Spring 2018 eNewsletter

March Minute: Christine Kitchens

Christine Kitchens is an Aquatic Ecology Research Technician assisting with harmful algal bloom monitoring in western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. She began her work as a graduate student with CIGLR Research Scientist Dr. Thomas Johengen investigating the abundance and vitality of winter Microcystis populations in Lake Erie. Christine holds a Master’s degree in Conservation Ecology from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment (now the School for Environment and Sustainability).

April Minute: Asian Carp Research

Invasive species are perhaps the greatest stressor currently facing the Great Lakes aquatic ecosystem. Some of them, like the Asian carps, have been identified as potential invasive species. Asian carp are highly abundant in the Illinois River and have been captured 47 miles away from Lake Michigan. They threaten to invade the Great Lakes and disrupt aquatic food webs and fisheries through their voracious consumption of large volumes of plankton. CIGLR has produced models for Lake Erie that show if Asian carps were to invade, they would dominate the fish community and seriously devalue the vital recreational and commercial fisheries present there. Currently, Dr. Hongyan Zhang, Peter Alsip (University of Michigan graduate student) and colleagues are working to develop similar ecosystem models to assess the Asian carp threat in the other Great Lakes and their embayments.

May Minute: Deanna Fyffe

Deanna Fyffe is an Aquatic Ecology Research Technician working alongside CIGLR Research Scientist Dr. Thomas Johengen. Deanna started at CIGLR as a 2017 Great Lakes Summer Fellow and has since transitioned to working full-time on projects related to Lake Erie harmful algal blooms. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Miami University in Ohio.