Images

The aurora borealis, or northern lights, shined bright and danced in the sky for several days in mid-September as USGS researchers conducted night survey work near Tobermory, Ontario. Photo credit: Lyle Grivicich, USGS.

USGS scientists (GLSC; Ann Arbor, Michigna) prepare to launch an autonomous underwater vehicle from the GLSC’s R/V Dragonfly in Porte des Morts within the Lake Michigan waters of Wisconsin. Photo credit: Alden Tilley, USGS.

USGS vessel crewmembers (GLSC; Cheboygan, Michigan) and science crew (GLSC; Ann Arbor, Michigan) heave out the cod end of a bottom trawl net during the 2023 fall prey fish assessment in Lake Michigan aboard the GLSC’s R/V Arcticus. Photo credit: Cory Brant, USGS.

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 native deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsonii) next to a clump of eyed eggs collected from a bottom trawl net aboard the R/V Arcticus on Lake Michigan. 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) walks alongside a treated invasive Phragmites australis site. Photo credit: Taaja Tucker-Silva, 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.

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.

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.

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

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 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.