The quagga mussel population in Lake Michigan will be the focus of a Tuesday, March 11 program at the Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay.

The 7 p.m. program – Transformation of the Offshore Benthic Community in Lake Michigan: Implications of the Dramatic Shift from the Native Amphipod to the Invasive Quagga Mussel in 12 Years – will be presented by Tom Nalepa.

Over the last few years the quagga mussel has begun to replace the native amphipod (Diporeia) as the dominant benthic organism in Lake Michigan. Nalepa will show how the shift has impacted fish populations. Changes in Lake Michigan will also be put into perspective relative to the other Great Lakes.

Nalepa is a research biologist with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Ann Arbor.

Nalepa’s research interests include long-term trends in benthic communities, the role of benthic invertebrates in the cycling of contaminants and nutrients, impacts of invasive species, and trophic interactions between benthic communities and the upper food web.

For more information, call 271-3077 or visit www.schoolship.org.