Patricia M Dieter

USGS researchers (GLSC; Cortland, New York; Ann Arbor, Michigan) collecting and recording fish glucose levels from specimens caught during a Lake Michigan bottom trawl survey aboard the R/V Arcticus. Data was used to test alternative processing methods to inform future Great Lakes Science Center International Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

USGS Great Lakes Science Center R/V Sturgeon heading home to Cheboygan Vessel Base (Cheboygan, Michigan) after a spring gillnet survey in the Northern Refuge of Lake Michigan. This survey is completed annually and has been ongoing since 2001.

USGS marine maintenance repairer and ship operator (GLSC; Cheboygan, Michigan) ready the trawl doors at sunset as the R/V Sturgeon heads out for a night of work to search for ciscos (Coregonus artedi) on Lake Huron. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

The GLSC’s R/V Sturgeon leaves Charlevoix, Michigan at the end of a lake trout spawner gillnet survey on Lake Michigan to head home to the Cheboygan Vessel Base (GLSC; Cheboygan, Michigan). Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

A USGS technician (GLSC; Ann Arbor, Michigan) throws the gillnet buoy flag overboard during a fall gillnet survey on Lake Michigan aboard the GLSC’s R/V Sturgeon. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

Two USGS science technicians (GLSC; Ann Arbor, Michigan) and the ship operator (GLSC; Cheboygan, Michigan) take in the early morning scenery as the R/V Sturgeon heads out for a day of setting gillnets in the Northern Refuge of Lake Michigan. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

Sunrise ahead near the Manitowoc, Wisconsin lighthouse as the R/V Arcticus heads out 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.

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 Northern clearwater crayfish (Faxonius propinquus) collected in the Northern Refuge of Lake Michigan during a lake trout survey aboard the GLSC’s R/V Arcticus. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

The USGS science crew (GLSC; Ann Arbor, Michigan), vessel crew (GLSC; Cheboygan, Michigan), and a local volunteer are ready at the gillnet lifter table waiting to lift gillnets and pick out fish captured during an annual survey in Lake Michigan. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

Evening sunset beaming through the Charlevoix lighthouse following a day of sampling for a spring gillnet survey on Lake Michigan. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

Native to the Great Lakes, this virile or northern crayfish (Faxonius virilis) was collected from a gillnet in the Northern Refuge of Lake Michigan during a fall lake trout spawner survey. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

Approaching the Port Washington Breakwater Light in Wisconsin on a foggy Lake Michigan while heading out for a day of trawling aboard the USGS research vessel Arcticus during a fall forage fish survey. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

Alewife peeking out of a pile of mussels caught on the 2021 Lake Michigan fall bottom trawl survey aboard the R/V Arcticus. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

R/V Sturgeon heading out for a day of sampling during a spring gillnet survey on Lake Michigan with the Charlevoix lighthouse to the left and anglers to the right. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

Area in Charlevoix, Michigan covered with Lily of the Valley, discovered after a day of work aboard the R/V Sturgeon during a spring gillnet survey on Lake Michigan. Photo credit: Patty Dieter, USGS.

View of Beaver Island captured during a fall gillnet survey assessing the adult lake trout population in the Northern Refuge of Lake Michigan in support of restoration.

Larval fish collected during icthyoplankton sampling in Lake Michigan as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) that targeted Lake Michigan in 2020.

The USGS completed numerous fishery research surveys safely on the Great Lakes in 2020; masked scientists aboard the USGS Research Vessel Sturgeon rinse a Tucker trawl net during ichthyoplankton sampling on Lake Michigan.

Native vs. Not: A native water flea (Leptodora kindtii; left and clear) and an invasive spiny water flea (Bythotrephes longimanus; right and purple) share space under a microscope after being collected from Lake Huron during a hydroacoustics survey.