EPA GLNPO Great Lakes monitoring program

Jim Watkins, Lars Rudstam, Toby Holda, Sarah Lawhun, Kayden Nasworthy, Joe Connolly, Chris Marshall, Beth Whitmore-Stolar, Taylor Herne, Lucy Weisbeck, Connor Hannig, Kristen Holeck (CBFS), Alexander Karatayev, Lyubov Burlakova, Susan Daniel, and Nik Barulin (SUNY Buffalo State). (Funded by US EPA Region 5 Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago, IL)

In 2024 we continued to work with the benthic team of SUNY Buffalo State and the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office to monitor zooplankton, mysids, and benthos for all five Great Lakes. This program is funded through 2027. In 2024 we gave a fond farewell to Beth Whitmore-Stolar who accepted a new position in outreach for aquatic invasive species in NY DEC Region 5 and welcomed two new analysts Connor Hannig (SUNY Brockport) and Lucy Weisbeck (SUNY ESF). Sampling in 2024 was smooth with successful sampling of all five Great Lakes in April and August and CSMI sampling of Lake Erie in May and September by the R/V Lake Guardian. Watkins, Rudstam, Figary, and Connolly traveled to Chicago in March 2024 for our annual collaborator meeting at GLNPO headquarters, making several presentations. Lower foodweb data for lakes Ontario and Huron were presented by Watkins at the March 2024 Great Lakes Fishery Commission Lake Meetings in Bay City, Michigan.  Our lower foodweb data for Lake Michigan were presented by collaborator Steve Pothoven of NOAA/GLERL.  Time series of zooplankton, mysids, and benthos were all updated up to 2023.  Renewed interest has been in the analysis of the long-term shallow tow data to supplement current indicators based on deep tow data.