No matter what inspired Dr. Mike Delong to establish a freshwater research center at WSU, the results are positive: the Winona State Biology Department has become a gateway of opportunity for bright young ecologists unlike that found at any other institution.

In the fall of 1995, Delong established the Large River Studies Center (LRSC) at Winona State. The LRSC's activities are self-explanatory, but one of its basic purposes goes far beyond testing water samples and identifying turtle shells. Delong said, "Even for students who don't stay in the field, the center's techniques teach important life lessons: how to reach clear determinations based on relevant factors. This work helps students see things for what they really are. It helps them to realize and see the truth."

Delong is a river biologist, an expert in a realm of freshwater biology that has not been plunged into by many scientists. According to Delong, river studies have long been awaiting close examination because of their size and complexity.

Known as "River Man" by colleagues, Delong is a life-long student of life in and on a river. Growing up in Ocean Springs, Miss., his dad introduced him to rivers at an early age by fishing the waters he would grow to admire. "My dad showed me all the critters and the complexity of the river. You can spend part of the day fishing the marsh grasses… then, travel upstream and fish in a cypress forest. My fondest memories are just spending the time with my dad on the river. I appreciate this even more now having lost my dad almost three years ago. He was the original River Man."

Now full grown and having earned a B.S. in biology from the University of Southern Mississippi, a master's degree in biology from the University of Memphis, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Idaho in entomology, the study of insects, River Man's education in the waters has continued. "I'm going to discover as much as I can in this lifetime," Delong said, "then my work will be passed on to someone else." Guided by an international expert on rivers, the Winona State biology team also has one of the world's most impressive river systems just minutes from their labs, classrooms, and fingertips.

"The Mississippi River gives us a great chance to learn about the river from the river," said Tiffany Schreiver, a senior at the LRSC. The mighty Mississippi ranks as one of the world's largest rivers, spanning 2,552 miles from its origin at Lake Itasca, Minn., to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico and running as wide as three-quarters of a mile at its broadest point. Upper portions of this giant, along with select parts of the Missouri River, Ohio River, and regional streams, serve as an excellent test region for the Large River Studies Center. "Except for the presence of the navigation dams, this portion of the Mississippi River still retains many of its natural qualities," Schreiver said. "The river still floods in the spring, with the extent of flooding depending on the amount of snow in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. The diversity of habitats - side channels and backwaters - present before the dams, are still here today."

Delong tells of the nourishing role rivers played in history, running life through the continents. "If you point back to many early civilizations, you see rivers were essential to their survival," he said. "Rivers were a direct source of food, water, and irrigation for crops… And today, we are still dependent on rivers in many of the same ways."

The LRSC's director and supporting researchers investigate the effects on river worlds from alien pollutants, those from mankind. "We don't know what consequences our actions may have on rivers," Delong said. "We may be influencing habitats in ways we don't realize."

"Rivers are put to work for our own needs in dam control, recreation, and transportation," Delong said. "The byproducts left on aquatic populations and in the water remain unknown."

The Large River Studies Center strives to understand this relationship so river control can be more effectively managed, helping maintain water purity and helping people to best utilize rivers as natural resources. "Large rivers are among the most poorly understood ecosystems in the world despite the tremendous number of people who live in proximity to large rivers." Delong said. "We use rivers for so many things and, in many cases, have severely degraded them in the process. There are programs to restore habitats in large rivers, but it is difficult to say if we are managing or attempting to restore rivers properly if we do not understand how all of the pieces work together to function as a river-floodplain ecosystem."

Students work on individual studies as part of one master project. Delong said many of the projects relate to the structure and function of large river food webs - "what eats what." Student researchers hold ownership of their work while their findings contribute to a diagram that depicts the flow of energy and links between predators and prey.

In 1994, Delong coauthored, with Dr. Jim Thorp, then of the University of Louisville, the riverine productivity model (RPM). A theory on river food webs, the RPM challenges previously-held theories on food resources that provide the bulk of the energy that supports a river's life. The main debate is whether microscopic algae in the river or leaves from trees on the floodplain are the major food resource supporting invertebrates and fish in the river. Studies by WSU student researchers have provided evidence supporting Delong's model. The students' work is significant because the RPM could be used as a tool to assist scientists and managers addressing the management and restoration of large rivers worldwide.

Delong traveled to southeast Australia in the summer of 2003. In the scenic nation, River Man discovered widespread appreciation for his work. He presented studies at an international rivers conference held at an institution that compliments his own center, the Cooperative Research Center for Freshwater Ecology. "I found a fan base there I never knew existed."

WSU students receive course credits through individual studies and student research options. Eligible students can also apply their work to the biology honors program. Through hands-on coursework, students control all aspects of a research project: development of the experiment's design, collection of field samples, and analysis of samples and data.

When all tasks have been completed, students author a detailed, scholarly paper and present their findings at scientific meetings. Students have presented regionally at the annual St. Mary's Undergraduate Biology Symposium and at the annual meeting of the Mississippi River Research Consortium (MRRC). Rick Lehtinen, '95, now an assistant professor of biology at the College of Wooster in Ohio, won the best poster award at the MRRC in 1995. Sharon Loebner, '01, currently in the master of science degree program in science education at the University of Florida, won the same poster award in 2001. Some students have also had the opportunity to present their work before a national aquatic ecology society, the North American Benthological Society.

The independent projects Delong's students pursue help train each researcher to become a specialist in their own area of freshwater ecology. Practicing in a virtually untouched discipline allows each young scientist to place their stake in the field.

Paul Hoppe, '02, began working with the California Department of Fish and Game on the Ocean Salmon Project in April 2003. Paul collected data and samples used to estimate annual salmon landings and fishing efforts in the port of the Half Moon Bay. His evidence was used to track the migration patterns of coded-wire tagged salmon.

Paul documented up to 5,000 salmons each commercial fishing day. His work with the California Department of Fish and Game ended in September 2003 and he began his new job immediately after. He now researches marine recreational fishing for Pacific States Marine Fisheries. Paul visits the popular marine fishing sites in San Francisco Bay and oceanside communities: beaches, banks, piers and boat launches, and makes determinations based on fish measurements.

"This job has spurred me to learn how to identify many marine fish species I never knew existed… various sharks, rays, and rockfishes," Paul said. Soon, Paul will be company on commercial passenger fishing vessels, sampling Pacific Ocean waters. He said he looks forward to the chance to sight whales. Paul now lives in Pacifica, Cal., and plans to eventually attend graduate school.

Paul said of his days in the LRSC, "Working with Dr. Delong was an awesome opportunity. He gave lots of hands-on opportunities and is an amazing resource."

Denise Bruesewitz, '01, attends graduate school at the University of Notre Dame. While studying for her master's degree in biology, Denise is researching nitrogen cycling in zebra mussel beds. Nitrogen cycling in the Upper Mississippi River is an important study because of its effects on the "Dead Zone," a section in the Gulf of Mexico measuring almost the size of the state of New Jersey where life cannot be supported due to low oxygen levels. Her work brings her back to the area for seasonal sampling of the Upper Mississippi River near La Crosse, Wis. She studies various nitrogen transformations in the presence and absence of zebra mussels.

Studies at the Large River Studies Center exposed Denise to major research projects and helped her to find direction within the field of biology. "I did undergraduate research at Winona State with Dr. Delong that was very helpful in getting me started in thinking about grad school and research," Denise said. "He also took me to my first [North American Benthological Society] conference, which was a great introduction to aquatic ecology." From Rockford, Ill., Denise teaches an ecology lab section to undergraduates at Notre Dame. She plans to eventually teach biology at a small university. Senior researcher Tiffany Schriever plans a career in ecology, guided by experiences at Winona State. Tiffany researches fish trophic dynamics. She specializes in identifying a fish's placement level in a river's food pyramid and also reasoning why that same fish might place at another level in a related water's food pyramid.

The Hartford, S.D., native benefited from the center's experience and references, as she was selected as one of twelve students for an elite internship at Fordham University this past summer.

"Dr. Delong really helped me get the position," Tiffany said. "The work I've done and his recommendation helped me get in." Sponsored by the National Scientific Foundation, her project examined grey tree frogs' mate choice and exertion point. In New York, Tiffany's group scouted woodland ponds, recruiting frogs found to be mating on vegetation to serve as test subjects.

"We had to pull the males and females apart, and the [male frogs] held on so tight with their little fists." Back at the lab, the females were exposed to two male mating calls, each previously recorded and played through speakers. Scientific determinations were made based on the speaker the female would approach. The males were examined for their exhaustion point. Swimming laps for sometimes hours, their stamina was clocked until the frogs fell tired. All of Tiffany's research provides excellent background for her plans to attend graduate school for herpetology- the study of reptiles and amphibians. Senior Kelly Slattery studies the food web of the flood plain systems of the Missouri River, Mississippi River, and Ohio River. Through the LRSC, Kelly has learned the importance of being organized, how to prepare for field research, and, most importantly, to have fun with learning.

"My work is definitely great hands-on experience," Kelly said. "We go out in the field, get our hands dirty, analyze our data and then we see the results. I'd recommend the center to anyone who wants to go into research."

A senior from Wilmette, Ill., Kelly plans to attend graduate school for either freshwater ecology or marine biology. Proper funding for the Large River Studies Center will put Winona on the international map as a primary source of freshwater research. WSU's new science building, scheduled for use in the summer of 2004, will provide students with necessary resources and will help attract future freshwater research specialists from across the nation. To date, 60 students have participated in research projects at Delong's center, many of whom are still in the field.

Dr. Delong hopes to acquire funding for the placement of an experimental site at Latsch Island on the Mississippi River in Winona. A site where experiments could be conducted would take the center's research to another level. Rather than just evaluating the samples collected from the river, students would have the opportunity to perform experiments in a controlled setting, working with fresh, controlled river pools. The opportunity to examine and manipulate the river in such an environment allows students to advance scientific theories here at Winona State.

"The biggest advantage of the experimental site is that it allows students to test hypotheses that might result from their studies within the river," Delong said. "The experimental site allows them to control conditions to determine the effect of a specific attribute, such as looking at invertebrate growth rates when given a specific food source. This is a sharp contrast from the river setting where it is impossible to distinguish between different food sources without detailed chemical analysis."

To learn more about the Large River Studies Center or to inquire how you may contribute to the center's advancement, please contact the Winona State Department of Biology at 507-457-5484 or on campus in Pasteur Hall, Room 215. You may also visit the center's website: http://bio.winona.edu/delong/LRSC

Last Modified: Monday, December 06, 2004 16:26 by