US university secures grant for field-based water research centre

Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit has received a planning grant from the National Science Foundation to draw up a plan for a field-based water research centre.

The research centre, called the Huron to Erie Alliance for Research and Training (HEART), will focus on designing activities and facilities to attract scientists, educators and students from national and international institutions in order to conduct new research, specialising on urban systems and the environment.

It aims to develop the centre’s research themes, identify research partners, as well as expand recruitment networks to attract students and post-docs to the facility.

In addition, it will focus on obtaining expert input on field station organisation and administration and developing a strategic plan for fundraising.

The centre will develop field facilities at Lake St. Clair Metropark and Belle Isle along the Huron-to-Erie corridor, a body of water shared by the US and Canada which links the upper and lower Great Lakes.

The training and research activities of the proposed centre will offer recreational, economical and ecological benefits to over 4 million people along the waterway.

The project is a collaboration between Wayne State, Macomb Community College, the Huron-Clinton Metropark Authority and Macomb County. It has received a grant of $25,000.

It is led by WSU’s College of Engineering civil and environmental engineering professor Carol Miller and the Wayne State University Urban Watershed Environmental Research Group (UWERG).

Miller said the new grant will facilitate planning of next steps to improve the field facilities of HEART.

"The two sites will provide much-needed space to deploy a wide array of educational offerings that make use of water-related field efforts, and will also allow us to expand these opportunities for students from Macomb Community College, Wayne State University and many others throughout the Great Lakes region and beyond," Miller added.

With the expansion of the HEART facilities, a range of activities like workshops, seminars, water research and educational opportunities will take place to address the needs of the various stakeholders.