Using Decision Support Tools to Communicate Risk:  Fish Consumption Advisories in the Great Lakes
October 2-3, 2007
Hosted by the GLEAMS Center and the Great Lakes Fish Consortium at Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City

Workshop Summary
The second 2007 workshop sponsored by the GLEAMS Center was “Using Decision Support Tools to Communicate Risk: Fish Consumption Advisories in the Great Lakes”, held from October 2-3, 2007, at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan (immediately before the 2007 State of Lake Michigan Conference, held in the same location). Attendees from all eight Great Lakes state agencies that write fish advisories and the EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) attended, under the auspices of the Great Lakes Sports Fish Consortium. GLEAMS funding made the attendance of state agency stakeholders possible, and attendees expressed their thanks for the rare opportunity to meet in person. Dr. Ide and Colin Brooks presented overviews of the GLEAMS project, including the gene expression work and web-based decision support tools. Each of the Great Lakes states representatives presented the status of their Fish Advisory Campaign Proposals. Also reviewed were white papers for new chemical protocols for dioxins, PBDE, and fish tissue data. The idea of creating a Great Lakeswide Fish Advisory and Sports Fish Information web site was also discussed and received positive comments from the attendees.

For the complete summary, list of attendees, click here.

Meeting Purpose and Intended Audience
The purpose of the first day of the workshop is to bring together fish advisory experts to discuss the potential of using Decision Support Systems (DSS) to communicate fish consumption advisories by making greater use of tools such as on-line mapping applications and new genomics tools.  The second day will focus on having fish consumption experts discuss their communication outreach plans.

Meeting Format/Agenda
Day 1:  Full Day
Presentations of existing fish consumption-related DSS tools and how these tools can help
Round table discussion of how DSS tools could be enhanced using GIS for communication risk
Day 2:  ½ Day
Discuss fish advisory communication outreach plans

Location
Hagerty Center, Great Lakes Campus
Northwestern Michigan College
Traverse City, MI

Date
October 2-3, 2007

Lodging:
The lodging for the Lake Michigan: State of the Lake 2007 conference is recommended
Holiday Inn, West Bay – 1-800-888-8020 (conference rate $92.95/night, government rate $61/night)
Bayshore Resort – 1-800-634-4401 (conference rate $66-86/night)

Registration
E-mail or call Dr. Chuck Ide with the following information:
Registrant name, affiliation, address, phone number and e-mail address
Dr. Chuck Ide (charles.ide@wmich.edu)
269-387-5951

For more information please contact
Enedelia Cruz (enedelia.cruz@wmich.edu)
269-387-5870 (p)
EPA Great Lakes National Program Office (fisher.jacqueline@epa.gov)
312-353-1481 (p)

Click here for information on the workshop on the State of the Upper Peninsula's Water Quality Issues.