Areas of Research

The Great Lakes to Gulf Virtual Observatory (GLTG) is a partnership between National Great Rivers and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NSCA) at the University of Illinois and is funded by the Walton Family Foundation. It is an interactive website that provides user-friendly visualizations of water quality and land use data in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB). GLTG is built on Geodashboards, an open-source geospatial technology, and draws data from 1,300 sensor sites covering 122,233 contributing waterways and over 44 million data points. Together, the data create a comprehensive model of nutrient loads entering the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.

The GLTG dashboards host Mississippi River water quality information and agricultural conservation practices implemented in selected areas. Specifically, the Summary Dashboard showcases the nitrogen and phosphorus annual concentrations in rivers and streams from 31 states in the MARB. The State Portals Dashboard allows users to review data and other nutrient information specific to the 12 states participating in the Hypoxia Task Force (HTF). The Conservation Practices Dashboard provides visualizations of the impact that agricultural conservation practices have had from 1989 to 2020. In 2023, we began working with HTF member states as well as USGS and EPA on calculating scientifically defensible long-term trends in nitrogen and phosphorus in the MARB states that can be used as a measure of the success of state nutrient reduction strategies.

The GeoStreaming Dashboard is the powerhouse of the site and allows users to Explore, Analyze, and Download the data they are most interested in. There are currently 13 data sources from which to choose, including information from the Water Quality Data Portal as well as other data from the US Geological Survey (USGS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other organizations. This dashboard also hosts 15 layers that provide land use information to help contextualize the nutrient trend information including: HUC 8 nitrate loading predictions, a green infrastructure layer, the USGS SPARROW model, the extent of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone by year, a Congressional districts layer, watershed boundaries, river reaches, USDA CropScape frequency data, and average annual nitrogen fertilizer inputs. In addition to forms of nitrogen and phosphorus, the Geostreaming dashboard facilitates the exploration of other water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen, water acidity, turbidity, water temperature, and more.

GLTG is tailored for scientists, land managers, and policy makers in federal, state, and local institutions to assist them in deciding where to direct limited fiscal resources for on-the-ground conservation efforts and to target prime locations for additional water quality monitoring stations to provide the most cost-effective nutrient reduction results.

The Wetlands Collaborative (WC) is a collective effort between NGRREC scientists, educators and external partners to conduct research to educate the public about freshwater wetlands. The goal of the WC is to be a leader for freshwater wetland research across the Mississippi River Basin and beyond.

Wetlands are one of the most productive and economically important ecosystems globally. Since wetlands are defined as land saturated by water for extended periods of time, this leads to a multitude of habitat types, supporting a high diversity of species. Wetlands also provide critical ecosystem services such as flood water storage, groundwater recharge, nutrient retention and water filtration, as well as recreational opportunities. They are particularly important in the Mississippi River basin due to their ability to absorb flood waters, slow the velocity of flood water, and filter pollutants before water enters large rivers. However, most upland embedded wetlands (e.g., isolated wetlands, prairie potholes, seasonal wetlands, and semi-permanent wetlands) do not have federal protections under the Clean Water Act. Recently, the Sackett vs. EPA decision stripped federal protections from wetlands without a visible surface connection to larger, navigable waterbodies. Illinois is one of several states without a state-level wetlands protection plan. Given the importance of wetlands, more research and education on wetlands is warranted, especially in Illinois.

Wetlands are a key research focus for scientists at NGRREC, spanning multiple taxonomic groups (amphibians, reptiles, insects, and plants) and habitat types (vernal pools, wet meadows, and bottomland forests). One of the strengths of the WC is the diverse depth of knowledge of wetland flora, fauna, and hydrogeologic processes of its partners. Ongoing research on the state-threatened Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca) is a lead research project of the WC. In 2023, NGRREC and Route 3 Films released The Call of the Swamp: Investigating the State Threatened Bird-voiced Treefrog, a short documentary about our scientists’ work. That film is now part of a curriculum module available for K-12 educators. Another area of research has focused on wetland-dependent insects, including Odonates (dragonflies and damsel flies) and native bees, opening new lines of research into understudied taxa across the state. Additionally, using cutting-edge aerial imagery technology, we can assess research sites with LiDAR and multispectral cameras via drones, generating invaluable data on the occurrence and extent of wetlands that may be missed by traditional mapping. These research programs will generate long-term data sets for the benefit of other ecologists and conservation managers working in wetlands throughout the state and the Mississippi River Basin.

The mission of National Great Rivers Freshwater Contaminants research is to leverage our multidisciplinary research capabilities, along with our unique networking abilities with partner institutions, to conduct and facilitate research on freshwater contaminants across the Mississippi River Basin and to disseminate these data to scientists, managers, and policymakers. Our focus spans scientific disciplines (physics, chemistry, biology) and levels of biological organization, from molecular biology to ecology to human dimensions. Additionally, we strive to enhance public understanding of freshwater contaminants across the Mississippi River Basin through education and outreach initiatives.

Our freshwater contaminants research involves chemistry, hydrology, modeling, ecology, and ecosystems science, with a focus on identifying the contaminants (such as microplastics, forever chemicals and others), characterizing their movement across the landscape, and exploring their occurrence and impact on biodiversity and ecosystems services. The strategic position of National Great Rivers as a network hub fosters collaborative partnerships with other institutions and organizations across the Mississippi River Basin. We will connect managers, policymakers, and other stakeholders with the latest scientific data on freshwater contaminants to develop evidence-based policies.  Our researchers will collaborate with our educators at National Great Rivers and partner educators to provide evidence-based curriculum for their programs and promote awareness of freshwater contaminants across the Mississippi River Basin.