![Nigel Wattrus outside RLB](/sites/scse.d.umn.edu/files/styles/article_lists/public/2024-06/nigel_cropped_0.jpg?itok=2Jt0rLjc)
With the conclusion of the 2023-2024 academic year, my career at the Large Lakes Observatory officially came to an end as one of the last remaining faculty from the original roster.
![Blue Heron](/sites/scse.d.umn.edu/files/styles/article_lists/public/2024-05/20187_llo_blue_heron_regents_12_0.jpg?itok=0KUam0pP)
UMD's Large Lakes Observatory (LLO) is planning a day-long event open to the public, to talk about the research happening on Lake Superior and the scientific work being done to deepen our understan
![Kaela Natwora by RV Uvumbuzi](/sites/scse.d.umn.edu/files/styles/article_lists/public/2024-02/kaela_2.jpg?itok=6xhC6IRD)
As I put the final touches on my dissertation, I reflect on the amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, experiences, and gratifying collaborations and friendships I found as a graduate student at
![Kirill Shchapov collecting water samples near Duluth. Photo by Ted Ozersky.](/sites/scse.d.umn.edu/files/styles/article_lists/public/2024-02/kirill_2.jpg?itok=QBpYix20)
It was hard to ignore the effects of climate change this 2023 holiday season when the usual magical whiteness was replaced by a green-brown landscape and ice was replaced by open water on lakes and
![LLO Student Isaac Conrad on board the Kingfisher](/sites/scse.d.umn.edu/files/styles/article_lists/public/2023-10/isaac-conrad-cropped.jpg?itok=cuNzh6-k)
As the sun begins to peek through the fog, I lean over the side of the boat and dip a bottle into the cold water.
![Bouy being deployed off the deck of the RV Blue Heron](/sites/scse.d.umn.edu/files/styles/article_lists/public/2023-10/buoy.jpg?itok=I5QmIWON)
The primary drivers of the physics of lakes - the circulation, thermal structure, waves, and turbulent mixing - are the overlying meteorological conditions.
![Ozersky and Kiril Shchapov pull a sled with research supplies on frozen lake](/sites/scse.d.umn.edu/files/styles/article_lists/public/2023-09/ozersky_research_0.jpg?itok=93Fv_sxj)
UMD Associate Professor Ted Ozersky is the principal investigator on a newly funded project titled "Collaborative Research: Advancing a comprehensive model of year
![](/sites/scse.d.umn.edu/files/styles/article_lists/public/2023-01/freshwater_wave.jpg?itok=ZDmjhLtX)
Freshwater will air this spring on TPT - Twin Cities PBS (Date TBD)