The Lake Erie and Inland Waters Annual Research Review took place virtually Thursday and Friday, December 17-18.

Dr. Stu Ludsin hosted the meeting with minimal technical difficulties, and we all learned about the great research taking place in Ohio. Folks from The Ohio State University, Ohio Division of Wildlife, University of Toledo, and CIGLR all presented. The presentations were supported by a variety of other schools and agencies including USGS Great Lakes Science Center, Fisheries Canada, Queen's University, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Michigan DNR, and NOAA-GLERL. See below for the list of talks.

We extend our gratitude to all who presented!

Rachael Finigan & Elizabeth Marschall (EEOB, OSU). Spatial variation in Largemouth Bass life-history traits among Ohio populations.

Bryan Blawut, Barbara Wolfe, Christa Moraes, Chris Premanandan, Gustavo Schuenenann & Marco Coutinho da Silva (Veterinary Preventative Medicine, OSU); Richard Zweifel, Kevin Kayle, Doug Sweet, Brian Kitchen & Mort Pugh (DOW, ODNR); and Stuart Ludsin (EEOB, OSU). Assisted reproduction technique effects on sperm physiology of the freshwater fish, Sauger (Sander canadensis).

Mark DuFour & Peter Jenkins (DOW, ODNR). Identifying trends in early growth of Lake Erie Yellow Perch and adapting for harvest assessments.

David Dippold & Stuart Ludsin (EEOB, OSU); and Qi Wang & Leon Boegman (Civil Engineering, Queen’s University). Modeling historical trends in larval stage duration of Lake Erie walleye with implications for future climate change.

Daniel O’Donnell, Hannah Moore & James Hood (EEOB, OSU). 20+ years of Lake Erie plankton dynamics: patterns and drivers.

Richard Budnik, Stuart Ludsin, Daniel O’Donnell, James Hood & Elizabeth Marschall (EEOB, OSU); Cassandra May (Biological Sciences, Clemson University); and Edward Roseman (Great Lakes Science Center [GLSC], United States Geological Survey [USGS]). Zooplankton quantity and quality during the larval period regulates recruitment of Lake Erie walleye.

Sabrina Jaffe, Song Qian, Nicole King & Christine Mayer (Environmental Sciences & Lake Erie Center [ES-LEC], University of Toledo [UT]); and Patrick Kocovsky (GLSC, USGS). Predicting the presence of grass carp eggs based on tributary flow and temperature.

Carey Knight & Ann Marie Gorman (DOW, ODNR); and Joe Schmitt (GLSC, USGS), Central basin fish diet monitoring (1984-2019) - Where we are and where we are going?

Zak Slagle & Matthew Faust (DOW, ODNR). Bass don’t move – or do they? Challenging the Smallmouth Bass movement paradigm with Lake Erie data.

Zoe Almeida, Stuart Ludsin & Elizabeth Marschall (EEOB, OSU); John Grayson & Konrad Dabrowski (SENR, OSU). Evidence of experiential legacies of early-life diet quality on juvenile Walleye.

Michael Fraker (Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research [CIGLR],  University of Michigan [UM]); James Sinclair, Jim Hood & Stuart Ludsin (EEOB, OSU); and Ken Frank (Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada [DFO] & Queen’s University [QU]). Contrasting states of the Lake Erie ecosystem and implications for ecosystem-based management.

Christine Mayer, Ana Gouveia, Robert Mapes, Song Qian, William Hintz, Jonathon Bossenbroek, Kaitlen Lang & Robert Hunter (ES-LEC, UT); Eric Weimer & John Navarro (DOW, ODNR); John Dettmers (Great Lakes Fishery Commission); Ryan Young (United States Fish & Wildlife Service); John Buszkiewicz (Michigan DNR); and Patrick Kocovsky (GLSC, USGS) Fishing for grass carp 2020 style: A shocking tale of elusive carp and crunching sparse numbers.

Cory Becher & Stuart Ludsin (EEOB, OSU); Stephen Tyszko (DOW, ODNR); and John Olesik (Earth Sciences, OSU). Quantifying contributions of stocked Channel Catfish in reservoir populations using otolith microchemistry.

James Sinclair, Jim Hood & Stuart Ludsin (EEOB, OSU); Michael Fraker (CIGLR, UM); and Kenneth Frank (DFO & QU). Functional traits reveal the predominant anthropogenic drivers of long-term change across a large lake ecosystem.

Taylor Sasak, Madison Myers, Jonathon Bossenbroek & Christine Mayer (ES-LEC, UT); and Brian Schmidt & Eric Weimer (DOW, ODNR). Potential habitat for fish in the Sandusky River post-dam removal.

Benjamin Marcek & Elizabeth Marschall (EEOB, OSU); and Mark Rowe (Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Can bioenergetics models explain discrepancies in catch data?