|
|
 |
|
<<Back
|
For Release: September 25, 2009
|
Contact:
Vicky Harris (920) 465-2795;
http://www.aqua.wisc.edu/SOLM/
|
|
|
Lake Michigan and Great Lakes Beach Conference Held Sept. 29– Oct. 1 in Milwaukee |
Milwaukee, WI. (9/25/2009) -- One conference focusing on multiple Great Lakes topics will be held September 29 through October 1st at Milwaukee’s Hyatt Regency Hotel. The Lake Michigan: State of the Lake biennial conference and the Great Lakes Beach Association annual meeting will be held jointly for the fifth time over the past decade.
"EPA's decade-long sponsorship of this conference brings together elected officials, scientists, resource managers, planners, students, and citizens working to improve Great Lakes beaches and water quality, and Lake Michigan's ecosystem, a globally significant shared resource,” said Judy Beck, US EPA's Lake Michigan manager. "We hope it is the place where collaboration and partnerships take root,” she added.
“It’s the only major conference dedicated solely to Lake Michigan and to Great Lakes beaches,” said conference co-chair, Vicky Harris. “Registration is at a record high, showing the overwhelming interest throughout the Great Lakes in Lake Michigan’s water quality and beach health. President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative holds great promise and has people excited about making real progress on long-standing problems.”
Over 150 presentations will be given covering 23 topics, including contamination cleanup, climate change impacts, wetlands, predicting beach contamination and swimming advisories, Lake Michigan wind power, invasive species, and nuisance and harmful algal blooms.
Five field trips will also be offered to program participants, including a tour of the fish-vegetable farm, Sweet Water Organics, sediment cleanup on the Kinnickinnic River, and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee’s research facility, the Great Lakes WATER Institute.
Information presented at the conference will be used to improve beach management and public health protection. It will also be used to revise the Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan, a plan of action to assess, restore and protect the health of the Lake Michigan ecosystem.
For the first time, live video webcasts will be available to those who are unable to attend the conference in person at http://epa.gov/greatlakes/live/. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|