More volunteers means less invasive plants

As more invasive species attack the state parks, more hands are needed to fight them. The Michigan and Indiana recreation officials are calling for volunteers to help remove invasive plants from the state parks and recreation areas.  

“It is a great opportunity for families and friends to enjoy the outdoors, improve the conditions of parks and be engaged in its protection,” said Laurel Malvitz-Draper, stewardship coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Volunteers search for and pull invasive plants such as non-garlic mustard, Japanese bittersweet, shrubs, common buckthorn and vines. Invasive plants can contain chemicals that kill native plants and limit the native species growing nearby.

Vote for best named Great Lakes brew

We culled through your nominations for the best name of a beer brewed in the Great Lakes watershed and put some of them on this poll. Our selection is arbitrary and of course misses many beers and breweries that were not nominated. And yeah, we get it about those of you who disdain creative names as something that fails to impress true beer aficionados. But sheesh…lighten up. Our bias is toward names that are particularly relevant to the Great Lakes environment or places.

Water-monitoring robofish almost ready to patrol Great Lakes

 

After three prototypes and multiple tweaks to his robotic fish, Xiaobo Tan is planning to deploy the water-monitoring device this August.  

 

“Things have been going slower then what we expected, but we are making good progress overall,” said Tan, associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan State University. Great Lakes Echo covered the early development stages of Tan’s robofish in 2009. His latest prototype can submerge, something the initial robofish couldn’t do. It is almost capable of transferring sensor signals in real time, another new development.

Can unsightly algae spark environmental action?

While another algae-filled summer appears to face Lake Erie, an international panel has made curbing the region’s nutrient runoff a binational priority. The problem threatens public health and the economy. Can it prompt action?

More on Great Lakes beer: Which has the best name?

Last week we asked you to nominate the best beer made from the waters of the Great Lakes watershed. And what a great job you did. The Echo staff is inspired to turn that list into a shopping list. One disappointment: The nominees didn’t reflect the binational nature of the watershed. They don’t make beer in Canada?