Grand Rapids Brewery Tour (Jo Latimore)

Voted Beer City USA in national polls and named Best Beer Town, Best Beer Scene, and Best Beer City by USA Today readers, Grand Rapids boasts 80+ breweries. Come learn how passionate people using locally grown ingredients are creating award-winning brews, with a focus on sustainability. We will begin at Brewery Vivant to experience European-style beers created in a LEED-certified facility that we will tour. We will then head to Founders Brewing Company, a nationally known brewery where you will see their production facility and learn about their recent collaboration with the City of Grand Rapids on a major biodigester that purifies wastewater to protect the local watershed. The tour cost includes bus transportation, staff guided tours of both breweries, gratuities, and beer and snacks at both locations.
Note: Dinner is not included.

Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Departure time: 6:30 pm
Return time: 9:30 pm (for bus transportation back to the conference facility; participants may choose to stay later at Founders but will be responsible for their own transportation or walking ~8 blocks back to conference facility)
Length: 3 hours
Max number of attendees: 50
Cost: $50

Grand Rapids Whitewater

Downtown Grand Rapids is about to undergo a multi-million dollar restoration of its river rapids and the revitalization of the Grand River Corridor, including innovative improvements for selective fish passage, endangered mussel habitat, water quality, recreation, public access, and more. Join local project managers and experts on a short walking tour of key restoration sites to learn about this important project and its implications for the Grand River ecosystem and the surrounding community. Check out this virtual tour for a sneak peak!

Tentative Date: Tuesday, May 17th
Departure Time: 6:30 pm (depart from Amway Grand)
Return Time: ~8:30 pm
Length: 2 hours (walking, 3 miles)
Number of attendees: 50
Cost: FREE (suggested donation to LGROW)

5k Run at Millennium Park (Matt Cooper/Eric Snyder/Carl Ruetz)

Please join us for the traditional ‘fun run’ at Millennium Park, 5km south-west of the convention center and located on the banks of the Grand River. The evening run ensures maximum speeds due to mosquito audience participation. 

Tentative Date: Wednesday, May 18th
Tentative Time: Run will begin at 7:30 PM.
Transportation: Loading on buses will occur on Monroe Ave in front of DeVos Place. There is a cut-out lane where buses can park. Loading occurs between 6:00 and 7:00PM and return post-run to the same location.
Number of attendees: No limit
Cost: $TBD but likely between $30-$40 and will include t-shirt. Timing tags will be included in registration packets.

JASM22 Hockey: Rapid Changes ~ Collaborative Solutions (so, pass the puck…) (Don Uzarski; Ralph Bednarz; Michael Twiss; Joel Betts)

Welcome fellow conference goers to a friendly test of skill and scientific passion, that will help support scholarships for our respective Aquatic Science Associations. Two teams have been set up with players representing JASM TEAM WEST versus JASM TEAM EAST,  with the dividing line being the east end of Michipicoten Island (Lake Superior; 85° 35’).  Cost to attend is FREE,; however, a donation to the Scholarship Fund is appreciated, with the most donations to a given team giving them the opportunity to have them select the game MVP, whose name will be inscribed on the Defy Cup.

If you have any interest in playing then please contact Michael Twiss (mtwiss@clarkson.edu) or Joel Betts (joel.t.betts@gmail.com). Audience participation is free. The team that raises the most money selects the MVP whose name will be engraved on the Defy Cup, a trophy donated by President Anthony Collins of Clarkson University, which in 2021-2022 is marking 100 years of collegiate hockey.

Tentative Date/Time: Wednesday May 18, 7:00-9 pm.  Puck drop at 7:30 pm. Griff’s Icehouse at Belknap Park; (616) 235-0303; https://goo.gl/maps/93nJpzLPVM916JvW6.

Length: 1.5 hours

Number of attendees: No limit

Cost: $TBD for players (~$20-30, paid in person at the rink before the game). Free for attendees (suggested donation).

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park Tour

Experience masterpieces of art and nature that will delight your senses at one of the nation’s premier horticultural display gardens and sculpture parks in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The tour will include a one-hour guided walking tour that features ways the facility manages stormwater and invasive species and promotes understanding and appreciation of the natural environment. Tour participants will also have time to explore the world-renowned sculpture and horticultural landscapes at Frederik Meijer Gardens& Sculpture Park’s indoor and outdoor gardens and sculpture galleries.

Date: Saturday, May 21st
Time: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Length: 4 hours
Number of attendees: 40
Cost: $11 entry fee + coach bus transportation (round trip from downtown to the Garden)

Muskegon tour/boat trip (Al Steinman)

This visit to the Lake Michigan shoreline will consist of a boat ride on GVSU’s research vessel, the W.G. Jackson with a discussion of restoration projects on Muskegon Lake, a possible stop at the field station of NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, and (weather permitting) a ride out into majestic Lake Michigan. We will end back at GVSU’s Annis Water Resources Institute for a short tour before hitting a local brewery for lunch and libations.

Date: Saturday, May 21 st
Departure Time: 9:00 am (depart from Amway Grand)
Return Time: ~3:00 pm
Length: 6 hours (including travel)
Number of attendees: not to exceed 20
Cost: $10 + coach transportation (plus cost of lunch on your own)

Stormwater Management Tour (Joel Betts/Wendy Ogilvie)

From curb-cut rain gardens and water quality “islands” to large bioswales and stream daylighting projects, Grand Rapids has been an innovator in Green Infrastructure in recent years. Join this bus tour with stops around the city to learn from local water professionals about these projects that protect our streams and lakes in the Lower Grand River watershed. This event will be co-hosted as part of the LGROW spring forum. Join for an optional lunch afterwards at a local restaurant to continue the discussion.

Date: Saturday, May 21st
Departure Time: 9:15 am (depart by bus from Amway Grand)
Return Time: ~11:30 am
Length: 2.5 hours
Number of attendees: ~50
Cost: FREE (suggested donation to LGROW)

Grand Lady Riverboat (Eric Snyder)

Enjoy an evening sun-set cruise, beverage in hand, on an historic reconstruction of a flatbottom river paddle boat—the Grand Lady—that plied the Lower Grand River between Lake Michigan and Grand Rapids at the turn of the 20th century. Our trip will include portions of the river that have experienced significant historical changes, including some early misguided attempts to channelize flow in the river, as well as passing by many historic locations used by indigenous tribes and European settler where saw mills and mill towns were constructed. Along the way, we will hear a narrative of historic uses of the Lower Grand River from expert local historian Jefferson Seaver

Tentative Date: Saturday, May 21st
Early Evening Boarding Time & Location: 6:00 PM; departing from Grand Lady docks; 825 Taylor St, Georgetown Twp., MI 49428. Self-transportation to and from boat dock is required.
Return Time: 8:30 PM
Number of attendees: 50
Cost: $20 per person

Birding (Paul Weihe)

For the “Early Birds,” come on a Sunday morning excursion to local birding “hotspots” for a chance to catch a glimpse of some of the birds that use the Great Lakes region as a migration route. Because this is the height of Spring migration, we will try to visit an array of habitats to catch passerines, shorebirds, and waterfowl. Bring your binoculars and field guide and let’s build our “Life Lists!”

Date: Sunday, May 22nd
Departure Time: 7:00 AM
Return Time: TBD
Length: 4 hours (including travel)
Number of attendees: 12 (others will waitlist)
Cost: TBD (~$15)

River Kayaking (Joel Betts/Wendy Ogilvie)

Join attendees of JASM 2022 and other local residents on a leisurely Sunday afternoon paddle along the rich Grand River corridor from the MI DNR boat launch off Northland Drive to Riverside Park’ North Boat Launch. Local experts will be there to provide insight into the history and ecology of the Grand River, point out interesting birds and wildlife, and to help beginner paddlers. All paddlers are welcome (canoe, kayak, paddle board). Kayaks and life jackets will be provided at participant request. Participants must find their own transportation to the launch site. Paddlers will have the option to meet up at a nearby brewery after the paddle. This event will be co-hosted as part of the LGROW spring forum.

Date: Sunday, May 22nd
Departure Time: 1:00 pm
Return Time: 3:30 pm
Length: ~2.5 hours (+ optional happy hour)
Number of attendees: 100
Cost: FREE with own boat (suggested donation to LGROW); $20 if need kayak.