The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program has been awarded $928,500 to continue its efforts to foster a sustainable environment and economy in the southern Lake Michigan and Great Lakes region. This funding from the National Sea Grant Program is matched in part, by the University of Illinois, Purdue University and their partners.

"Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) serves clients along 104 miles of heavily urbanized and industrialized shoreline in the two states," said Dick Warner, interim Sea Grant director. "Our focus is environmental stewardship, long-term economic development and responsible use of resources through research, education and outreach."

"Our funding fuels research projects at a number of institutions, including Notre Dame, University of Illinois, Northwestern University, Purdue University and the Illinois Natural History Survey," said Warner. IISG is focused on critical concerns in aquaculture, biological resources (which includes invasive species), coastal business and environment, coastal processes and water quality.

"Frequently, Sea Grant works closely with policy makers and has sometimes provided crucial support in the initial stages of what becomes major projects," said Warner. IISG encouraged and funded the beginnings of the Wingspread Tri-State Regional Accord, an historic agreement in which four planning agencies along Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana have committed to work together as they consider major environmental and economic issues.

Sea Grant also funded preliminary efforts to plan for an environmental visitor center in the Calumet area, a 20 square-mile area on the southeast side of Chicago and in Northwest Indiana. Since then, the proposed center, as part of a larger effort to revitalize the environment and economy of the Calumet area, has received major funding from both government and corporate sources.

Many Sea Grant efforts are focused on youth, involving both education and hands-on experience. For example, IISG is taking part in a program that involves 4-H field volunteers with the goal of beating back purple loosestrife, an invasive plant that is causing widespread problems in coastal and inland wetlands. Young 4-H stewards are making many trips to the field in a large-scale effort to use a biological control on the weedy plant, in this case, a beetle that is its natural enemy. Recently, IISG has moved its administrative base from Purdue University to the University of Illinois. The two universities jointly sponsor the program. At the U of I, Sea Grant is newly positioned in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is one of 30 Sea Grant programs nationwide. The National Sea Grant College Program began in the National Science Foundation in the early 1960s. Within a few years it moved to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as an agent for scientific discovery, technology transfer, economic growth and public education as they involve coastal, ocean and Great Lakes resources. IISG was established in 1982, and in 1998 achieved Sea Grant's highest distinction-- "College Program" status.

For more information about Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant activities and products, visit the IISG Web page at www.iisgcp.org  or contact Irene Miles at (217) 333-8055.

IIrene Miles
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant
376 NSRC
1101 W. Peabody Dr.
Urbana, Il 61801
Phone:  217-333-8055
Fax:  217-333-8046
miles@illinois.edu