The Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI) and the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) co-hosted a Tuesday, February 4th, 2025 briefing for Congressional staff on Great Lakes science uses and impacts. The briefing focused on the scientific research that provides the foundation for management, policymaking, and restoration in the Great Lakes region.
Panelists included Heather Stirratt, Director of the Great Lakes Regional Office of the International Joint Commision (IJC); John Bratton, Senior Science Officer at LimnoTech; Chris Winslow, Director of Ohio Sea Grant; Greg McClinchey, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC); Tomas Hook, Director of Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, and; Mike Shriberg, Associate Director of CIGLR and Director of Engagement at Michigan Sea Grant.
Stirratt focused on the IJC’s Great Lakes Science Plan, an initiative to coordinate and integrate Great Lakes science. The plan aims to address blind spots, support reliable forecasting, and generate new insights. Stirratt noted the lack of information in certain critical areas, including data on connecting rivers and channels. An important contribution of the science plan will be to conduct monitoring and forecasting on a basin-wide level, helping scale up and integrate existing efforts. This approach not only makes scientific research more efficient and better able to address existing threats, but it also increases adaptability and flexibility, allowing systems to be truly forward-looking and prepared for the future.
Bratton provided a private sector perspective from LimnoTech, a water science and engineering firm. LimnoTech has clients in both the public and private sector – it consulted with the IJC on the science plan and conducts research for federal agencies, and provides science support for clients such as bathymetry and other forms of data analysis and modeling. Bratton noted that LimnoTech’s position allows it to serve as a conduit between government, industry, academia, and NGOs, creating cross-sector understanding and facilitating information sharing to produce new insights.
Winslow focused his remarks on harmful algal blooms (HABs), a problem across the Great Lakes basin, but pronounced in Lake Erie where he works with Ohio Sea Grant. Ohio Sea Grant has become a global leader in HABs research – research that informs management and monitoring actions. For example, research has found that wetlands can be a nutrient sink, preventing phosphorus from running off into the lakes, and ongoing research is focused on how to optimize wetland construction to perform this role most effectively. He noted that the assets and needs don’t stop at the water’s edge: Ohio Sea Grant helps farmers implement better conservation practices on their land. Ohio Sea Grant recognizes the importance not just of communicating the science, but of building relationships with farmers as well, proving to them the value of these practices.
McClinchey discussed the value of science-informed policy at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Most famously, the development of lampricide, which was the result of the GLFC’s chemical research, massively reduced the populations of invasive sea lamprey with negligible effects on native fish populations, saving a fishery that would have crashed without intervention. The GLFC’s latest innovation is FishPass, a system that uses AI and data on fish and their behavior to tell fish apart, granting some fish passage across water infrastructure barriers while denying others.
Research at Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has helped inform management of Great Lakes Areas of Concern. Hook explained that when sediment is too costly or otherwise impossible to move, they have found methods of covering it instead. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant also focuses on community engagement. Concerned about pharmaceuticals running off and contaminating water, Sea Grant teamed up with an unlikely partner: local law enforcement, whose priority was keeping those drugs off the street. Together, they developed a collection program that has safely disposed of 320,000 pounds of medicine. They also conduct research into aquatic invasive species (AIS) focused on understanding the impacts of current AIS, detecting new ones, and the prevention of future invasive species.
Finally, Shriberg gave an overview of CIGLR’s role and work. Affiliated with the University of Michigan and NOAA, CIGLR is uniquely positioned to connect partners in government, academia, and the non-profit space to increase efficiency by encouraging cooperation. One example of CIGLR’s work is in forecasting Great Lakes water levels. New modeling will include coastal regions, producing a better picture of coastal flooding and lake surges and protecting property in those regions. CIGLR is also developing an AI lab that will improve monitoring and deploy early-warning systems, helping to combat HABs, deploy icebreaking capabilities, and address other Great Lakes threats.