BEACHNET==> Please send to your local press: Great Lakes Beach Officials and Scientists to Meet

[Richard L Whitman <rwhitman@usgs.gov>]

Here is the press release for the
GLBA meeting this week.  Can you please take a moment and forward
it to your local press?We'd like good coverage on the seminars, presentations
and webcast next week.  Thanks in advance, the meeting plans are moving
along well.





        




News Release

September 10, 2008

Richard L. Whitman

219-926-8336

rwhitman@usgs.gov

Great Lakes Beach Officials
and Scientists to Meet

As the swimming season comes to
a close, beach managers, scientists, and policy makers from across the
Great Lakes and from afar will convene in Porter, Indiana to share new
findings, advances, challenges, and opportunities to improve beach health.
 The 8th Annual Meeting of the Great Lakes Beach Association will
happen at the Indiana Dunes September 15-17, with workshops, presentations,
and symposia held at Indiana Dunes State Park and the Indiana Dunes Learning
Center.

The Great Lakes Beach Association
(GLBA) is comprised of over 860 members, including representatives from
local, county, and state public health agencies, environmental groups,
universities, and state and federal regulatory and research agencies.  GLBA
includes members from all eight Great Lakes states, Canada, and several
other Midwest and coastal states.  The mission of the GLBA is to pursue
healthy beach water conditions in the Great Lakes.  “Beachnet” is
the host communication network and listserv for the GLBA (http://beachnet.info/),
and annual meetings are held in the fall in a different Great Lakes state
each year, typically coordinated with other regional or national meetings.
 

This year, sessions will be hosted
at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park, two
locations where seminal beach research has been conducted and where managers
are committed to protecting public health at the beaches.  Indiana
Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Constantine Dillon notes that “The
National Park Service is pleased to be a part of this effort in improving
beach research.” According to Dillon, “the public has a right to expect
healthy beaches and we all play a part in making and keeping our waters
safe.”

Since its inception, the Great
Lakes Beach Association has garnered national and international attention
for its coordination among agencies and interests to promote beach health.
 This year, in addition to bi-national representation, attendees will
include representatives from as far as Alaska, Texas, South Carolina, Connecticut,
and Florida.   Hawaii will also be represented by Dr. Roger Fujioka
of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, “The Great Lakes
beach area is the region of the country where there is maximum cooperation,
education and continuous update of all the activities in that region via
the Beachnet, a very active and effective means of communication.”
 Dr. Shannon Briggs, Michigan, former president of the GLBA is impressed
by the exchange of knowledge facilitated by the GLBA “The annual meeting
is great place for scientists and beach managers to take an in-depth look
at monitoring data and present new ideas.  We have group discussions
with speakers and one-on-one conversations during the poster session that
help us discover how we can work together to improve beach water quality
and protect public health.”

Included on the agenda are seminars
presented by scientists and policy makers, covering the topics Introduction
to Beach Monitoring, Beach Sanitary Surveys, Source Tracking, and Predictive
Models.  These seminars are designed for beach managers to stay abreast
of the latest research and policies so they can better protect public health
at their beaches.  Also, oral presentations and a poster session are
planned, with representatives of US and Canadian Agencies and several municipalities
and universities presenting their findings on the use of rapid methods
for determining microbiological water quality, determining potential sources
of fecal indicator bacteria to bathing beaches, sanitary surveys for beaches,
and the use of predictive models for determining real-time water quality.
 Finally, intensive workshops are also scheduled, with topics on monitoring
data, fecal bacteria in sand, and rapid testing methods.




The USGS serves the nation by providing reliable
scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss
of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological,
energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.

**** www.usgs.gov ****

Richard Whitman
Research Ecologist/Station Chief
Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station
219-926-8336 Ext. 424
1100 North Mineral Springs Road 
Porter, IN 46304

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