NEWS RELEASE

LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY

*************************
American Society for Microbiology to meet at LSSU

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI - Lake Superior State University will be host to a meeting of the Michigan branch of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Oct 2-3 and area science teachers and students, as well as the general public, are being invited to participate.

The conference, titled, Microbiology of the Great Lakes, will include three speakers who will talk about beach quality, viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) - which has caused tremendous mortalities in freshwater fish species - and avian botulism, along with student posters and presentations.

The beach quality presentation is open to the public.

Approximately 120 ASM members are expected to attend, according to LSSU assistant professor of biology Britt Ranson Olson Ph.D., including researchers, post-doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students representing many of the academic institutions in Michigan.

"It is a privilege to host such a conference and we are especially excited as this is the first time the conference has been held in the Upper Peninsula," said Ranson Olson. "I have spoken with several downstate scientists who are anticipating some great fall scenery on their long drive up north.

"This event is also unique in that this will be the first meeting in which the MI ASM branch, through a grant, will sponsor the attendance of local middle school and high school students, as well as their science teachers, in order to cultivate interest in the area of science. We expect attendees from the Sault Area Public Schools and surrounding districts, as well as Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario."

The conference's preliminary speaker, Richard Whitman Ph.D., research ecologist and station chief of the Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station, is an expert in the area of bacteria occurrence and distribution as an indicator of beach health.

His presentation, at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 in the LSSU Arts Center auditorium, is open to the public and free of charge.

"This is a topic that may pique considerable local interest as the condition of our area waterways has, even very recently, been the subject of concern," Ranson-Olson said.

On Saturday, Oct. 3, the second day of the conference, Mohamed Faisal from the College of Veterinary Medicine and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University will present Ecology of the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus (genotype IVb) in the Laurentian Great Lakes, and Thomas Cooley from the Wildlife Disease Lab of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will present Type E Botulism in Michigan: A Historical Review.

Registration for Saturday's program is $35, including lunch.

The ASM meeting on campus is an LSSU Issues and Intellect-sponsored program and will be co-hosted by Michigan Technological University.

For more information, visit the ASM website, http://mi-asm.org/Meetings/Fall09meeting/.

*************************