ANN ARBOR— The University of Michigan has been awarded $550,000 to expand a cooperative research institute that studies a wide range of Great Lakes ecological issues, from the impacts of invasive species to climate change effects and resource restoration.

Under a new five-year agreement with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U-M based Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research (CILER) will add eight partner universities from the Great Lakes region.

The new member universities are: Grand Valley State University, Ohio State University, the University of Illinois, the University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Toledo, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

“The Great Lakes region continues to face environmental challenges on several fronts,” said institute principal investigator Donald Scavia of U-M’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.

“This new award presents a unique opportunity for academic and NOAA researchers throughout the Great Lakes basin to collaborate on the region’s most pressing environmental issues,” he said.

CILER was founded in 1989 as a joint endeavor between the University of Michigan, NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and Michigan State University.

With the new award, CILER will engage in research under six themes: Great Lakes ecological forecasting; invasive species control, impact and assessment; Great Lakes observing system; protection and restoration of resources; education and outreach; and integrated assessment.

“This award to CILER reinforces the university’s interest in expanding its Great Lakes research,” said U-M Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest. “It also greatly enhances our ability to collaborate with other universities in the region and supports our ongoing interactions with NOAA.”

CILER is one of 21 NOAA-funded cooperative institutes. The partnerships promote long-term research collaborations between the federal agency and university scientists.

“Maintaining strong cooperative relationships with academic institutions is critical to providing the scientific basis for sound decision-making that helps preserve the health and vitality of the Great Lakes region ecology,” said Stephen Brandt, director of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

CILERGreat Lakes Environmental Research LaboratoryNOAA Cooperative Institutes