About the Great Lakes Research Consortium

This small grants program provides seed funding for new, cooperative approaches to projects with the potential to improve understanding and/or management of New York's Great Lakes basin. The program is indended to supplement the Great Lakes Research Consortium's small grants program for preliminary research and to expand the program to include cooperative projects between academic institutions, local governments, non-profit organizations, school districts and others. This year, five small grants of up to $7,000 each were awarded.

The money for this program comes from the New York Great Lakes Protection Fund, established by the New York State Legislature to receive and allocate the interest on the regional Great Lakes Protection Fund endowment created by the Governors of the Great Lakes States.

Dr. Joseph Graney from SUNY Binghamton will specifically demonstrate how integrated particle characterization and trace metal measurement capabilities can be added to future consortium proposal submissions. His project entitled, An Integrated Approach to Track the Source and Fate of Trace Metals in Aerosol Samples in the Great Lakes Region, intends to demonstrate that equipment housed in the Department of Geological Sciences at SUNY Binghamton can be used to achieve two goals. The first is to increase the analytical and research capabilities of the Air Transport and Deposition Task Force in ongoing and future research projects, specifically in the area of trace metals research. The second goal is to demonstrate to others interested in trace metals found in aerosols near the Great Lakes how supplemental information can be obtained from archived aerosol samples through integrated Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM) and Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) measurements. Results from this demonstration project will assist in policy-making decisions concerning the source, transport, and fate of toxic compounds throughout the Great Lakes region. For more information contact Dr. Graney at jgraney@binghamton.edu.

Concerns regarding the water quality of the Great Lakes basin are focusing on the community level in Rochester. Monroe County is in the process of creating a Water Education Collaborative that would coordinate and implement educational efforts in the Rochester Embayment Watershed that drains into Lake Ontario. Margit Brazda of the Monroe County Health Department will lead a project entitled, Survey of Public Attitudes and Knowledge Regarding Water Quality in Monroe County. This project will conduct a random phone survey in Monroe County to poll people about their attitudes and knowledge regarding water quality issues. This information would then be used by the collaborative to focus their education efforts on the most important and/or misunderstood issues. For more information contact Ms. Brazda at mbrazda@mcls.rochester.lib.ny.us.

Another research project addressing water quality is entitled, Novel Biosensor for In-situ Detection of Chlorinated Organic Compounds in the Great Lakes, led by Dr. Omowunmi Sadik of the State University of New York at Binghamton. The objective of his project is to develop biosensors for in-situ monitoring of polychloriated biphenyls (PCBs), as these are common ground and surface water pollutants in the Great Lakes. The biosensors will be developed using a novel combination of regulatory proteins as sensor molecules embedded in conductive polymer matrix to allow direct, in-situ, detection and quantitation of contaminants. Experiments will be performed to demonstrate the sensitivity, selectivity and accuracy of the biosensors. For more information contact Mr. Sadik at sadik@binghamton.edu.

In 1997, a Rochester Embayment Remedial Action Plan (RAP) was developed. In preparation of RAP, it was determined that the Genesee River, the "River", suffers from degradation of benthos. A study entitled, Macroinvertebrate Study to Determine Whether or Not a Benthic Use Impairment Currently Exists in the Lake Ontario Portion of the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern, conducted by Dr. Joseph Makarewicz, will focus on macroinvertebrate community structure and on an indicator species in Lake Ontario, the "Embayment". By comparing results to the Olcott Reef Study, a reasonable picture of the health of the benthic community is possible. Results will be used to identify use impairments indicating the effectiveness of the RAP. For more information contact Dr. Makarewicz at jmakarew@brockport.edu.

To help increase the survival of Atlantic salmon in Lake Ontario, Dr. Donald Stewart of SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, will evaluate two genetic strains of Atlantic salmon for differences between over winter survival in the Lake Ontario watershed. His research entitled, Over Winter Survival and Bioenergetics of Two Strains of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), will identify the potential differences in growth and survival between strains, especially during the critical over winter period that is important for successful reestablishment of Atlantic salmon to the Lake Ontario watershed. This research will provide essential information about stocking certain genetic strains and over winter survival, including metabolic demands, for the early life stages of Atlantic salmon. For more information contact Dr. Stewart at djstewar@mailbox.syr.edu.