A new $9 million University of Michigan Great Lakes research and education center will guide efforts to protect and restore the world's largest group of freshwater lakes by reducing toxic contamination, combating invasive species, protecting wildlife habitat and promoting coastal health.

With a $4.5 million, three-year grant from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, the new University of Michigan Water Center will provide a solid scientific framework for more efficient and effective Great Lakes restoration.

U-M scientists and their partners across the region will use research and on-the-ground collaboration to inform Great Lakes restoration projects. The initiative was announced today by U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, who said the university will add an additional $4.5 million to the project over three years.

"As a university, we need to take on ownership and responsibility of regional sustainability challenges that affect us, close to home and where our expertise can have enormous impact.  The U-M Water Center will do that," Coleman said. "I want to thank the Erb Family Foundation for supporting our work and, more important, for continually pushing us to do more."

The U-M Water Center will be administered by the Graham Sustainability Institute and will involve faculty and students from across the university, including the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Read the full story in the U-M News Service press release

Currently on the U-M Gateway