Great Salt Lake Collaborative
Erin Lewis
Utah Public Radio Reporter
Erin Lewis is a science reporter at Utah Public Radio and a PhD Candidate in the biology department at Utah State University. She is passionate about fostering curiosity and communicating science to the public. At USU she studies how anthropogenic disturbances are impacting wildlife, particularly the effects of tourism-induced dietary shifts in endangered Bahamian Rock Iguana populations. In her free time she enjoys reading, painting and getting outside with her dog, Hazel.
Erin Lewis/UPR American Avocets fly above Great Salt Lake.
Erin Lewis/UPR American Avocets fly above Great Salt Lake.

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The Great Salt Lake Strike Team released their 2024 report this week, featuring data on Great Salt Lake just in time for the 2025 Utah legislative. The team brings together academic and state research...
USU Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air Managing Director, Anna McEntire moderates a panel with authors from the 2024 annual report. Photo by Miranda Lorenc, UPR
USU Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air Managing Director, Anna McEntire moderates a panel with authors from the 2024 annual report. Photo by Miranda Lorenc, UPR

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The USU Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water, and Air recently released their annual report to the governor and legislature. The 2024 report is the fourth one released by the institute that...
Hoover Dam at Lake Mead. (David Tarboton / DPUWRL - Utah Water Research Lab)
Hoover Dam at Lake Mead. (David Tarboton / DPUWRL - Utah Water Research Lab)

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Over 40 million people in seven states in the southwestern U.S. rely on the Colorado River. It provides water for crops that feed the entire country. A management plan helps govern how the water is us...
The Bonytail chub is a critically endangered fish species that is one of three native to these tributaries. (Photo courtesy USU Fish Ecology Lab).
The Bonytail chub is a critically endangered fish species that is one of three native to these tributaries. (Photo courtesy USU Fish Ecology Lab).

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Utah researchers are working to restore Green River tributaries with a host of strategies including reintroducing beavers and removing invasive plants. There have been significant changes to ecosystem...
Joel Ferry leads the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s office, including Brian Steed, as well as members of the media through his farm to look at Bear River. (Erin Lewis, UPR)
Joel Ferry leads the Great Salt Lake Commissioner’s office, including Brian Steed, as well as members of the media through his farm to look at Bear River. (Erin Lewis, UPR)

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Water conservation efforts across the state have increased over recent years. We visited a business, a farm, and a water district, all utilizing strategies that will save water and benefit Great Salt...
Photo by Erin Lewis, UPR
Photo by Erin Lewis, UPR

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The Friends of Merrill-Crazier Library hosted David Parrott, associate professor of biology at Westminster University and assistant director of Great Salt Lake Institute, as their spring 2024 speaker....

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UPR hosted an event on Tuesday with Bridgerland Audubon Society and Grow the Flow called “Is Great Salt Lake a Person?” The event brought 90 community members to Cache Bar in Logan. A screening of a l...

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Parts of Cache Valley are surrounded by mountains with geologic layers that have dissolved enough to create sinkholes, caves and springs among other porous geologic features. This is generally referre...
Gunnison Island hosts one of the largest breeding grounds for American white pelicans in the world. (Aimee Van Tatenhove, UPR)
Gunnison Island hosts one of the largest breeding grounds for American white pelicans in the world. (Aimee Van Tatenhove, UPR)

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Aimee Van Tatenhove is a science reporter at UPR, who has largely focused on Great Salt Lake issues. However she has even greater ties to the lake ecosystem as a PhD student in the Wildland Resources...
Phalaropes from the Antelope Island Causeway. Sierra Hastings/Sageland Collaborative
Phalaropes from the Antelope Island Causeway. Sierra Hastings/Sageland Collaborative

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Utah is home to a number of water bodies that serve as endpoints or stopover sites for migratory shorebirds on their long seasonal journeys. Three decades ago, biologists conducted shorebird surveys a...
Courtesy Wikimedia

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Salt Lake City's utility service is rolling out a water management analysis and planning software — otherwise known as waterMAPS — to residents. It can be used to track water use, and is a useful tool...
Participants in the Growing Water Smart workshop had lunch at USU's Greenville Research Farm before learning more about water conservation solutions researchers are working towards. Aaron Fortin / Janet Quinney Lawson Institute For Land, Water And Air
Participants in the Growing Water Smart workshop had lunch at USU's Greenville Research Farm before learning more about water conservation solutions researchers are working towards. Aaron Fortin / Janet Quinney Lawson Institute For Land, Water And Air

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Utah Growing Water Smart is a program that hosts workshops put on by four major organizations: the Utah Division of Water Resources, Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, Western Resource Advocate...
View of where the Bear River flows into the Great Salt Lake on May 3, 2023. Water flows into the lake from Bear River under the bridge and floods surrounding areas. Erin Lewis, UPR
View of where the Bear River flows into the Great Salt Lake on May 3, 2023. Water flows into the lake from Bear River under the bridge and floods surrounding areas. Erin Lewis, UPR

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Ecoflights is an Aspen, Colorado based nonprofit that provides a big picture perspective on changing landscapes across the West. They take scientists, activists, legislators, community members and pre...
 

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