News

Alligators have a lot more in common with humans than you might think, and the ways their bodily systems develop – or deform — before hatching are a lot like the ways human babies grow in their mothers’ uteruses.

Dr. Louis J. Guillette Jr.

And tiny, tiny doses of chemicals that can cause alligators to die before they hatch or to hatch with significant birth defects can have similar impacts on humans.

That was the message that Louis J. Guillette Jr., a reproductive biologist, delivered to about 150 people who attended his lecture Sept. 14 at the University of Minnesota. The lecture was sponsored by the Freshwater Society and the university’s College of Biological Sciences.

To view a videotape of Guillette’s lecture, click here. To hear a Minnesota Public Radio interview with Guillette and University of Minnesota Professor Deborah Swackhamer, click here. To read a Freshwater interview with Guillette, click here. And to view a KARE-11 television interview with Guillette, click here.

Guillette is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical University of South Carolina. He also

Read more

Are chemical contaminants in the foods we eat, in the products we put into and on our bodies and in our lakes and rivers causing birth defects in humans?

Louis J. Gillette Jr.

Louis J. Guillette Jr., an internationally recognized reproductive biologist who has spent 25 years

studying sexually stunted alligators and other wildlife from polluted waters in Florida and around the world, says a growing body of research shows those chemicals – including trace amounts often found in lakes and rivers — do cause birth defects, both in animals and humans.

On Sept. 14, Guillette, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical University of South Carolina, will deliver the third in a series of lectures sponsored by the Freshwater Society and the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences.

Guillette’s lecture, aimed at a general audience, will be titled: Contaminants, Water and Our Health: New Lessons from Wildlife.

A panel of Minnesota experts on environmental contaminants will appear with Guillette.

The lecture will be at 7 p.m. in the theater of the St. Paul Student Center on the University of Minnesota’s campus.  The lecture, funded by an endowment honoring former university president Malcolm Moos, is free and open to the public. But seating is limited, and registration is required. To register, click here.  

To read an interview with Guillette from the September Freshwater newsletter, click here. And for a map of the St. Paul campus, click here.

Read more

What’s your favorite view of the Mississippi River?

The Friends of the Mississippi River organization is seeking input on a new video project that offers on-line panoramic views of the Mississippi River Critical Area, a state-protected corridor from Dayton to Hastings.

To view the videos, created in Google Maps, and to post a comment, click here.

Read more

Common carp Photo: Minnesota DNR

Asian carp, those giant, jumping fish that have moved up the Mississippi River in recent years and are threatening to enter the Great Lakes at Chicago, get all the media attention these days. But common carp, the kind that first were introduced into Minnesota lakes in about 1900, do immense damage to lakes and native plants, fish and wildlife every year.

The Rice Creek Watershed District will host a public workshop on common carp, and their effect on wildlife and water quality from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, in the auditorium of Mounds View

Read more

Zebra mussels Photo: Minnesota DNR

Zebra mussels – an invasive species that poses serious ecological and economic threats to Minnesota’s lakes and streams – have now spread to Lake Minnetonka, the Department of Natural Resources announced on July 28.

For years, the DNR has worked with lake residents and users to prevent the  introduction of zebra mussels to Lake Minnetonka.

Heavy infestations of zebra mussels can kill native mussels, impact fish populations, interfere with recreation, and increase costs for industry, including power and water supply facilities. Native to Eastern Europe and Western Russia, zebra mussels were first discovered in Minnesota in 1989 in the Duluth harbor.

Click here for the DNR’s background information on zebra mussels. The Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press published reports on the discovery of zebra mussels in Lake Minnetonka. Click here to read a Freshwater Society primer on invasive species, including zebra mussels.

Read more