Film crew captures CMU-led research on Great Lakes wetlands

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Central Michigan University researchers have been given the opportunity to oversee important scientific work in the Great Lakes region — and all of their hard work has been caught on film for a new documentary.

A University of Notre Dame film crew followed the researchers from CMU and other universities involved with the work, creating a documentary that emphasizes the importance of the wetlands.

CMU was given the opportunity to oversee the grant and administer the funds after Don Uzarski, founding director of the Institute for Great Lakes Research, helped to write and submit a $10 million grant.

Others schools working with CMU under the grant include the University of Notre Dame, Grand Valley State University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Lake Superior State University, University of Windsor, SUNY Brockport and Oregon State University.

Kathy Backus, assistant director of public relations, said the research was a great opportunity for the many schools to collaborate and work toward a common goal.

“This is one of the first times that all of these separate entities are working together and creating one collection point for the data,” Backus said.

Carli Gurholt, a Wisconsin graduate student in biology aiding with the research, said the wetlands are more than just an environmental issue. They are key for other important purposes including fishing, hunting, preventing floods and trapping carbon dioxide.

“Wetlands are important,” Gurholt said. “They’re slowly declining; we don’t have as many as in the past. In the Great Lakes region, there are less than 50 percent of the wetlands than what used to be there, so it’s time to start doing some preservation.”

Jessica Sherman, a field crew leader and lab manager for the grant, said that one of the long-term goals for the research is to create a uniform monitoring system in order to better measure the health of the wetlands.

“The wetlands are in good condition but need conservation and preservation,” she said. “We don’t want to lose any more and restore as much as we can. It catches me off guard, the impact of invasive species to the once really high quality, beautiful areas that are now degrading.”

The film crews did a great job of portraying the importance of the work being done in the Great Lakes, Gurholt said.

“(The documentary was important) to get the word out,” Gurholt said. “It was an outreach. People undervalue the worth of the wetlands, and the Notre Dame people that made the documentary did a good job targeting many people — not just scientists, but it was able to reach everyone really well even if they don’t know much about wetlands already.”

Sherman said the magnitude and importance of this research opportunity is quite broad.

“This is an excellent opportunity for our research lab and CMU to be at the forefront and involved in a movement of bringing attention to coastal wetlands and their importance,” she said.

The documentary can be watched on YouTube and at http://go.cmich.edu.