Support the GLRC | Great Lakes Research Center

Engraved fish on the main hallway in the GLRC with Thank you text above.

Ways to Support the GLRC

Top facilities at the Great Lakes Research Center provide a framework imperative to great ideas and great solutions. Scholarships, fellowships, and endowed professorships help bring experts—and their students—together for freshwater research on the shores of the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin.

We are grateful for your generosity and desire to honor a family member, pay tribute to a friend, or commemorate someone who provided inspiration. Your gifts keep us on the forefront of knowledge and advance research, education, and outreach at the GLRC.

Buy a Fish

A 10-inch clear fish engraved with a sample name for the Buy a Fish campaign.

Alumni and friends are invited to show their support of fresh water research, education and outreach at Michigan Tech. The Buy a Fish campaign allows individuals to purchase a personalized acrylic fish that is creatively displayed on a donor wall located in the first floor lobby.

Funds committed through the Buy a Fish campaign will support student development opportunities, new research, and facilities improvements.

The fish measure 10 ($250+ donation), 12 ($500+ donation) and 14 ($1,000+ donation) inches in length and will be attached to the display using brushed silver standoffs at varying depths. The wall display is constructed of cabinet-grade birch veneer with a vinyl graphic overlay adding a subtle wave pattern. The fish will be arranged in groups or “schools” based on the giving year.

Use our online giving form and specify your two lines of personalized text in the special instructions box. (Leave the code that auto-fills in the box as well - that will make sure your donation goes directly to the GLRC.)

Naming Opportunities

	Funding Needed
Building naming	$5–$10 million
Lobby	$100,000
Educational outreach area	$100,000
Large meeting room	$100,000
Pre-function space/reception area	$100,000
Conference rooms (4)	$50,000
Large offices (2)	$25,000
Small offices (30)	$10,000
Large laboratories (6)	$25,000
Small laboratories (5)	$15,000
Research vessel deployment area	$50,000
High-performance computing research area	$25,000
Computing lab	$25,000
Undergraduate scholarships	$5,000–$25,000 each
Graduate scholarships	$15,000–$35,000 each

Equipment

	Funding Needed
Digital side scan sonar (Imagenex Yellowfin)	$15,000
Multi-beam sonar	$200,000
Slocum Glider	$250,000
Note: Because of your support, we now have a light-duty remotely operated vehicle (ROV) valued at $63,000, a boat crane/winch valued at $10,000, and an Iver 3 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) valued at $150,000. Thank you!

General Lab Equipment

	Cost
Thermo Scientific Barnstead E-Pure water system	$4,000
Thermo Scientific box/convection furnace	$4,000
Thermo Scientific premium muffle furnace	$5,000
Biospherical and Li-COR PAR sensors and meters	$5,000
Niskin sampling bottles (8)	each $600
Zooplankton net with meter (2)	each $2,500
Eppendorf refrigerated multipurpose centrifuge	$7,000
Thermo Scientific ELT cryofreezer	$10,000
Market Forge autoclave/sterilizer	$11,000
Turner Designs fluorometer, Model 10AU	$15,000
BOD/plant-growth chambers/incubators, Model LI15 (3)	each $6,500
PerkinElmer Lambda 35 spectrophotometer with integrating sphere	$20,000
Sea-Bird real-time CTD with fluorometer and transmissometer for boat	$50,000
Compound research-grade microscope for multiple users: Leica DM 5000	$70,000
Inverted research-grade microscope for multiple users: Leica DMI 4000	$80,000

Superior Ideas - Underwater Observatory

Superior Ideas - Great Lakes Research Center
Two researchers move equipment on the dock of the GLRC on a winter's evening.

The Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) has an underwater observatory that allows for a year round interface for anyone to view and study the Portage waterway. The goal of this project is to build a bigger observatory and monitor all 5 of the great lakes.