Personally, I believe Gov. Rick Snyder has done a pretty good job since he took office seven years ago.

While some would disagree, I maintain he has improved the economic climate of the state and while not perfect, the positives he will leave behind at the end of the year will outweigh the negatives — with the exception of the Flint water crisis.

The “One Tough Nerd” has maintained that persona during his term, and I believe it works well for him.

Take for instance the “Carp Tank” challenge in Detroit this week. Snyder knows there is not much one governor can do to address the Asian carp threat to the Great Lakes. Yet he also knows that if nothing is done, no state stands to lose more in this battle than Michigan.

Since doing nothing then is not a viable option, Snyder and his administration organized a crowd-sourced challenge to explore projects designed to combat the threat of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.

The result was “Carp Tank” which was a perfect complement to the popular reality show “Shark Tank.” Snyder and his administration drew upon the popularity of the show and combined it with social media blasts to create a media event.Understanding that the federal government has been slow to react on the Asian carp threat, this entrepreneur turned governor figured why not pull something like this off and draw attention again to the issue? Frankly, it was something right out of his wheelhouse.

Some would call that manipulation. Others would call it genius.

Who cares, because in the end it worked.

The winning suggestion came from Edem Tsikata, a software consultant at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, who designed an underwater propeller system that would emit high frequency sounds and cavitation bubbles that would scare away carp from the dam that now separates the Des Plaines River from entering the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basin.

Other top ideas included facial recognition of fish and a chlorine death chamber that obviously after use, would have to be de-chlorinzed before being released back into the river.

Are any of the ideas practical? That’s hard to say. Did they generate lots of print and interest? You bet they did.

And whether it was ironic or just dumb luck, but the day after the “Carp Tank” made national news, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that his city was joining the Great Lakes Basin Partnership to Block Asian Carp. Chicago joins Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Ontario as members of the partnership.

“Chicago takes our responsibility to preserve and protect the Great Lakes seriously, and we are proud to stand with our regional partners in the fight against the threat of invasive species,” said Emanuel.

The threat from Asian carp is real. Snyder is doing everything he can, including nerdy media events, to keep the spotlight on the problem.

Bill Speer can be reached via email at bspeer@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 354-3111 ext. 331. Follow Bill on Twitter @billspeer13.