The pdf 2024 Program and Abstracts (797 KB) for the 2024 International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Forum is now available.
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pdf
Speaker Schedule Quickview
(1.15 MB)
for the two day event is also available.
March 6, the Forum starts at 09:00 am CST. The Foundation recepton and dinner 5 pm on March 6 will be at Thunderbird Lodge on Rainy Lake.
March 7, symposium sessions start at 8:50 am and end at 4:30pm.
Registration is now closed - sorry but we're at capacity!
Registration opened January 4, 2024 and closes February 23.
Date and Location: March 6-7, 2024, Minnesota North College - Rainy River campus, International Falls, MN
Registration is now closed - sorry, but we're at capacity
- Registration fee $125 USD. Register and pay by January 31 to get the "Early Bird" rate of $115 USD.
- Students free with valid student ID - Enter: STUDENT2024 in the coupon field ( choose "Individual Registration" button -- discount coupon is not available as part of group registrations).
- Registration includes lunch on March 6, the Foundation dinner Reception on the 6th, lunch on the 7th, and refreshment breaks both days.
- Major purchase cards are accepted for online payment and is the preferred option. If necessary, you may choose an offline "Pay Offline" option for Mail-in cheque.
Sorry, but we are currently not able to accept Purchase Orders/Commissioners Warrants etc.
The Foundation reception and dinner March 6 will be at Thunderbird Lodge on Rainy Lake.
Please register now — Registration cuttoff date of Feb 23 is a hard-stop as we must have catering numbers locked in by then!
March 6–7, 2024 Minnesota North College - Rainy River campus, International Falls, MN. Professional symposium for research and resource managers, policy makers and the public interested in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed.
Themes:
- From Scence to Watershed Actions: Presentations and Panel Discussion
- Nutrient Dynamics: Drivers of Cyanobacteria and Toxin Production
- Nutrient & Sediment Load Tracing
- Ecosystem Modeling
- Contaminants & Mining
- Ecological Interactions & Aquatic Invasive Species
- Watershed Goverance
- Monitoring Program Updates
Full program details, including speaker abstracts will be available shortly
Conference details: more details at the Foundation's website www.lowwsf.com/watershed-forum.
The view from space is compelling and confirms what we have seen firsthand on Lake of the Woods at the end of September. The cyanobacterial bloom (aka blue-green algae) on Lake of the Woods is tracking towards being one of the most severe since 2002.
By late September, a massive bloom extended across 2,800 km2 or 73% of the lake’s surface. The bloom was extremely intense with satellite-derived measures of chlorophyll-a concentrations exceeding 60 µg/L over most of the southern and middle basins of the lake.
Term position announcement from Dr. Steve Windels, Voyageurs National Park, U.S. Parks Service
Opens Thursday, Nov 9 and closes Nov 20
Voyageurs National Park is seeking a highly motivated and creative person to be the Project Manager for the Voyageurs Wetland Restoration Project. Initiated in 2016 by Voyageurs National Park staff the project aims to restore wetlands that had been degraded by invasive hybrid cattails and other environmental change in the large lake ecosystems that make up nearly 40% of the park.
The ideal candidate will have an M.S. degree in Ecological Restoration, Plant Ecology, Wetland Ecology, or other applied natural resource field and 2-5 years of practical experience in conducting on-the-ground ecological restoration.
This position is a 10-year term position, renewable annually up to 10 years based on performance and available funds. We (VNP) currently have secured funding for the next 4 years. See https://go.nps.gov/voya/wetlands for more information about the project.
You will need to apply through the USAJOBS.com portal, opens at 12:00a Eastern on Thursday, November 9, 2023. https://www.usajobs.gov/job/759895400/print
See the Read more for more details and position Overview
Good luck!
Steve Windels
Wildlife Biologist
Voyageurs National Park
After a hot June but cool and sometimes smoky July, the algae bloom on Lake of the Woods started to develop in late July and early August as usual. Blooms began in the southern Big Traverse Bay and in the Morson-Sabaskong area to the south-east. By late August, the bloom covered 34% of the lake and has progressed northward through middle channel to Oak Point. Satellite-derrived measures of chlorophyll-a (a pigment in the algae) ranged above 40 µg/L (red in the satellite image) indicating severe bloom formation in a few locations (anything above 10 µg/L is considered a bloom).
Algal blooms in Lake of the Woods typically peak in the late fall, and progress into the north-central area of the lake. Thus, more extensive blooms are expected to come later, expanding in extent and severity into the fall. Last year, peak severity occurred on October 13, 2022. We’ll have a complete report on the annual bloom conditions later in the fall, once the satellite tracking is complete for the season.