Great Lakes Observing System Enterprise Architecture Design Report (January 2012)
This project brought together multi-disciplinary experts to identify and recommend specific actions and investments for the next five years that will achieve an integrated, comprehensive, and sustainable observing system enterprise for the Great Lakes. This Great Lakes Observing System Enterprise—a highly-leveraged evolution of existing resources—will provide ready access to vital real-time and historical information to support decision-making by managers and users of this unique and invaluable resource. This report is a summary of the collection of design report documents that have been completed under this project.
Overview
Execituve Summary
Final Report
Use of Nearshore Monitoring Buoys in the Great Lakes (December 2011)
Nearshore monitoring buoys provide real-time data via the internet on marine conditions such as water temperature, wind speed, and wave height. This information benefits individuals and organizations from weather forecasters and public safety personnel to power plants, fisherman, boaters, and beach users.
LimnoTech is hosting a webinar (see flyer) on January 27, 2012, 11:00 am -12:30 pm EST, to provide information on how public and private organizations can access real-time environmental monitoring data in nearshore areas. Participants will learn from experts in every facet of the buoy‘s construction and application about how to procure and maintain these instruments. To participate in this event, please register by January 25, 2012. Click here to register: Registration.
Herrema to Participate in NRD Conference (December 2011)
On January 26 and 27, Dan Herrema, P.E., LimnoTech Associate Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Office Manager, will participate in a conference in Washington, DC, titled “Natural Resource Damages: New Approaches to Assessing, Prosecuting and Defending NRD Claims,” coordinated through Law Seminars International.
Natural Resource Damages (NRD) policy and practice are of vital concern to the public, federal, state and tribal trustees, and companies. Injuries and damages to natural resources raise significant legal, scientific, economic and policy issues. Natural resource trustees, state and federal courts, and private industries have increasingly grappled with complex NRD issues.
This conference will present information and the views of stakeholders on topics such as the nature and limits of NRD claims; how companies can best defend scientifically complex cases with numerous evidentiary issues; the best strategies to avoid or handle NRD litigation; and many more.
Dan will add his expertise to the conference as one of the panelists in a discussion titled “Getting Ready for Trial: Evidentiary and Scientific Issues.” More information on the conference can be found at the conference website.
myBeachCast: Real-time beach data via smartphones (August 2011)
Working in partnership with Great Lakes states, the Great Lakes Commission has deployed a LimnoTech-designed smartphone app to provide the public with real-time information including water quality advisories and closings, weather and water conditions, and locations for beaches in the user’s vicinity. The Android app, named myBeachCast, retrieves advisory and closure data for beaches in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio included in BeachGuard, a centralized database for beach monitoring data collected by local health departments.
The initial version of myBeachCast is available at http://beachcast.glin.net. Beaches and beach data for other Great Lakes states will be added for the app’s scheduled May 2012 full launch.
“The Great Lakes Commission is pleased to provide this new service for the beachgoing public and as a tool for the states to better promote our Great Lakes beaches and protect human health,” said Great Lakes Commission Executive Director Tim Eder. “We hope it’s beneficial not only for the beach management community but also for the business and tourism sectors in our region.” (The full Great Lakes Commission announcement can be found at: http://www.glc.org/announce/11/pdf/NewsRelease-20110804.pdf)
LimnoTech Announces Staff Promotions (August 2011)
LimnoTech is pleased and proud to announce the promotion of three experienced and accomplished colleagues as new corporate officers. Tim Dekker, Ph.D., P.E., has been promoted to the position of Vice President, and Wendy Larson and Dan Herrema, P.E., have been promoted to Associate Vice Presidents. Tim Dekker has been with LimnoTech for 12 years and has led our contaminated sediments group for much of that time. More recently, Dekker has led our Lower Don River restoration and Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Park Redesign projects. This is Wendy Larson’s 20th year with LimnoTech. Larson currently directs our water sustainability consulting services for a range of national and international clients, and is a recognized expert in water sustainability and water footprint assessments. Dan Herrema has been with LimnoTech since 1999, and recently stepped up to lead our Mid-Atlantic Office in Washington, DC. Herrema’s experience includes resolving remediation and stormwater issues for industry and municipalities, and he manages several remediation projects for major industrial clients.
Paul Freedman, President of LimnoTech, and John Marr, formerly Executive Vice President, are also changing roles. Paul will be adding Chief Executive Officer to his position as President of the firm, and John Marr will be Chief Operating Officer.
Congratulations all!
Paul Freedman Receives WEF “Fellow” Recognition (June 2011)
Paul Freedman, President of LimnoTech, was recently honored by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) by being named one of the first recipients of its WEF Fellow Recognition Program. This new program honors the professional achievements, stature, and contributions of WEF members in various fields of water expertise. He is one of only 17 professionals to be approved by the Board to be honored during this inaugural year. Paul is approaching four decades of professional consulting and research experience across North America and around the globe. He has been an industry leader in specialty areas including modeling, watershed management, wet weather issues, and lake management/restoration, as well as water footprinting, sustainability and stewardship. He has also written and delivered over 250 papers and presentations on various water-related topics. Paul is a former WEF President and has held numerous positions of importance with the water organization over his long association. WEF is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with 35,000 individual members and 70 member associations, whose mission is to preserve and enhance the global water environment.
Joe DePinto Receives IAGLR 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award (June 2011)
Joe DePinto, senior environmental scientist at LimnoTech, was awarded the IAGLR 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s International Association of Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) conference. IAGLR is a scientific organization of researchers studying the Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world, whose goal is to promote all aspects of large lakes research, and communicate its findings through publications and meetings. This award recognizes important and continued contributions to the field of Great Lakes research over a period of more than 20 years. Robert Heath, President of IAGLR, presented DePinto with the award at the conference, saying that Joe’s work has been “the backbone of decision-making for the Great Lakes ecosystems.” He went on to say, “DePinto’s extensive body of work in developing computer models of Great Lakes processes has set the standard and the format for development of other models. His modeling is original and state-of-the-art. His work truly has led the field for 35 years.” Congratulations, Joe!
LimnoTech Awarded St. Louis River AOC Project (March 2011)
In March 2011, LimnoTech was awarded a project by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to develop an implementation framework for delisting the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC) for nine beneficial use impairments. This effort is designed to define a comprehensive plan for restoring the AOC to be achieved through a focused coalition of stakeholders. The project goals include remediation of legacy sediments, restoration of previously impacted habitats and protection of the estuary to improve the quality of life for recreational users and Twin Ports inhabitants, as well as contributing to a robust, healthy local economy. This will be the 24th AOC in which LimnoTech has performed project work. LimnoTech’s project responsibilities will be led by Hans Holmberg, manager of LimnoTech’s Central Region Office, and Virginia Breidenbach, who resides in Duluth in the St. Louis River region.
LimnoTech Team Awarded Grant to Develop the Enterprise Architecture for the Great Lakes Observing System (November 2010)
A team led by LimnoTech was recently awarded a grant to produce a comprehensive, near-term design of the enterprise architecture for the Great Lakes observing system. The enterprise architecture will describe how the Great Lakes observing community will employ land-, water-, air-, and space-based observation technologies over the next five years to provide physical, chemical and biological information to facilitate effective decision-making by a range of Great Lakes stakeholders. A significant group of users will be those implementing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). This observing system enterprise will be an important resource to support remediation, restoration, prediction and conservation actions throughout the Great Lakes.
This project is being funded by the NOAA-Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, with funds allocated from GLRI. Other key partners include the Great Lakes Observing System Regional Association of IOOS (GLOS), the EPA-Great Lakes National Program Office, the United States Geological Survey, and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).
Teaming with LimnoTech to undertake this project are experts from Applied Science Associates, Clarkson University, Michigan Tech Research Institute, and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Project lead scientist, Joe DePinto of LimnoTech, was quoted to say, “Together this team has the depth and breadth of expertise and experience to cover all aspects of providing a comprehensive design—observation technology, observation network design and implementation, data management and communication, data analysis and modeling, and data/products and services development and delivery.” The project, being managed by Tim Dekker of LimnoTech, is underway, and plans are to complete the design by June 2011.
LimnoTech Team Wins St. Louis Arch Project (October 2010)
A team including LimnoTech and led by landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) was recently declared the winner of an international design competition for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial area around the famous Arch in the City of St. Louis. The competition, entitled “Framing a Modern Masterpiece: The City + The Arch + The River 2015,” sought a redesign of the park area around the Arch to better integrate the memorial and its grounds with the City of St. Louis, the Mississippi River and Illinois on the other side of the river. The jury chose the MVVA Team over four others competing in the final phase of a competition that began with nearly 50 teams. The winning design was announced this October, and the resulting work will be completed by October 28, 2015—the 50th anniversary of the completion of the Arch.
LimnoTech Goes to WEFTEC 2010 (September 2010)
The WEFTEC 2010 conference in New Orleans will once again be one of the largest gatherings of water quality professionals in the world. WEFTEC is the yearly national conference of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with 35,000 individual members, whose mission is to preserve and enhance the global water environment. The conference will offer the opportunity for professionals in many water-related fields to meet and discuss the latest issues and advancements. There will also be numerous water quality education and training opportunities through displays, seminars, and poster presentations. Once again, LimnoTech will be well represented at the conference, with LimnoTech’s president, Paul Freedman, completing a busy and successful year as president of WEF, and members of our staff involved in several presentations and workshops (LimnoTech participation).
Water Footprint Report Released (September 2010)
On September 8, 2010, The Coca-Cola Company and The Nature Conservancy announced the release of a water footprint report in conjunction with World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden. The report, entitled "Product Water Footprint Assessments: Practical Application in Corporate Water Stewardship," examines the concept of product water footprinting and its practical application for addressing the growing challenges related to fresh water. Three pilot water footprint assessments were conducted for the Company’s products and key ingredients. Water footprint assessments can be helpful in supporting corporate water stewardship efforts by providing a tool to measure and understand water use throughout the supply chain. They provide valuable insight into the largest components and locations of water consumption, the potential effects on local watersheds, and future water availability to serve the collective needs of communities, nature, producers, suppliers and companies..
LimnoTech was a major contributor to the report, by conducting the orange juice water footprint pilot studies and contributing technical expertise and writing support. LimnoTech’s President, Paul Freedman, and Senior Project Scientist Wendy Larson attended the World Water Week conference in Stockholm for the release of the report
(http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/presscenter/nr_20100908_water_footprint_report.html) . The report can be accessed at http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/presscenter/TCCC_TNC_WaterFootprintAssessments.pdf.
THANKS to Client Survey Respondents (August 2010)
We are constantly striving to enhance our services to our clients, and since 1991 we have been conducting client surveys. This gives our clients a chance to rate our technical performance and client service. We thank all those who responded. This year our respondents were automatically entered in a raffle to win a gift card or a donation in their name to a worthy charity. The 2010 winner graciously chose a donation to Water 4People in lieu of a gift card.
The feedback we get from you in our survey helps us get better every year, and we hope that it reminds you that we are always here to help you.
LimnoTech Team Selected as Finalist in International Delta City of the Future Competition (July 2010)
LimnoTech teamed with the University of Virginia to compete in an international design competition sponsored by UNESCO and the Port of Rotterdam. The competition seeks to advance innovative strategies for management of worldwide port cities, focusing on river deltas and their interactions with urban environments. Of 57 international entries into the competition, seven were selected to advance to an intense “pressure cooker” 24-hour design session in Rotterdam exploring innovative ideas for sustainable management of Delta Cities, with emphasis on the Port of Rotterdam. As one of the winning teams, the University of Virginia/LimnoTech team will take part in the design sessions and describe their winning proposal at the “Deltas in Times of Climate Change” international conference.
LimnoTech Paper is One of Most Cited (May 2010)
A LimnoTech paper was recently recognized as one of the "Top-20 most cited articles" published in Journal of Great Lakes Research from 2005-2009. The authors of the paper, “Modeling the role of zebra mussels in the proliferation of blue-green algae in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron,” include current LimnoTech employees Victor J. Bierman Jr., Joseph V. DePinto and David W. Dilks. Blooms of Microcystis, a toxin-producing blue-green alga, had all but been eliminated from Saginaw Bay in the early 1980s because of controls on phosphorus loadings from the watershed, but have re-occurred in the bay most summers since the early 1990s even though these loadings have not increased. The paper describes use of an ecosystem model to explain how zebra mussels could have caused the re-occurrence of these blue-green algal blooms because of their impacts on phytoplankton community structure and/or on internal phosphorus loadings from the sediments. paper
Pat Bradley Is Instructor at WEF NPDES Workshop (May 2010)
Pat Bradley, Senior Scientist in LimnoTech’s Washington, DC office, was an instructor at an NPDES Permits Program Overview Course sponsored recently by the Water Environment Federation and the U.S. EPA. The objective of the course was to increase understanding by both the permit holder and the permit writer of the NPDES process to reduce the time it takes to issue a permit and to increase compliance. The program included lectures and discussion, and provided attendees with a better understanding of the purpose of the NPDES program. Topics also covered new and emerging issues including the watershed approach and water quality trading. Prior to joining LimnoTech, Pat was the Assistant Branch Chief of the State & Regional Branch of the Water Permits Division at EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Details about this event can be found at: http://www.wef.org/Conferences/page_seminars
LimnoTech’s Joe DePinto Attends Lake Erie Phosphorus Research Forum (February 2010)
Joe DePinto, PhD, LimnoTech Senior Environmental Scientist, and Edward Verhamme, LimnoTech Project Engineer, recently attended the Lake Erie Phosphorus Research Forum, an informal venue for scientists and managers to review results from ongoing phosphorus research projects on Lake Erie and its watershed. This gathering allowed investigators who have led five phosphorus projects funded by GLNPO, two funded by LEPF, and others funded by Sea Grant to report to managers and decision-makers and discuss the meaning of their results. This was a significant exchange of information, as excessive nutrient enrichment is increasingly being recognized as a major threat to the quality of surface water resources in the United States. The forum was sponsored by the Lake Erie Millennium Network, a part of the Great Lakes Regional Research Information Network.Dr. DePinto gave a presentation (see link below) on two large modeling efforts being conducted by LimnoTech to support management decisions concerning control measures for eutrophication in Lake Erie. Other LimnoTech staff working on these projects include Todd Redder, Dan Rucinski, Ric McCulloch, Jeremy Grush, and Brian Lord. pdf
LimnoTech Takes Water Footprinting Expertise to India (January 2010)
LimnoTech’s Wendy Larson recently traveled to India as a member of the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Water Footprinting Team. The purpose was to conduct a workshop and launch a water footprint initiative with Jain Irrigation that will allow the company to measure its environmental and sustainability benefits, and identify ways to reduce water consumption. Wendy and the others in her group toured farms in the region where drip irrigation technology is being applied. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment. Jain Irrigation has pioneered water conservation and the use of water-saving devices in India.
LimnoTech Contributes to EPA Sediment Guide (November 2009)
U.S. EPA has released its second Sediment Assessment and Monitoring Sheet, titled, "Understanding the Use of Models in Predicting the Effectiveness of Proposed Remedial Actions at Superfund Sediment Sites." This document is a primer for those not experienced in the development and use of models at sediment sites. It explains the typical objectives of modeling, how models are built, how they are used to predict the effectiveness of remedies, and how the uncertainty in model predictions can be addressed. John Wolfe, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, and Tim Dekker, Ph.D., P.E., Senior LimnoTech Environmental Engineers, were major contributors to this document, which is now available on the EPA website. With EPA, Tim and John prepared document drafts and developed revisions to respond to comments from each of the EPA regions. Their work has been well received and much appreciated at EPA, as well as by the regulated community. This document is available at: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/health/conmedia/sediment/pdfs/Modeling_Primer.pdf
LimnoTech Projects Recognized in Professional Publications (June 2009)
Two LimnoTech projects have been featured recently in professional publications. The first involved LimnoTech’s contribution as part of a large NSF-funded collaborative research project led by The Ohio State University. The overall project examined interactions between lake ecosystems and lake-related human activities in Lake Erie, and it was featured in 2009 Spring/Summer issue of Twine Line magazine, an Ohio Sea Grant publication. The article, titled “Biocomplexity: Uncovering Lake Erie’s Physical, Biological, and Economic Connections,” (pdf) was written by Stacey Brannan. Joe DePinto, Ph.D., Dan Rucinski, Ed Verhamme, and Todd Redder of LimnoTech were part of the project team involved in developing complex fine-scale models to explore how human-lake interactions affect human-lake dynamics. The second article appears in Minnegram, a publication of the Minnesota Water Resources Center, and is titled “Model Will Allow Managers to Forecast Impact of Policies on Toxic Chemicals in the Great Lakes,” (pdf) by Nina Shepard. This project, a collaborative effort between LimnoTech and the University of Minnesota, was again led by Joe DePinto, and involved developing a screening-level, multi-media chemical exposure model for the entire Great Lakes Basin that will allow water resource managers to anticipate basin-wide risk from emerging chemicals of concern.
LimnoTech Receives Corp! Magazine Award as Michigan Economic Bright Spot (June 2009)
LimnoTech was recently chosen as a “Michigan Economic Bright Spot” 2009 award winner by Corp! magazine. Corp! sought nominations for firms in Michigan that persevered and even prospered during the recent economic downturn. Fifty firms from all sectors of business in Michigan received this award. Firms were recognized for their service, knowledge and innovation, creativity, reputation, cost savings, and enabling abilities. The award also highlighted firms that introduced or applied unique new technologies to Michigan. LimnoTech was recognized at a special breakfast for awardees on June 2, and is featured in an article in Corp!’s May/June 2009 issue.Corp! magazine was founded in 1998 to provide features, news and profiles with a Michigan emphasis, and is Michigan’s largest business magazine.
LimnoTech Works with Chinese Experts to Solve Environmental Challenges (January 2009)
LimnoTech staff are involved in several exciting projects and initiatives in China. First, we are conducting several workshops in China to provide training to Chinese experts and regulators in the use of watershed management and Total daily Maximum Load approaches for restoring and protecting water quality. The focus has been on transboundary issues (involving large areas and multiple cities and provinces), and has also focused on southern provinces involving China’s largest watersheds and industrial areas that are experiencing extreme water quality problems, impacting ecologic conditions and causing major disruptions in water supply for millions. This is a cooperative program in which we are teaming with experts from Australia and Canada. LimnoTech staff are also supporting the early stages of research efforts with Chinese research institutes on capping contaminated sediments, and the development of green eco-cities approaches to planning for Chinese cities.
LimnoTech Named a Best Place to Work (October 2008)
In a survey performed by ZweigWhite and published in the CENews, LimnoTech was named 11th among the 20 best environmental service firms to work for in the U.S. for 2008. The survey compiled data covering a number of characteristics related to company policies, benefits, and work environments, including overtime compensation, human resources services, maternity leave policy, flexibility of working hours, 401(k) benefits, and generally how employees feel about their own firms. CENews,a publication of ZweigWhite, is a resource for civil engineers that reports trends, technologies, applications, news, and business management advice in the business of civil engineering.