Contacts: 

Dr. Gregory L. Boyer, Great Lakes Research Consortium Director, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, P: 315-470-6825

Dave White, Coastal Recreation and Tourism Specialist, New York Sea Grant, E: dgw9@cornell.edu, P: 315-312-3042

Syracuse, NY, January 18, 2021 - In celebration of 35 years of Great Lakes science, The Great Lakes Research Consortium (GLRC) has released a new report (pdf).

"The year 2020 has been a time of transition: transition to online learning and finding new ways to conduct research while staying six feet apart and to keep in touch and share scientific findings without getting together in person," said GLRC Director Greg Boyer. "During all of this unprecedented time, the values of [our program] remain intact."

Highlights of the report include a handful of small grants that have had big impacts on topics such as contaminants of emerging concern. These everyday household and personal care products and medications, such as antidepressants, pesticides, PFAS, and industrial chemicals, are increasingly found in the public water supply, in treated wastewater, and bioaccumulating in the aquatic ecosystem.

Harmful Algal Blooms (and their impact on water quality) are another focus. While some algal blooms are just a nuisance, impeding recreational use or waterfront access, when a bloom produces cyanobacterial toxins it becomes dangerous to human and animal health. 

GLRC, housed at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, encompasses 18 colleges and universities in New York and affiliate campuses in Canada. 

Three principle goals guide the work at GLRC, which helps researchers across New York State to collaborate with each other: 1) To facilitate research and scholarship on the chemical, physical, biological, and social processes that affect the Great Lakes, 2) to provide opportunities for the training and education of students, and 3) to disseminate information and research findings.

"As a charter member of the GLRC since its formation at Oswego, I have seen Greg Boyer dedicate countless hours to advancing Great Lakes research and GLRC collaborative mission to benefit faculty, students, member institutions, and New York’s Great Lakes Communities," said Dave White, New York Sea Grant's Coastal Recreation and Tourism Specialist and GLRC Associate Director.

For more information on each project and on GLRC grants for student research, student travel to conferences and workshops, and student internships, visit www.esf.edu/glrc. 


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, University at Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Elmsford and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.