What’s New at the Reserve? Fall 2025

Lake Superior Reserve staff nationally recognized - Recipients of the 2025 National Excellence in Extension Award for a Team

A big congratulations and round of applause are in order for the Lake Superior Reserve staff, who received the 2025 National Excellence in Extension Award for a Team by the Association for Public Land Grant Universities. In addition to leadership from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Reserve is part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension’s Natural Resources Institute. It is the only reserve within the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) with an extension program as its state partner. The Reserve is recognized as a shining example of extension research, technical assistance, and outreach education.

In September, Deanna Erickson (Reserve Director) traveled to St. Louis, Missouri for the award ceremony with UW-Madison Extension staff, accepting the award on the Reserve’s behalf. Check out the acceptance video featuring the Reserve staff that played at the ceremony!

From scientists and land stewards to TV stars - Reserve staff featured on a PBS episode of “Into the Outdoors”

Deanna and “Terry” look out to the camera crew on the R.D. Browne (Reserve’s boat). (credit: Deanna Erickson)

Last July, a few Reserve staff members became TV stars on the PBS show “Into the Outdoors”, which made their way to the Twin Ports. “Into the Outdoors” is a children’s nature program that strives to inspire kids to explore the natural world around them. The episode featuring Reserve staff explores careers in the natural resources and environmental fields.

Deanna Erickson (Reserve Director), Addi Knoll (Water Quality Technician), and Callie Grones (AmeriCorps Member) were all featured in the episode alongside Terry, the main character in the TV show. Addi navigated Terry and the camera crew through the estuary in the Reserve’s boat, the T.D. Smith. Addi talked about working with water quality science and her connection to the Reserve’s System-wide Monitoring Program (SWMP). SWMP is important for monitoring the quality of water, which affects plant communities, wildlife, and our own human communities in the Twin Ports.

Next, Callie talked about monitoring newly planted trees that are replacing trees affected by Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in the St. Louis River estuary. EAB is a non-local beetle that made its way into the region about ten years ago. The insects bore their way into ash trees, cutting off a tree’s ability to take in water and nutrients, eventually killing the tree. Once EAB is established, the ash mortality rate is very high.  To maintain wetland forest habitat in the estuary, , the Reserve has planted a total of 32,000 trees across islands in the St. Louis River through a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant funded project.

Deanna finished the episode by talking about manoomin (wild rice). A culturally significant plant and a keystone species for the St. Louis River estuary, manoomin populations are rebounding after decades of industrial pollution clean-up. Bringing manoomin back to the estuary has been a goal of many organizations, agencies, and governments for several years. Wild rice harvesting is an important practice to indigenous people like the Anishinaabe, and it also plays a significant role in the re-seeding of manoomin into the river to grow the next year. Because of the history of pollution, Reserve staff have been working for several years to address concerns of Elders, tribal members, and communities-at-large about the safety of consuming manoomin from the estuary. Researchers are analyzing manoomin samples and sediment cores to detect any heavy metals and other toxins that may pose a danger to consuming manoomin.

The episode of “Into the Outdoors” has not yet aired, but it will be available on the PBS website linked here once it is released.

Wetlands and Water Levels - Monitoring plants in the St. Louis River Estuary

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is known for their System-wide Monitoring Program which tracks long-term changes in estuary water quality and weather, but did you know the Reserves track wetlands too? The Wetlands and Water Levels (WLWL) study, implemented across the Reserve System, is collecting data to understand wetland resilience to water level change. At the Lake Superior Reserve, WLWL is managed by Hannah Nicklay (Monitoring Coordinator) and Cecile Renfro (Coastal Wetlands Research Intern) with data collected annually in Pokegama Bay since 2014.

Data collection for 2025 was conducted over a period of four days in September. To collect data for WLWL, the number of plant species and their abundances are measured in 80 defined areas, called plots (1m x 1m), in Pokegama Bay. Reserve staff travel by canoe or paddleboard to each plot, counting stems of each species and assessing their canopy cover, or the areal percent that each plant covers. Water depth is measured at each plot annually, and changes in depth from year to year is used to assess how much water has fluctuated. This protocol is robust, as a large amount of data is collected annually at the same time every year. The Reserve can track trends and changes in the wetlands year by year, as well as over longer periods of time. Additionally, a protocol like WLWL can be replicated in other parts of the St. Louis River estuary if needed.

The interpretation of the data allows scientists to predict and respond to shifts in the environment, which benefits the Reserve and the broader community in many ways. Pokegama Bay is a popular spot for all kinds of wildlife. Community members can hunt for ducks or geese, as well as trap muskrats. Birders flock to Pokegama Bay to spot a variety of species, and paddlers find enjoyment on the water in canoes, kayaks, or paddleboards. Fishing is popular in Pokegama Bay also, with species like walleye and northern pike present.

After a decade of data collection, several trends have emerged. Overall, water levels have been fluctuating since data collection began. To track changing conditions of the wetland, Reserve staff, like Cecile, use what is called a C-value, a score for every single plant determined by local botanists based on its resiliency to an environment. The higher the C-value, the less likely the plant will be to persist in an area faced with degradation. Overall, C-values have gone up in Pokegama Bay, which could indicate that the site is improving in overall quality. Additionally, there appears to be a downward trend in introduced (non-native) species cover. However, certain indicator species, like a variety of sedges, seem to be lower in abundance than usual. Cecile highlights that as water levels change, so do the plants that appear in Pokegama Bay. Since 2014, 106 plant species have been recorded as part of the WLWL study.

Cecile also highlights her favorite estuary plant encounters in Pokegema Bay. Manoomin (wild rice), a culturally significant and delicious aquatic grass, has increased in abundance across the St. Louis River estuary in the last decade after years of restoration efforts. Cecile talks about using a large wooden pole, called a push pole, to maneuver a canoe through a manoomin bed. This is a technique used by Ojibwe people for centuries to harvest manoomin, and Cecile says floating in a canoe among wild rice plants is an experience she can’t compare to any other. Sweet flag, known for its signature citrusy, fresh baked good smell, is another favorite among the wetland plants. Cecile also takes a particular interest in bladderwort, a submerged carnivorous species. The plant’s bladders, or sacks, suck up microscopic organisms, such as phytoplankton, using little detection hairs on the plant. The bladderwort plant can then digest organisms inside the plant. Though these specific plants are unique, part of what makes wetlands special is how many different kinds of plants grow there.

This data collection is ongoing annually, and you can access the data from Wetlands and Water Levels by visiting the Centralized Data Management Office (National Estuarine Research Reserve System) website, linked here.

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Articles written by Callie Grones,

“Wetlands and Water Levels” written from an interview with Cecile Renfro, edited by Hannah Nicklay & Cecile Renfro

“Lake Superior Reserve staff nationally recognized” and “From scientists and land stewards to TV stars” edited by Kirsten Rhude

Cover photo: an early morning sunrise over Lake Superior with the Lake Superior Reserve buoy (credit: Addi Knoll)