University of Michigan. Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences.

The Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences is a unit of the University of Michigan's Institute of Science and Technology which conducts and sponsors interdisciplinary studies of fresh water lake ecology. It is the successor to the Great Lakes Research Institute and the Great Lakes Research Division of the University of Michigan.

The Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences is a unit of the University of Michigan's Institute of Science and Technology which conducts and sponsors interdisciplinary studies of fresh water lake ecology. It is the successor to the Great Lakes Research Institute and the Great Lakes Research Division of the University of Michigan.

The Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences (CGLAS) is the successor to the Great Lakes Research Institute (GLRI), the Great Lakes Research Division (GLRD) and the Great Lakes and Marine Waters Center (GLMWC). The mission of each was the "encouragement and integration of studies of the physical, chemical, biological and other aspects of the Great Lakes and related areas." It has sponsored both basic and applied research, published numerous research reports in its "Special Reports" series, and sponsored conferences on the Great Lakes. Though theoretically interested in all the Great Lakes, the center's studies have focused on lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior.

The Great Lakes Research Institute was established by a group of University of Michigan professors and chartered by the Board of Regents in 1945 as part of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. By 1953 it had initiated a broad range of studies, the aims of which were: to increase knowledge of the processes and phenomena occurring in large lakes, to determine the characteristics of the Great Lakes as a natural resource so that these could be effectively used and managed, to implement the university's educational goals related to this basic research, and to establish cooperative research programs with other universities and government agencies. The GLRI was governed by a Council of faculty members. David C. Chandler was named director of the Institute in 1953 and later chairman of the council.

The GLRI was reorganized in 1960 and became the Great Lakes Research Division of the University of Michigan Institute of Science and Technology (IST). A further reorganization within IST in 1974 placed the GLRD in the newly created Great Lakes and Marine Waters Center. The Center brought together a number of institutes and programs dealing with the Great Lakes including the Great Lakes Management Program, the Coastal Zone Laboratory, and the Sea-Grant Program, as well as the operation of the university's research vessels. Alfred Beeton was named director of the Center in 1975, succeeding Chandler. In a further reorganization in 1989, GLRD and GLMWC became the Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences, a division of the Institute of Science and Technology. Theodore C. Moore was named director of the Center in 1990.

The CGLAS and its predecessors have operated, or had at their disposal, a number of research vessels. These have included the Inland Seas, Mysis, Naiad, Halcyon, and Highland Lassie. The GLRD also used the General Dynamics submarine Starr II for several research projects in 1967. The staff of CGLAS has included full-time research scientists and faculty members who had joint or partial appointments in academic departments. CGLAS staff have conducted independent research and also worked on contracted projects for corporations and government agencies.

The Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences is a unit of the University of Michigan's Institute of Science and Technology which conducts and sponsors interdisciplinary studies of fresh water lake ecology. It is the successor to the Great Lakes Research Institute and the Great Lakes Research Division of the University of Michigan.