64th Annual MLSA Conference: The Future of Michigan’s Water
In Muskegon on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26, 2025
Friday Agenda
9AM – Welcome from Melissa DeSimone, MLSA Executive Director
Keynote Speaker – David Ullrich: A Life Enriched by Lakes and Streams, David is the Former Deputy Regional Administrator for US EPA, Great Lakes Region and Former Executive Director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
10:30 AM to Noon
1 – Lessons in running a lake association – Speaker: Mike Needham, Klinger Lake
2 – Local Issues, Local Solutions: How Conservation Districts can help solve nonpoint source pollution issues in watersheds – Speakers: Ben Jordan and Sarah Bowman from the Ottawa Conservation District and Chelsey Lawton and Emily Cooper from the Muskegon Conservation District
3 – A Lawyer, a Farmer, and a Journalist Walk Into a Bar: Straight Talk About Dirty Water – Speakers: Carrie La Seur, Legal Director, For Love of Water; Keith Schneider, Journalist for Circle of Blue; Dennis Kellogg, Michigan Farmers Union Board Member
1 PM to 2:30 PM
1 – Zoning for Shorelines: Best Practices and Lessons Learned from East Bay Charter Township – Speakers: Mary Reilly, AICP, MSU Extension and Claire Karner, AICP, Director of Planning and Zoning, East Bay Charter Township
2 – Innovative Communications – Speaker: Paige Filice, MSU Center for Lakes and Streams and
– The power of storytelling: Common Groundwater, a case study – Speaker: Grace Noyola, Communications Director, Michigan Environmental Council
3 – Annis Water Resources Institute Student Research Reports – Speakers: TBA
3 PM – Special Session
Large Displacement Wave Impacts to Inland Lakes: A Summary of Current Studies and Implications – Speakers: Timothy E. Tyre, PhD, Senior Scientist and Charles Luebke, Director of Field Operations, Terra Vigilis Environmental Services Group
5 PM – Happy Hour and Awards Presentations – Scholarships, Riparian of the Year
7 PM – Featured Session – Riparian Attorney Q&A with Cliff Bloom (All your legal lake and stream questions answered!)
Saturday Agenda
8 AM – Breakfast with Cliff Bloom – An annual update on Riparian Rights and Current Cases
9 AM to 10:30 AM
1 – Leveraging Digital Optical Data for Improving Water Quality – Speakers: Rob Karner, Watershed Biologist for the Glen Lake Association and Hari Kandel, PhD, Associate Professor at Lake Superior State University
**Followed by a discussion of the Friday afternoon general session: Large Displacement Wave Impacts to Inland Lakes: A Summary of Current Studies and Implications with the Terra Vigilis Environmental Services Group
2 – Producing More and Better Grant Proposals – Speaker: Mark Ogland-Hand, Grants and Foundation Relations Manager, Michigan Environmental Council
3 – Session TBA
11 AM to 12:30 PM
1 – Climate Considerations:
– Change in the Michigan Mind – Speaker: Dr. Denise Keele, Executive Director, Michigan Climate Action Network
– A Changing Climate and the Fishery – Speaker: Dr. Joe Nohner, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division
2 – Play the Watershed Game and learn to reduce nutrient inputs that can cause harmful algal blooms – Speakers: Erica Clites and Angela Scapini, Extension Educators, Michigan Sea Grant
3 – Protecting Manoomin: Integrating Conservation and Cultural Preservation – Speakers: Roger LaBine, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior and Kathleen Smith, Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
Field Trip Option 1: Monitoring of Muskegon Lake aboard the Jackson, leaving from the Annis Water Resources Institute
1:30 PM to 3 PM
1 – Lake Management Projects:
– Hypoxia in Inland Lakes: Dynamics, Consequences, and Mitigation – Speaker: Dr. Jennifer L. Jermalowicz-Jones, CLP, CLM, Certified Professional Watershed Manager, Restorative Lake Sciences
– Swimmer’s Itch Control Case Studies – Speakers: David Wynne, Crystal Lake and Watershed Association; Duncan Lawrence, Higgins Lake Swimmers Itch Organization; and Dr. Curtis L. Blankespoor, Ecologist/Parasitologist
2 – Mapping Michigan’s Water – Speaker: Sara Pearson, Director of Michigan Geological Survey
3 – Ordinance Enforcement Session – Speaker: Attorney Ashleigh Russett, Bloom Sluggett
Field Trip Option 2: Monitoring of Muskegon Lake aboard the Jackson, leaving from the Annis Water Resources Institute
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Hotel room block ends March 23rd, don’t wait to reserve your room!
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Event menu will be posted soon: 2025 Conference Page.
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Check out our Visit Muskegon Page to find more to do in the area.