CFL Scientists and the Society of Environmental Journalists

The Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) met in Madison 7-11 October. CFL Scientists participated in many events during the meeting. After the meeting, CFL hosted a tour of the Trout Lake region sponsored by the Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources (IJNR).

During the SEJ meeting, Steve Carpenter participated in a discussion panel with Andy Revkin of the New York Times  cosponsored by Wisconsin Ecology. Steve also joined a small group of UW scientists and administrators at a breakfast meeting with plenary speaker and former Vice President Al Gore. John Magnuson made a feature presentation at the SEJ meeting. Emily Stanley co-hosted a field trip to dam removal sites on the Baraboo River.

Steve Carpenter and Jim Kitchell co-hosted a tour of Lake Mendota featuring the Limnos, ably skippered by Dave Harring. Susan Bence of WUWM Milwaukee public radio reported the event.

The trip to Trout Lake began with a tour of the flux tower site in Park Falls led by Professor Ankur Desai of the UW Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences Department. After dinner, the group went on a wolf howl led by Adrian Wydeven of WDNR.

On a gray snowy day, the tour continued with a series of visits to lake research sites. 

Steve Carpenter and Tim Kratz discussed whole-lake experiments on acid rain and fish habitat on the shores of Little Rock Lake.

Jake Vander Zanden and Susan Knight (Trout Lake Station and Wisconsin DNR) discussed invasive species management challenges on the shore of Sparkling Lake .

After everyone warmed up over lunch at Trout Lake Station, John Walker (USGS) described climate change impacts on lake levels and groundwater flow, on the isthmus between Crystal and Big Muskellunge lakes.

Jake Vander Zanden and Jordan Read described plans for whole-lake mixing of Crystal Lake and the possibility of removing the invasive population of rainbow smelt by warming the lake.

The lake mixing will be accomplished with a series of Gradual Entrainment Lake Inverters (GELIs) placed in the center of the lake. Here, journalists look on as Read and Vander Zanden describe the operation of a GELI displayed on the beach of Crystal Lake .

On snowy Crystal Bog, Emily Stanley used a peat core to explain long-term storage of organic carbon in peatlands and lake sediments. At the same site, Tim Kratz demonstrated automated sensors for monitoring lake metabolism and gas exchange between lakes and the atmosphere. Steve Carpenter and Tim Kratz described how scientists worked with the public and artists to build scenarios of the long-term future of the northern highlands and create artwork describing the landscape in a world of climate change.

The journalists, CFL scientists, and about 100 visitors from the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) gathered over dinner that night. A lively discussion of science and the media was led by Tim Kratz of Trout Lake Station, Frank Allen (President of IJNR) and Peter Annin (Associate Director of IJNR).