GLC Alternative Work Plan 2021

  • Three smiling people wearing face masks sit in chairs next to each other in a small office. There is an open door behind them.

    1/12

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdowns, we were unable to collect benthic samples in 2020. Instead, the benthic lab worked on alternative projects. Erik Hartnett, Brianne Tulumello, Susan Daniel, and Kit Hastings (not pictured).

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  • A person sits by a microscope in a laboratory, their body turned to face toward the camera.

    2/12

    One task was archiving all of the samples from the Great Lakes Biology Monitoring Program from 1997-2019. Erik Hartnett was in charge of examining and archiving 18,538 vials.

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  • Ten vials lined up on a counter. The labels are from various sites in 1997. Three of the vials are filled with red preservative liquid, but the rest are almost entirely empty except for some organisms, and two have completely dried out organisms.

    3/12

    The samples from the early years (1997-1999) were processed differently than later years. These samples were collected by a different agency and stored by EPA GLNPO. Some of the samples from 1997 were in poor condition, but we restored them.

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  • A long narrow drawer pulled out from a cabinet. The drawer contains two rows of microscope slides filed with index cards labeling the sample site and year, such as "ER 43 Summer '97" or ER 78 Summer '98." The slides on the left are yellower and appear thick or gummy, while the ones on the right are clear and have the end with writing on it sticking up.

    4/12

    One task was archiving all of the samples from the Great Lakes Biology Monitoring Program from 1997-2019. Brianne Tulumello inventoried 17,122 slides, including these slides from 1997-1999. The slides were placed in the drawer without dividers.

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  • A stack of five microscopes slides with worm-like organisms. The slides are yellowish and have reddish brown gunk along one edge, as well as some debris stuck to the edges of a couple slides. They are either arranged in a stack or stuck together by the gunk on the edges.

    5/12

    Some of the 1997 slides were stuck together and needed to be carefully separated.

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  • Gloved fingers hold five microscope slides so the side of the microscopes is shown. There is a brown gummy substance between the slides, which are either placed closely together or stuck together. There is debris stuck to several of the slides.

    6/12

    Some of the 1997 slides were stuck together and needed to be carefully separated.

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  • A closeup view of a scalpel blade between two microscope slides. The slides have labels and worm-like organisms beneath the cover slips. There is a second set of slides and another blade between them in the background.

    7/12

    Some of the 1997 slides were stuck together and needed to be carefully separated. Brianne used a scalpel.

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  • A microscope slide and a piece of parafilm on a table. The slide appears to be missing a cover slip, leaving worm-like organisms and mounting media exposed to air instead of covered by glass. The parafilm still has the label affixed, which reads "PARAFILM "M" LABORATORY FILM, BEMIS FLEXIBLE PACKAGING, NEENAH, WI 54956." This is printed twice on the label in two squares.

    8/12

    Despite the care taken separating slides that were stuck together, some of the cover slips came off or stuck to the wrong slide, leaving organisms exposed. These slides needed to be wrapped in parafilm.

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  • A microscope slide wrapped in film. The label is obscured, but there is writing on the film. "HU 06 A 3/5"

    9/12

    Despite the care taken separating slides that were stuck together, some of the cover slips came off or stuck to the wrong slide, leaving organisms exposed. These slides needed to be wrapped in parafilm.

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  • A slide box full of microscope slides in two rows. They are evenly spaced and none of the slides are directly touching each other.

    10/12

    When the slides were preserved and archived, they were put into slide boxes for storage. Now the slides are carefully spaced so they won't stick together, and any exposed organisms are wrapped in parafilm.

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  • A person sits in an office in front of a microscope on her desk. She is smiling at the camera.

    11/12

    Susan Daniel checked the taxonomic identification of the organisms on the slides. In the case of the early years (1997-1999), organisms were sometimes identified to genus instead of species, and we re-identified the same organisms to species level.

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  • A microscope photo of a worm showing the first few segments of the worm, including a retracted prostomium labelled P, and the ventral chaetae in the first four segments, labelled "II" through "V." The body wall is covered in little speckles that completely cover the surface, making it slightly opaque.

    12/12

    Kit Hastings focused on the GLNPO Benthic Invertebrate Reference Guide, creating an image database for all Great Lakes species identified during the GLNPO Biology Monitoring Program. This is an image of Spirosperma ferox, a common Great Lakes oligochaete.

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