South Platte Sally ready for a full conference week!

South Platte Sally visits the Joint Aquatic Science Meeting (JASM) in Grand Rapids, Michigan! This conference is mostly held every five years where all nine Consortium of Aquatic Science Societies (CASS) gather for a large collaborative conference. Those societies include: American Fisheries Society (AFS), Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF), Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society (FMCS), International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR), North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), Phycological Society of America (PSA), Society for Freshwater Sciences (SFS), and Society of Wetland Scientist (SWS). Sally already has professional memberships in AFS, NALMS, and SFS and could not wait to meet other scientists and professionals within her passionate field of study!

South Platte Sally checking the scene from the podium.

Sally began a week of invigorating talks by listening to “Nutrients and Interactions that Impact Integrity in Surface Water,” she particularly enjoyed listening to Dr. Sylvia Seuble Lee from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and her review of Response of Chlorophyll to Total Nutrient Concentration in Lotic Ecosystems: a Systematic Review. Shortly after listening to Lester Yuan present their topic, Sally had an important meeting with Dr. Janice Brahney who studies environmental biogeochemistry and paleolimnology within watersheds at Utah State University. Dr. Janice Brahney and South Platte Sally discussed several potential anthropogenic factors that could control the nutrient cycle problems within the South Platte River.

South Platte Sally and Dr. Janice Brahney catching up.

Throughout the week Sally listened to different talks from “Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Contamination in Aquatic Systems” to “Conservation of urban aquatic systems: Interdisciplinary solutions to complicated problems.” After listening to the lamprey nuisance within the Great Lakes, Sally knew she had to see the one in the exhibition hall being exhibited by IAGLR. Lampreys can grow approximately 3 times Sally’s height and she was thrilled to be able to sit next to one! Once the poster sessions were up, Sally perused the 550 posters to listen to different students talk about their research. A particular poster caught her attention from Daemen University called Excess chloride impairs over-winter quality of stream algal assemblages which was published by two undergraduates: Cassandra Mayle and Jessica Bieler, in BIOS. An interesting presentation to say the least!

South Platte Sally visiting the LIVE Lamprey.

Most of Sally’s evenings were spent outside the conference, looking over the Grand River which runs in the middle of Grand Rapids, Michigan and hanging with colleagues she had not seen for a long time. It was great interacting with others who are working on their own rivers within their own state and noticing the differences in work each member contributes. She cannot wait until the next JASM and is incredibly sad that it will take another five years before she sees her oceanographic and wetland friends again. 

South Platte Sally exploring the excellent student poster session.