Facility and Fleet
Lakeshore Campus Buildings
AWRI is located on Muskegon Lake in Muskegon, MI. Three buildings support AWRI's research, education, and outreach activities. We offer research space and equipment, as well as ship support facilities, to advance collaborative research and educational programming efforts.
Artwork displayed at AWRI by the Grand Valley Art Museum can also be viewed online.
The Lake Michigan Center (LMC) is the central building at AWRI. Built in 2001, the LMC hosts 2 classrooms, conference areas, 5 research labs, faculty and staff offices, and research vessel dockage.
Built in 2013, the Robert B. Annis Field Station is a 14,700 sq. ft. LEED-designed building that houses 3 research laboratories, a mesocosm facility, faculty and graduate student offices, conference rooms, and storage for field equipment.
Our green-designed boat house was built in 2008 to provide ship support and small boat storage, with sustainability features such as a green roof, rain garden, and natural lighting.
AWRI Fleet
Research Vessels
AWRI operates 2 research vessels: the D.J. Angus, docked in Grand Haven, MI, and the W.G. Jackson, docked at AWRI's Lake Michigan Center in Muskegon. The vessels are designed for research and educational cruises, with group sizes of up to 26 participants on the D.J. Angus and 28 participants on the W.G. Jackson.
The vessels are floating aquatic science laboratories that are primarily used to support the AWRI Education & Outreach Program, but they are available for research as well. They are equipped for hands-on water quality studies by aquatic researchers, colleges and universities, general public, and fourth through twelfth grade classes. A list of onboard scientific equipment can be found here.
The vessels are United States Coast Guard inspected. All captains are licensed. Please note as per 33 CFR 104.265 (f) (2) (3), all persons/baggage/objects boarding the vessels are subject to security inspection. Failure to give consent or refuse screening shall result in denied access to the vessel. No weapons or backpacks are allowed onboard.
Small Boats
AWRI maintains a variety of smaller vessels for faculty and student research. The Field Station is equipped with an electric davit crane mounted on the seawall to hoist smaller jonboats directly to and from Muskegon Lake without needing to travel to an offsite boat launch.
Electrofishing boat "Sparky"
Pontoon
Jonboats
Kayaks