Stuart Carlton

Stuart Carlton

Stuart Carlton is the Assistant Director of the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program. He manages the day-to-day operation of IISG and works with the IISG Director and staff to coordinate all aspects of the program. He is also a Research Assistant Professor and head of the Coastal and Great Lakes Social Science Lab in the Department of Forestry & Natural Resources at Purdue, where he and his students research the relationship between knowledge, values, trust, and behavior in complex or controversial environmental systems.

Appears in 86 Episodes

27: The Claws Have the Sweetest Meat

Double-length crossover episode! This episode is all about invasive species generally, and invasive crayfish specifically. We speak again with Dr. Brian Roth about his...

25: Don’t Alienate People Who Need Your Help

Stuart and Megan talk with Dr. Ashley Bieniek-Tobasco about her research on risk communication. What is the role of risk perceptions in climate communication? Who can ...

24: It Was Way Too Liquidy and Weird

For our FIRST ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL!, we're having a plastic alternative draft! There are so many potential plastic alternatives, ranging from metal straws to plastic-fr...

23: What Allyship Looks Like in Action

In this episode, Stuart and Carolyn talk with Dr. Catherine Febria and Katrina Keeshig of the Healthy Headwaters Lab at U Windsor about their ecological work in stream...

22: It Tends to Get Louder During a Recession

Stuart talks with Dr. Camden Burd about the environmental political history of the Great Lakes region, screws up Gifford Pinchot's name, and finds out the secret histo...

21: Fly-to States

Election Special! We discuss the Midwest as a political battleground and both the electoral importance and changing role of the Vice President with Dr. Chris Devine of...

20: Humans Control Inches

Stuart and Carolyn talk with Dr. Adam Bechle of Wisconsin Sea Grant about lake levels: why are they so high? Will they stay that way? And what is a meteotsunami? If yo...

19: Secretive Marsh Birds

In this episode, Stuart speaks with spatial ecologist Dr. Joanna Grand from the Audubon Society about prioritizing Great Lakes wetlands for conservation and finds out ...

18: They Are Really Important

We speak with Dr. Maria Dittrich of the University of Toronto about the threats facing large lakes on a global scale.

17: Flip, Float, and Follow

We speak with Meg Dodson of the National Weather Service about derechos, water safety, and plants. Lots and lots of plants.

16: It’s Really Hard to Monitor for All of the Gross Stuff

Statistical models seem to rule our life...but what are they? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Madeline Magee of the Wisconsin DNR to understand how she uses models ...

15: We’re Doing Everything in Plastic

We speak with Dr. Lorena Rios Mendoza about chemistry, microplastics, and lots of garbage.

14: Take the Plunge

A deep dive with Stephanie Gandulla and Megan Gass about SCUBA in the Great Lakes, the Big Five Dive, and where to go to see lots of shipwrecks. Plus, vomiting.

13: It Smells Like Science

In this episode, Stuart speaks with Dr. Brian Roth about the development of the Great Lakes salmon fishery, the interaction between native and invasive fish species, a...

12: You Never Lose Track of Your Old Friends

Live from the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) Virtual Conference 2020. We interview IAGLR Lifetime Achievement Award Winner (and Carolyn Fol...

11: An Empty Chunk of Fiberglass

Buoys, Part 2! In this episode, we speak with IISG's Jay Beugly about our Two Yellow buoys, discuss the relative merits of West Lafayette's donuts, and more.

10: A Lot of Different Kinds of Data

Buoys, Part 1! We speak with Kelli Paige of the Great Lakes Observing System about all of their data monitoring efforts and how our data needs have changed as our tech...

9: The Hamster Wheel of Rumination

More COVID! In past episodes, we've spoken about how to go outside in a way that's safe and responsible. But we haven't spoken about *why* to do it. In this episode, D...

8: The Really Delicious Carbon

Microbes…they’re everywhere! Today, we chat with Dr. Rachel Poretsky about microbes in the Great Lakes and the important functions they serve in the food web. Plus, ba...

6: A Lot of This Is in Our Own Hands

We get another perspective on COVID-19 and outdoor recreation, this time from ER resident Dr. Frank Zadravecz.

5: We're All in This Together

COVID-19 and outdoor recreation, with Dr. Ron Hershow, Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics with the University of Illinois - Chicago School of P...

4.5: The Role of Information Was Quite Limited

BONUS EPISODE!!! In this Researcher Feature, we speak with Zhao Ma, Associate Professor in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue, about her recent...

4: That Long Fetch Setup

In which we discuss the polar vortex, lake effect, and drinking yellow snow with Tom Coomes of ABC57 in South Bend, Indiana.

3: It Would Have to Be the Perfect Rock

In this month's episode, we talk with author and adventurer Loreen Niewenhuis about walking around the Great Lakes. How do you do it? One step at a time. Why do you do...

2: Limnologists Make up Lots of Words

We discuss the origin story of the Great Lakes and, because the show is 2/3 Canadian this month, hockey.

1: They're Also Called Nurdles

We learn all about microplastics and discuss an interesting business plan for the Chicago area.