The headquarters of the Great Lakes Science Center is located on the North Campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Approximately half of the Center's 107 staff are located in Ann Arbor and half are located at one of the Center's field stations. The Center has five field stations, one vessel base, and three field station/vessel base combinations dispersed throughout the Great Lakes Basin.

Strategic placement of the Center's field operations facilitates research conducted over this large geographic area. Field stations are located at Cortland, New York (Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences); Millersburg, Michigan (Hammond Bay Biological Station); Munising, Michigan; and Porter, Indiana (Lake Michigan Ecological Station). A mid-lake vessel base is located at Cheboygan, Michigan. Combined field stations and vessel bases are located at Ashland, Wisconsin (Lake Superior Biological Station); Oswego, New York (Lake Ontario Biological Station); and Sandusky, Ohio (Lake Erie Biological Station). Research support for ongoing projects is provided through the headquarters location. Descriptions of our research vessels are also included.

Fish Holding and Rearing Facilities
The Center has extensive fish rearing and holding facilities, including a number of 200- and 600-gallon fiberglass tanks, egg incubators, and various tanks for holding fish and conducting behavioral, physiological, and toxicological studies. The facilities are supplied by two 100-gallon per minute wells with associated equipment that includes iron filters, deionizers, settling tanks, permanent and portable chillers, and pumps and reservoirs for conditioning water.

Health of Aquatic Biota
The Center has had a long and distinguished history of conducting physiological, toxicological, and analytical chemistry studies to determine the effects of toxic contaminants on aquatic biota. Currently, it is recognized that contaminants, exotic species, physical habitat changes, and other biogeochemical factors influence the health of aquatic biota in the Great Lakes. Consequently, Center researchers are engaged in comprehensive ecological risk assessment research and modeling. Equipment includes a high resolution microscope with computerized image analysis for histopathology, an automated blood analyzer for clinical chemistry, thin-layer chromatography for separation of subcellular fractions, and an automated calorimeter for bioenergetic studies. The Center’s analytical chemistry instruments, including a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, and carbon analyzer, formerly addressed toxic contaminants only. Now they are being used to answer ecological questions, such as stable isotope analyses of food-web interactions and heavy metal analyses of fish otoliths for separating discrete stocks of Great Lakes fish. Modeling techniques and expert system development is largely being used for ecological risk assessment and toxicity prediction.

Genetic Analyses
Fish community dynamics investigations are aided by the ability to perform several different genetic analyses. Both protein electrophoretic and DNA recombinant technology are used at the Center to investigate genetic relationships within and among fish populations. A DNA thermal cycler is used to perform the polymerase chain reaction, and equipment is available for nucleic acid separation and visualization, restriction enzyme analyses, and DNA sequencing. Center scientists are currently focusing on the use of non-lethal tissue extraction techniques for genetic analyses.

Habitat Studies
The ability to examine the ecological, physical, and spatial characteristics of plant and wildlife habitat (e.g., coastal wetlands, reefs, shoals) is enhanced by numerous technologies, including a permanently mounted Global Positioning System (GPS) community base station to allow differential correction of GPS rover data, two handheld GPS receivers for collecting positional data on sampling sites, two PLGR+96 receivers for gathering real-time positional data, and a Geographic Information System (GIS) running PC ARC/INFO software to manage data collected from GPS receivers and other sources and to facilitate data analyses. Side-scan sonar and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) with video capabilities allow underwater quantitative and qualitative assessments of habitat quality in habitat restoration and other studies that depend on remote sensing techniques. The ROV has a variety of applications such as documenting lake trout spawning behavior on natural reefs and assessing the density of burbot, a potential competitor, on lake trout spawning reefs.

Library and Information Services
The library, named in honor of Dr. John Van Oosten the Center's first director, contains technical materials supporting the research activities of the Center. A specialized collection of books, journals, serials, reprints, and several CD-ROM databases are available at the library. In addition, the library subscribes to various on-line services for computerized literature searches and participates in a shared cataloging and interlibrary loan system. The library's Internet home page provides further information about the library's activities and services.

Database and Information Management
The GLSC is utilizing many of the latest technologies for database and information management. The Center employs a Local Area Network (LAN) to interconnect all Center Personal Computers. The LAN allows access to Oracle relational databases including Research Vessel, Commercial Catch, Chemistry, and Administration. Field data entry capabilities on the Center’s large vessels are provided using Oracle technology. Internet connectivity permits Center scientists to access the World Wide Web.

Fish Population Analysis
For fish population analysis, the Center determines age of fish with Eberbach scale readers and microfiche readers. Specialized equipment and procedures are used to extract otoliths from alewives and other fish to determine their age. Coded wire tag detectors and equipment are used to read the microscopic coded-wire tags that have been implanted in the snouts of juvenile trout and salmon prior to stocking in the Great Lakes.

Remote sensing, based on hydroacoustic techniques, is used to determine numbers and biomass of fish. The Center owns three complete dual-beam acoustic sampling systems for determining biomass of preyfish in the open waters. Two systems are dual-frequency with scientific-quality echo sounders, calibrated dual-beam transducers, thermal chart recorders, Digital Audio Tape (DAT) recorders, and signal recording interface units. The third acoustic system is a BioSonics single frequency system consisting of scientific-quality echo sounder, calibrated dual-beam transducer, thermal chart recorder, signal recording interface, and a separate dual-beam processing and echo integration unit. We maintain a variety of towed-bodies for deploying transducers from research vessels, and the R/V Grayling is equipped with in-hull transducer mounts. Additional equipment includes a BioMap computer mapping system and a portable Northstar Global Positional System (GPS) with differential beacon that operates in conjunction with the BioSonics ESP system. We also maintain two Simrad acoustic trawl mensuration systems, and a third trawl mensuration system from SCANMAR, all of which interface directly with microcomputers.

Trophic Interactions
Trophic level studies cover the range of organisms from invertebrates to top predators. Many of these laboratory studies are based on questions generated by field studies, and are designed to provide information under controlled conditions. The Center maintains equipment for collecting and identifying virtually any of the invertebrates found in the Great Lakes. Community level interactions are the focus of this work.

At Ann Arbor, we also have laboratories set up for trophic level studies that determine the diet of both predatory and forage fish collected from the Great Lakes. Prey fish in stomachs of lake trout are identified by microscopic examination of the vertebral column. Inverted compound microscopes are used to identify zooplankton and phytoplankton and larval fish in forage fish stomachs. Preferences of predators and competition within a trophic level can be determined for each fish community studied.

Specialized tanks and video monitoring equipment are used to determine feeding of both native and exotic species of fish in the Great Lakes. Exotic species such as the Eurasian ruffe collected from the Great Lakes are maintained in quarantine tanks prior to use in predator-prey studies to determine their competition with desirable endemic species such as yellow perch.

Exotic and Native Mollusks
Study areas in the wet laboratories are dedicated to determining ecology, life history, reproductive behavior and resource partitioning of freshwater bivalves including zebra mussels, quagga mussels, and native clams (Unionidae). Past research involved a combination of laboratory and field research on zebra mussel population dynamics under different environmental conditions. This work included rearing various types of mussel and clam larvae that led to the development of a taxonomic key used by numerous state, federal, and public utilities. Current research focuses on developing techniques to protect native clam populations that are being threatened by the invasion of zebra mussels. Dietary habits and nutritional needs of native clams are being determined through stable isotope analysis, with particular emphasis on the importance of terrestrial vegetation in the clam’s diet. A non-algal based diet that will support native clam growth and reproduction is also being studied. Methods are being tested in the field that can be used to protect native clams from zebra mussels in situ. Finally, techniques are being tested for using wetlands as potential refugia for a variety of clam species.

Nearshore Field Studies
The Ann Arbor facility serves as a staging area for nearshore and inland field studies. The small vessels of the GLSC provide for a variety of aquatic sampling methods. An electroshocking boat is used extensively for the safe sampling of fish for contaminant studies and for capturing specimens for laboratory studies of predator-prey interactions. Other small vessels are widely used for bottom substrate sampling and plankton net towing. They also provide a stable work platform for research SCUBA diving operations. Scientists are using SCUBA to study the importance of reef habitats and their relation to food web dynamics. Diving has been a valuable tool for setting and retrieving underwater experiments, and, for recording habitat characteristics using video.

Library and Information Services
Supporting the research activities of the Center, a specialized collection of books, journals, serials, reprints, and several CD-ROM databases are available at the library. In addition, the library subscribes to various on-line services for computerized literature searches and participates in a shared cataloging and interlibrary loan system. The library's page provides further information about the library's activities and services.

Database and Information Management
The GLSC is utilizing many of the latest technologies for database and information management. The Center employs a Local Area Network (LAN) to interconnect all Center computers. The LAN allows access to Oracle relational databases including Research Vessel, Commercial Catch, Chemistry, and Administration. Field data entry capabilities on the Center's large vessels is provided using Oracle technology. Internet connectivity permits Center scientists to access WWW resources throughout the globe.

Statistical Support
Statistical consulting service are provided in support of the scientific research at the GLSC. Services are available for all aspects of a research project, including study design, statistical analysis, and presentation of results.

Vessel Management
Vessel management provides support for the maintenance and use of the Center's five large research vessels. Coordination and scheduling of the vessels in support of research projects is also a major service provided by vessel management.

Great Lakes Science Center Fact Sheet
Great Lakes Science Center, Restoring the Greatness Fact Sheet
Through the Decades: A Short History of the Great Lakes Science Center Fact Sheet