Greetings! I’m excited to share that our inland lakes spent a lot of time in the spotlight on the UW-Madison campus this year. As you may know, each year the UW-Madison Chancellor selects a single book as the focus of a campus-wide shared reading experience called ‘Go Big Read.’ Thousands of UW-Madison students read the book, and it’s used in scores of courses and discussion groups across campus and throughout the state. This year’s Go Big Read selection was The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Egan. The book tells the remarkable story of the ecological changes in the Great Lakes wrought by the introduction of invasive species and other various forms of environmental mismanagement. With all this attention on the ecology of our lakes, we’ve been taking advantage of the opportunity to increase awareness and promote conversations about our lakes and water resources. It may be a while before another limnology-themed book ends up on the ‘Go Big Read’ list!
I hope you enjoy the latest Limnology News. It has been an eventful year and we cover a broad swath of topics in this installment. In addition to ‘Go Big Read’ we recap the unprecedented floods in Madison, how they swamped the Center for Limnology (CFL) basement, and how they relate to climate change. We discuss CFL leadership in the open data movement, introduce the new Trout Lake Station Director, explore road salt in our lakes and head out on a hunt for fish DNA. Each of these vignettes highlights the synergy among teaching, research, and outreach that we constantly strive for at the CFL.
I’ll close with a warm ‘thank you’ to the many generous alumni, friends, and donors who have financially supported the CFL during the past year. Your support allows us to sustain our impact, and to train the next generation of leaders in limnology and the aquatic sciences. We couldn’t have done it without you. Please don’t hesitate to drop me a note and an update.
Jake Vander Zanden
Wayland Noland Distinguished Chair and Director
Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison