Katarzyna Przybyla-Kelly
Science and Products
Environmental DNA (eDNA): A tool for quantifying the abundant but elusive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus)
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is revolutionizing biodiversity monitoring, occupancy estimates, and real-time detections of invasive species. In the Great Lakes, the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), an invasive benthic fish from the Black Sea, has spread to encompass all five lakes and many tributaries, outcompeting or consuming native species;...
Nevers, Meredith B.; Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara; Morris, Charles C.; Shively, Dawn; Przybyla-Kelly, Katarzyna; Spoljaric, Ashley M.; Dickey, Joshua; Roseman, Edward F. Freshwater wrack along Great Lakes coasts harbors Escherichia coli: Potential for bacterial transfer between watershed environments
We investigated the occurrence, persistence, and growth potential of Escherichia coli associated with freshwater organic debris (i.e., wrack) frequently deposited along shorelines (shoreline wrack), inputs from rivers (river CPOM), and parking lot runoffs (urban litter). Samples were collected from 9 Great Lakes beaches, 3 creeks, and 4 beach...
Nevers, Meredith; Przybyla-Kelly, Kasia; Spoljaric, Ashley; Shively, Dawn A.; Whitman, Richard L.; Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara Prototypic automated continuous recreational water quality monitoring of nine Chicago beaches
Predictive empirical modeling is used in many locations worldwide as a rapid, alternative recreational water quality management tool to eliminate delayed notifications associated with traditional fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) culturing (referred to as the persistence model, PM) and to prevent errors in releasing swimming advisories. The goal of...
Dawn Shively; Nevers, Meredith; Cathy Breitenbach; Phanikumar, Mantha S.; Kasia Przybyla-Kelly; Ashley M. Spoljaric; Richard L. Whitman Wildlife, urban inputs, and landscape configuration are responsible for degraded swimming water quality at an embayed beach
Jeorse Park Beach, on southern Lake Michigan, experiences frequent closures due to high Escherichia coli (E. coli) levels since regular monitoring was implemented in 2005. During the summer of 2010, contaminant source tracking techniques, such as the conventional microbial and physical surveys and hydrodynamic models, were used to...
Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara N.; Nevers, Meredith; Whitman, Richard L.; Ge, Zhongfu; Shively, Dawn A.; Spoljaric, Ashley; Przybyla-Kelly, Katarzyna Evidence for free-living Bacteroides in Cladophora along the shores of the Great Lakes
Bacteroides is assumed to be restricted to the alimentary canal of animals and humans and is considered to be non-viable in ambient environments. We hypothesized that Bacteroides could persist and replicate within beach-stranded Cladophora glomerata mats in southern Lake Michigan, USA. Mean Bacteroides concentration (per GenBac3 Taqman...
Whitman, Richard L.; Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara; Spoljaric, Ashley; Przybyla-Kelly, Katarzyna; Shively, Dawn A.; Nevers, Meredith Recreational water quality response to a filtering barrier at a Great Lakes beach
Recent research has sought to determine the off- or onshore origin of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in order to improve local recreational water quality. In an effort to reduce offshore contamination, a filtering barrier (FB) was installed at Calumet Beach, Lake Michigan, Chicago, IL. A horseshoe-shaped curtain (146 m long, 0.18 mm apparent...
Przybyla-Kelly, Kasia; Nevers, Meredith; Breitenbach, Cathy; Whitman, Richard L. Physical and biological factors influencing environmental sources of fecal indicator bacteria in surface water
This paper describes the environmental populations of faecal indicator bacteria, and the processes by which these populations become nonpoint sources and influence nearshore water quality. The different possible sources of these indicator bacteria are presented. These include groundwater, springs and seeps, aquatic sediments, beach sand, birds,...
Sadowsky, Michael J.; Whitman, Richard L.; Whitman, Richard L.; Nevers, Meredith B.; Przybyla-Kelly, Katarzyna; Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara N. Relationship and variation of qPCR and culturable enterococci estimates in ambient surface waters are predictable
The quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method provides rapid estimates of fecal indicator bacteria densities that have been indicated to be useful in the assessment of water quality. Primarily because this method provides faster results than standard culture-based methods, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently...
Whitman, Richard L.; Ge, Zhongfu; Nevers, Meredith B.; Boehm, Alexandria B.; Chern, Eunice C.; Haugland, Richard A.; Lukasik, Ashley M.; Molina, Marirosa; Przybyla-Kelly, Kasia; Shively, Dawn A.; White, Emily M.; Zepp, Richard G.; Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara N. Hand-mouth transfer and potential for exposure to E. coli and F+ coliphage in beach sand, Chicago, Illinois
Beach sand contains fecal indicator bacteria, often in densities greatly exceeding the adjacent swimming waters. We examined the transferability of Escherichia coli and F+ coliphage (MS2) from beach sand to hands in order to estimate the potential subsequent health risk. Sand with high initial E. coli concentrations was collected from a Chicago...
Whitman, R.L.; Przybyla-Kelly, K.; Shively, D.A.; Nevers, M.B.; Byappanahalli, M.N. Environmental occurrence of the enterococcal surface protein (esp) gene is an unreliable indicator of human fecal contamination
The enterococcal surface protein (esp) gene found in Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium has recently been explored as a marker of sewage pollution in recreational waters but its occurrence and distribution in environmental enterococci has not been well-documented. If the esp gene is found in environmental samples, there are potential...
Byappanahalli, M.N.; Przybyla-Kelly, K.; Shively, D.A.; Whitman, R.L. Sunlight, season, snowmelt, storm, and source affect E. coli populations in an artificially ponded stream
Reducing fecal indicator bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), in streams is important for many downstream areas. E. coli concentrations within streams may be reduced by intervening ponds or wetlands through a number of physical and biological means. A section of Dunes Creek, a small coastal stream of southern Lake Michigan, was impounded...
Whitman, R.L.; Przybyla-Kelly, K.; Shively, D.A.; Nevers, M.B.; Byappanahalli, M.N. Incidence of the enterococcal surface protein (esp) gene in human and animal fecal sources
The occurrence of the enterococcal surface protein (esp) gene in the opportunistic pathogens Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium is well-documented in clinical research. Recently, the esp gene has been proposed as a marker of human pollution in environmental waters; however, information on its relative incidence in various human and animal fecal...
Whitman, R.L.; Przybyla-Kelly, K.; Shively, D.A.; Byappanahalli, M.N.
Kasia Kelly Presents to Students on Invasive Species of the Great Lakes
Middle School Science in the Great Lakes
Kelly receives feedback from elementary student invasive species outreach event
Kasia Kelly (GLSC, Chesterton, Indiana) gave a presentation on aquatic invasive species of the Great Lakes region for first and third grade students from Discovery Charter School in Porter, Indiana, on November 8, 2018.