In addition to funding research projects around the state, Michigan Sea Grant also supports staff members pursuing their own research inquiries. In 2025, Michigan Sea Grant staff published five peer-reviewed articles on subjects from fisheries to harmful algal blooms. Take a peek at their work:
- “A secondary analysis of invasion risk in the context of an altered thermal regime in the Great Lakes”
- Published by Connor Shelly, Rochelle Sturtevant, and co-authors in Diversity; uses the GLANSIS database to assess how increased water temperatures would affect the risk of establishment by potential invasive species currently on the Great Lakes watchlist.
- ”Factors affecting risk perceptions about the human health effects resulting from harmful algal bloom exposure”
- Published by Alexandra Benitez Gonzalez, Heather Triezenberg, and co-authors in Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education; examines how to effectively communicate harmful algal bloom risks and understand public perceptions of HABs-related risks during recreational lake use in Michigan.
- “Provisioning fisheries: A framework for recognizing the fuzzy boundary around commercial, subsistence, and recreational fisheries”
- Published by Dan O’Keefe and co-authors in Fisheries; explores ways to understand an overlooked population of fishers whose fishing motivations and outcomes overlap across commercial, subsistence, and recreational fishing sectors, resulting in their underrepresentation in management and policy frameworks.
- “Primary and secondary invasion pathways: why the distinction matters”
- Published by Rochelle Sturtevant and co-authors in Biological Invasions; draws a distinction between primary invasion pathways for non-native species (moving across jurisdictional or biogeographic boundaries) and secondary pathways (moving within those boundaries after introduction), and the species that can slip through the cracks when management frameworks overlook these differences.
- “Recommendations from the Sea Grant-led Invasive Species Language Workshop”
- Published by El Lower and co-authors in Management of Biological Invasions: Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species; explores the need for invasive species communication guidelines that consider the implications of common message frames, metaphors, species naming conventions, and interventions.
