Sea Grant and the Great Lakes

Sea Grant - a unique partnership of public and private sectors that combines research, education and technology transfer for public service - is a national network of universities meeting the changing environmental and economic needs of Americans in coastal ocean and Great Lakes regions.

Sea Grant has an outstanding record of achievement in transferring the results of university research to a wide range of audiences and giving special assistance to coastal communities, businesses and individual citizens. Congressional committees have repeatedly cited Sea Grant as one of the most efficient and cost-effective programs funded by the U.S. government. A 1981 analysis, for example, estimated that the annual benefits to the national economy from Sea Grant-sponsored research and outreach surpassed the federal government's total investment in the program over the preceding 12 years, and the program's benefits continue to grow exponentially.

Through its network of Advisory Service (Extension) agents and its use of modern communications and education techniques, the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network plays a central role in supplying the region and the nation with usable solutions to pressing problems and providing the basic information needed to better manage Great Lakes resources for present and future generations of Americans.