Wisconsin, Illinois Scientists Awarded Research Grants

From September 10, 1991 (update #10)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Robert Kasten (R-Wis.) announced Aug. 15 that the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) has awarded two University of Wisconsin Sea Grant scientists a special $119,002 grant for zebra mussel research during 1991-93. The grant will be used by UW-Madison zoologists Diana Padilla and Stanley Dodson to study the population dynamics and ecological effects of zebra mussels. The grant is part of $1.5 million being awarded nationally for zebra mussel research under the federal Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Species Prevention and Control Act of 1990. The Wisconsin Sea Grant project was one of only 15 of the 56 research proposals submitted that was approved for the funding under the NSGCP's competitive grant system. Two Illinois researchers also received zebra mussel research grants totaling more than $250,000. Illinois State University scientist Robert Preston was awarded $150,000 to study the physiology of the mussel during its unique free-swimming larval stage in attempt to identify appropriate control agents. Illinois Natural History Survey researcher J. Ellen Marsden and Cornell University researcher Bernie May were awarded $102,113 for a two-year study of mussel genetics aimed at developing long-term control measures. "I expect that Congress will earmark additional monies for zebra mussel research for the coming fiscal year," Sen. Kasten said, "which could result in another nationwide call for zebra mussel research proposals this fall and, hopefully, an additional award for UW Sea Grant." Padilla and Dodson will create mathematical computer models to predict the abundance, distribution, population dynamics and ecological effects of zebra mussels in North America. These models will be used to create forecast maps of the potential range and intensity of the zebra mussel invasion. "Our predictive maps will help identify which rivers and lakes are most likely to be hardest hit and how soon," Dodson said. "This will enable both government and industry to better focus their efforts to monitor and respond to the spread of this invader.".

ID: 19910910-9.

The Zebra Mussel Update was a 4- to 8-page quarterly national newsletter published by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute from May 1990 through May 1997. The ZMU documented the spread of the zebra mussel -- an exotic nuisance mussel -- through North America's freshwater environments, especially the Great Lakes, and on efforts to control it.