Minnegram student news

David Adams received a masters degree August 2023 with a thesis entitled The Effect of Annual and Seasonal Variation in Precipitation on Temporal Water Storage Dynamics in Six Headwater Peatland Catchments: Marcell Experimental Forest, Minnesota. Adams was advised by Salli Dymond.

Nichole Angell received a masters degree in September 2023 with a thesis entitled Cost-effectiveness of aquatic invasive species prevention techniques. Angell was advised by Nick Phelps.

David Baldus received a masters degree in September 2023. Baldus was advised by Karen Gran and John Swenson.

Megan Corum received a masters degree in November 2023 with a thesis entitled Diel and horizontal patterns in the densities of Bythotrephes, Chaoborus, and Leptodora in a Minnesota Reservoir. Corum was advised by Donn Branstrator.

Audrey Huff received a doctoral degree in August 2023 with a dissertation entitled Dreissenid-Mediated Energy and Nutrient Cycling in Profundal Regions of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Huff was advised by Ted Ozersky.

Denver Link received a masters degree in August 2023 with a thesis entitled Mercury concentration and aquatic food web alterations associated with zebra mussel invasion in Minnesota lakes. Link was advised by Gretchen Hansen.

Jake Zunker received a masters degree in August 2023 with a thesis entitled Characterizing Terrestrially-Derived Organic Matter in Sediments of Laurentian Great Lakes Superior and Huron. Zunker was advised by Kathryn Schreiner and will continue working toward his doctoral degree.

Jeremy Laurich received a masters degree in December 2023 with a thesis entitled Natural Growing Conditions Related to the Size and Nutritional Contents of Wild Rice Seeds.  Laurich was advised by Nathan Johnson.

Mohamed Ouarani received a doctoral degree in December 2023 with a dissertation entitled Integrated Hydrological Modeling for Sustainable Water Resources Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Coastal Regions: Essaouira Basin (Morocco). Ouarani was advised by David Mulla.

Bailey Tangen received a masters degree in December 2023 with a thesis entitled Soil health system impacts on soil hydraulic functions in southern Minnesota. Tangen was advised by Anna Cates.

Zac Aannerud presented Balancing Crop Yield and Environmental Sustainability: Nitrogen Management in Corn Fields at the 2023 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in St. Louis, MO. Aannerud is advised by Fabian Fernandez. 

Zixuan Chen presented a poster Reactive transport modeling of Fe-S-C cycling: investigating the impacts of dynamic hydrologic conditions at a riparian wetland at the American Geophysical Union conference, in San Francisco, CA. Chen is advised by 
Crystal Ng.

Leah Glimsdal presented Anthropogenic sound increases zooplankton susceptibility to fish predation beneath lake ice at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting, in Austin TX. Glimsdal is advised by Allen Mensinger.

Elise Miller presented Impacts of Basal Area and Hillslope Position on Hydraulic Redistribution in a Coast Redwood Forest at the American Geophysical Union conference, San Francisco, CA. Miller is advised by Salli Dymond.

Bailey Tangen presented Assessing the Effects of Agricultural Management Systems on Soil Architecture and Soil Moisture in Southern Minnesota at the 2023 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, in St. Louis, MO. Tangen was advised by Anna Cates. 

New WRS faculty:

Kun Zhang - Duluth - Full Member - Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering

Nichole Angell attended the UCOWR/NIWR Conference in Fort Collins, CO June 13-15, 2023. Angell presented a poster: Aquatic invasive species prevention: getting the best bang for the buck! and was awarded third place in the poster competition. Angell is advised by Nicholas Phelps.

Matthew Belanger received a masters degree in June 2023 with a thesis entitled Assessing the Implications of Chloride from Land Application of Manure for Minnesota Waterways.  Belanger was advised by Melissa Wilson and Erin Cortus.

Elizabeth Boor received a masters degree in July 2023 with a thesis entitled Chemicals of Emerging Concern in Minnesota Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems.  Boor was advised by Sara Heger.

Mark Ellman received a masters degree in July 2023 with a thesis entitled Effects of Winter Hypoxia on Fish Communities in Northern Wisconsin.  Ellman was advised by Thomas Hrabik.

Adam Frankiewicz presented Using Geometric Morphometric Analysis to Separate two Species of Sphaeriidae (Sphaerium simile and Sphaerium striatinum).at the American Malacological Society Annual Meeting, August 2023, in Tuscaloosa, AL. Frankiewicz is advised by Valerie Brady and John Pastor.

Mariel Jones presented Snow, Soil Frost, and Hydrologic Connectivity in Peatland Dominated Watersheds at the Western Snow Conference April 2023, in Flagstaff, AZ. Jones is advised by Xue Feng.

Payton Kittaka received a masters degree in June 2023 with a thesis entitled Temporal Fluctuations in Carbonate System Variables of Lake Superior Tributaries.  Kittaka was advised by Elizabeth Austin-Minor.

Xiang Li received a doctoral degree in June 2023 with a dissertation entitled Data Driven Discoveries in Streamflow, Vadose zone, and Baseflow.  Li was advised by John Nieber.

Denver Link presented Zebra mussel invasion associated with increased mercury bioaccumulation and food web shifts in walleye and yellow perchat at the Society of Freshwater Science Annual Conference, June 2023, in Brisbane, Australia. Link is advised by Gretchen Hansen.

Reane Loiselle presented Contrasting Limiting Factors in Great Lakes Harmful Algal Blooms at the ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting, June 2023, in Palma De Mallorca, Spain. Loiselle is advised by Robert Sterner.

Philip Margarit presented Combining Field and Modeling Investigation to Determine the Impact of Intensive Agriculture on Federally Protected Anishinaabe Resources in Central Minnesota, at the American Water Resources Association Summer Conference, July 2023, in Denver CO. Margarit is advised by John Neiber.

Ashley Murr received a masters degree in July 2023 with a thesis entitled Acoustic Observations of Zooplankton Migration in Lake Superior.  Murr was advised by Jay Austin.

Cole Reagan received a masters degree in June 2023 and was advised by John Nieber.

Daniel Sandborn presented The Other CO2 Problem in the Saltless Seas: High-Resolution Observations in Lake Superior at the Ocean Carbon Biogeochemistry Summer Workshop, July 2023, in Woods Hole, MA. Sandborn is advised by Elizabeth Austin-Minor.

Benjamin Schleppenbach received a masters degree in July 2023 with a thesis entitled Inventory of spawning redd locations and habitat partitioning among five co-occurring salmonids in the Bois Brule River, Wisconsin.  Schleppenbach was advised by Thomas Hrabik.

Jason Ulrich received a doctoral degree in May 2023 with a dissertation entitled The Varying Effects of Climate and Landscape Changes on Increased River Flows in Minnesota Watersheds.  Ulrich was advised by Bruce Wilson.

Karina Weelborg received a masters degree in April 2023 with a thesis entitled Field-scale evaluation of MN-sourced biochar for comprehensive contaminant removal from parking lot runoff.  Karina was advised by Joe Magner and Bridget Ulrich.

Anu Wille presented Catchment Science: Interactions of Hydrology, Biology and Geochemistry, at the Gordon Research Conference, July 2023, Manchester, NH. Wille is advised by Diana Karwan.

New WRS faculty

Amy Kinsley, TC - Full Member - Assistant Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine

Lynn Waterhouse, TC - Affiliate Member - Assistant Unit Leader, Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Cole Reagan received a masters degree in April 2023. Cole's plan B project was advised by John Nieber.

Karina Weelborg received a masters degree in April 2023 with a thesis entitled Field-scale evaluation of MN-sourced biochar for comprehensive contaminant removal from parking lot runoff. Weelborg was advised by Joe Magner and Bridget Ulrich.

New WRS faculty:

Amy Kinsley, Twin Cities, College of Veterinary Medicine

Tongyao Pu received a masters degree in January 2023 with a thesis entitled Stratification stability of tropical lakes and their responses to climatic changes: Lake Towuti (Indonesia).  
Pu was advised by Sergei Katsev.

Tyler Untiedt received a masters degree in February 2023 with a thesis entitled Influence of Water Chemistry and Microbiome on Macrophyte Composition in Wild Rice Wetlands in NE Minnesota. Untiedt was advised by Chan Lan Chun.

New WRS faculty:
Jessica Kozarek - Affiliate Member - Research Associate, St. Anthony Falls Laboratory.

Graduations:

Emma Burgeson received a masters degree in October 2022, presenting a thesis entitled Hydrologic Responses to Beaver Dam Removal in the Knife River Watershed.  Burgeson was advised by Karen Gran and Salli Dymond.

Kathryn Cassidy received a masters degree in November 2022, presenting a thesis entitled The Environmental Impacts of the Use of Potassium Acetate as an Alternative Deicer.  Cassidy was advised by Chan Lan Chun.

Leah Egan received a masters degree in October 2022, presenting a thesis entitled Cyanobacteria phenology and toxicity across six Minnesota temperate lakes.  Egan was advised by Chris Filstrup and Cody Sheik.

Kirill Shchapov received a doctoral degree in December 2022, presenting a dissertation entitled Seasonal community and food web dynamics of planktonic and benthic. Shchapov was advised by Ted Ozersky.

Student News:

Zac Aanerud placed third at the student competition in the Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition Division of the Soil Science Society of America annual meetings, Baltimore, MD, November 6-9, 2022, for his poster and rapid talk presentation: Nitrogen Rates Effects on Nitrate Leaching and Ammonia and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Southwestern Minnesota Corn Fields During a Drought. Aanerud’s research project is funded by a WINS grant. Aanerud is advised by Fabian Fernandez.

David Adams presented Meteorological Variation and Storage Dynamics in Small Peatland Catchments: Marcell Experimental Forest, Minnesota at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2022, Chicago, IL. Adams is advised by Salli Dymond.

Nichole Angell presented Cost-effectiveness of aquatic invasive species prevention in Minnesota, at the Upper Mississippi Invasive Species Conference, October 25-27, 2022, Green Bay WI. Angell is advised by Nicholas Phelps.

Matt Belanger presented a poster on Assessing the implications of chloride from land application of manure for Minnesota waterways at the Soil Science Society of America annual meetings, Baltimore, MD, November 6-9, 2022. Belanger is advised by Melissa Wilson.

Katie Bruesewitz presented Dietary Habits of an Underperforming Walleye (Sander vitreus) Population in a Northern Minnesota Reservoir at the North American Lake Management Society conference, November 14-17, 2022, Minneapolis, MN. Bruesewitz is advised by Donn Branstrator.

Zixuan Chen presented a poster on Modeling the impacts of land use and climate change on nitrate in a karst watershed at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2022, Chicago, IL. Chen is advised by Crystal Ng.

Brad Evraets presented Channel Realignment Impacts on Flow and Aerobic Activity in the Hyporheic Zone at the Geological Society of America Connects conference, 9-12 October 2022, Denver CO. Evraets is advised by Karen Gran.

Mariel Jones presented Using Land Surface Models to Interrogate the Influence of Seasonally Frozen Ground on Snowmelt Partitioning at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2022, Chicago, IL. Jones is advised by Xue Feng.

Andy Kasun presented Use of sand budgeting and transport modeling to infer historical geomorphic impacts in the Little Fork River Basin, MN at the Minnesota Water Resources Conference, October 18-19, 2022, St. Paul MN. Kasun is advised by Karen Gran.

Payton Kittaka presented Diel, Seasonal and Storm-related Changes in Carbonate System Variables in Lake Superior Tributaries at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2022, Chicago, IL. Kittaka is advised by Elizabeth Austin-Minor.

Jeremy Laurich presented Effects of Varied Environmental Growing Conditions on the Nutritional Contents of Wild Rice Seeds at the North American Lake Management Society conference, November 14-17, 2022, Minneapolis, MN. Laurich is advised by Nathan Johnson.

Leslie Ludtke presented a poster Integrating Intensive Field Investigations to Support Complex Hydrologic Modeling Within the Pineland Sands Aquifer Region of Minnesota to Protect Future Water Use by Indigenous and Local Communities at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2022, Chicago, IL. Ludtke is advised by Joe Magner.

Philip Margarit presented a poster Using Coupled SWAT and MODFLOW Models to Investigate the Impact of Industrial Agriculture on Indigenous Water and Cultural Resources in Central Minnesota at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2022, Chicago, IL. Margarit is advised by John Nieber.

Bailey Tangen presented a poster on Assessing the Effects of Agricultural Management Systems on Soil Architecture and Soil Moisture in Southern Minnesota at the Soil Science Society of America annual meetings, Baltimore, MD, November 6-9, 2022. Tangen is advised by Anna Cates.

Victor Teng presented a poster How to Explain Storage-Discharge Hysteresis of the Watershed Boundary: An Experimental Design at RumRiver Watershed and Wild Rice River Watershed, MN at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2022, Chicago, IL. Teng is advised by John Nieber.

Jake Zunker presented Characterizing the Terrestrial Sources of Organic Matter in Laurentian Great Lakes Superior and Huron Sediments at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2022, Chicago, IL. Zunker is advised by Kathryn Schreiner.

New WRS faculty:

Alex Bajcz (Twin Cities) - Affiliate Member - Quantitative Ecologist, Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center.

Zachary Aanerud presented a poster at the 2022 International Drainage Symposium in August 2022.  The poster is entitled Nitrate Leaching and Nitrous Oxide and Ammonia Emissions in Southwestern Minnesota Corn Fields During a Drought. Aanerud is advised by Fabian Fernandez

Ayooluwateso Coker presented An examination of sediment algal interactions in the enrichment of cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Superior at the International Society of Limnology Conference in August 2022. 

Ayooluwateso Coker received a masters degree in August 2022. Coker’s thesis was entitled Phosphorus in Riverine and Lake Bottom Sediments: Role in the formation of Cyanobacterial Blooms in Lake Superior.  Coker was advised by Robert Sterner.

Peter Conowall received a masters degree in June 2022 with a thesis entitled A Comparison of The Microplastic Burden on the Ecosystems of Four Inland Lakes in Minnesota, USA.  Conowall was advised by Kathryn Schreiner.

Elizabeth Hill received a masters degree in July 2022 with a thesis entitled A High-Throughput Microfluidic qPCR Platform for the Simultaneous Quantification of Fecal Indicator Bacteria, Microbial Source Tracking Markers, and Pathogens in Surface Waters and Municipal Wastewater. Hill was advised by Satoshi Ishii and Chan Lan Chun.

Garner Kohrell received a masters degree in August 2022 with a thesis entitled Quantifying the Impacts of Climate Change on Soil Erosion and Runoff in Minnesota Agricultural Watersheds using the WEPP Model.  Kohrell was advised by David Mulla.

Katie Kramarczuk received a masters degree in June 2022 with a thesis entitled Optimizing Biofiltration Media for the Capture of Phosphate and the Support of Vegetation Growth. Kramarczuk was advised by Andy Erickson and Jacques Finlay.

Julia Zimmer received a masters degree in August 2022 with a thesis entitled Analyzing Commercial Shipping Docks as a Source for Human and Wildlife Pathogens in the St. Louis River Estuary. Zimmer was advised by Randall Hicks and Chan Lan Chun.

New WRS faculty

Katya Kovalenko (Duluth) - Affiliate Member - Data Scientist, Natural Resources Research Institute

Matthew Belanger presented a poster entitled Assessing the implications of chloride from land application of manure at the World Congress of Soil Science, July 2022, Glascow Scotland. Belanger is advised by Melissa Wilson.

Ellie Hill presented a poster entitled A High-throughput Microfluidic qPCR Platform for Simultaneous Quantification of Fecal Indicator Bacteria, Microbial Source Tracking Markers, and Pathogens in Environmental Waters at the Frontiers in Hydrology Conference, June 2022, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hill is advised by Satoshi Ishii and Chan Lan Chun. 

Xiang Li presented Regionalization in a global hydrologic deep learning model: from physical descriptors to random vectors at the American Society for Microbiology Microbe Conference, June 2022, Houston Texas. Li is advised by John Nieber.

Victor Teng presented Are Long-Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Model Simulations of Watershed Discharge Improved when Water Storage Is Included as Input? The Case Study at Rum River Watershed, MN at the 2022 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, June 2022, Atlanta, Georgia. Teng is advised by John Nieber.

New WRS faculty

Alexander Frie (Duluth) - Affiliate Member - Research and Fellowship Coordinator, Minnesota Sea Grant
Gregory Sass (Duluth) - Affiliate Member - Fisheries Research Team Lead, Wisconsin DNR

Nichole Angell presented at the American Fisheries Society annual meeting in February 2022. The presentation was entitled Effectiveness and costs of aquatic invasive species spread prevention in Minnesota. Angell is also the recipient of the 2022 Moos Graduate Research Fellowship in Aquatic Biology. Angell is advised by Nicholas Phelps. 

Matt Belanger presented a poster at the Waste 2 Worth Conference in April 2022. The poster was entitled Assessing the implications of chloride from land application of manure for Minnesota waterways. Belanger is advised by Melissa Wilson.

Jake Callaghan presented Bacterioplankton communities exhibit spatial and temporal distributions and metabolic differences in oligotrophic Lake Superior at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Callaghan is advised by Cody Sheik.

Teso Coker presented Riverine & Lake Sediment Phosphorus: Role in the formation of Cyanobacterial Blooms in Lake Superior at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. An article written by Coker, The Summit of Stem: Navigating the Uneven Terrain appeared in the Spring 2022 issue of Open Rivers. Coker is advised by Robert Sterner.

Peter Conowall presented a poster A Comparison of the Microplastic Burden on the Ecosystems of Four Inland Lakes in Minnesota, USA at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Conowall is advised by Kathryn Schreiner.

Megan Corum presented Spatial patterns and environmental drivers of horizontal, diel, and seasonal distribution of the invasive zooplankton Bythotrephes in a Minnesota Reservoir at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Corum is advised by Donn Branstrator.

Leah Egan presented at the International Conference on Toxic Cyanobacteria in May 2022. The presentation was entitled Phenology of cyanobacteria bloom development and maintenance in nutrient-rich Minnesota lakes differing in nutrient limitation status. Egan is advised by Cody Sheik and Chris Filstrup.

Adam Frankiewicz will present a poster Developing an Updated and Educational Key for Sphaeriidae clams of the Great Lakes Region at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Frankiewicz is advised by Valerie Brady and John Pastor.

Erica Green presented a poster Observations of vertical heat fluxes in Lake Superior: variability, mechanisms, and drivers at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Green is advised by Sam Kelly.

Audrey Huff presented You Are What You Eat: The Impact of Food Quantity and Quality on Quagga Mussel C-N-P Cycling at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Huff is advised by Ted Ozersky.

Katherine Kramarczuk received the 2022 Matthew J. Huber Award. Kramarczuk is advised by Jacques Finlay.

Ashley Murr presented Acoustic Profiling Observations of Zooplankton Migration at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Murr is advised by Jay Austin.

Kaela Natwora presented at the International Conference on Toxic Cyanobacteria in May 2022. The presentation was entitled The Physiological and Transcriptional Response of Harmful Algal Blooms in Nitrogen Limited Lakes. Natwora is advised by Cody Sheik.

Tongyao Pu presented Stability of stratification in tropical meromictic Lake Towuti at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Pu is advised by Sergei Katsev.

Daniel Sandborn presented a poster CO2 Acidification in Lake Superior: Developing a Chemical Forecast at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Sandborn is advised by Elizabeth Minor.

Daniel Sandborn was awarded the 2022 CIGLR Fellowship to work on a collaborative project with Reagan Errera at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory entitled CaCO3 saturation state as a predictor of Dreissenid Habitat in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Sandborn is advised by Elizabeth Minor.

Kirill Shchapov presented Contrasting full-year seasonality of zooplankton and benthos abundance and nutritional quality in Lake Superior at the Joint Aquatic Sciences meeting May 2022. Shchapov is advised by Ted Ozersky.

Amanda Brennan received her doctoral degree in November 2021. Her dissertation was entitled Increasing transparency in the implications of variability in contaminant partitioning. Brennan was advised by Nathan Johnson.

Elizabeth Hill presented a poster at the Minnesota Water Resources Conference in October 2021. The poster was entitled A high-throughput MFQPCR approach to simultaneously quantify FI bacteria, MST markers, and pathogens of Lake Superior beaches. Hill is advised by Satoshi Ishii and Chan Lan Chun.

Mariel Jones presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2021. The presentation was entitled The role of precipitation, vegetation, and evapotranspiration in lowland , snow-dominated headwater catchments. Jones is advised by Xue Feng. 

Xiang Li presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2021. The presentation was entitled Effectiveness of basin aware modulation in a global hydrologic deep learning model: from physical descriptors to random vectors. Li is advised by John Nieber.

Philip Margarit presented a poster at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2021. The poster was entitled Analysis of Groundwater Age Distributions in Complex Aquifer Systems to Evaluate Best Management Practice Efficacy. Margarit is advised by John Nieber.

Shawnee McMillian received her masters degree in December 2021. Her thesis was entitled Water Chemistry and Microbial Nitrogen Cycling in Wild Rice Wetlands. McMillian was advised by Chan Lan Chun.

Kasey Rundquist received her masters degree in December 2021. Rundquist was advised by John Nieber.

Victor Teng presented a poster at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2021. The poster was entitled Can Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model Simulating Three-Dimensional Storage-Discharge Relations? The Case Study at Rum River Watershed, MN. Teng is advised by John Nieber.

Tamara Walsky received her masters degree in December 2021. Her thesis was entitled Occurrences and Temporal Dynamics of Pathogens and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Different Stormwater Reuse Systems. Walsky was advised by Satoshi Ishii.

Erika Winner presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2021. The presentation was entitled Does Drought Matter? Factors for Resilience in Forested Watersheds of Northern California. Winner is advised by Salli Dymond.

New WRS Faculty

Bonnie Keeler, Associate Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Gregory Sass, Adjunct Faculty, Department of Biology and Fisheries Research, WI DNR