Recipient Organization
KEWEENAW BAY OJIBWA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
111 BEAR TOWN RD
BARAGA,MI 49908
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College has conducted surface water research since 2016 in partnership with agency and university colleagues. Water temperature monitoring remains at the heart of these efforts, relevant to potential environmental change, fish habitat suitability, and Tribal stewardship of brook trout and walleye (staple food sources for the community). In 2020 we expanded through a TCRGP New Discovery project to include studies of riparian wetlands that provide critical habitat for culturally significant plant species. Curriculum enhancement and student experiences are primary objectives, including professional skill-building through research assistantships and conferences. Since 2020, faculty and students delivered four peer-reviewed publications, 13 conference presentations, 11 capstone projects, and a recommendation report to Tribal leadership.With this 4-year projectwe will build on our previous work through three key areas of expansion, with new project personnel skilled in each new focal area. 1) We will incorporate weather/climate research linked to our surface water monitoring, including the collection and analysis of meteorological and hydrological data. 2) TEK sub-themes will be integrated across the project, including curriculum enhancement. 3) Data analysis/management/sovereignty capacities will be enhanced, linked to mathematics curriculum, with student assistants gaining skills in advanced statistical analysis and data storytelling.A key deliverable of the four-year project period will be a 10-year analysis of surface water data from approximately 40 streams across the L'Anse Indian Reservation, linked to NOAA Great Lakes weather data, to identify potential trends of concern. Findings will benefit Tribal fisheries programs and add to the scholarly literature.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
40%
Applied
40%
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
The major project goals are:Continue the surface water temperature monitoring program from our New Discovery project, including over 50 stream study sites, 15 lake study sites, and other relevant special projects as they arise (e.g., student capstone research projects). Add to our existing datasets to complete a 10-year analysis of stream temperature data, with findings published in a scholarly journal. Enhance linkages to the KBIC-NRD fisheries management program for the pursuit of healthy fish populations and sustainable community harvests.Continue and expand studies of wetland ecosystems in response to demonstrated student interest and to build on previous findings. Support continued student capstone research projects involving wetlands and medicinal plants, and develop curriculum for a new field course, Streams and Wetlands. Continue collaborations with wetland ecologists from MTU and KBIC-NRD for capacity enhancement.Expand our previous work through a weather/climate theme. Purchase and deploy a weather station at the KBOCC campus, and camera-based field technologies to link stream discharge and early spring snowpack estimates to water temperature trends. Compare previous years' water temperature data to available weather/climate data. Provide a framework for weather/climate themed student capstone research projects. Develop curriculum for two new courses to be offered during the project period, Weather and Climate (field course) and Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples (online course).Enhance traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) throughout the project and KBOCC Environmental Science curriculum. The research team will add a regionally-recognized Anishinaabe cultural knowledge-holder to serve as a cultural consultant, research assistant, and Environmental Science co-instructor.Continue providing valuable internship experiences for student research assistants, a foundation for independent capstone research projects, and preparation for natural resource careers.Create a framework for data storage and sovereignty through a cloud-based data repository. Provide training to relevant faculty and students, for this and future research projects (including student capstone projects), with the goal of increasing computational literacy and sustaining institutional knowledge.
Project Methods
Objective 1, stream and lake temperature monitoring: We will use HOBO® Water Temp Pro V2 submersible datalogging units to collect temperature readings at over 50 stream study sites and 15 lake study sites. Equipment is prepped in the KBOCC science lab, including programming loggers for 4-hour recording intervals, attaching a protective boot/harness, and securing to a brick and a KBOCC nameplate. Each device corresponds to a study site location, pre-determined by stream/lake location with corresponding GPS waypoints.At deployment, loggers/bricks are tied by rope to trees along banks and submerged in locations deep enough to ensure that they stay underwater throughout the study period. Documentation occurs on standardized forms supported by photographic evidence. Loggers are checked monthly to ensure functionality. Dislodged or lost loggers are documented and repositioned/replaced as needed. Loggers are retrieved in late fall and returned to the KBOCC science lab. Data is uploaded using HOBO® model U-DTW-1 data shuttles and stored and analyzed with proprietary HOBOware Pro v.3x software.Dr. Kozich will collaborate with Ms. Colbert to upload data to a new cloud-based institutional repository for ultimate storage.This objective will also include the completion of a 10-year analysis of stream temperature trends from over 30 study streams (enriched with weather/climate data where possible). We anticipate several additional aquatic ecology sub-themes to emerge in the form of student-led capstone research projects.Objective 2, wetlands research: Our pilot studies of cedar swamp ecosystems along Menge Creek will be replicated across riparian forested wetlands in at least two additional stream systems. Each study site will include multiple 1/10-acre plots examined extensively to assess the influence of various factors on stream temperatures. Forest species composition and structure will be assessed by measuring and documenting all trees greater than 1-inch DBH. Seedlings will be estimated using quadrat sampling. These steps will allow us to characterize canopy features at all plots and hypothesize successional pathways of forest communities. Canopy cover will be assessed using a spherical densiometer. Multiple temperature dataloggers will be used at each plot - in the stream to record water temperature, buried in muck to record groundwater temperature, and suspended from trees to record ambient air temperature. These procedures will allow us to test the relative influence of various factors on stream temperatures. We anticipate several wetland sub-themes to emerge in the form of student-led capstone research projects.Objective 3, weather/hydrology research: As a pilot study, many research curiosities will be explored in this aspect of the project. We will purchase and install a weather station at the KBOCC campus in L'Anse, MI, addressing a community need.This station will provide ongoing measurements that are more representative of our study area than currently available, and the weather station will serve as a learning tool for students of environmental science.We will purchase and install camera-based field technologies to collect data at severalstream study sites, testing assumptionsthat relationships exist between stream flow and water temperature, which is vital to understand considering potential changes in precipitation patterns. We will explore the use of an optical flow technique applied to sequential images of the stream surface to estimate stream flow velocity from movement of surface features. Cameras willestimate total stream discharge based on pre-measured cross-sectional area combined with camera documentation of labeled channel depth gauges. Streamflow modeling could be compared to high-resolution modeled stream flow information available from the Flooded Locations And Simulated Hydrographs Project (FLASH).Cameras willbe used to record snow depth from images of depth sticks in camera view, allowing us to test relationships between estimated snowpack, its subsequent melt, and stream volume. We will access estimates of snow water equivalent (SWE) over the local area are available from the National Gridded Snowfall Analysisprovided by the NOAA National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center. This unified analysis includes estimates from operational weather models and surface measurements. In summary, the varied and novel use of the cameras will serve as learning tool for students of environmental science, particularly as part of new curriculum.We will access archived data to examine possible weather-related links to our stream temperature data since 2016. Precipitation and temperature data from prior years will be obtained from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). These are data are based on monthly averaged observations at stations in the western Upper Michigan Climate division. Precipitation data may also be extracted from the NOAA Multi-radar Multi-sensor (MRMS) product, which combines radar and ground-based observations. Research questions under this objective will be exploratory in nature as we test novel methodologies and develop new curriculum. Student experiences will be emphasized through new field-based curriculum and new options for capstone research projects.Objective 4, enhance traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) throughout the project: The research team will add a regionally-recognized Anishinaabe cultural knowledge-holder to serve as a cultural consultant, research assistant, and Environmental Science co-instructor.He will help enrich the overall research project with Anishinaabe culture, with thesespecific responsibilities:Serving as a co-instructor in Environmental Science courses under the tutelage of Dr. KozichAssisting with student capstone research projects to enriching cultural relevanceJoining Dr. Kozich and other team members at conferences, workshops, and trainingsAssisting with scholarly manuscript submission(s)Objective 5, providevaluable internship experiences for students: 4-5 students annually will be employed as research assistants. They will have wide-ranging responsibilties throughout the entire research project, with these specific responsibilities:Attending all trainings and meetings as instructedAssisting with the assembly, programming, deployment, documentation, monitoring, retrieval, and cleaning of field equipment; assisting with laboratory tasks such as data upload, storage of equipment and supplies, and general laboratory cleaningJoining Dr. Kozich and other team members at conferences, workshops, and trainings, to specifically include the delivery of research presentationsUsing internship experiences to develop and complete independent capstone research projects related to lake/stream ecology, hydrology, fisheries, riparian forest management, weather/climate, sustainability, TEK, medicinal plants, food sovereignty, treaty rights, or other relevant topic(s)Assisting with departmental community outreach projects, including our give-away garden, highway cleaning program, and other community eventsObjective 6, create a framework for data storage and sovereignty through a cloud-based data repository:Provide training to relevant faculty and students, for this and future research projects (including student capstone projects), with the goal of increasing computational literacy and sustaining institutional knowledge. This individual will provide leadership with this objectivewhile completing her Ph.D. in computational science and engineering. Her specific responsibilities include:Creating a KBOCC cloud-based data repository for this and future institutional research projectsServing as a co-mentor for students on their capstone research projects, specifically including data analysis and data storytellingIncorporating data from the research project in Probability and Statistics (MA201)Assisting with scholarly manuscript submission(s)