Great Lakes Research Center
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Great Lakes Institute Faculty and Staff

Guy Meadows

Guy Meadows

  • Director, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Adjunct Professor, Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences
  • Research Professor, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics

Research Interests

  • Large scale field experimentation in the Inland Seas of the Great Lakes and coastal oceans
  • Nearshore hydrodynamics and prediction
  • Autonomous and semi-autonomous environmental monitoring platforms (surface and sub-surface)
  • Underwater acoustic remote sensing
  • Marine engineering
Michael Abbott
"Sure, we can do that."

Michael Abbott

  • Director, Great Lakes Research Center Operations
Valoree Gagnon

Valoree Gagnon

  • Director, University-Indigenous Community Partnerships, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Research Assistant Professor, Social Sciences
  • Instructor, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Links of Interest

Research Interests

  • University-Community Partnerships, research engagement, and equitable practice and design
  • Environmental Justice and Policy, toxic substances, risk management, and promoting holistic health
  • Indigenous / Native American Studies, treaties and the government-to-government relationship, food sovereignty, and Indigenous wisdom in the Great Lakes region
  • Environmental Stewardship and the Seven Generations Philosophy
Jill Olin

Jill A. Olin

  • Research Scientist, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Adjunct Faculty, Biological Sciences

Areas of Interest

  • Ecology of aquatic systems
  • Fisheries science
  • Aquatic-terrestrial energy linkages
  • Dietary biomarkers (e.g., stable isotopes, fatty acids, compound-specific isotopes of AA and FA)
  • Trophic ecology of top predators in marine, estuarine and coastal communities
  • Predator-prey interactions

Research Interests

  • Understanding species- and food web-level responses to environmental stressors using combined dietary biomarker, ecological and modeling approaches
  • Evaluating distributional patterns of organisms and the mechanisms that drive these patterns
  • Using abundance and biomass estimates to quantify nekton communities
  • Quantifying the mechanisms and processes that structure food webs and ecosystems
  • Developing ecosystem models to evaluate the effect of environmental change
Amanda Gonczi

Amanda Gonczi

  • Assistant Research Scientist, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Instructor, Cognitive and Learning Sciences
  • Director of Research and Evaluation, Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform
Elizabeth Hoy

Elizabeth Hoy

  • Assistant Director, Business & Program Development
  • Great Lakes Research Center

Specialties

  • Facilitates partnerships that support Institute growth
  • Directs the development and distribution of outreach material to external partners
  • Oversees administrative operations
Christopher Pinnow

Christopher Pinnow

  • Electronics/Computer Engineer, Great Lakes Research Center

Specialties

  • Support GLRC research programs
  • Focus on measurements of the over water and in-water environments
  • Support design, fabrication, testing & utilization of prototype field deployable instruments, including programming and decision support algorithms
  • Statistical analysis of remote sensing and in situ data sets
  • Expanded Biography
Jamey Anderson

Jamey Anderson

  • Coordinator of Marine Operations
  • Reservations, Great Lakes Research Center Fleet

Specialties

  • Oversee research buoys
  • Maintain and repair Remote Operated Vehicles
  • Maintain R/V Agassiz to USCG standards
  • Maintain and operate survey vessels
  • Provide electrical and mechanical support of specialized research equipment
  • Expanded Biography
Ryan Williams, GISP

Ryan Williams, GISP

  • Assistant Director, Geospatial Research Facility, Great Lakes Research Center

Areas of Expertise

  • Geographic Information Systems
  • Database Development
  • GIS Tool and Process Development
  • Integrating Web, GIS, Database and Analytics Tools
Travis White

Travis White

  • Research Engineer, Great Lakes Research Center
  • Relief Captain, Great Lakes Research Center

Specialties 

  • Responsible for administration of the Marine Autonomy Research Site and Smart Ships Coalition and coordination with the Marine Research Assets Shared Use Facility (MRAF) in support of client needs.
  • Provide scientific and engineering support to faculty, staff, partners, and sponsors with expertise in design, manufacturing, and integration of marine systems. Support budget and proposal development, project management, and strategic planning.
  • Over 10 years' experience as a licensed captain on the Great Lakes with expertise in navigation systems, marine electronics, mechanical systems, and maintenance, repair, and operations.
  • Expanded Biography.
Devin Seppala

Devin Seppala

  • Office Assistant
  • Great Lakes Research Center