Wastewater contains many environmental contaminants including pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, PFAS and micro-plastics. They are not removed by treatment plants. We propose to remove them using commercially available drinking water coagulants.
Spruce budworm is native to Minnesota and the most significant tree killer in spruce-balsam fir forests. This project studies why populations increase to improve management opportunities in affected forests/regions.
Project will reduce EAB through community developed management (inventory, canopy assessment, management plan, removal, non-neonicotinoid treatment) and improve their community forest by involving citizens and planting a diversity of trees.
This statewide inventory will provide baseline data and build in-state knowledge on Minnesota's stoneworts, a diverse group of aquatic plants that are critical for clear lakes and healthy fish habitat.
Enormous growth in irrigation in Minnesota?s Mississippi Headwaters/Central Sands has occurred without assessment of water resource impacts. This project will assess aggregate irrigation water quality and quantity impacts/sustainability.
Create a semi-automated system to acquire, process, and deliver new satellite derived water quality data (water clarity, algae, turbidity and color) for all Minnesota lakes ~biweekly and in near real-time
Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol Citizen Science Program aims to prevent and reduce purple loosestrife by engaging, educating and empowering citizens in using a biocontrol to protect and restore native ecosystems.
We will quantify exposure to two contaminants for 12 Minnesota raptors. Polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) and methylmercury (Hg) are bioaccumulative toxicants that cause reproductive failure in birds.
We propose to quantify the amount, type, and source of microplastics in the water, sediment, and fishes of a range of Minnesota lakes in collaboration with MN DNR.
We will quantify the capacity of restored peatlands to store and accumulate atmospheric carbon and their capacity to prevent release of accumulated mercury into streams, rivers and lakes.
Minnesota decadal increases in precipitation have increased runoff, groundwater recharge, and infrastructure damage. We will assess and define selected quaternary settings to better define hydrologic response to extreme changes.
Guiding management for reduction of phosphorus inputs to Lake of the Woods by examining sources, mobility, and storage of sediment-bound phosphorus within Rainy River.
Rainfall runoff in urban areas contributes to localized flooding and washes contaminants and excess nutrients downstream affecting water quality. Systems to mitigate these problems can be challenging to implement in urban areas due to existing infrastructure and competing demands for land use. However, one option is to find alternative applications for the excess rainwater and use it replace the potable water that is currently being used for certain purposes. Researchers at the University of Minnesota are using this appropriation to evaluate alternative uses for captured rainwater.
Increasingly many youth are disconnected from the outdoors and the natural world and many of these same youth, nearly 50% in Minnesota, are also not proficient in science. Yet such experiences and knowledge are necessary components for this next generation to understand and participate in solving the complex environmental challenges facing our world.
We will characterize environmental drivers contributing to the decline of wild rice using lake sediment cores to reconstruct historical wild rice abundance in relation to lake and watershed stressors.
Red-headed woodpeckers are a flagship species of threatened oak savannas in Minnesota. We aim to better understand red-headed woodpecker population ecology and develop a unified management plan for restoration.
The Redhead Mountain Bike Park will add up to 12 miles of additional trails and accommodations to Redhead Mountain Bike Trail System at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm,
Many lakes in Minnesota are classified as “impaired” for aquatic recreation and aquatic life as the result of nonpoint source pollution. These impairments can be addressed by the citizens that live by and have a vested interest in these water bodies, but there is often a lack of knowledge and resources to take effective action. The Freshwater Society is using this appropriation to train citizen groups in lake ecology and management in order to guide them in implementing water quality improvement projects for their local water bodies.
We will investigate road salt alternatives and pavement innovations that will reduce or eliminate the flux of chloride from road salt into our lakes, streams and groundwater.
The Raptor Center proposes to foster long-lasting environmental stewardship and literacy in Minnesota youth in underserved schools through providing engaging, multi-unit, standards-based environmental curriculum programming featuring positive interactions with raptors.
To inventory vegetation and evaluate wetland condition on permanent conservation easements, and conduct education and outreach regarding prairie and wetland habitats and their management.
Dakota County, in conjunction with the Minnesota Bison Conservation Herd, will reintroduce American plains bison (Bison bison) to the prairie of Spring Lake Park Reserve.
PROJECT OVERVIEW The Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Wetlands Reserve Program restores wetlands and grasslands through the purchase of permanent conservation easements on privately owned land. The easements limit future land use and put conservation plans in place for future management. The Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources is using this appropriation to accelerate the RIM Wetlands Reserve Program resulting in additional permanently protected wetlands and grasslands throughout the state.
The research will collect samples of microplastics to establish relationships between physical and remote sensing characteristics of microplastics for cost effective monitoring of microplastics in Minnesota natural and engineered waters.
