New York Great Lakes Protection Fund Small Grants 2009

Four projects were funded for up to $10,000 each in the NYGLPF 2009 Small Grants program. The program is administered by the Great Lakes Research Consortium, in cooperation with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York Great Lakes Basin Advisory Council, with earnings that accrue from New York State’s investment in the regional Great Lakes Protection Fund. The protection fund (NYGLPF) small grants program was developed to provide “seed” money for new, cooperative approaches to researching and protecting the environmental quality of the Great Lakes. The successful projects were:

Pre-Restoration Wetland Characterization and Chemical Mass Balance Study: Woodlawn Beach State Park, New York  Principal Investigator: Stephen Vermette, PhD.
Affiliation: Buffalo State College
Woodlawn Beach State Park protects a 12 acre wetland that is listed on the Park’s master plan for preservation and enhancement. Proposed is an effort to assess both the physical and chemical characteristics of the wetland, followed by the development of an effective management plan. Proposal priorities address a critical aquatic habit where the current treatment effectiveness of this wetland is to be evaluated and compared with alternative approaches for treatment.

Preliminary Risk Assessment of the Parasites of Aquatic Exotic Invertebrates in the Great Lakes Region Principal Investigator: Lyubov Burlakova, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Great Lakes Center, Buffalo State College
Exotic species may serve as vectors of introduction for their specific parasites and may also become hosts for aboriginal disease agents. Although spreading invaders typically lose most of their coevolved parasites, the few introduced exotic parasites may have devastating impacts on their novel hosts, including large-scale mortalities. The aim of this cooperative research is to conduct a preliminary parasitological risk analysis for exotic invertebrates introduced into the Great Lakes region. The results of this project can become a baseline for a long-term basin-wide program to monitor the parasitological consequences of introduction of exotic species, and will also be used in preparation of a larger grant proposal to a federal agency.

Riverwatch Low-Cost Water Monitoring Buoy Pilot Project
Principal Investigator: Kerry Bentkowski & Robbyn Drake
Affiliation: Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper was awarded funding for direction of a pilot project to develop a low-cost water monitoring buoy and communication system. The buoy will be designed to function as a tool for gathering important water quality data from major tributaries to the Great Lakes at a cost affordable to public school systems and small community organizations.  The real time data produced will be made available for use in the classroom as a teaching tool as well as to community organizations and the general public for use in understanding water quality issues and advocating for improvement. 

Lake Ontario Nearshore Nutrient Transport Study (LONNS)-Analysis of caffeine as a tracer of point source nutrient loading
Principal Investigator: William J. Edwards, PhD
Affiliations: Assoc. Professor of Biology Niagara University
Director, Environmental Leadership Institute
This research proposes to analyze water samples collected during the intensive survey in 2008 of the Lake Ontario Nearshore Nutrient Study for caffeine as a conserved tracer of point source nutrient loading. The LONNS project is assessing the hypothesis that nutrients are being trapped in the nearshore region, limiting offshore productivity and impacting the nearshore through benthic algae blooms and beach closures. In samples taken offshore of Rochester, NY, there was evidence of upwelling, non-point source loading and point sewage effluent in the nearshore region. Analysis of caffeine will allow separation of the nearshore sources of nutrients and better modeling for the LONNS project, providing more accurate assessment of remediation actions for lake managers. This project will analyze the samples collected during the June and August Rochester LONNS sampling and will integrate these samples into the GIS, database and modeling efforts.