Understanding our Natural Resources
Research at National Great Rivers helps inform management and policy decisions for great rivers and their watersheds, also helping to inform the public and reinforcing the ties of human communities to local watersheds. We have a diverse research program spanning several disciplines from aquatic ecology to forestry to human dimensions of watershed sustainability. Much of this work is supported by competitive grants and results in peer-reviewed publications and technical reports.
Our research activities are diverse in scope and depth and focus on both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, ranging from the study of threatened and endangered species, to long-term monitoring of floodplain forests, to nutrient trends analyses throughout the Mississippi River watershed.
National Great Rivers supports research by our team of scientists and staff while also supporting collaborative research with scientists from other institutions and agencies. We provide seed grants to scientists from universities and research institutions throughout the region, in addition to conducting a faculty fellows program.
Our state-of-the-art facility in East Alton (IL) has become much more than a research field station in the 20 plus years since NGRREC was formed. It has become a gathering place for community groups, municipalities, scientific organizations, and state and federal agencies. The Jerry F. Costello Field Station has multiple research labs and a garage facility for our fleet of research vehicles. In addition, we manage 3 field sites for research.
Over the span of our existence, National Great Rivers has published over 207 peer-reviewed publications and technical reports.
