IISG has gone through changes and is moving forward

Posted February 20th, 2018 in Director's Blog, News

As the new director for Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG), I’d like to provide some insight into some dramatic changes that happened over the past two years as we switched administrative leads. As a bi-state program jointly managed by the University of Illinois and Purdue University, at any given time, one of these institutions has served as the lead. U of I was the initial lead from 1983 to 1994. Purdue served as the lead in 1994–2001, and again, U of I led the program from 2001 to 2018. Since February 2018, Purdue University is once again the institutional lead for IISG.

To maintain a long-term, equitable partnership we believe these institutional transitions are healthy. However, they do require substantial administrative adjustments and our recent transition has included turnover in multiple administrative positions. Brian Miller, our long-time director, retired in early 2018. In addition, both our assistant director (Lisa Merrifield) and outreach program leader (Laura Kammin) recently left the program. At the same time, several administrative positions (i.e., dean, associate dean, and department head positions) in our reporting line at the two universities have transitioned over the previous year.
As of 2018, I became the new director. Joining the program or taking on a new role were associate director (Yu-Feng Lin), assistant director (Stuart Carlton), outreach program leader (Pat Charlebois), research coordinator (Carolyn Foley), fiscal officer (Deb Hula), communication coordinator (Hope Charters) and administrative and layout assistant (Ethan Chitty).

We have spent a great deal of time this past year on hiring, team building, partner development, and establishing new work flows and fiscal tracking, but the core of our program’s activities remain consistent and strong. Luckily, several new positions were filled by people with Sea Grant experience who were familiar with the program. For example, Carolyn Foley moved from the assistant research coordinator to research coordinator position, and our research program has continued to support applied research, relevant to the management of Lake Michigan and the environmental and economic health of our region. Importantly, almost all of our more than 15 outreach and education specialists remained in their positions during the transition period. The programs they have developed continue to positively affect communities in southern Lake Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes region.

As we continue the process of transitioning our program, we are excited by the opportunity to build on this past work to continue to engage with students, researchers, and other partners to bring about sustainable and vibrant environments and communities around southern Lake Michigan.

Tomas Höök
Director, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant

 

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

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Calling all 6-12th grade educators! Only 5 days left to register! Join us for a FREE hands-on workshop exploring the lessons of the new Crayfish and Freshwater Ecosystems Curriculum at the Dunes Learning Center on April 15.

Get your feet wet (literally!) with crayfish sampling on the Little Calumet River, learn from an expert aquatic ecologist, and master GIS technology to log scientific data. Participants should come prepared for outdoor learning and bring a laptop for classroom activities.

The workshop is open to formal and non-formal educators, with a registration deadline of April 1. Space is limited, so register today at the link in bio.

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Calling all 6-12th grade educators! Only 5 days left to register! Join us for a FREE hands-on workshop exploring the lessons of the new Crayfish and Freshwater Ecosystems Curriculum at the Dunes Learning Center on April 15.Get your feet wet (literally!) with crayfish sampling on the Little Calumet River, learn from an expert aquatic ecologist, and master GIS technology to log scientific data. Participants should come prepared for outdoor learning and bring a laptop for classroom activities. The workshop is open to formal and non-formal educators, with a registration deadline of April 1. Space is limited, so register today at the link in bio.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant welcomes Hillary Glandon, the program’s new coastal ecosystem and community resilience specialist, to the team! Hillary will work to assess coastal change and provide actionable solutions for communities along the Great Lakes shorelines. Her position at IISG is in partnership with @inhsillinois in the University of Illinois’ Prairie Research Institute.

Full story at the link in bio.

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Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant welcomes Hillary Glandon, the program’s new coastal ecosystem and community resilience specialist, to the team! Hillary will work to assess coastal change and provide actionable solutions for communities along the Great Lakes shorelines. Her position at IISG is in partnership with @inhsillinois in the University of Illinois’ Prairie Research Institute. Full story at the link in bio.
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