27Mar 2024 by Moira Harrington

Water Resources Institute recognized for strong science, science communication and student support

Every five years, the University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute (WRI) is evaluated to determine eligibility for continued support under the federal Water Resources Research Act of 1984, which is administered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). WRI recently received the results of that review of 2016-20 research, student support and information transfer. The headline is the USGS found that WRI is “performing at an outstanding level.” The USGS review panel assessed WRI’s effectiveness in using its federal grant, as well as required matching funds, which come from the state of Wisconsin. The panel also called out notable features in how WRI operates: The support for high-quality research, with a special call-out to collaborative work on mercury cycling with UW-Madison and the USGS’s Mercury Research Lab. Another factor that was…

04Jan 2024 by Moira Harrington

Variable fellowship brings learning and results for all involved

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In the roughly six months she has been the 2023 Water Science Policy Fellow, Sarah Gravlee’s throughline has been science, in many forms. It’s been her head-down task to complete a literature review of the hurdles facing public water systems. Gravlee’s been checking for lead water-service lines to a location where someone has applied for day care certification. She’s been fielding phone calls from people across Wisconsin with questions about contaminants in their private wells. There was also the meth house. [caption id="attachment_4057" align="alignleft" width="300"] Fellow Sarah Gravlee is connecting Wisconsin residents with information about water.[/caption] “I joined one of our toxicologists in the field a few months ago,” Gravlee said. “We went to a home where someone used to smoke meth. We tested it to ensure it was safe…

05Jun 2023 by Moira Harrington

Summer loving and the research is fine

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When summer stretches before many college undergraduates, they make plans: Spend time outdoors. Connect with friends. Catch up on screen time. For the 31 undergraduates participating in the 2023 Freshwater@UW Summer Research Scholars Program, those plans are the same, with slight alterations. The time outdoors is likely to be spent collecting field samples from a body of water. The friends are new ones—made from the pool of program participants who hail from California to Alabama from Virginia to Wisconsin, and points in between. The screen time isn’t about beating The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but instead entering findings into a larger dataset to further aquatic science projects. “I looked at many summer REU (research experiences for undergraduates) opportunities,” Sofia Mota Chichy, chemistry major from the University of…

05Jun 2023 by Moira Harrington

Summer loving and the research is fine

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When summer stretches before many college undergraduates, they make plans: Spend time outdoors. Connect with friends. Catch up on screen time. For the 31 undergraduates participating in the 2023 Freshwater@UW Summer Research Scholars Program, those plans are the same, with slight alterations. The time outdoors is likely to be spent collecting field samples from a body of water. The friends are new ones—made from the pool of program participants who hail from California to Alabama from Virginia to Wisconsin, and points in between. The screen time isn’t about beating The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but instead entering findings into a larger dataset to further aquatic science projects. “I looked at many summer REU (research experiences for undergraduates) opportunities,” Sofia Mota Chichy, chemistry major from the University of…

04Nov 2019 by Moira Harrington

Aquatic invasive species are short-circuiting benefits from mercury reduction in the Great Lakes

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Nov. 4, 2019 by Moira Harrington According to a new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 40 years of reduced mercury use, emissions, and loading in the Great Lakes region have largely not produced equivalent declines in the amount of mercury accumulating in large game fish. Researchers, including those from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, say it’s this is due to aquatic invasive species in Lake Michigan — quagga and zebra mussels — that have upended the food web and forced fish to seek atypical food sources enriched in mercury. Mercury, or methylmercury as it exists in fish, is a neurotoxin that can cause damage to the nervous system if consumed by people or animals. The study has consequences for health officials and natural resource…