The center offers opportunities for students, resource managers, educators, and researchers to interact in a variety of disciplines. The center facilities accommodate seminars, workshops, and symposiums. Some of the critical research areas of interest to the Great Lakes Network Parks include:

• NATIVE AMERICAN USES OF PLANTS: CULTURE, AGRICULTURE, MEDICINE
• ROLE OF INCREASED ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN PARK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
• WILDLIFE AND PLANT DISEASES: REAL AND POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON NATIONAL PARKS
• EXOTIC AND INVASIVE ORGANISMS IN THE PARKS
• GENETIC BIODIVERSITY IN THE NATIONAL PARKS
• GIS AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AT THE LANDSCAPE LEVEL
• IMPACTS OF POLLUTANTS ON PARK ECOSYSTEMS
• IMPACTS OF DEER ON PARK RESOURCES
• GEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE PARKS
• ROLE OF PRESCRIBED FIRE IN NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OF PARKS
• BOREAL FOREST RESEARCH
• HARVEST MANAGEMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISH
• IMPACTS OF THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT ON NATURE
• ARCHEOLOGY AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES (ETHNOGRAPHY)
• APPROPRIATE RESTORATION OF NATURAL HABITATS WITHIN THE PARKS

Permits

Permits to conduct research in each park must be obtained from individual park resource managers. Links to permit application procedures and requirements can be found on the National Park Service web site: http://science.nature.nps.gov/research/

Sabbaticals in the Parks

The Sabbatical in the Parks Program was created to assist in arranging faculty sabbaticals for researchers to conduct scholarly activity in parks in order to advance and disseminate understanding of park resources. Many units of the national park system have field laboratory facilities and housing to accommodate tenured university faculty in research endeavors. A link to sabbatical descriptions and applications can be found on the National Park Service website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/Sabbaticals/

Facilities for Researchers and Students

Each park associated with the Great Lakes Research and Education Center may have facilities including field laboratories, office space, lodging, and conference rooms for faculty and student researchers' use while conducting in-park research.

The GLREC Research Station is located at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

The primary function of the research station is to provide housing, laboratory, and equipment support to enable researchers in the biological, physical, cultural, and social sciences to investigate the natural resources of the Great Lakes National Parks. The center has developed a research station that has four offices, wet chemistry area, and laboratory equipment. Equipment includes a laminar flow hood, water purifier, drying oven, incubator, balances, dissecting and compound microscopes, and some field supplies. Storage space for researchers’ field supplies is located in a detached garage. Limited low-cost housing is available at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (Hawleywood and Furnessville Lodging Facilities). Other Network Parks also offer limited facilities to conduct research.

Research projects will be evaluated on their application to park management needs, as well as scientific merit.

GLREC Research Laboratory

GLREC Office

Purdue University North Central Field Station

GLREC Lodging Facility