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Comments on the 32nd Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research
J. Great Lakes Res. 16(2):334-335 Internal. Assoc. Great Lakes Res., 1990
COMMENTARY COMMENTS ON THE 32ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON GREAT LAKES RESEARCH
John R. Krezoski
Center for Great Lakes Studies and Department of Environmental Health and Safety University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
The Thirty-Second Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research of the International Association for Great Lakes Research was held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during 30 May-2 June 1989. The meetings were held in the Wisconsin Memorial Union, which lies on the shore of Lake Mendota, just a few hundred meters from the laboratories of the Water Chemistry Program. The Water Chemistry Program and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute co-hosted the conference. More than 500 scientists, managers, environmental activists, businesspersons, and politicians attended the meeting, one of the most diverse and best attended in the decade. The meeting included three public forums, including an environmental education presentation aimed at school children; a forum on public health issues, entitled "Human Health, Public Policy, and Great Lakes Fish"; and a forum and workshop on "The Great Lakes Protection Fund: A $100 Million Investment in Research to Clean Up Great Lakes Toxic Contamination." The latter included an invited presentation by the Honorable Tommy Thompson, Governor of Wisconsin. The Thirty-second annual meeting also witnessed a significant broadening in the number of large lakes of the world which were represented at the conference. Specifically, six papers or posters were presented on Lake Baikal, Siberia, U.S.S.R.; four on Lake Xolotlan, Managua, Nicaragua; and twelve on other large lakes, including Great Slave Lake, Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe, and Yellowstone Lake. Twenty special symposia were organized for the annual meeting. Topics included the following: Implications of climate change on Great Lakes
fisheries, wildlife, and water resources use; Patterns and sources of airborne pollutants to the Great Lakes; Air-water and water-sediment exchanges in large lakes; Partitioning of toxic chemicals from sediments to biota; Dredged sediments: problems and solutions; Predictions of contaminant effects and fate from chemical structure; Application of mass balance studies to toxicants in large lakes; Nutrient cycling: biological and chemical regulation; Benthic-pelagic coupling in large lakes; Submersible-related research in large lakes of the world; Production dynamics of large lake ecosystems: patterns, processes, and interlake comparisons; Ecosystem health assessment of contaminant effects; Fish community health: monitoring and assessment in large lakes; Acidic deposition impacts on aquatic systems; Critical issues affecting parks, preserves, and wetlands associated with large lakes; Socio-economic aspects of large lake and reservoir management; Lake level regulation: impacts and policies; Exotic species in large lakes: ecology and impacts; Gull, tern, and waterfowl management: problems and solutions; Biota and wildlife of Green Bay (Lake Michigan). Two hundred and eighty two papers were presented by 504 authors and coauthors at the conference. As noted by the symposia titles above, many special areas of concern were discussed against the backdrop of dramatic funding limitations that have prevailed in the Great Lakes region over the past decade. Elucidating and modeling contaminant pathways, processes, and mass balances received considerable attention, as did sedimentwater interactions and water-air interactions. Interestingly, many papers were coauthored by individuals from private organizations. This sig334
COMMENTARY
nals, in my opinion, the continued development of a tripartite approach to Great Lakes research as opposed to the classical, seemingly dichotomous, academic ("pure") and government ("applied") research system, which has been prevalent for more than two decades. With this new approach, however, comes an emphasis on solving near-term, applied problems (which is, of course, important) and a de-emphasis on supporting longer term programs (which typified university research programs in the past). The lack of federal support for university programs suggests reduced support for graduate students and consequently a smaller pool of future Great Lakes scientists. Perhaps the decade of the nineties will bring greater attention to the environment, and, thus, to the large lakes of the world. In conclusion, the Thirty-Second Annual Conference was characterized by a diversity of subjects covered, a striking increase in contributions on large lakes of the world outside of the Laurentian
335
Great Lakes region, and an increased involvement of environmental advocacy groups. Despite reduced federal funding for research, the Association, judging from the large attendance at the conference, is healthy and vital. Moreover, the Association is moving forward in its role in providing an international and interdisciplinary forum for discussing and planning large lake resource management, a critical ingredient if the environmental quality of planet Earth is to be maintained. Finally, as Past President of the Association, I want to thank the many individuals, especially conference Co-Chairman Gary Glass (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Duluth, Minnesota) and Anders Andren (Water Chemistry Program and Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin), for making the Thirty-Second Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research an unqualified success.
COMMENTARY COMMENTS ON THE 32ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON GREAT LAKES RESEARCH
John R. Krezoski
Center for Great Lakes Studies and Department of Environmental Health and Safety University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
The Thirty-Second Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research of the International Association for Great Lakes Research was held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during 30 May-2 June 1989. The meetings were held in the Wisconsin Memorial Union, which lies on the shore of Lake Mendota, just a few hundred meters from the laboratories of the Water Chemistry Program. The Water Chemistry Program and the Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute co-hosted the conference. More than 500 scientists, managers, environmental activists, businesspersons, and politicians attended the meeting, one of the most diverse and best attended in the decade. The meeting included three public forums, including an environmental education presentation aimed at school children; a forum on public health issues, entitled "Human Health, Public Policy, and Great Lakes Fish"; and a forum and workshop on "The Great Lakes Protection Fund: A $100 Million Investment in Research to Clean Up Great Lakes Toxic Contamination." The latter included an invited presentation by the Honorable Tommy Thompson, Governor of Wisconsin. The Thirty-second annual meeting also witnessed a significant broadening in the number of large lakes of the world which were represented at the conference. Specifically, six papers or posters were presented on Lake Baikal, Siberia, U.S.S.R.; four on Lake Xolotlan, Managua, Nicaragua; and twelve on other large lakes, including Great Slave Lake, Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe, and Yellowstone Lake. Twenty special symposia were organized for the annual meeting. Topics included the following: Implications of climate change on Great Lakes
fisheries, wildlife, and water resources use; Patterns and sources of airborne pollutants to the Great Lakes; Air-water and water-sediment exchanges in large lakes; Partitioning of toxic chemicals from sediments to biota; Dredged sediments: problems and solutions; Predictions of contaminant effects and fate from chemical structure; Application of mass balance studies to toxicants in large lakes; Nutrient cycling: biological and chemical regulation; Benthic-pelagic coupling in large lakes; Submersible-related research in large lakes of the world; Production dynamics of large lake ecosystems: patterns, processes, and interlake comparisons; Ecosystem health assessment of contaminant effects; Fish community health: monitoring and assessment in large lakes; Acidic deposition impacts on aquatic systems; Critical issues affecting parks, preserves, and wetlands associated with large lakes; Socio-economic aspects of large lake and reservoir management; Lake level regulation: impacts and policies; Exotic species in large lakes: ecology and impacts; Gull, tern, and waterfowl management: problems and solutions; Biota and wildlife of Green Bay (Lake Michigan). Two hundred and eighty two papers were presented by 504 authors and coauthors at the conference. As noted by the symposia titles above, many special areas of concern were discussed against the backdrop of dramatic funding limitations that have prevailed in the Great Lakes region over the past decade. Elucidating and modeling contaminant pathways, processes, and mass balances received considerable attention, as did sedimentwater interactions and water-air interactions. Interestingly, many papers were coauthored by individuals from private organizations. This sig334
COMMENTARY
nals, in my opinion, the continued development of a tripartite approach to Great Lakes research as opposed to the classical, seemingly dichotomous, academic ("pure") and government ("applied") research system, which has been prevalent for more than two decades. With this new approach, however, comes an emphasis on solving near-term, applied problems (which is, of course, important) and a de-emphasis on supporting longer term programs (which typified university research programs in the past). The lack of federal support for university programs suggests reduced support for graduate students and consequently a smaller pool of future Great Lakes scientists. Perhaps the decade of the nineties will bring greater attention to the environment, and, thus, to the large lakes of the world. In conclusion, the Thirty-Second Annual Conference was characterized by a diversity of subjects covered, a striking increase in contributions on large lakes of the world outside of the Laurentian
335
Great Lakes region, and an increased involvement of environmental advocacy groups. Despite reduced federal funding for research, the Association, judging from the large attendance at the conference, is healthy and vital. Moreover, the Association is moving forward in its role in providing an international and interdisciplinary forum for discussing and planning large lake resource management, a critical ingredient if the environmental quality of planet Earth is to be maintained. Finally, as Past President of the Association, I want to thank the many individuals, especially conference Co-Chairman Gary Glass (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Duluth, Minnesota) and Anders Andren (Water Chemistry Program and Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin), for making the Thirty-Second Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research an unqualified success.