Mark Malchoff devoted more than 21 years of expertise and service as Aquatic Resources Specialist with Lake Champlain Sea Grant (LCSG) and the Lake Champlain Research Institute (LCRI) on the New York side of the lake. Mark will retire from the State University of New York (SUNY) Plattsburgh on December 4, 2020.

“Mark’s understanding of lake ecology, experience within the national Sea Grant program, and connections within the greater Lake Champlain community are exceptional and an important reason that the Lake Champlain Sea Grant program has evolved into the successful Sea Grant Institute that we are today,” said Breck Bowden, LCSG Director at the University of Vermont (UVM). “Mark has set the foundation for a bright future for Lake Champlain Sea Grant. His talents, teamwork, knowledge, and comradery will be missed by us all.”

In 1983, Mark began his tenure with Sea Grant as an extension specialist in Fredonia, New York. He then served as a Cornell University extension associate in Ithaca, New York and a cooperative extension agent in Warren County. In 1988, Mark took a position as Marine Fisheries Specialist with New York Sea Grant and renewed what would become a 34-year career with Sea Grant.

In 1999, Mark joined Lake Champlain Sea Grant, a project of New York Sea Grant at the time, based at SUNY’s Research Institute and the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

“Mark Malchoff was an original staff member of Lake Champlain Sea Grant and has been a valuable source of information and support for this program,” said Tim Mihuc, Co-director of LCSG at SUNY Plattsburgh and Coordinator of LCRI. “SUNY Plattsburgh has appreciated his efforts in outreach, extension, and research over his time with Lake Champlain Sea Grant. His many colleagues at Plattsburgh wish him well in retirement.” 

Aquatic Invasive Species

During his early years on Lake Champlain, Mark focused on aquatic invasive species (AIS) spread prevention. He continued to pursue these efforts, along with new projects, when Lake Champlain Sea Grant gained independent status and transitioned to a UVM and SUNY Plattsburgh program in 2002. 

Mark collaborated with Drs. Ellen Marsden and Eric Howe on invasive sea lamprey research at UVM. Later, Mark joined Ellen and former LCSG Director of Outreach and Education Jurij Homziak on an investigation of barriers to prevent invasive species from entering Lake Champlain through the Champlain Canal. The 2005 Feasibility of Champlain Canal Aquatic Nuisance Species Barrier Options report, co-authored by Mark, Ellen, and Mike Hauser, continues to be cited by the United States Army Corp of Engineers and consultants seeking barrier feasibility options.

Mark also provided AIS training to Lake Champlain Basin Program boat launch stewards, Vermont Game Wardens, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) staff. Mark’s collaborative AIS work led to co-authorship of the Lake Champlain Basin Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan in 2005.

“Mark has consistently brought a wealth of expertise and thoughtful input to the Lake Champlain Basin Program Technical Advisory Committee and Aquatic Nuisance Species Subcommittee,” said Meg Modley, AIS Management Coordinator of the Lake Champlain Basin Program. “He tackled challenging messaging to a diverse community of stakeholders and has helped to develop education tools, programs, and trainings to encourage stewardship, including a Lake Champlain AIS identification guide.”

Sustainable Bass Fishing

In addition to aquatic invasives, Mark’s efforts with Sea Grant included research and outreach related to bass fishing tournaments on Lake Champlain. Bass tournaments on the New York side of the lake have gained in popularity over the past decade and contribute more than $2 million annually to local economies.

Mark partnered with SUNY Lake Champlain Research Institute scientists to examine the health of black bass following catch-and-release tournaments and studied how to increase survival and dispersal rates. At tournament weigh-in stations, they measured, weighed, and assessed fish for evidence of stress and developed a stress index. They followed the movements of nearly 2400 tagged fish in Lake Champlain.

The scientists published survival and dispersal results and shared findings in reports, a fact sheet on the Lake Champlain Bass Tournament work, and presentations with anglers in regional and state bass clubs, tournament directors and sponsors, including the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau and the City of Plattsburgh, and NYSDEC. These interactions gave rise to a Recreational Tournament Conservation Plan to help prevent over-scheduling of Plattsburgh-based bass tournaments and helped to inform improved tournament practices.

Mark’s longtime dedication to the fish and the sport have greatly enhanced the health of bass populations and sustainability of tournaments on Lake Champlain.

“Without Mark’s knowledge, immense care for the lake, and pride in what he does to sustain it, we would not have been able to host the annual professional bass fishing tournaments,” said Alyssa Senecal of the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau. “Because of him and the Lake Champlain Basin Program, we were able to host these tournaments that bring such a high economic impact to our area and do so knowing the Lake was happy and healthy!”

Jack of All Trades & Adventures

Mark also participated in Sea Grant-funded research projects related to climate change impacts and microplastics pollution in the Lake Champlain basin. At SUNY Plattsburgh, he contributed to ten research projects, totaling more than $450,000 in funding, and he has authored or co-authored 25 Sea Grant publications.

As a longtime member and active contributor to the Great Lakes Sea Grant Crude Oil Transport Team, Mark offered his detailed knowledge of rail transport in the United States.

“Mark was an invaluable member of the crude oil transportation effort by providing research on rail transport, hosting educational webinars, and participating in training on how to conduct response to oil spills in icy waters,” said Kathy Bunting-Howarth of New York State Sea Grant. “He threw himself into his work and, in the latter case, into a freezing lake, too!”

Mark credits his supervisors and colleagues with helping him to provide a successful program of research and outreach in fisheries and aquatic resources on Lake Champlain.

“Any accomplishments I have achieved were built on the efforts of my current associates Tim Mihuc, Mike Simpson [SUNY Plattsburgh Director of Sponsored Research], Breck Bowden, and Kris Stepenuck, as well as Jurij Homziak and Larry Forcier [former LCSG Director] back in the day,” said Mark, who also served as an adjunct lecturer in fisheries ecology and management at SUNY Plattsburgh for two years and member of the American Fisheries Society for 35 years.

“My 21-year career with the Research Foundation and Lake Champlain Sea Grant has been a nice mix of science and extension,” said Mark, who will continue to serve on the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Study Public Advisory Group. “I enjoyed helping folks address coastal and community problems by sharing Sea Grant research results. When those results weren’t available, I enjoyed teaming up on research to answer applied questions about aquatic invasive species, fisheries ecology, and rail-based crude oil transport.”

“Mark is a consummate Extension professional,” said Kris Stepenuck, LCSG Associate Director and Extension Leader. “He understands the importance of building relationships to best understand the needs of stakeholders to be able to address them with the most effective research and outreach."

Mark earned a Master of Science in environmental studies from Bard College in 1993 and a Bachelor of Science in natural resources from Cornell University in 1976. He then held positions with NYSDEC, New York State Department of Labor, and the state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. In 1982, he got his start in fisheries work as a technician with NYSDEC in Dunkirk, New York.

In retirement, Mark will keep up with sea and whitewater kayaking, fishing, cycling, backcountry skiing, and ice skating, to name just a few. He and his wife Cindy will continue home improvement projects and visit their daughters: Laura in Boca Raton, Florida and Erin in Saranac Lake, New York. They plan to travel and camp throughout the United States and Canada (post-Covid), but Mark, ever the adventurer, is already exploring whitewater rafting trips for 2021 on the Selway, Salmon, and Snake Rivers in Idaho.

In the Champlain Valley, restoration of riparian forests, also known as forested floodplains, can be challenging, given the presence of heavy clay soils and stands of reed canary grass, an invasive species that can outcompete native tree species.

A new University of Vermont (UVM) research project will evaluate different management practices to assess survival of native plants when establishing riparian buffer corridors in river floodplains. The results will help landowners who are considering riparian restoration for flood control, wildlife habitat, or reduction of surface runoff to achieve greater success in establishing forested buffer plantings.

Graduate student Stever Bartlett will carry out the project in collaboration with Alison Adams, UVM Extension forestry coordinator, and Kate Forrer, UVM Extension community forestry specialist. Bartlett, a master's student in the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, is advised by Dr. Kris Stepenuck, Lake Champlain Sea Grant Extension leader.

The study is funded by a Pollution Prevention and Habitat Conservation grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program. It is the first applied research project of the new Watershed Forestry Partnership, a collaboration of UVM Extension, Lake Champlain Sea Grant and various partnering organizations. The partnership was established in 2020 to coordinate research and outreach efforts among organizations that focus on riparian forest restoration and management practices to protect the Lake Champlain basin's water resources.

Researchers will conduct the study on eight Addison County test plots located along waterways with well-established stands of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea). This cool-season perennial grass was originally planted throughout the country in the 1800s for erosion control and as a food source for grazing livestock. 

Bartlett recently completed preparation of the trial sites where, with the help of volunteers, he will plant 1,200 trees native to Lake Champlain basin floodplains next spring. The sites are located in the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department's Dead Creek, Lemon Fair, Little Otter Creek, and Whitney/Hospital Creek Wildlife Management Areas.

The research, which will take place over the next two years, will examine the survival success of the planted saplings on two adjacent plots at each site. The control plot will be managed using standard techniques with minimal management while an herbicide-free approach to weed control will be employed on the second plot. Bartlett will share results and recommendations through a peer-reviewed scientific paper and a written guide and training for landowners.

The Watershed Forestry Partnership is funded by UVM Extension, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, American Forests, PUR Projet, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, and UVM alumnus Bruce Lisman. Learn more on the Watershed Forestry Partnership webpage.

Kris Stepenuck was promoted to Associate Director of Lake Champlain Sea Grant in October in recognition of her leadership to help develop the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Institute to benefit the environment and economies of the Lake Champlain basin.

In its annual meeting in August, the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Steering Committee unanimously supported her promotion from Assistant Director, citing the breadth and the success of Kris’s work.

“Kris’s leadership in Extension has contributed to the national recognition of the Lake Champlain Sea Grant and is helping to grow a science-driven portfolio of activities to benefit the Lake Champlain basin,” said Leslie Parise, member of the Steering Committee and Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Vermont (UVM). “We fully endorse the promotion.” 

“Kris has worked tirelessly to identify knowledge resources and build partnerships that will help people make informed decisions about challenges that affect the futures of their communities,” said Breck Bowden, Lake Champlain Sea Grant Director. “As a result, Kris has rapidly established herself as a trusted and knowledgeable authority in the region.”

Following are just a few of many highlights of how Kris has helped lead the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Institute since 2015:

• Led strategic planning that reached 300 partners and stakeholders in the basin to define a new vision, mission, and programmatic goals for Lake Champlain Sea Grant.
• Co-led planning and implementation of two national site reviews. The first earned the program Institute status and an annual budget increase of $600,000, and the second “exceeded expectations by an exceptional margin in most areas/aspects” and earned an annual budget increase of $179,000.
• Led or co-led seven hiring committees and served on two others to build Lake Champlain Sea Grant staff capacity, including creation of the Watershed Forestry Partnership.
• Co-led establishment of an Aquaculture Education Specialist position.
• Co-developed a new fellowship program, which has supported two fellows to date, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy of Vermont and the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps.
• Co-developed and secured partnerships to establish an undergraduate Sea Grant Scholars program at UVM to increase diversity in STEM careers and to help retain students representing a broad diversity at UVM.

“It is a privilege to work with the Lake Champlain Sea Grant team to define and implement a variety of programs that reach diverse audiences and address local issues across the Lake Champlain basin” said Kris, who also serves as Extension Assistant Professor in the UVM Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and in UVM Extension.

Kris holds a BS in Water Resources Management from the University of New Hampshire, an MS in Natural Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and a PhD in Environment and Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has served on a variety of boards, including most recently as chair of the Citizen Science Association. She is currently a member of the Education and Outreach committee of the Lake Champlain Basin Program and of the board of directors for Watersheds United Vermont. 

Her research focuses on assessing impacts of land use on water quality, understanding behavior changes that result from watershed outreach programming, and understanding motivations of volunteers and outcomes of programs that engage the public in scientific research.

Kris values the vigor and passion of the Lake Champlain Sea Grant team to address environmental challenges within the Lake Champlain basin. Her colleagues describe her tireless leadership and commitment to the prosperity of our region as paramount to meeting common goals for environmental and economic sustainability in the Lake Champlain basin.

Later this week, there is snow in the forecast, which signals it is time for Mo to hibernate for the winter. There is usually a morning, like the one above, when we look out and see evidence that Mo has dutifully attempted to mow the lawn. In such cases, it seems that Mow has been hindered not so much in his movements, but in his ability to access the grass. Like with tracking animals, Mo leaves an interesting track story of past movements through the yard. 

This has me thinking retrospectively—though over a longer time period—about the positives and negatives of owning a robotic mower and how that aligns with the RaiseTheBlade outreach effort. 

Positively, Mo reduces our time spent mowing, giving us more time to explore the Lake Champlain basin and beyond. Plus, Mo mows most areas of our yard decently and does so quietly while following all of the #RaiseTheBlade guidelines (3″ minimum length, no more than 1/3 of the blade at a time, and allowing the clippings to decompose in place). This is great for us and good for water quality.

Mo’s challenges primarily have to do with the landscape. On average, Mo gets stuck once every few weeks. However, if we fail to manage Mo’s boundary wire path, Mo can get stuck every day. Lately, this happens in one corner of our yard where the grass is thin, bare soil is plentiful, and tree roots abound. The fix is simple—to reroute Mo’s boundary wire. As such, we only have ourselves to blame for having to go rescue Mo on a regular basis.

Mo’s other key challenge, as I shared throughout this mowing season, is that objects allowed to grow in Mo’s path (e.g., a large milkweed plant) or placed in Mo’s path (e.g., harvested onions, Adirondack chairs, lawn edging) make mowing particularly challenging.

The benefits of having Mo’s assistance with our yard work far outweigh the challenges, though, and I’d do it all again if I had to make the decision to buy a robotic mower or not.

Read more Mo Monday blogs on Kris Stepenuck's blog page "Mo: A Mower With a Purpose."

Controlling stormwater runoff before it leaves your property and enters a lake or stream can make a huge difference in reducing flooding or erosion, protecting water quality, and preventing toxic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms that close swimming beaches.

If you live in the Lake Champlain basin, you can sign up for a stormwater consultation through the BLUE stormwater mitigation program. The evaluations are free, courtesy of the Lake Champlain Sea Grant program. Rebates of up to $200 are available for residents of Williston and up to $300 for Colchester residents for work completed by December 31, 2020.

Evaluators will work with eligible property owners to provide information on good stewardship to protect waterways and help identify opportunities for implementing green stormwater infrastructure practices. These include gutter systems, infiltration systems, vegetative swales, rain gardens, permeable paving, and rain barrels, among other options.

Stormwater runoff occurs when rain and snowmelt don't soak into the ground but instead flow over impervious surfaces such as driveways and paved streets. If not controlled, runoff may accumulate debris, fertilizers, pet waste, sediment, or other pollutants that could adversely impact nearby waterways. 

Learn more about BLUE or schedule a consultation. To determine if you reside in one of the 12 watersheds in the Lake Champlain basin, view this map of Lake Champlain's watersheds. 

Lake Champlain Sea Grant is hosted by the University of Vermont (UVM) in partnership with the State University of New York Plattsburgh. It operates with additional support and collaboration with UVM Extension and several state and local organizations including BLUE, which has operated in the Lake Champlain basin for more than a decade.

Today, with just two more Mo Monday posts in 2020, I am excited to introduce a newly-released 35-second video that shares the key messages of — and reasons for — the #RaiseTheBlade campaign. Click on the image below to watch the video or access it through the Lawn to Lake website. (If you access it through the Lawn to Lake website, choose the “short version” of the two Benefits of Long Grass Growth videos available there.)

We purposefully left one small glitch in the video to see if viewers can spot it. If you find it, email us by October 30, 2020 at seagrant [at] uvm.edu (subject: Mo%20Monday)  with the subject line “Mo Monday.” We will randomly select one lucky winner from all email entries received to join a future public trip on Lake Champlain led by Lake Champlain Sea Grant and UVM Extension. 

The winner (age 18+) and one guest (minimum age 7) will be invited to come aboard the University of Vermont’s research vessel the Melosira in summer 2021 (pending a COVID-19 vaccine is available and our public trips are able to safely operate). Our public trips give participants an opportunity to learn about the history of the lake and its watershed (the area of land that drains to the lake), and to try their hand as limnologists by studying water quality in the lake. 

Read more Mo Monday blogs on Kris Stepenuck's blog page "Mo: A Mower With a Purpose."

Lake Champlain Sea Grant, in its ongoing efforts to share science-based knowledge about the Lake Champlain basin, has developed a series of free virtual learning programs.

Although designed for use by classroom teachers, remote learners, home school groups, families and anyone interested in scientific exploration of the Lake Champlain basin are welcome to enroll in any or all of these programs.

Information can be found at the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Virtual Learning website. If needing a disability-related accommodation to participate, please send an email to watershd [at] uvm.edu.

Offerings include:

Keeping the Balance – Virtual Fish Dissection. Through a guided virtual fish dissection, students will observe the sampling techniques fisheries scientists use in their research. A series of short "fish files" videos will introduce some of the fish species found in Lake Champlain. 

Lake Champlain Live – Virtual Lake Exploration. This "floating classroom" experience provides a virtual tour of the R/V Melosira, the University of Vermont (UVM) research and education vessel, to learn about lake ecology, how scientists sample water quality, and local water quality challenges.

Stream Monitoring and Stewardship – Virtual Stream Exploration. This interactive exploration of a stream in the Lake Champlain watershed will show students how scientists conduct a stream assessment for biologic indicators and ecosystem health.

Watershed Explorer Challenge. This self-paced learning opportunity, also suitable for classroom learning, features 11 indoor and outdoor activities for young people to study watershed science while working toward their Watershed Explorer certificate. The program covers a wide range of topics from stream health and climate change, aquatic food webs and cyanobacteria to Lake Champlain watershed's culture and history.

Lake Champlain Sea Grant is hosted by UVM in partnership with the State University of New York Plattsburgh with additional support and collaboration by UVM Extension and other partner organizations.

Lake Champlain Sea Grant invites students to become certified Watershed Explorers by completing a series of fun activities designed to teach them about watershed science and the Lake Champlain basin.

The Watershed Explorer Challenge, while geared to Grades 5-8, is also suitable for upper elementary or early high school students. It includes 11 different indoor and outdoor activities with a glossary and links to additional resources to investigate a topic in more depth. Upon completion, kids can take the pledge to become an official Watershed Explorer before sending in a prepaid postcard to receive their certificate.

Free copies of the activities booklet are available at libraries and other sites throughout Vermont as well as communities in New York in the Lake Champlain basin. For a list of locations, go to the Watershed Explorer Challenge website. To request a booklet by mail, send an email to watershd [at] uvm.edu.

The self-paced activities include building a model of the Lake Champlain watershed, plotting Secchi disk water clarity measurements, and identifying the connections in an aquatic food web.

In addition, aspiring explorers will take a look at the Lake Champlain watershed's culture and history and study cyanobacteria, benthic macroinvertebrates, stream health, and climate change, among other topics.

The project was funded by Lake Champlain Sea Grant, University of Vermont Extension and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant office.

If long titles worked for blogs, the rest of that title would be, “and How to Keep Your Mower from Clogging.” That is because of another barrier people in the Lake Champlain basin expressed that keeps them from mowing their lawn to 3 inches in height: the grass would stay wet and clog the mower. 

Keeping grass maintained to a longer height (such as 3 inches) is a known benefit to the grass, as it is then able to focus its energy to develop its root system, which can reach further into the earth for water. Plus, longer grass blades allow grass to shade the ground and prevent evaporation from the soil, reducing the amount of water lost to the atmosphere. This means that grass may stay wet a little longer in the morning, and as a result, make it more challenging to mow at that time. 

A few tips you can use to help to reduce clogging of your mower or clumping of grass clippings include:

• Raise your mower deck to 3 inches and 
• Mow only 1/3 of the length of the blades at at time.
• Keep your mower blade sharp.
• Keep the underside of the deck clean.
• Mow only in the afternoon or evening hours to avoid morning dew.

Read more Mo Monday blogs on Kris Stepenuck's blog page "Mo: A Mower With a Purpose."

The Watershed Forestry Partnership, a program of the Lake Champlain Sea Grant and University of Vermont Extension, has launched a new listserv. Through this listserv, organizations, researchers, and others working on riparian forest restoration in the Lake Champlain basin and Vermont can now collaborate, ask questions, and share information about riparian buffer restoration efforts.

If you wish to subscribe to the list, you can go to the public list archives and search for “Watershed Forestry” or send an email command (“subscribe watershedforestry FirstName LastName”) to listserv [at] list.uvm.edu from the email address where you want to receive the emails. Alternatively, you may contact Alison Adams, Watershed Forestry Coordinator, at alison.adams [at] uvm.edu. 

The Partnership also published it's first newsletter, produced in collaboration with the Annalise Carington of the Intervale Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Katie Kain of the USFWS, and released in early October. It includes updates from organizations across Vermont that are working to restore riparian forests to improve water quality, mitigate flooding, and provide wildlife habitat; a summary of Redstart Forestry’s observations of the best and worst trees to plant in buffers this year; a call for “user stories” to inform development of the Functioning Floodplains Initiative web app; and more!

View the Watershed Forestry Partnership Fall 2020 Newsletter.