Chicago Research Trip

A group of 6 faculty and students from the St. Cloud State University Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory spent the week of March 9th in Chicago to conduct field work in collaboration with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The trip was very successful and we return with many specimens for study in the coming months.

Spring 2011 at the Lab

Spring 2011 turned out to be busy at the St. Cloud State University Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory.

Dr. Schoenfuss spent two months in Hawai'i as part of his National Science Foundation funded grant research. For part of the field work, he was accompanied by Jerry Leonard, who was able to gather data for a soon to be submitted manuscript on trail following behavior in Hawaiian stream gobies.

In March, most of the lab travelled to Lake Geneva Wisconsin for the annual meeting of the Midwest Chapter of the Society for Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (picture above). Six oral presentations were given by lab members (four student presentations, Dr. Schoenfuss, Steve Bartell) and April Dammann was awarded runner-up for best oral presentation at the meeting.

Immediately following the MW SETAC conference, Dr. Schoenfuss presented the keynote address at the MN Wastewater Conference, March 25, 2011 in Brooklyn Park, MN. The four graduate students (Beth Poganski, Jeff Miller, Zach Jorgenson, and April Dammann) also presented. Further seminar presentations by Dr. Schoenfuss at St. Cloud State University and Normandale Community College ("slice of Life" lecture series) followed.

April and May saw three defense presentations by graduate students from the Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory: Jeff Miller defended on April 11, 2011; Zach Jorgenson on April 18, 2011; and Beth Poganski on May 2, 2011.

Another spring dissection trip will bring many lab members together one last time in Chicago in early May.

As many of our students are graduating, two new graduate student recruits will join the lab this summer to carry on research on the effects on contaminants of emerging concerns.

More Presentations

Keeping up a busy presentation schedule, Dr. Schoenfuss will be summarize recent findings from the studies of the St. Cloud State University Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory in a presentation on December 14th at the meeting of the MN Wastewater Operators Association meeting in Cold Spring, MN.

Nature featured some of the work conducted in the SCSU Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory in their "News" section on November 14, 2010. The exposure studies presented by Dr. Schultz at the meeting were conducted in the SCSU Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory and the session in which those results, as well as the work by Dr. Martinovic were presented was co-chaired by Dr. Schoenfuss.

SETAC Portland 2010

The Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory had a strong showing at the 2010 Annual Meeting of SETAC North America. Three students from the lab presented original research, Dr. Schoenfuss provided an oral presentation, and six other presentations at the meeting carried the lab as co-authors. In addition, Dr. Schoenfuss co-chaired a day-long session on the "Fate and effects of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment".

The Lab is presenting!

The Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory is scheduled to present in multiple venues in fall. Here are some of the upcoming presentations:

August 12, 2010: Stearns County Water Commission - Schoenfuss is providing an update on issues surrounding contaminants of emerging concern.

September 13, 2010: St. Martin, MN City Council meeting, MN - Schoenfuss is providing an update on issues surrounding contaminants of emerging concern.

September 14, 2010: Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators meeting in Hutchinson, MN - Jeff Miller is providing an update on recent lab studies of wastewater treatment plants.

September 14, 2010: Moos Family Lecture at the University of MN - Schoenfuss is participating in a panel to discuss the findings presented by the Moos Family Lecture series speaker Louis Guillette Jr.

September 23, 2010: University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire - Schoenfuss will present an invited lecture on endocrine active compounds and their effects on aquatic wildlife.

October 6, 2010: WEFTEC 2010 New Orleans - Schoenfuss is presenting an invited symposium presentation on the effects of endocrine active compounds in urban environments.

November 7-11, 2010: SETAC 2010 Portland: The Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory will give multiple presentations (Schoenfuss, Jorgenson, Miller, Poganski).

Stay posted for additional lecture announcements.

The Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory has been busy this summer with 5 graduate students, 4 undergraduate students and one research fellow working on various project around the Upper Midwest.
Results on two of those studies will be presented at the International Congress for Vertebrate Morphology in Punta del Este, Uruguay at the end of July.