Three postgraduate fellows are building relationships between the International Joint Commission and Indigenous and other communities to ensure diverse voices contribute to shaping a new plan for the future of Great Lakes science.
In 2022, the IJC’s Great Lakes Science Advisory Board published the “Great Lakes Science Strategy for the Next Decade” as a first step in planning for the future of Great Lakes science. The board is now helping develop a Great Lakes Science Plan for the Next Generation. When complete, this plan will identify and recommend activities and needed investments to transform Great Lakes monitoring, surveillance and forecasting science over the next generation.
Most Great Lakes science activities are focused on legacy impacts, resulting in improvements to numerous stressors and the health of the lakes and surrounding communities. However, the US Geological Survey approximates that only 5-10 percent of all Great Lakes spending goes to science activities. With a mix of threats like invasive species and climate change facing the region, there are significant data gaps and science needs, and the Great Lakes needs a new generation of proactive science to respond and prepare for these challenges.
The Science Advisory Board is working to create a detailed plan to turn the Science Strategy into action. This Great Lakes Science Plan would guide future science efforts and expand collaboration in Great Lakes research.To inform the writing of this plan, the board is engaging with an array of Great Lakes science and management experts from now until summer of 2025. The conversations span a wide range of topics and include conversations with governments, academics, science experts, stakeholders and rightsholders.
An important aspect of plan development is including perspectives of a broad range of communities within the basin, especially those not typically included in science planning discussions. To accomplish this, three Great Lakes research fellows are organizing engagements throughout the Great Lakes region with First Nations, Métis, Tribal and equity-deserving communities. This includes communities experiencing low-income, racial and ethnic residential segregation, disproportionate environmental stress or burden, and/or disproportionate impacts from climate change (as defined by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Justice40 initiative).
The intent is to build upon existing relationships and form new relationships, while also capturing thoughts, wants and needs regarding the plan.Many past and current threats to the Great Lakes basin disproportionately affect these communities, so including these perspectives is crucial. Engaging in these discussions now is expected to generate opportunities for continued communication and collaboration on priorities identified in the plan and other Great Lakes science initiatives.
The first of these listening sessions was in early October at the Great Lakes Beach Association Conference held at the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation in Grand Portage, Minnesota. A late November session in Fort William First Nation will likewise spur discussions about the Science Plan and Indigenous science with seven First Nations along on the northern shore of Lake Superior. Additionally, the fellows plan to connect with equity-deserving communities in cities such as Buffalo, New York; Toronto, Ontario; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Windsor and Thunder Bay, Ontario.
These discussions will be held through the spring of 2025, prior to development of the Science Plan. A first draft of the Great Lakes Science Plan for the Next Generation is expected to be prepared for review and comment at the International Association for Great Lakes Research’s 2025 Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in June.
The fellows are excited for the conversations ahead, and welcome thoughts on their engagements. If you would like to be involved or know someone who may be interested, reach out via a Great Lakes Science Plan engagement page.
