October 6, 2025
Dinosaurs still lurk in some dark, cold waters in the upper Midwest. Lake sturgeon first evolved more than 150 million years ago – beating tyrannosaurus rex to the scene by a long shot. Their sharklike gray bodies can measure up to 7 feet long and weigh up to 240 pounds. While it might seem like something so ancient will endure forever, that’s unfortunately not the case. Lake sturgeon have faced significant decline in the region since the late 1800s due to overfishing and human impacts to their habitat. Those historic declines, plus their long lifespans and complex life stages, make sturgeon populations especially vulnerable to rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns.
Known as Namāēw in the Menominee language, lake sturgeon are important to the culture and food sovereignty of Tribes in the Great Lakes region. When Tribal leaders raised concerns about climate change impacts on sturgeon, the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center initiated a participatory, transdisciplinary project to assess impacts and identify potential adaptation strategies. Holly Embke, a USGS Research Fish Biologist with the MW CASC, took the lead on coordinating the project. She collaborated closely with a core team made up of individuals from the College of Menominee Nation, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), and the MW CASC, and a broader working group that included relevant partners and rightsholders in the region.
A Partner-Led Approach
The core team devoted significant time to understanding the specific questions people from Tribal nations or organizations had about the changing climate and lake sturgeon. As they defined the approach and goals for the project, it became clear that there were four central tenets that would be important to uphold in the research process: sovereignty, flexibility, experience and relationships, and co-production.
Sovereignty
The core team needed to recognize Tribes as sovereign nations who hold specific rights, especially to their knowledge and data. Embke explained, “As part of this project, we asked people to share their knowledge about concerns and adaptation options. We were really mindful of protecting that knowledge from being used in ways that were not initially agreed upon, because that would directly counter Tribal sovereignty.”
Flexibility
Many of the collaborators and partners involved in the project had varied capacity levels, so building in flexibility was important. “We didn't want this project to be a burden in any way. We wanted to be adding value for folks who participated,” Embke said. “We adjusted timelines as needed and held conversations both in-person and virtually.”
Experience and Relationships
All of the knowledge shared during the study was grounded in individuals’ personal experiences and relationships with lake sturgeon.
Co-Production
The project followed a co-production model, which included defining the research questions and approach in collaboration with resource managers, land stewards, and others who will use the findings. The core team also checked in frequently with members of the broader working group throughout the study.
This approach helped build new connections between individuals and organizations involved in lake sturgeon stewardship. “We saw folks talking to each other and sharing knowledge, like what’s working in one place versus another,” Embke said. “Watching those partnerships take shape was an unexpected part of the project for me.”
Understanding Climate Impacts and Adaptation Strategies
Guided by a literature review and conversations with Tribal officials, the team gathered data about climate impacts. Increasing precipitation and temperatures and decreasing ice cover are disrupting lake sturgeon habitats. Shifting rain and snowfall patterns, which can reduce prey availability and egg survival rates, may also affect sturgeon throughout various life stages. In conversations with researchers, these impacts were also raised, but the most common concern was how they might affect the exercise of treaty rights. People worried whether lake sturgeon will still be available and accessible for Tribes to fish and steward in the future.
When it comes to adaptation strategies, the team found that fish population monitoring and stocking are already being pursued in the region. However, limited capacity and localized data have constrained these efforts. There was also interest in pursuing new ideas, like targeted flow management and habitat restoration. "Habitat adaptation is of particular interest for future work," Embke explained. “Thinking about how best to approach restoring shorelines or in-water habitat, improving habitat connectivity, protecting critical habitats during different lake sturgeon life stages. It’s exciting to think about which options may be available and explore what might work best in different areas.”
Where the Sturgeon Are Coming Home
Co-stewardship that respects Tribal sovereignty and cultural relationships can lead to successful outcomes. Several of these success stories were shared with the research team, including a partnership between the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Historically, lake sturgeon migrated from Lake Winnebago up the Wolf River to spawn at Keshena Falls, located within modern day Menominee Reservation boundaries. The Falls are known as “the place where the sturgeon come home” in Menominee, but the migration pattern was disrupted by dam construction in the late 1800s. The cultural loss of sturgeon was significant for the Menominee Tribe, as the fish are an important source of food, medicine, and identity.
Since 1992, the Menominee Tribe has worked with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in an effort to restore sturgeon in the region. Those efforts are paying off. “In the springtime, DNR staff transfer adult lake sturgeon living below a dam on the Wolf River to their ancestral spawning grounds on the Menominee Reservation. That has restarted the population's natural reproduction there,” Embke said.
Science, Art, and Storytelling
Fisheries Magazine recently published an article on this project. Unlike many scientific publications, it opens with a large, colorful illustration. The piece, created by artist Moira Villiard specifically for the project, depicts a lake sturgeon and its environment.
Art and storytelling are critical to Tribal ways of knowing, so the core team knew they wanted to incorporate them from the very beginning of the project. Embke explained, “Because we wanted to ground this work in specific relationships and experiences, it felt important to weave art and storytelling into the publication.” When core team member Rob Croll happened to spot a beautiful piece of sturgeon artwork at a gallery in northern Wisconsin, they quickly reached out to the artist. It turned out that Villard had her own connections with sturgeon – she grew up on the Fond Du Lac Reservation in Minnesota and had previously worked with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission – which made her a perfect fit for the project.
The team worked closely with Villard to develop the piece. “It captures the project amazingly well,” Embke said. “It’s the first thing readers see – a beautiful piece of art and Moira’s artist statement that shares her personal connection to lake sturgeon. Together, they help set the foundation for where the paper is going.”
"When I lived on the Fond du Lac Reservation," Villiard writes in her statement, "I was surrounded by fascinating plant and animal relatives of all kinds and naturally grew fond of fish and insects. The sturgeon in particular became a fascination; they are living dinosaurs — gentle, ancient, and enduring. To me, they symbolize life that predates and persists beyond human time. It serves as a reminder of the resilience of the natural world and the interconnectedness of all life. Through my work, I seek to honor these connections and explore the ways ancient beings like Namewag inspire us to consider our place within the vast timeline of existence.”
The report also includes many quotes from study participants and one longer story by Eddie Benton-Banai, an Ojibwe Tribal member. “We wanted to incorporate backstory on sturgeon – their history in the region, relationships with Tribal members, and changes over time – to reinforce the importance of personal experiences and relationships in this work," Embke said. Benton-Banai writes about a time when sturgeon were so abundant in the Namekagon and Flambeau Rivers in early spring that, “younger and braver Anishinaabe would jump onto an ice chunk in order to get a ride as it was being pushed along on the back of a big namè.”
The Work Continues
The findings published in this article offer valuable insights. Through interviews and a review of the scientific literature, the team identifies key areas of concern around impacts to lake sturgeon and adaptation strategies that are currently working or could be explored. Interviews reinforced the importance of co-stewardship and engaging Tribes in all stages of the adaptation planning and decision-making process. Finally, the approach itself demonstrates the value of partnership-driven research and offers a model for others to use.
Embke and the core team are excited to build on the research and relationships they’ve established in this stage of the project. While lake sturgeon face challenges, more comprehensive and effective adaptation efforts can help them thrive into the future.