USGS researchers deploy a ponar grab sampler to collect benthic samples from Crane Creek. Photo Credit: USGS
Kurt P Kowalski, PhD
My work differs from that of many other scientists because, although I am a Research Wetland Ecologist with a research focus on Great Lakes coastal wetland habitats and invasive plant species (e.g., Phragmites australis), I have extensive involvement in the application of research results into practice and policy (e.g., development of novel adaptive management approaches).
Can we find innovative control approaches for Phragmites australis (Common Reed) and other invasive plant species of concern to resource managers?
What is the role of hydrologic connectivity in the rehabilitation and adaptive management of diked and coastal wetland ecosystems in the Laurentian Great Lakes and throughout the nation?
What is the landscape-scale potential for coastal wetland habitat rehabilitation throughout the Great Lakes basin?
These are a few of the research questions that I have been working on during my 30+ years at the Great Lakes Science Center. My master’s work in GIS and remote sensing at EMU and doctoral studies at U-M provided a solid foundation for extensive work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges (Detroit River, Ottawa, Seney, Shiawassee), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Ohio DNR, Michigan DNR, The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, and many other partners. I studied the diked and coastal marshes of western Lake Erie for many years and continue to work with managers to apply site specific results at regional scales. My research program also focuses on the ecology and management of invasive plants (e.g., Phragmites australis), including efforts to develop a non-toxic bioherbicide and find species-specific treatments that target the plant at the molecular level. Leadership experiences at the National Conservation Leadership Institute and within USGS have helped me produce some innovative science and push research teams in new directions.
Select Research Projects:
Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Restoration Assessment: overview, geonarrative, and mappers (See Web Tools tab below)
Collaborative coastal wetland restoration planning and monitoring for over 1,000 acres (400 hectares) at the USFWS Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge
Implementation of the binational Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program
Science and Products
Science pages by this scientist
Filter Total Items: 13
Innovative Approaches for Wetland Restoration and Invasive Species Management
Coastal and wetland ecosystems provide critical habitat to birds, fish, wildlife, and a suite of other organisms, clean our water and mitigate flooding events, and offer tremendous recreational opportunities to visitors. However, the majority of coastal and wetland ecosystems in the Great Lakes basin have been significantly degraded or destroyed by ditching, draining, development, invasive species...
Invasive Phragmites Science: Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative and the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework
Broad coordination is required to overcome large-scale regional challenges such as controlling a persistent invasive plant like Phragmites. Individual management actions may have local impact, but their implementation can be inefficient and landscape-scale impacts are limited. The highly successful Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative builds collaboration and facilitates communication on a...
A Decision-Support Tool for Invasive Plant Management Under Fluctuating Great Lakes Water Levels
Water levels in the Great Lakes are fluctuating in ways that we have not seen in the past, with both historically low- and high-water levels occurring in the last decade. Expectations are that larger and more frequent water-level fluctuations will occur in response to climate change. The increased variability in lake levels has implications for the management of invasive plants found in...
Effects of Great Lakes water levels on coastal populations of Phragmites australis GeoNarrative
The "Phragmites Management and Variable Great Lakes Water Levels" GeoNarrative presents research by the US Geological Survey and US Fish and Wildlife Service on how Great Lakes water levels affect expansion and management of coastal Phragmites populations.
Invasive Phragmites Science: Management Tools for the Control of Invasive Phragmites to Foster the Restoration of the Great Lakes
The USGS is developing innovative Phragmites control measures to keep this rapidly spreading invasive plant from further expanding its range into new wetland habitats and to aid in the development of successful restoration strategies. Scientists are conducting studies and field tests to determine (1) if microbes (i.e., fungi and bacteria) that live within and around Phragmites are enabling the...
Invasive Phragmites Science: Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative
Addressing a large-scale regional issue such as controlling a persistent invasive plant like Phragmites requires broad cross-sector coordination. Little progress is made and cost efficiencies are reduced when each entity works independently. The highly successful Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative builds collaboration and facilitates communication on a regional level with a common agenda and...
Multimedia related to this scientist
Filter Total Items: 24
Benthic Samples on Crane Creek
USGS researchers deploy a ponar grab sampler to collect benthic samples from Crane Creek. Photo Credit: USGS
Invasive Phragmites australis
Phragmites australis invading a Great Lakes coastal wetland. This tall wetland grass was introduced from Europe in the early 19th century and aggressively displaces native vegetation causing plant diversity to decline and critical habitat for fish and other wildlife to be altered.
Phragmites australis invading a Great Lakes coastal wetland. This tall wetland grass was introduced from Europe in the early 19th century and aggressively displaces native vegetation causing plant diversity to decline and critical habitat for fish and other wildlife to be altered.
A USGS Researcher in an Invasive Phragmites Stand, Great Lakes
A USGS Researcher in an Invasive Phragmites Stand, Great LakesMany noxious, invasive species infest our nation’s wetlands. One example is a new type of phragmites, a wetlands grass from Europe that has rapidly spread across the continent, altering soil, producing copious seeds, and resulting in dense stands of mostly one-plant – phragmites – stands.
A USGS Researcher in an Invasive Phragmites Stand, Great Lakes
A USGS Researcher in an Invasive Phragmites Stand, Great LakesMany noxious, invasive species infest our nation’s wetlands. One example is a new type of phragmites, a wetlands grass from Europe that has rapidly spread across the continent, altering soil, producing copious seeds, and resulting in dense stands of mostly one-plant – phragmites – stands.
Science and Products
Science pages by this scientist
Filter Total Items: 13
Innovative Approaches for Wetland Restoration and Invasive Species Management
Coastal and wetland ecosystems provide critical habitat to birds, fish, wildlife, and a suite of other organisms, clean our water and mitigate flooding events, and offer tremendous recreational opportunities to visitors. However, the majority of coastal and wetland ecosystems in the Great Lakes basin have been significantly degraded or destroyed by ditching, draining, development, invasive species...
Invasive Phragmites Science: Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative and the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework
Broad coordination is required to overcome large-scale regional challenges such as controlling a persistent invasive plant like Phragmites. Individual management actions may have local impact, but their implementation can be inefficient and landscape-scale impacts are limited. The highly successful Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative builds collaboration and facilitates communication on a...
A Decision-Support Tool for Invasive Plant Management Under Fluctuating Great Lakes Water Levels
Water levels in the Great Lakes are fluctuating in ways that we have not seen in the past, with both historically low- and high-water levels occurring in the last decade. Expectations are that larger and more frequent water-level fluctuations will occur in response to climate change. The increased variability in lake levels has implications for the management of invasive plants found in...
Effects of Great Lakes water levels on coastal populations of Phragmites australis GeoNarrative
The "Phragmites Management and Variable Great Lakes Water Levels" GeoNarrative presents research by the US Geological Survey and US Fish and Wildlife Service on how Great Lakes water levels affect expansion and management of coastal Phragmites populations.
Invasive Phragmites Science: Management Tools for the Control of Invasive Phragmites to Foster the Restoration of the Great Lakes
The USGS is developing innovative Phragmites control measures to keep this rapidly spreading invasive plant from further expanding its range into new wetland habitats and to aid in the development of successful restoration strategies. Scientists are conducting studies and field tests to determine (1) if microbes (i.e., fungi and bacteria) that live within and around Phragmites are enabling the...
Invasive Phragmites Science: Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative
Addressing a large-scale regional issue such as controlling a persistent invasive plant like Phragmites requires broad cross-sector coordination. Little progress is made and cost efficiencies are reduced when each entity works independently. The highly successful Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative builds collaboration and facilitates communication on a regional level with a common agenda and...
Multimedia related to this scientist
Filter Total Items: 24
Benthic Samples on Crane Creek
USGS researchers deploy a ponar grab sampler to collect benthic samples from Crane Creek. Photo Credit: USGS
USGS researchers deploy a ponar grab sampler to collect benthic samples from Crane Creek. Photo Credit: USGS
Invasive Phragmites australis
Phragmites australis invading a Great Lakes coastal wetland. This tall wetland grass was introduced from Europe in the early 19th century and aggressively displaces native vegetation causing plant diversity to decline and critical habitat for fish and other wildlife to be altered.
Phragmites australis invading a Great Lakes coastal wetland. This tall wetland grass was introduced from Europe in the early 19th century and aggressively displaces native vegetation causing plant diversity to decline and critical habitat for fish and other wildlife to be altered.
A USGS Researcher in an Invasive Phragmites Stand, Great Lakes
A USGS Researcher in an Invasive Phragmites Stand, Great LakesMany noxious, invasive species infest our nation’s wetlands. One example is a new type of phragmites, a wetlands grass from Europe that has rapidly spread across the continent, altering soil, producing copious seeds, and resulting in dense stands of mostly one-plant – phragmites – stands.
A USGS Researcher in an Invasive Phragmites Stand, Great Lakes
A USGS Researcher in an Invasive Phragmites Stand, Great LakesMany noxious, invasive species infest our nation’s wetlands. One example is a new type of phragmites, a wetlands grass from Europe that has rapidly spread across the continent, altering soil, producing copious seeds, and resulting in dense stands of mostly one-plant – phragmites – stands.
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government