Value of Partnerships

As the new Director of Michigan Sea Grant, I am pleased to introduce this issue of upwellings - our 2003 annual report highlighting selected program accomplishments for March 1, 2003 through February 28, 2004.

As I have only been on board since January, most of these accomplishments were made under George Carignan’s thoughtful leadership as Interim Director since September 2000. I join the Michigan and National Sea Grant Programs in recognizing his efforts and thanking him for the program’s enhancements under his leadership.

Research, outreach and education activities over the past year are presented within the context of the program’s current strategic initiatives: Sustainable Coastal Communities, Fisheries and Trophic Change, Coastal Wetlands, Aquatic Nuisance Species and Great Lakes Education.
Within these broad areas, strategic collaborations with state and federal partners in 2003 have directly benefited the Great Lakes region and the State of Michigan.
Among the highlights:

• The first sessions of the Great Lakes Fisheries Leadership Institute took place in Michigan and other Great Lakes states, a region-wide initiative developed by the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network in cooperation with multiple federal and state partners;
• Michigan Sea Grant, Michigan Office of the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes Commission sponsored the first of several Great Lakes Restoration workshops currently planned in other Great Lakes states to identify restoration priorities;
• With National Sea Grant funding, Sea Grant researchers are making progress understanding the ecosystem impacts of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) and preventing the introduction of ANS via ballast water.
• The Michigan Clean Marina Program, a unique partnership encompassing Michigan’s boating industry, academic institutions and the regulatory community, was officially launched
  in December;
• Collaborating with state and federal agencies and representatives of citizen groups, Michigan Sea Grant facilitated a task force to identify and clarify issues related to wetlands on Great Lakes bottomlands.

These are just a few of the many program accomplishments in 2003. In this next year, we anticipate exciting changes that include adopting a new strategic plan and inaugurating support for integrated assessments that tie best available science to important management and policy decisions.