Images

Sunrise near Frankfort, Michigan on misty Betsie Lake as the R/V Arcticus heads out to Lake Michigan for a day of bottom trawling. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

A USGS technician (GLSC; Chesterton, Indiana) sampling Joe's Pye Weed that were visited by bumblebees in order to capture environmental DNA (eDNA) shed by the bees. Photo credit: Leslie Reyes, USGS Contractor.

A green frog (Lithobates clamitans) waiting patiently on dead Phragmites australis stems for its next meal. Photo credit: Meagan Froeba, USGS.

A USGS wetland scientist (GLSC; Ann Arbor, Michigan) counts the number of invasive Phragmites australis stems within a sampling quadrat in an effort to provide information about various control strategies used to manage the plant. Photo credit: Taaja Tucker-Silva, USGS.

A USGS wetland scientist (GLSC; Ann Arbor, Michigan) walks alongside a treated invasive Phragmites australis site. Photo credit: Taaja Tucker-Silva, USGS.

Over 370 mussels, all of them less than nine millimeters in length, sitting on an absorbent pad after being sorted into groups of ten by USGS researchers (GLSC; Chesterton, Indiana). Photo credit: Jessica Oswald, USGS Contractor.

Flower sampling in the GLSC greenhouse in Chesterton, Indiana for simulated environmental DNA degradation experiments. Photo credit: Muruleedhara Byappanahalli, USGS.

An ambersnail (genus Succinea) climbing a drooping, desiccated invasive Phragmites australis leaf in Lyon Oaks Metropark in South Lyon, MI. Photo credit: Nickolas Holcomb, USGS Contractor.

A USGS research technician (GLSC; Chesterton, Indiana) uses a peristaltic pump to filter lake water before pouring it into various bottles to be sent off for nutrient analysis. Photo credit: Leslie Reyes, USGS Contractor.

Enjoying the beautiful sunset on Lake Michigan after a hard day’s work. Photo credit: Jessica Oswald, USGS Contractor.

USGS wetland scientists (GLSC; Ann Arbor, Michigan) collecting plant growth data during an invasive Phragmites australis control experiment. Photo credit: Spenser Widin, USGS.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed through the harbor in Erie, PA at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer in the harbor being towed out onto Lake Erie for the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys on July 14, 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed through the harbor in Erie, PA at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed in the harbor in Erie, PA at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer in the harbor before its launch on Lake Erie for the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed on Lake Erie at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

A Saildrone Explorer being towed on Lake Erie at the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys in July 2023.

Sauble Falls in Sauble Falls Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Photo credit: Alden Tilley, USGS.

Little Dunks Bay, Lake Huron, at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. Photo credit: Alden Tilley, USGS.

A map of Lake Erie that includes the rough dates of operation of autonomous and crewed vehicles by USGS, Saildrone, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), and State and Ontario partners throughout Lake Erie during summer 2023.