Sea Grant Illinois-Indiana
Lake Michigan buoys inform weather and fishing forecasts
Accurate and site-specific forecasts can be a key factor in helping inform boaters, fishers, and swimmers as they make recreational choices with safety in mind. Buoys are equipped with sensitive scientific instruments that can help weather forecasters as well as scientists, managers, recreational water users, and local community members understand Lake Michigan—how the lake looks today and how it will fare in the future.
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has three buoys in the nearshore waters of southern Lake Michigan—near Michigan City, Indiana since 2011, near Wilmette, Illinois since 2015 and in 2022, and a buoy was deployed in the waters near Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. This latest buoy provides water and weather data for the largest system of harbors and boats in the country—the Chicago Park District has accommodations for 6,000 boats.
In addition to aiding National Weather Service forecasting, our buoys are used daily (or even more frequently) by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Lake Michigan office to plan safe field sampling. DNR also communicates buoy data to anglers, both wave conditions and water temperature at depth, critical in deciding how deep to begin fishing, especially for perch and salmon. Buoy water temperature data is typically included in DNR weekly fishing reports, used by thousands of anglers.
Recent News
- IISG’s Eliana Brown wins 2025 Illinois Extension Excellence Award
- We’re hiring eight interns for summer 2026
- In 2026, IISG intends to fund 10 research projects focused on coastal concerns
- IISG looks back on 30 years of AIS outreach
- New step-by-step guide and veterinary brochures expand UnwantedMeds.org resources
IISG Instagram
This season, let’s teach eco-friendly habits while spreading cheer! NOAA’s Greener Holiday Gift Guide is full of ideas to reduce waste and protect our precious water resources.
Check out the full guide at the link in bio.
#teachingtuesday
NOAA Marine Debris
NOAA Education
The gales of November may come early, but, as usual, the nominations for the Lakies are right on time along with our official call for nominations!
Brought to you by the Teach Me About the Great Lakes podcast, The Lakies (aka "quite possibly not the least prestigious Great Lakes-focused awards ceremony there is”) are back.
Our goal isn`t to be the Official Arbiters of Quality, but to host a fun celebration of amazing Great Lakes-related research, outreach, and communication in the inimitable Teach Me style.
Nomination categories are:
-Great Lakes Science Communication of the Year
-Great Lakes Outreach Program of the Year
-Great Lakes News Event of the Year
-Great Lakes Research Finding of the Year
-Coolest Thing You Learned Listening to TMATGL in 2025
-Science Podcast of the Year (Non-TMATGL edition)
-Great Lakes Animal of the Year
-Great Lakes Non-Animal of the Year
-Great Lakes Sandwich of the Year
-Great Lakes Donut of the Year
The Details:
-Deadline: Nominations close on December 4th.
Process: It`s easy (just enter the name/title and a link).
-Self-Nominations: Highly encouraged. Don`t be shy.
We’d love to get a broad swath of work across both the serious and less-serious categories to celebrate. Feel free to pass the link on to interested people: https://bit.ly/Lakies25
Making Sense of Social Media: Presented by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant & Purdue Extension
When: December 6, 2025, from 1 - 4:00 PM EST
Where: RDM Shrimp, RDM Shrimp, 101 N 850 E, Fowler, IN 47944
Registration Link in bio.
Social media can be a great way to market your small business and products, but sometimes it might feel like you are casting a net again and again to find that your net is empty. After all, the point of using social media marketing is to connect with customers. By attending this workshop, you will:
-Hear Research Findings
-Participate in an Interactive Workshop Session
-Learn Real World Application
-Tour a Shrimp Farm
-Network at the “After Hour Social”
This program is supported by the North Central Regional Aquaculture Center and put on in partnership with the Indiana Aquaculture Association Inc, RDM Shrimp, and Ohio Sea Grant, The Ohio State University.
For questions contact Amy Shambach by email (ashambac@purdue.edu) or phone (317-238-0511)
This fall, our team took advantage of several opportunities to showcase our engaging educational programs at outreach events.
One highlight included the Great Plankton Race, where participants built plankton models and tested various adaptations that help this vital part of the food web survive.
