Large Lakes Observatory

Last updated

The Large Lakes Observatory (or LLO) is a research institute located in Duluth, Minnesota, USA which studies the major lakes of the world. [1] The researchers focus on a variety of sciences including aquatic chemistry, geochemistry and paleoclimatology. Its stated purpose dedicates the LLO to "performing innovative, cross-disciplinary research, education, and outreach that advance scientific understanding of Earth’s large lakes for the benefit of society and the sustainability of freshwaters." [2] The parent institution of LLO is the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Contents

History

Large Lakes Observatory
Established1994
Field of research
Limnology, Biogeochemistry, Ecology, Water Resources
Director Dr. Robert Sterner
Staff 35+
Address2205 E. 5th Street
Location Duluth, MN USA, United States of America
NicknameLLO
Affiliations University of Minnesota Duluth
Websitescse.d.umn.edu/large-lakes-observatory

The Large Lakes Observatory was founded in 1994, after a 1988 scientific and policy conference resulted in the formation of the "Institute for Lake Superior Research" which developed into the LLO. [3] It moved into its present location in the Research Laboratory Building in Duluth, MN after a fire in the former Old Main campus building (now the site of Old Main Park) left the Model School building untouched. LLO moved into the Model School Building shortly thereafter. [4] Past directors of LLO include Dr. Tom Johnson and Dr. Steve Colman. [3]

Scientific expeditions carried out by LLO scientists have visited all of the Laurentian Great Lakes, the East African Rift Lakes, Lake Issyk Kul, Lake Nicaragua, Lake Qinghai, Great Slave Lake, and others. [3]

Research Vessels

The LLO operates the R/VBlue Heron as the only University National Oceanographic Laboratory System vessel on the Great Lakes. [5] The R/V Blue Heron has an overall length of 26 m and berths for 11 party members. [6]

Outreach

Large Lakes Observatory members coordinate and participate in various public outreach events. These include annual tours of the R/V Blue Heron, a permanent exhibit at the Great Lakes Aquarium, and public data portals for LLO-managed water quality instruments. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science museum</span> Museum devoted primarily to science

A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of subject matter and introduced many interactive exhibits. Modern science museums, increasingly referred to as 'science centres' or 'discovery centres', also feature technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Massachusetts Dartmouth</span> Public university in Massachusetts, United States

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is a public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly Southeastern Massachusetts University, it was merged into the University of Massachusetts system in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Minnesota Duluth</span> Public university in Duluth, Minnesota

The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year program at the School of Medicine and a four-year College of Pharmacy program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Museum of Natural History</span>

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum located approximately five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland, Ohio in University Circle, a 550-acre concentration of educational, cultural and medical institutions. The museum was established in 1920 by Cyrus S. Eaton to perform research, education and development of collections in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, botany, geology, paleontology, wildlife biology, and zoology. The museum traces its roots to the Ark, formed in 1836 on Cleveland's Public Square by William Case, the Academy of Natural Science formed by William Case and Jared Potter Kirtland, and the Kirtland Society of Natural History, founded in 1869 and reinvigorated in 1922 by the trustees of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics</span>

The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) is an autonomous institution set up by the University Grants Commission of India to promote nucleation and growth of active groups in astronomy and astrophysics in Indian universities. IUCAA is located in the University of Pune campus next to the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, which operates the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. IUCAA has a campus designed by Indian architect Charles Correa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center</span> Hospital in New York, United States

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded by Roswell Park in 1898, the center was the first in the United States to specifically focus on cancer research. The center, which conducts clinical research on cancer as well as the development new drugs, provides advanced treatment for all forms of adult and pediatric cancer, and serves as a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is currently the only upstate New York facility to hold the National Cancer Institute designation of "comprehensive cancer center".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Research station</span> Facility for scientific research

Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also many types of research stations including: biological field stations, space stations etc. Research station sites might include remote areas of the world, oceans, as well as outer space, such as the International Space Station. Biological research stations developed during a time of European colonization and imperialism where naturalists were employed to conduct observations on fauna and flora. Today, the discipline is represented by a number of organizations which span across multiple continents. Some examples include: the Organization of Biological Field Stations and the Organization for Tropical Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foundation for Research & Technology – Hellas</span>

The Foundation for Research & Technology – Hellas (FORTH) is a research center in Greece, supervised by the Ministry for Education through its General Secretariat for Research and Technology. It consists of nine research institutes, which are located in various cities of Greece: Heraklion, Rethymno, Patras, Ioannina and Chania. The Foundation’s headquarters, as well as the central administration offices are located in Heraklion, Crete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Anne</span> Body of water

Lake Anne is a reservoir in the unincorporated suburban community of Reston in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The lake is part of the Difficult Run drainage area of the county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indonesian Institute of Sciences</span> Former Indonesian science and research organization

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences was the governmental authority for science and research in Indonesia. It consists of 47 research centers in the fields ranging from social to natural sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean Observatories Initiative</span> A program that focuses the work of an emerging network of science driven ocean observing systems

The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Facility composed of a network of science-driven ocean observing platforms and sensors in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This networked infrastructure measures physical, chemical, geological, and biological variables from the seafloor to the sea surface and overlying atmosphere, providing an integrated data collection system on coastal, regional and global scales. OOI's goal is to deliver data and data products for a 25-year-plus time period, enabling a better understanding of ocean environments and critical ocean issues.

Industrial University of Tyumen University in Tyumen, Russia

Industrial University of Tyumen (IUT) is a higher education institution in Tyumen, Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Somerville</span> American climate scientist (born 1941)

Richard Chapin James Somerville is an American climate scientist who is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been a professor since 1979.

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) was a NASA-funded consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration spaceflight and developing solutions to reduce those risks. The NSBRI was founded in 1997 through a NASA Cooperative Agreement. The founding director was Laurence R. Young of MIT. NSBRI's 16,400-square-foot headquarters facility was located in the BioScience Research Collaborative in Houston, Texas. The Institute shared the facility with Baylor College of Medicine's Center for Space Medicine. The official opening was held March 19, 2012.

The history of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) spans nearly two hundred years beginning with its founding in 1824. RPI is the oldest continuously operating technological university in both the English-speaking world and the Americas. The Institute was the first to grant a civil engineering degree in the United States, in 1835. More recently, RPI also offered the first environmental engineering degree in the United States in 1961, and possibly the first ever undergraduate degree in video game design, in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Jeffrey</span> Australian marine biologist

Shirley Winifred Jeffrey was an Australian marine biologist and naturalist, who researched biochemical separation techniques, specialising in micro-algal research; her discovery, isolation and purification of chlorophyll c allowed for the evaluation of oceanic microscopic plant biomass and photosynthesis. She was christened The Mother of chlorophyll c by one of her early mentors, Professor Andy Benson of the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego.

The Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) is an international scientific society whose members study freshwater ecosystems and ecosystems at the interface between aquatic and terrestrial habitats.

Nancy H. DeStefanis is an American environmental educator, field ornithologist and lecturer. She is credited for discovering and documenting the first colony of great blue herons to nest in San Francisco in 1993, and for monitoring them for the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory every year since then—an activity that earned her the nickname of "Heron Lady of Golden Gate Park". She features in Heron Island (1998), a short documentary directed by Judy Irving about the heronry of Stow Lake in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In 2005 she received the Jefferson Award for Public Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberta Marinelli</span> American oceanographer

Roberta Marinelli is an oceanographer who started her position as Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University in 2016.

Moninya Roughan is a professor of Oceanography at the University of New South Wales Australia,. Roughan is the head of the Coastal and Regional Oceanography Lab and is an authority on the oceanography of the East Australian Current. She has led major projects for industry, government, the Australian Research Council and the New Zealand Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. She has held leadership roles in Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System since 2007.

References

  1. Gagnon, John (2012) Lake Superior Profiles: People on the Big Lake Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan, page 128, ISBN   978-0-8143-3628-1
  2. "Mission". Swenson College of Science and Engineering. 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2020-11-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. 1 2 3 "LLO History". Swenson College of Science and Engineering. 2016-10-10. Retrieved 2020-11-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. VanDerStad, Melissa (2017-09-26). "Experience history and nature at Old Main". Medium. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  5. Sterner, Robert; Colman, Steve; Johnson, Thomas (2017). "Institute Profile: The Large Lakes Observatory and the Scientific Study of the Large Lakes of Earth". Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin. 26 (1): 11–13. doi: 10.1002/lob.10156 .
  6. "R/V Blue Heron". Swenson College of Science and Engineering. 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2020-11-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. "Outreach". Swenson College of Science and Engineering. 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2021-02-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)