Burke Center in the News

Flooding

What the Climate’s ‘New Normal’ Is Doing to Lake Superior

Minnesota has shoreline on only one Great Lake, but it happens to be the greatest: largest, clearest, coldest and, until recently, seemingly least vulnerable to various environmental afflictions elsewhere in the five-lake basin. The world’s biggest lake by surface area, Superior happens to hold one-tenth of the fresh water on the face of the Earth.…

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How’s the Weather? Well, it’s complicated.

Midwestern Past Time Takes a Serious Turn as Storms Increase

We love to talk about weather in the Midwest. At work or the grocery store, small talk almost always begins with, “How much snow did you get?” or “What did you think of the wind howling last night?” or, my favorite, “Cold enough for you?” This banter, however, has taken on a more serious tone…

Mary Griggs Burke Center Operations Manager Val Damstra

KBJR6: A Changing Lake

Large Storms Creating Issues for Lake Superior According to Study

ASHLAND, WI– Larger than normal storms over the last several years are causing issues for Lake Superior, according to a group of researchers at Northland College in Ashland. Researchers there released a study on Tuesday breaking down the impact climate change has on the lake and what issues it’s causing. “Since 2012 we have experienced…

Aerial shot of river flowing through Highway 2, following June 2018 storm

DNT: Storms, Erosion and Algae Blooms Part of ‘New Normal’ for Lake Superior, Report Says

Northland College Report Says Climate Change is Spurring Unusual Results for Big Lake

Increasingly larger storms, more frequent heavy rains and higher water levels — likely spurred by global climate change — are not only roiling the waters of Lake Superior but also damaging the big lake’s water quality. That’s the analysis of a “white paper’’ report released Tuesday by researchers at Northland College’s Mary Griggs Burke Center…

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WPR: Report Recommends Rewrite of Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

White Paper Suggest More Holistic Approach to Water Quality Management

A new report from Northland College in Ashland recommends that the United States and Canada rewrite its principal agreement that provides a framework for improving water quality on the Great Lakes. The white paper released Tuesday by the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation at Northland College highlights water quality concerns on Lake Superior…

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Binational Commission Hears Concerns About The Great Lakes

International Joint Commission Listens As Campus and Community Detail Issues Threatening Water Quality

Climate change, algal blooms and pollution from a variety of sources were highlighted as chief concerns among roughly 200 community members who shared their views on issues impacting water quality on the Great Lakes at a public meeting held by the International Joint Commission. The event Wednesday hosted at Northland College in Ashland was among…

Northland student Emma Holtan conducts research

A Chance to Speak for Lake Superior

Burke Center to Host IJC Public Listening Session Sept 25

Three years ago, I arrived at Northland College’s campus, largely because Lake Superior’s magic had long attracted me to its shores. By my first week living along Chequamegon Bay, I realized how much the lake had not only drawn me in but how being a part of this community means having a connection to the…

Northland College student outside.

Studying Freshwater, Rating Curves

Reane Loiselle of Dousman, Wisconsin, was first introduced to Northland College during a backpacking trip in the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan her sophomore year of high school. She had been traveling with her family to the north woods already so to find a college in that setting was appealing. She was…

carp jumping out of a lake

What’s With All the Carping?

Marvin Pertzik World Water Day Lecture

Molly Flanagan, vice president for policy at the Alliance for the Great Lakes in Chicago, will talk about the latest efforts to keep Asian carp and other exotic species from invading the Great Lakes.  Flanagan is the featured speaker of the annual Marvin Pertzik World Water Day Lecture which will take place on Thursday, March 21…

Lake Mead from above the Hoover Dam

Tough Times Along the Colorado River

In the face of a prolonged drought, the federal government could step in and reduce water use in the Southwest.

Last month hundreds of Western water managers, farmers and scientists gathered at a conference with state, federal and tribal officials in Las Vegas, where they heard a sobering address about the Colorado River. The crowd knew the situation was grim. But it was up to Colby Pellegrino, the director of water resources at the Southern…