I recently had the privilege of writing a guest post for The Fisheries Blog on GAR; this was alongside the FINtastic GARtwork of Hannah Dean (pictured below). Click on the image or check out the post HERE.
THE 7 WONDERFUL GAR OF THE WORLD
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Tag Archives: fish
reBlog Primitive Fishes: First Gar-Spotting in the Second City
Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus)
After recent conversations with colleagues* at the Field Museum, Case Western, and Twitter, I was inspired to expand upon the background and potential implications of the recent first finding of a Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) in the Chicago Area Waterways System (CAWS). I will be doing so across Primitive Fishes, Lepisosteidae.net, and here, and will link across the sites too. My first post, to bring interested parties up to speed, can be found here:
First Gar-Spotting in the Second City
Next entry coming soon!–
–solomon
*THANKS Drs. R.Oldfield & C.McMahan (@mugilidsrock), E.Graslie (@Ehmee), and D.Jakubiak (@DavidELPC)!
Great Lakes Fishes on TV!
This past Wednesday* I had the great opportunity to join colleagues/researchers from The Nature Conservancy, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), and United States Geological Survey (USGS) to discuss Great Lakes native fisheries on an episode of “Great Lakes Now Connect,” a series by Detroit Public Television.
The episode summary from the Great Lakes Now website follows, and the full episode is available in segments at the links below. This was in front of a live studio audience (also live streamed), and was also a lot of fun! When my background on studying the spotted gar came up, I even managed to get in a “Go BLUE!” at about 6:50 in my interview.
Received an entertaining response from host Christy McDonald (an MSU graduate) when I said “Go BLUE!” after mentioning my alma mater (where I studied the Spotted Gar).
Program Summary from Great Lakes Now:
The Nature Conservancy and Detroit Public Television are excited to bring you another episode of Great Lakes Now: Connect digging deep into the science behind Great Lakes issues.
The Great Lakes once boasted as many as 150 species of fish in their vast waters that comprise the largest freshwater system on Earth. Today, some of those species are gone forever while the populations of others are greatly reduced. Native Great Lakes fish populations face serious threats from aquatic invasive species, degraded habitat, pollution and obstructions that block fish passage. What is being done to restore Great Lakes native fisheries to their former glory? Find out as we discuss the challenges and solutions facing Great Lakes fish on this next episode of Great Lakes Now Connect: Fisheries.
For more information on Fisheries please visit: The Nature Conservancy
Hosted by award-winning journalist Christy McDonald, and moderated by The Nature Conservancy’s Dr. Patrick Doran, Director of Conservation, The Nature Conservancy. Special guests included Dr. Solomon David of Shedd Aquarium and University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Maureen Walsh of United States Geological Survey, and Randy Claramunt of The Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Episode Sections:
Video 1- Jim Johnson has devoted his life’s work to protecting fisheries in Alpena, Michigan.
Discussion Panel 1- Patrick Doran (TNC), Maureen Walsh (USGS), Randy Claramunt (DNR)
Video 2- Restoring Reef Habitats
Discussion Panel 2 – Patrick Doran, Maureen Walsh, Randy Claramunt, Solomon David
*In conjunction with TNC and Shedd Aquarium, we also put together a “tweet up” (twitter chat) on Great Lakes native fishes on 10/22 to kick off the discussion. The opening image is one of our promos, I’ll post others soon. You can check out the tweet up conversations as well as live tweets from the Great Lakes Now Connect episode by tracking #GLfish!
Freshwater Biodiversity & New IUCN Atlas
I had the opportunity to write a guest blog for the Huffington Post on the importance of freshwater biodiversity in connection with the new IUCN online freshwater biodiversity atlas. See link below; extended post coming soon!
Guest Blog for Huffington Post
-SNRE Biostation Orientation featured on the U-M homepage!–
-The School of Natural Resources & Environment new student orientation at the U-M Biological Station (Pellston, MI) is currently featured on the U-M homepage! Main photo shows me with several new students during the electrofishing activities on the Sturgeon River near UMBS. I’ve helped out/led the electrofishing activities for 5 years (this year was my final year), and we have always caught some big fishes! Photos by SNRE’s fantastic Media/Web Administrator Dave Brenner.–
-Heading to the 4th International Gar Conference Today!–
Departing later today for the 4th International Meeting on Lepisosteid Research which will be held in Villahermosa, Tabasco state, Mexico. Looking forward to catching up with colleagues I haven’t seen since the last gar meetings (which were in Thibodaux, Louisiana, in 2010; Heredia, Costa Rica, in 2008) and finding out about new research! I’ll also be presenting a summary of the results of my dissertation work, including countergradient variation and genetic diversity among spotted gar populations. I’ll be sure and update with photos as much as I can over the course of the week!–
Solomon R. David, PhD 