Author: Gina Carrier

Foreign Wasp Flying Westward

A foreign wasp from Europe has made its way to several Great Lakes states this summer. The European Paper Wasp was first detected on the Eastern seaboard in 1980. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Gina Carrier reports, it’s now being sighted in greater numbers in the Midwest:

Transcript

A foreign wasp from Europe has made its way to several Great Lakes states this summer. The European Paper Wasp was first detected on the Eastern seaboard in 1980. Now it is being sited in greater numbers in the Midwest. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Gina Carrier reports.


The European Paper Wasp looks very similar to our native yellow jacket. But it’s not as aggressive and can actually help Midwest gardeners because it likes to feed on certain pesky caterpillars. Tom Ellis is an entomologist at Michigan State University. He says the European paper wasp can be found in central and southeastern Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio and the Chicago area.


“The things that it became accustom to and fed on the eastern seaboard are pretty much similar if not the same to what we have in Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes states certainly.”


He says it’s unknown whether the wasp will continue to move westward. There’s no effort to stop its spread because Ellis says the wasp isn’t destroying crops or foliage. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Gina Carrier.

High School Students on Roach Patrol

Most schools practice the three R’s – reading, writing and
‘rithmetic. But some schools, especially in urban areas, have
another ”R” to tackle as well. Roaches. Most schools around the
Great Lakes deal with such problems by calling an outside exterminator.
However, at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, it’s the students
themselves who are waging the war against cockroaches and other
pests in their school. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Gina
Carrier reports, the students are winning the battle:

Reviving the Detroit River

Many Great Lakes cities that find their home on the banks of
lakes and rivers are facing a similar challenge these days. How to
best balance the environment of the water with ongoing shoreline
development. In Detroit and the many cities that line the Detroit
River’s 32 mile shoreline, the situation is no different. Experts
recently
got together to discuss the health of the Detroit River. And as the
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Gina Carrier reports, cities are seeking
out ways to continue economic expansion without causing further
harm to the river:

Bi-National Monitoring for Detroit River

The Detroit River has always been a vital resource for both the U.S.
and Canada. This week in Windsor, a group of environmentalists,
scientists, and interested citizens are getting together to talk about
the health of the river. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Gina
Carrier reports, they hope to do more than just share information: