Adoption of renewable energy technologies and energy conservation practices can contribute in a variety of ways to the environmental and economic health of rural Minnesota communities through costs savings and emissions reductions. Engaging and coaching students as the leaders in the process of implementing such practices provides the added benefit of increasing knowledge, teaching about potential career paths, and developing leadership experience.
This project will train MPCA field staff in the proper calibration, deployment, maintenance and storage of water quality collection Sondes. Training event will cover general sonde overview, sonde maintenance, calibration procedure, short-term storage, long-term storage and 650MDS overview.
Trained staff will help assure the water chemistry data that is collected is of good quality. After the 1 day training events participants will be able to calibrate sonde water quality monitoring sensors in a lab or field setting, deploy the calibrated sonde to collect water chemistry, store sondes properly during non-field season and perform preventative maintenance or simple troubleshooting actions with the help of tech support. This will be satisfied by two different training events held in 2017.
Zebra mussels are an aquatic species that are invasive in Minnesota and severely threaten native fish and other aquatic species by disrupting food webs and damaging spawning habitat. Their range continues to expand within Minnesota lakes and rivers, where they are spread through the transporting of water, vegetation, or equipment from an infested water body. Once established zebra mussels are very difficult to control and there is an immediate need for safe and effective control measures to reduce their impacts in the state.
The Minnesota Zoo’s site – 485 acres of land in Dakota county – is a state treasure that includes a diverse array of habitants including vernal pools, sedge meadows, oak woodlands, and northern rich fens. More than half of this is undeveloped wildlife habitat which, thanks to Legacy funding, is now being explored by zoo staff and guests in order to educate citizens about the wild animals and wild places native to our state and the importance of caring for and conserving these resources.
Looking at Minnesota’s heritage of land stewardship, preservation and restoration, Legacy funding is allowing the Zoo to use our 485 acres to demonstrate these practices and educate the public.
An overall site plan has been developed. We have accelerated our buckthorn removal on site. We are also in the process of developing a demonstration prairie plot which will provide the opportunity for Zoo guests to connect with this rare and important part of Minnesota’s natural history.
