Friday, July 29 and were greeted by workshop coordinators. Saturday they enjoyed lecture and lab sessions at the AEL, and Sunday they traveled to Stone Lab after a stop in Milan, Ohio, for stream sampling and a stop at Old Woman Creek estuary for kayaking and education on the unique value of the estuary. Participants then spent the week at Stone Lab learning all about fisheries science from a wonderful group of scientists and professionals in the Great Lakes fisheries science community.

In mid-May the AEL welcomed the 6th graders from the Indianola Informal School for first time since the pandemic. The students had a day packed with learning about aquatic ecosystems!

AELers put together great sessions on:

• Aquatic ecosystems and food webs – the students heard a short lecture from Lyndsie and Devan and then participated in a food web activity
• Collecting data and sampling in aquatic environments – the students donned waders and hopped into the vernal pond by the AEL with some assistance and education from Stu, Hannah, Neal, Rich, and Yifan
• Mussels! – AEL alumna Kaitlin Ulin gave a short lecture and brought some mussels to demonstrate
• Nutrient cycling and pollution – Morgan and Matthew put together a wonderful new demonstration with colorful chemistry
• Otoliths – Steven & Alex showed students learned how otoliths are used to age fish and how the oto rings are analogous to tree rings
• Plankton – Cathy & Willi showed the students live plankton under the microscope

Thanks to all the AELers for their hard work in sharing our knowledge, and to Libby for helping coordinate with the teachers to make this event a success!

Dr. Ludsin and other AELers attended  the Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting (JASM) May 14-20 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Stu was a session co-organizer for Exploring past, present, and future of Lake Erie: physicochemical and food web change and their application to ecosystem-based management. He also gave two talks:

• An integrated approach to understand harmful algal bloom and hypoxia impacts on Lake Erie’s food webs
• When nutrient abatement meets climate change: Projected impacts on Lake Erie and its watershed

For a complete list of AEL members’ contributions, see the AEL website.