UB awarded $5 million to lead new Great Lakes Research Consortium

The University at Buffalo will play an expanded role in researching and protecting the largest group of freshwater bodies on Earth as the new host of the Great Lakes Research Consortium (GLRC).

UB has received a five-year, $5 million grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to re-establish and lead the statewide consortium of colleges and universities dedicated to strengthening New York’s leadership in scientific initiatives across the broader Great Lakes basin.  

“We are honored to be selected for this vital role in safeguarding one of our region’s most important natural resources,” says A. Scott Weber, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “By leading the Great Lakes Research Consortium, UB will bring together expertise from across New York State to strengthen scientific collaboration, inform environmental stewardship and help protect the Great Lakes for future generations.”

DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton says the department looks forward to working with UB to maximize its investment by leveraging existing institutional expertise, infrastructure and partnerships across New York State and the broader Great Lakes Basin.

“UB’s strategic approach to re-establishing the GLRC will focus resources to help improve our understanding of the Great Lakes ecosystems and guide critical management decisions,” Lefton says.

Under UB’s leadership, the consortium will be known as GLRC STREAM (Strengthening Research, Education, and Aquatic Ecosystem Management). It will be administered by the UB RENEW Institute, a university-wide multidisciplinary research institute focused on complex environmental and energy issues. 

RENEW Director Diana Aga will serve as the GLRC STREAM director and principal investigator for the grant.

“The mission of the GLRC aligns closely with RENEW’s focus on research and education that advances solutions for environmental sustainability, clean water and resilient communities,” says Aga,  SUNY Distinguished Professor and Henry M. Woodburn Professor of Chemistry. “Over the past five years, RENEW’s administrative team has had considerable success convening high-impact events, managing programs, and supporting the professional attainment of the researchers in our community. Our key institutional strengths will now lift all boats in the GLRC STREAM ecosystem.”

Since its establishment in 1986, the consortium's mission has been to improve the understanding of the Great Lakes ecosystem, including the physical, biological and chemical processes that shape it, as well as the social and political forces that affect the lakes. 

Containing roughly 20% of the world’s surface freshwater, the Great Lakes are a shared resource of importance to human and ecological health. New York State has over 700 miles of Great Lakes shoreline along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, as well as major connecting channels, including the Niagara River and the upper St. Lawrence River. 

The abundant freshwater coastal environments of these lakes are economically, culturally, and recreationally significant to New York State, with sport fishing alone generating approximately $365.3 million annually for the state’s economy. 

However, the lakes face growing pressures from climate change, stormwater runoff, industrial demand for water, and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and pharmaceuticals and personal care products. 

Consortium members will conduct Great Lakes research projects such as quantifying PFAS levels, investigating food-web disruptions and harmful algal blooms, measuring wastewater contaminants associated with beach closures, and mitigating the proliferation of invasive species. Such projects will support the priority goals of DEC’s Great Lakes Action Agenda.

“DEC’s Great Lakes Program is proud to partner with UB to address the research needs identified in New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda,” says DEC Great Lakes Program Director Shannon Dougherty. “We are excited for the continuation of the GLRC and look forward to working with UB to better understand NY’s Great Lakes ecosystems.”

The RENEW Institute will maintain the consortium’s core program components while creating new opportunities for member university engagement, scientific research and scholarship, integrated education programming, and expanded partnerships with transnational partners and basin-wide research endeavors.  

This work will include administering small grants to consortium members, helping them secure additional funding, supporting resume-building graduate student internships, organizing conferences, and disseminating information to the general public and K-12 schools.

“As UB re-establishes leadership of the GLRC, we are aligning the strength of our research enterprise to deepen understanding of Great Lakes ecosystems,” says Venu Govindaraju, senior vice president for research, innovation and economic development at UB. “By integrating the consortium’s work with the interdisciplinary expertise of UB’s RENEW Institute, we will expand collaboration, inform critical decisions and deliver solutions with impact across New York and throughout the Great Lakes Basin.”

UB has been involved with the GLRC since its inception. The consortium was originally established and hosted by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in collaboration with five other SUNY schools, including UB.

Joseph Atkinson, professor emeritus in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, participated in the legacy GLRC and served as director of UB’s Great Lakes Program, which was absorbed into RENEW in 2021. 

“This grant reflects decades of leadership and collaboration in Great Lakes research at UB,” says Atkinson, whom Aga tapped to serve on the GLRC STREAM Strategic Advisory Committee. “The university's long-standing leadership role in Great Lakes research, our proximity to both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and our wealth of Great Lakes researchers at all levels of professional attainment mean we are uniquely positioned to provide effective leadership for this consortium. Together, we will tackle some of New York’s most pressing environmental challenges as we protect its ecological treasures.”

The GLRC is supported by the Great Lakes Protection Fund and New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). Gov. Kathy Hochul's 2026–27 executive budget sustains the EPF at a historic funding level of $425 million.