• Develop a historical database of environmental processes and anthropogenic disturbances determined to have caused coastal geomorphic changes for Illinois Beach State Park and Waukegan Beach
• Produce list of probable future (within next 50 years) beach and dune changes for coastal managers
• Engage stakeholders in order to understand how data can be readily visualized and utilized in the planning and decision-making process

• Build a network (“PhragNet”) to serve as the foundation for an adaptive management framework focusing on reducing uncertainty associated with Phragmites management

• To provide information on past low lake levels of Lake Michigan, to better
  understand why there have been lower lake levels in the past, and to better predict and thus prepare for future low lake levels

This research project proposes a computational model validated by experimental testing to improve various characteristics of sustainable cement and concrete by reusing waste materials from the Great Lakes as additives in sustainable building materials. The model will be paired with AI algorithms to efficiently determine the feasibility of recycling bottom sediment from the Great Lakes as a sustainable construction material and analyze the impact of the additive on concrete performance. The goal of the proposed research is to reduce environmental pollution and improve the current ecological system by recycling the bottom sediments in the Great Lakes region, thus improving the efficiency of concrete use in actual construction and the ecological sustainability of the Great Lakes region.

• Define historical baselines for restoration of coastal Great Lakes pine forests
• Evaluate the necessity for restoration of composition and structure in modern coastal forests
• Assess the impact of historical legacies on modern composition and structure of coastal pine forest

• Assess how recreation influences the behavior of the endangered Karner blue butterfly at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
• Identify and predict the implications of such disturbance-related behavior on oviposition rate and larval host plant selection by the Karner blue butterfly
• Identify and devise active management strategies and site designs minimizing recreational disturbance to the Karner blue butterfly at sites with existing populations and restored sites proposed for the species re-introduction