Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/author/laura-fosmire/page/2/)
2011 graduate from Michigan State University. Bachelor of Arts in arts and humanities + journalism. Future graduate student of journalism at Columbia University. Loves politics, things that are green, Anderson Cooper and coffee. Social media enthusiast.
Researchers in Canada have discovered a hydraulic fluid used by planes within Great Lakes surface water and fish. The health threat is unclear. Equally mysterious is how the chemical got into the water. The discovery indicates that there may be other chemicals in the environment that researchers have yet to detect.
Got an environmental gripe? You’ve got a chance to air it before a panel of U.S. and Canadian officials who advise their respective governments on issues of water and air quality.
The International Joint Commission, or IJC, is holding two public meetings on June 13 in Windsor, Ontario and on June 14 in Detroit, Michigan.
Ohio lawmakers are proposing more generous water withdrawal limits than other Great Lakes states.
It’s an approach that critics say is possibly more dangerous to the health of the watershed.
Come June, Lake Superior will be introduced to water samples from all four points of the compass as the result of a native movement to bring attention to water conservation.
Need to find a beach near Lake Ontario where it’s safe to swim? There’s an app for that.
The Lake Ontario Waterkeeper developed the iPhone swim guide.
When I hear the term “hipster,” I think of thick-rimmed glasses with no lenses. And vinyl. And vintage clothes, skinny jeans, converse sneakers and the irritating phrase: “Oh, you’ve probably never heard of them before…” But Minnesota? Hardly. And yet a recent report says that state is actually the number one most “hipsterish” state in the United States.
Two success stories in the 2011 State of the Birds report are from within the Great Lakes region – the Bartel Grassland restoration project outside of Chicago, Ill., and the state of the Kirtland’s warbler in Michigan.
Quick, think of the oldest national park in the United States. Did Yellowstone come to mind? If so, well done.
Now, think of the second-oldest national park.
What did you come up with? Maybe Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park on the West Coast? Yosemite National Park?
Try again. And this time, think a little bit closer to home.
Garlic mustard, purple loosestrife and other alien plants are threatening Michigan’s Upper Peninsula’s ecosystem. A $150,000 federal grant will help local government agencies and environmental groups control the invaders.
Michigan civil rights officials recently reported that some migrant workers live in substandard housing, face poor working conditions and undergo racial profiling.
Farm officials say the vast majority of migrant housing passes inspection. But the state’s inspection program has been slashed by half.