{"id":8824,"date":"2022-12-08T11:52:10","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T17:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=8824"},"modified":"2022-12-08T11:58:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T17:58:02","slug":"uw-platteville-student-researchers-support-wdnr-trout-unlimited-conservation-efforts","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-platteville-student-researchers-support-wdnr-trout-unlimited-conservation-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Platteville Student Researchers Support WDNR, Trout Unlimited Conservation Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
With a grant from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, seven UW-Platteville students worked with faculty mentors to conduct fish, mussel, and habitat surveys at eight different stream sites in the Grant, Platte, and Blue River watersheds to help assess stream restoration efforts of the Harry and Laura Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. They also participated in a mussel relocation project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In this photo, UW-Platteville students and faculty search for native mussel species.\/Photo by Rebecca Doyle-Morin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mussels play a critical role in the health of Wisconsin\u2019s rivers and streams, but according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, nearly half of Wisconsin\u2019s native mussels are listed as endangered or threatened, with even more listed as species of concern.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Wisconsin conservation groups and resource agencies have implemented stream restoration projects to help conserve the mussels, but their capacity to assess, monitor and survey the numerous streams and communities in the state is limited.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the summer 2022, a team of undergraduate students from UW-Platteville helped fill the void. With a grant from the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, seven students worked with faculty mentors to\u00a0<\/span>conduct fish, mussel and habitat surveys at eight different stream sites in the Grant, Platte and Blue River watersheds to help assess stream restoration efforts of\u00a0<\/span>the Harry and Laura Nohr Chapter of<\/span> Trout Unlimited and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe got so excited when we found mussels. We went to all these backroads and to river crossings not knowing if we\u2019d find anything,\u201d says Lindsey Ockerlander, criminal justice and biology double major who will graduate in December 2023 and begin working at Prevention Genetics. \u201cFor two weeks we found nothing, and on the last day we found 10 different species of mussels. We were on cloud nine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Students and faculty identified 10 types of native mussels. Wisconsin conservation groups and resource agencies have implemented stream restoration projects to help conserve the mussels, but their capacity to assess, monitor and survey the numerous streams and communities in the state is limited. The student research provided valuable information that was presented at the annual meeting of the Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited and contributed to a report that was provided to the Nohr Chapter, WDNR and local landowners. \/Photo by Rebecca Doyle-Morin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to documenting mussel species, students<\/span>\u00a0had a unique opportunity to participate in a mussel relocation effort that was part of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to mitigate bank erosion on Goose Island in the Mississippi River.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to any bank work, the mussels in the area needed to be relocated out of harm\u2019s way,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>says Kristopher Wright, biology professor at UW-Platteville and lead researcher on the Freshwater Collaborative grant.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cWe joined the collaborative team that included the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Wisconsin DNR and Minnesota DNR.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The mussel work built upon previous undergraduate research, including that funded by the Freshwater Collaborative in 2020 and 2021. This grant provided the opportunity to integrate fish surveys to supplement Trout Unlimited\u2019s management and restoration efforts.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The students presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited and contributed to a report that was provided to the Nohr Chapter, WDNR and local landowners.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Carol Murphy, president of the Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited, says the students\u2019 research will help them in their mission to conserve, protect and enhance the cold water streams of southwest Wisconsin.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe monitoring and evaluations provide essential data on the health of our streams, before, during and after our restoration efforts,\u201d she says. \u201cThis project collaboration\u00a0with UW-Platteville continues to be an invaluable and enjoyable highlight to our chapter!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only will the data provide valuable insight into local watershed management, but the students gained hands-on field experience that will prepare them for the workforce. For biology majors Myah Sierens and Chloe Mellody, fish shocking was one of the most interesting skills they learned. They were surprised to find so many different types of fish, even in narrow spots of the rivers.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really love fish, so I think the most useful skills that I learned were fish identification, how to handle fish, how to find fish, and what signs to look for in an environment when you\u2019re looking for fish,\u201d Mellody says. \u201cThe most important thing for me was learning how to do formal surveying when it comes to habitat and invertebrates. It will make it a lot easier for me to learn how to do field work.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tyler Vargas, who graduates in December, says the experience went beyond research skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing I gained was learning the value of teamwork while doing field research and taking advantage of every team member\u2019s strengths,\u201d he says. \u201cThe research project helped me discover new career paths that I didn\u2019t even know existed before. It also gave me skills that I can translate to future tasks and opportunities when working with others. \u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about the student\u2019s experiences:\u00a0UW-Platteville Students Spotlight: Mussel and Fish Surveying<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mussels play a critical role in the health of Wisconsin\u2019s rivers and streams, but according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, nearly half of Wisconsin\u2019s native mussels are listed as endangered or threatened, with even more listed as species of concern.\u00a0\u00a0 Wisconsin conservation groups and resource agencies have implemented stream restoration projects to help […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":8826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[93],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-8824","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-platteville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/8824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=8824"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=8824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}