Congratulations to Paige Kleindl on the defense of her thesis project titled, “Shoreline Restoration and Source of Nutrient Enrichment Impacts on Macrophyte and Epiphytic Algal Communities.” Paige was MLSA’s student recipient of the 2018 Megan E. Cook Memorial Scholarship which was awarded at MLSA’s 57th Annual Conference. Her project involved monitoring Muskegon Lake. Paige says, “The historical industrial development, past environmental degradation, and designation as a Great Lakes Area of Concern prompted shoreline restoration and subsequent socio-economic and environmental monitoring. For my thesis research, I continued macrophyte [aquatic plant] monitoring in July 2018 at two of the restored habitats and one reference habitat. Monitoring included measurement of: macrophyte biological variables (e.g., density, biomass, and richness); shoreline habitat characteristics (slope and exposure to wind and wave action); and other environmental variables (e.g., water level, precipitation, and air temperature).” She was able to find that “habitat quality improvement at the restored habitats from 2012 to 2018, based on Michigan’s Coefficient of Conservatism values, suggested restoration has positively influenced shoreline macrophyte communities.” Paige’s study shows that shoreline restoration improves habitat for native aquatic plants that contribute to diversity and health of lakes like Muskegon. For Paige Kleindl’s full summary please visit this link: https://mymlsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Paige-Kleindl-Summary.pdf