Climate Change Impact Assessment

Climate change has the potential to disrupt freshwater ecosystems throughout the world and negatively impact communities that depend on them. Our work focuses on understanding climate change impacts in the Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior as a model system to inform global climate change adaptation efforts for freshwater.

Great Lakes Nearshore Ecology

Nearshore areas throughout the world’s Great Lakes are among the most socioeconomically important, ecologically significant and least understood of all freshwater ecosystems. Our work focuses on the study of the Apostle Islands Archipelago and nearshore of Lake Superior to characterize the fundamental environmental processes that shape these critical ecosystems.

Integrated Ecosystem Management

Effective management of freshwater ecosystems is dependent on an understanding of how human activities and value sets intersect with the environmental processes that sustain water resource integrity. Our work focuses on integrating approaches from the natural and social sciences to conduct and develop integrated assessments and management plans for freshwater ecosystems.

Environmental Monitoring & Assessment

Public decision-making surrounding water resources is dependent on a range of data that describe the condition of freshwater ecosystems and the current—and potential future—stressors that may impact their integrity. Our work focuses on the use of environmental monitoring and analytical technologies to develop long-term data sets to support public decision-making for freshwater resources.

The Great Lakes Compact

Over the years people have proposed sending Great Lakes water everywhere from Akron to Arizona. Since 2008, a Compact has imposed a ban on Great Lakes water diversions, with limited exceptions. Our work monitors existing Great Lakes water diversions, as well as potential future diversions, including Waukesha, Wisconsin’s 2010 water diversion application.