Alan Steinman on the shore of Muskegon Lake, ice-covered in January.
Alan Steinman is one of the country鈥檚 premier freshwater ecologists. A professor and researcher at Michigan鈥檚 Grand Valley State University, he coauthored an authoritative report on Michigan鈥檚 blue economy and found his niche using science to show that protecting water resources and driving economic development don鈥檛 have to be opposing forces.
By Annie Sherman
Growing up on Long Island, Alan Steinman, M.S. 鈥�83, explored the coast with curiosity, following crabs as they scurried on the beach and investigating the dunes. This freedom to discover鈥攚hile also digging for clams and fishing for flounder鈥攃emented for him an insatiable devotion to nature.
After earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree in botany from the University of Vermont, Steinman traded the saltwaters of his childhood for the inland freshwaters of Rhode Island. The plentiful freshwater streams of the Ocean State and the University of Rhode Island stream ecology program were mecca for Steinman. So, he researched algae and aquatic plants for his master鈥檚 degree in botany here.
Steinman fondly remembers botany professor Bob Sheath鈥檚 lab, in which he 鈥渟pent time looking at all the streams in Rhode Island.鈥� He adds, 鈥淔ortunately, it’s a small enough state that you can actually survey all of them within a week. And I had a keen appreciation for the state as a whole because we were going everywhere from Lincoln down to Sakonnet, wherever there was flowing water. So, I really got to know the state and appreciate its water resources, as well as marine resources.
鈥淢y focus,鈥� Steinman continues, 鈥渨as to be broad and encompass as much as possible around this issue of freshwater in general, and 911爆料 enabled me to do that in not just freshwater, but also marine and estuarine intertidal areas. I had all of these different aquatic habitats at my disposal, and I tried to take advantage of that.鈥�
Steinman built on that experience to become one of the country鈥檚 premier freshwater ecologists. From Florida鈥檚 Lake Okeechobee to Michigan鈥檚 Great Lakes, he used science to advocate that our water resources have incredible value for health, recreation, agriculture, and so much more鈥攁nd, as a result, are worth preserving and fighting for. He lobbied that in order for the public to support this preservation, it must involve a return on economic investment.
He learned this lesson the hard way when he was director of the Lake Okeechobee Division of the South Florida Water Management District for nearly eight years. Steinman oversaw the restoration efforts associated with the lake, its watershed, and connecting estuaries, which involved decisions on water levels and distribution from the country鈥檚 second-largest freshwater lake. When water levels rose above the lake鈥檚 regulation schedule鈥檚 designated zones, the district would release vast quantities of water from the lake into the connecting estuaries, which empty into the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. However, the water being discharged contained waste from neighboring cattle and dairy farms, which would wash into the lake via canals and creeks. This unleashed high concentrations of phosphorus, which causes harmful cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and red tide blooms, and the reduced salinity in the estuaries resulted in the death of shellfish and finfish that were fished both commercially and recreationally. But if the water was not released from Lake Okeechobee, the 30-foot-high earthen dike surrounding the lake might fail, leading to catastrophic economic damage and potential loss of life. So, Steinman says this became such a heated 911爆料 dispute that he received a death threat, and armed guards had to secure public meetings.
鈥�You really take the science seriously and recognize how important water is鈥攏ot just to the ecosystem, which is where my natural focus was, but also to people’s livelihoods, to industry, to utilities, to homeowners who rely on drinking water.鈥�
颅鈥擜lan Steinman, M.S. 鈥�83
鈥淚 realized, for the first time really in my life, that the decisions we were making, based on the research we were doing, influenced not just millions of people, but millions鈥攊f not billions鈥攐f dollars,鈥� Steinman says. 鈥淚 always knew how important research was and how valuable our data were, but this showed that if I didn’t get it right, the implications were more than just me being written up in a journal. It was like, 鈥榃hoa, your job鈥檚 at stake, your reputation is at stake, billions of dollars are at stake.鈥� So, you really take the science seriously and recognize how important water is鈥攏ot just to the ecosystem, which is where my natural focus was, but also to people’s livelihoods, to industry, to utilities, to homeowners who rely on drinking water. The implications are significant.鈥�
Alan Steinman in his lab at the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute, Grand Valley State University in Muskegon, Mich.
It was these hydro resources and their potential to become an economic engine that centered Steinman鈥檚 work for the next 21 years. As director of the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Michigan, he was鈥攁nd remains, although he stepped down two-and-a-half years ago鈥攖he go-to scientist on Michigan鈥檚 blue economy, conducting research, teaching, and exploring ways to preserve the state鈥檚 freshwater resources. Maintaining his research lab on restoration ecology, aquatic ecosystems, and phosphorus biogeochemistry, Steinman also pursues water policy as a method of integrating the blue economy into water management.
When Michigan Economic Center director and Brookings Institution senior fellow John Austin proposed a collaboration, the economic engines really started revving up. With a team of contributing scientists, professors, and economists, the pair coauthored a report, 鈥淏lue Economy: Making Michigan the World鈥檚 Freshwater and Freshwater Innovation Capital,鈥� which chronicles the state鈥檚 legacy as an industrial juggernaut of water trade and agriculture and makes a case for saving the state鈥檚 freshwater lakes and streams by emphasizing the value of those resources to the state鈥檚 economy.
鈥�Like Rhode Island, we have lost most of our coastal wetlands in Michigan, and they are the kidneys of the ecosystem, filtering out pollutants.鈥�
颅鈥擜lan Steinman, M.S. 鈥�83
鈥淚 knew Al to be easy to work with. He had a smart perspective and insight and understood what we were talking about. And he got it, that there are multiple ways that water and water innovation matter to economic development,鈥� Austin says. 鈥淗e combined real hard science, rigor, and ability. And he’s just very easygoing in terms of no big ego and wants to help make good things happen.鈥�
Steinman wants to see natural places protected and enjoyed by everyone. Though he spent the better part of his career leading freshwater initiatives in Florida and Michigan, he remains attuned to the Ocean State鈥檚 water woes, too, and knows that the tension between Narragansett Bay and its blue economy runs deep.
鈥淟ike Rhode Island, we have lost most of our coastal wetlands in Michigan,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd these are critical habitats for vegetation, invertebrates, and fish, as well as being the kidneys of the ecosystem that filter out pollutants before they get into any receiving water body, whether it is Narragansett Bay or Lake Michigan.鈥�
The Ocean State will draw him back to retire in a few years, to join family near East Greenwich. But until then, he鈥檒l continue experimenting with new methods of preventing freshwater algae blooms, developing salinization treatments, and teaching graduate students at GVSU about emerging issues in water resources. Maybe he鈥檒l write another book, he says, to follow his first, Internal Phosphorous Loading in Lakes: Causes, Case Studies, and Management.
When an expert tries to step back, it seems more opportunities come knocking. Steinman was appointed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration鈥檚 Ecosystem Sciences and Management Working Group. He鈥檒l also continue his service with the Great Lakes Advisory Board to advise the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on $475 million in annual restoration initiatives and help the National Academy of Sciences oversee Everglades restoration in Florida.
鈥淚鈥檒l continue to do ecosystem restoration, whether it’s dealing with too many nutrients or restoring shorelines, because it鈥檚 so important,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I’m also very involved on the state level, as well as in my local 911爆料. I really believe in giving back.鈥�
ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCK; PHOTOS: JENNIFER GREEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Wonderful comments Al! We are so fortunate and proud to have had your guidance and expertise in developing new, much needed understanding of the biological and environmental impacts mankind has had and can have in reversing some unfortunate impacts on our Great Lakes!