Matt Kornis’s mother likes to tell the story of how they would walk in the neighborhood when Matt was two and he would pick up a stick to “fish” for leaves in puddles. Later, in college, his love for water, fish and the outdoors won out over his interest in molecular biology, leading to his current job with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in Green Bay, Wis. Kornis is a fish biologist and data analyst with the Great Lakes Mass Marking Program, a multi-agency study across the Great Lakes that involves implanting coded wire tags into millions of stocked fish each year to help assess the effectiveness of the stocking program for lake trout and Chinook salmon.

The next monthly River Talk is scheduled for Wed., Feb. 18, 7 p.m. at Amazing Grace Cafe (394 S. Lake Ave., Duluth, Minn.) Hansi Johnson with the Minnesota Land Trust and Diane Desotelle with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will present, “Making the St. Louis River Hip: The River Corridor Project.”

When Krystan Wilkinson of Middleton, Wis., was eight, she read a book about Eugenie Clark, a shark researcher and founding director of the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida. The “Shark Lady” story sparked Wilkinson’s early interest in sharks. But it took a combination of time, opportunity and place for her to pursue that interest.

The next monthly River Talk is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 22, 7 p.m. at the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve Learning Center (3 Marina Dr., Barker’s Island, Superior, Wis.). Andrew Breckenridge, associate professor in the Natural Sciences Department at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, will present, “Formation Story: How the St. Louis River Came to Be, Geologically.”

Teachers and non-formal educators can set a course for adventure and professional development this summer with a weeklong workshop aboard the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency research vessel Lake Guardian. The Shipboard and Shoreline Science Workshop will give teachers grades 4-12 a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work alongside scientists as they conduct field research across Lake Michigan.

The millions of zebra and quagga mussels that have colonized the lake concentrate bacteria the same way discharge from wastewater treatment plants does–and provide an environment for ARGs.

Two Wisconsin teachers, Lynn Kurth and Cindy Byers, have made exceptional use of the educational resources that Sea Grant has to offer and it’s led to bigger and better things for both them, their students, and other teachers across the country.

To residents like Bob Cragin, the St. Louis River, which forms a far northwest border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, transcends cultural and political boundaries. To others like Lynelle Hanson, the river provides a home for birds and the opportunity to educate children about nature. Their stories and others are presented along with information and examples of scientific work going on in the St. Louis River in a new website: stlouisriverestuary.org.

He’ll assume the SGA presidency beginning in 2017.

Things are looking up for Kingdom Animalia’s Jamie Kozloski, who works with Wisconsin Sea Grant to spread the message that exotic pet owners shouldn’t release their unwanted pets into the wild.