AEL undergrads advised by Stu, Jacob Bentley and Kristina Fite, recently defended their undergraduate theses. We congratulate these students on their academic achievements and their upcoming graduations!

Jacob will stay on at the AEL to complete his master’s on a similar project as his undergraduate research. His undergradate thesis was titled, “Seasonal varition in the feeding ecology of Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) in Ohio reservoirs.”

Kristina will continue on at the AEL as a technician on the microcystin project. Her thesis was titled, “Understanding the distribution of microcystin in Lake Erie’s food web.”

Kylee Wilson attended the Great Lakes Fishery Commission Lower Lakes Committee Meetings March 29-30. This the Lake Erie Committee’s annual public meeting to review progress towards fishery objectives.

Kylee mostly participated in the Lake Erie portion of the meeting. She attended research talks on the status of the Lake Erie fishery, and made connections with other researchers working on Lake Erie. This was a great opportunity, and we are grateful to Kylee for representing the AEL at this meeting!

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.