Introduced: Recent Episodes
University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
Introduced, a podcast from the Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, is all about aquatic invaders and stories from our changing waters.
We uncover the story of how a popular watercraft inspection program (Clean Boats, Clean Waters) evolved from a middle school science project in Northern Wisconsin.
Transcript available here.
Resources:
Get involved in Clean Boats, Clean Waters
Get involved in the Great Lakes Landing Blitz
Boats per capita in the US
Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation grants
Eurasian watermilfoil
Eurasian watermilfoil spread - interactive map
Timeline of AIS introductions and policy in Great Lakes region
Invasive species rule NR 40
Special thanks to our guests:
Maree Stewart, student award winner
Lisa Ahlers, former teacher, Minocqua, Wisconsin
Laura Marquart, formerly University of Wisconsin-Extension Lakes
Erin McFarlane, Extension Lakes
Bijit Khadka, University of Wisconsin-Madison
And thanks to our other contributors:
Sandy Wickman, formerly Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Bob Korth, formerly Extension Lakes
Judi Fellows, CBCW inspector
Linda Bogdala, CBCW inspector
Keith Montgomery, CBCW coordinator
Mary Doden, CBCW coordinator
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade; when life gives you carp, you make carp pants! Meet Kim Boustead, who turns invasive species into art. From buckthorn ink to fish leather, Kim shares her journey of transforming unwanted materials into useful creations.
Transcript available here.
Special thanks to our guest:
Kim Boustead, artist, graphic designer and master naturalist
Learn more:
Kim’s website
Kim’s Instagram
What happens when we look at invasive species through the lens of art? In this episode, Jenna takes us to an immersive art exhibit that reimagines Lake Michigan’s invasive species challenges in a surreal, sci-fi-inspired world.
Transcript available here.
Special thanks to our guests:
Anne Moser, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Daniel Murray, Fuzz Pop Workshop
Amanda Schmitz, AIS Coordinator, Washington County
Patrick Siwula, Southeast Region Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Learn more:
Deep Lake Future
When starry stonewort was first discovered in a Wisconsin lake, alarm set in—officials scrambled, residents feared the worst, and drastic measures were taken. But ten years later, an unexpected truth has emerged: sometimes, the best response to an invasive species is to do less, not more. In this episode, we unravel the science behind how humans react to new invaders, challenge fear-based messaging, and explore the power of waiting and watching.
Looking for ways to tone down your language around aquatic invasive species? Here are some helpful phrases created by our guest Jeanne Scherer:
Non-native species are known to have varying degrees of impacts depending on the specific waterbody they are found in, and in some cases are able to integrate into a waterbody to the extent where actual documented impacts are minimal and active management may not be necessary.
Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread. Maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options to an invasive species.
Transcript available here.
Special thanks to our guests:
Paul Skawinski, UW-Stevens Point Extension Lakes
Tom Reck, former Little Muskego Lake District chairperson
Bret Shaw, University of Wisconsin-Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Jeanne Scherer, University of Wisconsin-Extension and University of Wisconsin-Madison
Learn more:
- Starry stonewort
- Testing Emphasis Message Frames and Metaphors on Social Media to Engage Boaters to Learn about Preventing the Spread of Zebra Mussels
- Is the cure worse than the disease? Comparing the ecological effects of an invasive aquatic plant and the herbicide treatments used to control it
- Commonly Rare and Rarely Common: Comparing Population Abundance of Invasive and Native Aquatic Species
- Predicting preferences for chemical treatment of aquatic invasive species and implications for outreach
Today, we’re airing a bonus episode from Points North, a podcast about the land, water, and inhabitants of the Great Lakes from Interlochen Public Radio.
Invasive species often spread by hitching a ride on anglers, especially anglers who don’t clean their gear after fishing. Though this is widely known, research suggests many anglers still don’t clean, even though it protects the very thing they’re after – fish. So, can anything be done to change their minds? Hear about New Zealand Mudsnail in Michigan.
Transcript available here.
Credits
Producer / Host: Dan Wanschura
Editor: Morgan Springer
Music: Fifteen Street, Our Only Lark, Silent Ocean, and Sweeper by Blue Dot Sessions
How can art help communicate invasive species science? Today, we’ll meet an artist on a journey to turn some thrifted fabric into a biocontrol bug that is larger than life!
Transcript
Special thanks to our guests:
Astrid Hooper Loften, Artist, UW-Madison’24
Jeanne Scherer, University of Wisconsin-Extension and University of Wisconsin-Madison
Learn more:
The FLOW Project
Astrid’s Cella Beetle Project
Tim’s tent
Information about purple loosestrife biocontrol
Introduced is back for Season 3! In this episode, we explore the names we use for invasive species. How do species get their names? And what real-life consequences can these names bring?
Transcript available here.
Special thanks to our guests:
Tyler Muller, North Carolina State University
El Lower, Michigan Sea Grant
Sam Chan, Oregon Sea Grant
Megan Weber, Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center and University of Minnesota Extension
Learn more:
Tyler Muller’s research on pirate perch
What's in a Name? Do Species' Names Impact Student Support for Conservation? (2012)
Alien Language: Reflections on the Rhetoric of Invasion Biology (El Lower and Tim Campbell)
Asian hate crimes spiking during pandemic
Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System (GLANSIS)
Invasive Species Language Workshop Designed to Get People Talking
Communicating About Aquatic Invasive Species
Megan’s article Invasive Species Common Names: Working Towards More Inclusive Invasive Species Education and Outreach
Chinese mitten crabs
Asian murder hornet
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Introduced will be returning for a new season in 2024!
But in the meantime, we're sharing a fascinating, fishy episode from our friends at Points North, an award-winning podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
In October 1960, Prince Akihito of Japan visited Chicago for 21 hours. Chicago’s mayor presented the prince with a diplomatic gift: 18 bluegill. What happened next would change the underwater world of Japan forever.
Today, we’re introducing a new podcast from Wisconsin Sea Grant called The Water We Swim In, which features stories about the Great Lakes and the people working toward equity. On “Hidden Currents,” Bonnie Willison and Hali Jama dive beneath the water to explore why Black children are drowning more than any other race, why marginalized communities often lack access to swimming pools, and how to stay safe in the water. We hear about the alarming trend facing swimming pools in cities across the nation, relive a fight to save one Milwaukee pool, and walk the shores of Lake Michigan with the Beach Ambassador program. Join us as Brenda Coley, Jumana Tanner, Cheryl Bledsoe, Sally Callan, and Deidre Peroff discuss how racism, segregation and redlining has taken away Black people’s access to water and, essentially, the right to swim. https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/audio/the-water-we-swim-in/ (Find The Water We Swim In here)
Today, on the last episode of season two, we’re talking about climate change, which threatens to upend everything western science understands about native and invasive species. First, we join the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission climate change team as they carefully observe the seasonal relationships between all the beings in the forest. Then we talk to the Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu team, who are helping tribal nations find ways to assert their knowledge and adapt to climate change. Finally, we step back 20,000 years to see what paleoecology can teach us about how species move as the climate changes. Thank you to our guests Rob Croll, Hannah Panci, Sara Smith, Jerry Jondreau and Jack Williams. http://glifwc.org/ClimateChange/ (GLIFWC’s Climate Change Program ) - http://glifwc.org/ClimateChange/
http://glifwc.org/ClimateChange/PhenologyStudy.html (GLIFWC’s Phenology study ) - http://glifwc.org/ClimateChange/PhenologyStudy.html
http://www.nicrn.org/tribal-climate-adaptation-menu.html (Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad - A Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu ) - http://www.nicrn.org/tribal-climate-adaptation-menu.html
https://wicci.wisc.edu/wisconsin-climate-trends-and-projections/ (More on climate change impacts in Wisconsin ) - https://wicci.wisc.edu/wisconsin-climate-trends-and-projections/
Today, on the last episode of season two, we’re talking about climate change, which threatens to upend everything western science understands about native and invasive species. First, we join the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission climate change team as they carefully observe the seasonal relationships between all the beings in the forest. Then we talk to the Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu team, who are helping tribal nations find ways to assert their knowledge and adapt to climate change. Finally, we step back 20,000 years to see what paleoecology can teach us about how species move as the climate changes. Thank you to our guests Rob Croll, Hannah Panci, Sara Smith, Jerry Jondreau and Jack Williams. GLIFWC’s Climate Change Program - http://glifwc.org/ClimateChange/
GLIFWC’s Phenology study - http://glifwc.org/ClimateChange/PhenologyStudy.html
Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad - A Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu - http://www.nicrn.org/tribal-climate-adaptation-menu.html
More on climate change impacts in Wisconsin - https://wicci.wisc.edu/wisconsin-climate-trends-and-projections/
This week, we dive deep into two news stories that flew under the public’s radar. In the summer of 2020, individuals all over the country started receiving random packages of unsolicited and unidentified seeds. In the spring of 2021, pet stores around the country found that the moss balls on their shelves carried a notorious aquatic hitchhiker. On this episode, we talk to some of the people who devoted months of their lives to dealing with these first-of-their-kind international crises.
Special thanks to our guests Christopher Deegan, Wesley Daniels, Amy Kretlow and Amy McGovern.
Report a nonindigenous aquatic species - https://nas.er.usgs.gov/SightingReport.aspx
Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database - USGS - https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/default.aspx
Destroy! Don’t dump! - Zebra Mussel Disposal - https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html
Hungry pests - Leave hungry pests behind - https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/hungrypests
Zebra mussels - https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/our-work/focus-areas/ais/invasive-species/invasive-species-fact-sheets/mollusks/zebra-mussels/
Quagga mussels - https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/our-work/focus-areas/ais/invasive-species/invasive-species-fact-sheets/mollusks/quagga-mussel/
On August 27, 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources gets a call about small lobsters crawling around a neighborhood pond in Germantown. The extent of the problem is more than anyone bargained for.
The miniscule Spiny waterflea was introduced into Madison’s Lake Mendota and lurked undetected for years. This hour, Bonnie and Sydney take a new look at a well-studied lake and try to figure out how an introduced species can float below science’s radar for so long. Take our listener survey (5 minutes) - https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0J2U3u2qOMp4LhY
Wild rice faces challenges like introduced species, pollution, habitat destruction and climate change. We learn how the Sokaogon Chippewa Community cares for this wonderfully resilient being.
Sydney debriefs Bonnie on what it was like to filet her very first fish, which happened to be a silver carp.
Canines Betty White and Ernie are training to detect the scent of New Zealand Mudsnail, and Sydney goes bow hunting for flying carp. Also, we talk to a group that is trying to make carp burgers the next popular tailgating food.
Pacific salmon were introduced into the Great Lakes to control nuisance alewives. Now, alewives and salmon are both being challenged by a new wave of introduced species.
Even the smallest snails can mean big changes for the region’s lakes and streams. We visit the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, where mystery snails encroach on wild rice, and track the spread of New Zealand Mud Snail across Wisconsin trout streams.
Smelting became a beloved tradition after rainbow smelt were introduced into the Great Lakes. How did smelt get introduced, how do they fit into the food web and what happens when humans fall in love with a non-native species?
How does something get labeled as “invasive”? It's more complicated than you might think.
After a dive into the world of fish collectors and a conversation with a DNR detective, Bonnie and Sydney want to know just how easy it is to buy aquatic invasive species online.
Bold plans to remove invasive species from Lake Wingra and Crystal Lake lead to some unintended consequences down the line.
How does a group of fish valued in their home range come to be some of America’s most reviled villains? Sydney and Bonnie explore a surprising collaboration between American and Chinese researchers, and see how Ontario is bracing for an Asian Carp introduction.
Wisconsin Sea Grant takes a trip to the world’s largest electric fish dispersal barriers, just south of Chicago. These barriers are sending electricity into the canal for one purpose- to keep Asian Carp from swimming into the Great Lakes.
When a showy, fuchsia plant runs amok in Wisconsin wetlands, researchers send a tiny beetle to the rescue. But the beetle isn’t native here, either.
While on a field trip, a UW-Madison class discovers a feral goldfish in a local stream. Their find is only the beginning of Wisconsin’s pet problems.
Introduced, a new podcast from Wisconsin Sea Grant, is all about aquatic invaders and stories from our changing waters. Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play.