New Freshwater Research and Education Center Unveiled

State-of-the-art laboratories for campus constituents to conduct freshwater research, hands-on exhibits for community members to learn ways to protect natural resources, and wall-to-wall windows for uninterrupted views of the St. Marys River as the backyard-backdrop highlight Lake Superior State University’s new $14.2 million Richard and Theresa Barch Center for Freshwater Research and Education (Barch CFRE).

LSSU will host a grand opening of the 18,000 square-foot, two-story site for campus colleagues, community partners, and the general public on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021, from 11 AM to 2 PM. Barch CFRE is located in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., adjacent to the CFRE fish hatchery in the Cloverland Electric Cooperative Hydroelectric Plant.

Grand opening tour stops include a cutting-edge mesocosm laboratory, an experimental system in which to perform a broad range of scientific investigation spanning aquaculture to contaminants to invasive species. There also is a Great Lakes Discovery Center, free and open to the public, with real-world interactive displays on the ecology of the Great Lakes, and a Discovery Lab that will host K-12 and undergraduate classes in the near future, including a Career and Technical Education program in natural resources for high schoolers. The complex additionally contains office space for key external partners, such as Michigan Sea Grant, an initiative of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with the mandate to enhance sustainable use of the Great Lakes; and the upcoming U.S. Coast Guard National Center of Expertise for the Great Lakes that will focus on oil spills in freshwater environments.

“The Richard and Theresa Barch Center for Freshwater Research and Education expands our footprint deeper into the Soo and extends our trailblazing environmentalism,” said LSSU President Dr. Rodney S. Hanley. “Because Lake State is surrounded by three Great Lakes and the five comprise the largest freshwater system in the world, we’ve made their stewardship a priority for faculty and an opportunity for students since our beginnings in 1946. Due to the generosity of lead donors Richard and Theresa Barch, Lake State now has a top-notch repository that equips our graduates with the knowledge and skills to craft a life of meaningful employment while augmenting the quality of life of the Great Lakes region, per our mission.”

Mike McCarthy, executive director of the Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District and a 2012 LSSU alumnus, said, “The St. Marys River and Sault Ste. Marie are the perfect location for this new state-of-the-art facility as it acts as the center point for three of the five Great Lakes. LSSU is the ideal institution to provide this opportunity as LSSU is recognized as one of the highest quality natural resources education facilities in North America. Providing opportunities for freshwater research and education in the Great Lakes watershed is unique in every way, including the undergraduate research opportunities, which are almost unheard of across higher education. Furthermore, the opportunities that this facility will bring in terms of partnership with local organizations like CLMCD and its ability to provide a greater conservation impact through those partnerships have unlimited potential to make LSSU a world leader in freshwater research and education.”

“Barch CFRE was conceived to connect our community, visitors, students, educators, and scientists to the Great Lakes. It leverages and expands the long-standing positive identity and influence CFRE has to conduct urgent research, train the next generation of scientists and educators, create freshwater stewards, and collaborate with like-minded academic, nonprofit, and governmental entities invested in conserving natural resources,” said CFRE Director Moerke.