U-M awarded $20M for Great Lakes research institute

Supported through a five-year, $20 million grant from the federal government, the university created a research institute focused on sustainable management of the Great Lakes. The Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR), which is hosted by U-M and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), represents a partnership between nine universities across the region, as well as multiple nongovernmental organizations and private businesses.

CIGLR’s primary NOAA research partner is the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor. Researchers study the most pressing issues in the Great Lakes, including weather and climate, invasive species, harmful algal blooms, and protection of ecosystem services. More than 30 U-M researchers and hundreds of students involved in this work are based at the NOAA lab and work in direct collaboration with scientists there.

The director of the new institute is U-M ecologist Bradley Cardinale, a professor at the School of Environment and Sustainability. Cardinale acknowledges the critical need for this type of center in this part of the country. “The Great Lakes are so important,” he said. “They are the source of drinking water for 40 million people and are intricately linked to the health, identity and livelihoods of all who live in the basin.”

The Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research is one of 16 NOAA Cooperative Institutes across the country.