DESCRIPTION

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (GLERL) was officially created within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct integrated, interdisciplinary environmental research in support of resource management and environmental services in coastal and estuarine waters, with a special emphasis on the Great Lakes.

GLERL provides Great Lakes and coastal environmental information and develops management and information tools in support of State and Federal resource managers and regulatory agencies. It is a center of expertise for the hydrology, physics, ecology/biology, and geochemistry of Great Lakes and nearshore marine ecosystems, and it provides scientific information, environmental models, and operational tools used by resource management agencies, the scientific community, the private industrial sector, and private citizens.

GLERL is unique from other laboratories and academic institutions in its capabilities, both in staff expertise and instrumentation, related to the study of the physics (circulation) and hydrology (water levels) of the Great Lakes basin. Its staff in geochemistry and ecology/biology are leading experts on large lake and nearshore marine ecosystems and the processes that influence them.

SERVICE AND ACTIVITIES

GLERL is not a regulatory agency.

GLERL carries out a wide variety of aquatic environmental research programs and projects, mostly focused on the Great Lakes, but not exclusively, in support of NOAA's Environmental Stewardship and Environmental Assessment and Prediction missions. The results of its research are reported in the scientific literature, provided to resource management agencies (such as State DNRs and other Federal agencies, such as EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the USGS), and provided to interested parties in the private sector, ranging from industries and private companies to individuals needing assistance. Information about GLERL's programs and products can be found by visiting our Home Page on the World Wide Web.

AREA OF CONCENTRATION

Limnology, oceanography, ecology, biology, geochemistry, hydrology, physics (circulation, waves)

GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF ACTIVITES

U.S. Great Lakes;U.S. coastal areas; world large lakes

TYPE OF ORGANIZATION

U.S. Federal government/Environmental Research