Great Lakes WATER Institute

Great Lakes WATER Institute (also known as the WATER Institute, Wisconsin Aquatic Technology and Environmental Research Institute, GLWI) is a freshwater research center of the University of Wisconsin System administered by the Graduate School of University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.Great Lakes Water Institute Gives UW Researchers Unique Access to the Study of F resh Waters
, Wisconsin Idea, December 1999, Volume 16, No. 3, Page 5.

Located on Milwaukee's inner harbor, it is the only major aquatic research institution located on Lake Michigan and the largest of its kind in the Great Lakes region.

The WATER Institute is both a UW-Milwaukee Center of Excellence and a UW System Regents Center of Excellence. It became the main component of UW-Milwaukee University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, School of Freshwater Sciences in 2009 with the goal of turning Milwaukee into a world freshwater research hub.

Fleet and facilities

''Neeskay'', whose name was derived from Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American language in Wisconsin, is the Institute's main research vessel. In addition to Neeskay, the institute also has a fleet of small boats.

The WATER Institute also houses aquatic holding tanks for aquaculture and an instrumentation shop capable of making custom-made instruments.

Institutions

The WATER Institute hosts UWM Center for Great Lakes Studies, NIEHS Marine and Freshwater Biomedical Sciences Center, University of Wisconsin Aquaculture and Fisheries Research Center, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Advisory Services Milwaukee Field Office and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin DNR Southern Lake Michigan Fisheries Management, and Law Enforcement Units. The WATER Institute is also home to the GLUCOS buoy sensor network and the ROV Team at UWMs PantheROV.

GLUCOS

The Great Lakes Urban Coastal Observing System (GLUCOS) is a buoy-based sensor network that will support research on the interactions between Milwaukee Harbor and the lake, and other processes in coastal Lake Michigan.

The GLUCOS is composed of two types of buoys; Endurance Buoys which are large seasonal buoys and Pioneer Buoys which are small relatively easy to deploy buoys. The Pioneer Buoys are spar buoys anchored to the bottom, with custom electronics attached to the mooring lines monitoring data from CTD (instrument), sondes, temperature sensor strings, and other sensors as needed for research purposes.

PantheROV

PantheROV is the name of the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) built by undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) for the annual Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences, MATE ROV Competition, essentially an Robot competition#Underwater robotic vehicle competitions, underwater robotics competition. PantheROV is a conjugation of UWMs mascot, the panther, and ROV. The ROV Team at UWM is supported by the Great Lakes WATER Institute and various other sponsors. The team is open to all undergraduate students at UWM. Many of the students on the ROV Team have worked concurrently at the GLWI and have provided large engineering contributions to the Glucos, Great Lakes Urban Coastal Observing System (GLUCOS).

See also

*Great Lakes
*Great Lakes Areas of Concern

References

External links

Great Lakes WATER Institute HomepageCenter for Great Lakes StudiesAquaculture and Fisheries Research CenterMarine and Freshwater Biomedical Sciences Center (MFBSC)

{{University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee