Sleeping Bear researchers to discuss DNA methods for monitoring beach water quality

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Historically, water quality monitoring programs have relied on traditional techniques, such as culturing microorganisms (e.g., E. coli, enterococci) in the laboratory, to evaluate if beaches are safe for swimming, surfing, and other water-exposure recreational activities. However, the significant time-lapse between sample collection and results, typically 18 hours or longer, can result in inaccurate management decisions due to rapidly changing water quality conditions. This results in either unnecessary beach closures or beaches open to swimming when the water quality is actually poor. Recent advancements in DNA-based technology are increasingly becoming indispensable tools in environmental applications, including water quality monitoring. With these techniques, water quality results are achievable on the same day of sampling, within hours of sample collection.

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Spotted Wing Drosophila — not your average fruit fly

I am grossed out. On the video, a creature reminiscent of horror flicks, B-movies, an almost pornographic monster, except it’s not a monster, except it’s real and it is a monster. Sortof. The winged thing trembles on a flesh-like surface. The film reveals in full detail the tail-end of the monster’s abdomen, where a serrated ovipositor descends, and a double row of “teeth” pierces the surface. Slowly, with mesmerizing tenacity, she saws into the thin-skinned softness, dipping ever deeper into the flesh. Then, and this is where I feel sick, out of that same organ she forces a single small white egg, deposits it firmly into the hole. The ovipositor closes, lifts like a machine, revealing a tiny filament still extending from the hole—the breathing tube of the egg. The egg’s breathing tube!?! The creature turns; huge red eyes stare straight into the camera, and after all that, the darn thing starts the process all over. Hundreds of times. I am not kidding.

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Art grows here

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Suspend reality for a moment, and think of the Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) as a plant. Then, think of the GAAA’s building as a container in which art, culture and creativity in the Glen Arbor region have been nurtured since 2002, the year that building behind the Lake Street Studios was completed.

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Researcher to discuss Avian Botulism at Sleeping Bear Dunes

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Over the past decade, there has been an increased incidence of bird deaths in Lake Michigan due to Type E avian botulism. Over 6,500 dead birds have been documented within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore alone. Scientists from the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have been conducting a collaborative research project to determine the causes of these botulism outbreaks — work that includes underwater research in Good Harbor Bay.

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National Park to name new Sleeping Bear superintendent by late May

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The National Park Service will name the next superintendent to run Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore by the end of May — if not sooner — Park spokesperson Christine Powell told the Glen Arbor Sun today. Powell works out of the National Park’s Midwest Regional office in Omaha, Neb.

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Mackinac Straits Line 5 “worst case” oil spill could stretch from Beaver Island to Michigan thumb

New report by University of Michigan Water Center offers statistical analysis of Straits of Mackinac Linen 5: Worst Case Spill Scenarios From staff reports More than 700 miles of shoreline in lakes Huron and Michigan are potentially vulnerable to oil spills if the pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac ruptures, according to a new University […]

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Alligator Hill – Which Way to Recovery?

New online magazine NatureChange.org tells Northern Michigan stories about conservation and climate change, including this one about difficult choices facing the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore following the August 2, 2015 super storm.

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Tom Van Zoeren, environmental activist

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Retirement is an interpretive experience. For one guy it might mean a pastured life. For another, there’s the Tom Van Zoeren School of Retirement: Not! A former ranger with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL), Van Zoeren’s post-professional life is a blueprint of engaged, purposeful work.

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Township, Park officials disagree on Alligator Hill wildfire potential

“The Park has got to figure out how to address the dead fall hazard,” declared Glen Lake Fire Department chief John Dodson after the October Glen Arbor Emergency Services meeting. The “Park” he refers to is the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL). All that dead wood, he says, “is fuel building up. Our fire department does not have the staff to maintain a wildfire the size of Alligator Hill.”

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Is Empire the answer?

If you want to solve Glen Arbor’s affordable housing problem, some say look no further than Empire. Here, the Sun speaks to several prominent village citizens who have varied responses to the issue of affordable housing. All, however, agree on one thing: they love Empire.

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