Dr. Al Steinman (AWRI) has collaborated with GVSU faculty members Hannah Seidel (Dance) and Sookkyung Cho (Music) on a project to improve water awareness through performance art. The first movement of the piece, available in the video clip below, debuted at the annual meeting of the Society for Freshwater Science in Detroit, MI in May 2018. The music is the 2nd movement of Faure's Piano Trio in D minor Opus 120. The musicians playing are Sookkyung Cho (piano: GVSU); Jeremy Crosmer (cello: Detroit Symphony Orchestra), and Hong-Yi Mo (violin: Detroit Symphony Orchestra). The dancers are undergraduate students in the GVSU's Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance (Olivia Karenas, Ross Lindhout, Victoria VanderPlas). The full performance will take place in Fall 2018. View the collaboration's website to learn more.

Researchers at Grand Valley State University's Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute will be able to investigate topics that government funding programs are typically not willing to take on, thanks to a new endowed fund created by Allen and Helen Hunting.

The Huntings initiated the Allen I. and Helen J. Hunting Research and Innovation Fund through a generous gift to Grand Valley. This endowment will support research that will focus on important issues impacting Lake Michigan and the Grand River, including water quality, agriculture, climate change and other freshwater questions.

Alan Steinman, the Allen I. and Helen J. Hunting Director of the Annis Water Resources Institute, said the fund will allow high-risk, high-return research that could have significant impacts on water resources and science.

Organizations that fund research like to be relatively certain that the money they're giving is going to yield some safe results, but that often means taking very little risk with research and sticking with safe, often predictable results," Steinman said. "The gift from the Huntings means that we'll have funds to go after exciting and groundbreaking research, focusing on high-risk but also high-return projects. Research needs to take that chance every once in a while to yield unique results that are important to protecting our Great Lakes."

Steinman said he hopes to use the fund to more aggressively pursue research into microplastics in the Great Lakes, as well as assess the potential impacts of key stressors that will affect our future water resources, including climate change, land use change, and water withdrawals.

"Allen and Helen Hunting have given us a wonderful gift that will allow us to do even more exciting and innovative science here at AWRI," Steinman said. "They're wonderful stewards of our environment and care deeply about protecting our spectacular freshwater resources."

The gift is part of the Laker Effect comprehensive campaign for Grand Valley State University. To learn more about the campaign visit gvsu.edu/giving. To learn more about the Annis Water Resources Institute, visit gvsu.edu/wri.

Hoekstra, N. 2017. "New endowed fund will help with high-return water research." GVNext N.p., 5 Sept 2017. Web. 6 Sept. 2017.

Robert (Bob) Annis was honored posthumously at GVSU’s Annual Enrichment Dinner with the university’s highest award.  An Indianapolis native, Bob claimed that “everything I’ve done is just making a hobby pay”. That modest statement refers to his professional success in creating the R.B. Annis Company, which he led for more than 72 years and is still successful today. Teaching himself, Bob became a national expert in magnetics and precision balancing instruments, providing advice to the U.S. military and major corporations who brought him their most difficult challenges.

Early in his life, Bob joined the Scientech Club with a number of prominent Indiana scientists including Eli Lilly, Elwood Haines, and Frank Wade. He later served as board member and president, leading the club to develop a foundation and to participate in the Central Indiana Regional Science Fair, fostering scientific education for thousands of 4th through 12th-grade students. He also served on the Indianapolis Board of Education, received the Indianapolis Scientific and Engineering Foundation Community Service Award, and was named a ‘Sagamore of the Wabash’, the highest honor Indiana confers.

It was his friendship with fellow Scientech Club member and mentor D.J. Angus, and frequent travels to Michigan for boating on the Great Lakes with D.J., which ultimately connected Bob with Grand Valley State University. D.J. decided, shortly before his death, to give his boat the Angus to Grand Valley for a floating Lake Michigan classroom. Later, Bob and the Angus-Scientech Foundation provided funding for its upkeep and supported the purchase of the D.J. Angus, successor to the original Angus, and the W.J. Jackson which was later added to the fleet.

Bob’s personal encouragement and gifts were instrumental in the establishment and development of the university’s water resources institute, GVSU’s first applied research organization. In 1997, the institute was named the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) in his honor. The R.B. Annis Educational Foundation was established in 1997 and continues to support the institute including generous support for the Robert B. Annis Field Station in 2013. In recognition and appreciation of these efforts, the university awarded Bob Annis an honorary Doctor of Science degree on October 22, 1993.

Bob’s lifetime of generosity and scientific discovery have given him a far-reaching legacy. Grand Valley and West Michigan are fortunate to be a part of that enduring effect.

The Robert B. Annis Field Station was officially dedicated on August 12, 2013. This video, which was produced for the dedication ceremony, highlights the benefits and opportunities the new field station brings to AWRI, GVSU, and the Muskegon community.

AWRI Director Al Steinman was interviewed for a video produced by the U.S. EPA, titled Revitalizing Local Waterfront Economies: The Great Lakes Legacy Act.

The video highlights contaminated sediment clean-up efforts in several Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs), including Muskegon Lake. Dr. Steinman is interviewed at 1:50 and 4:30 in the video, but the entire video is excellent.

On August 15, 2012, the Discovery Channel's Profiles Series featured AWRI as a focal institution in an episode on freshwater conservation. Three videos were produced in the creation of the feature. Enjoy watching AWRI in action and learning more about our efforts to enhance and preserve freshwater resources!

This 1 minute video is a short overview from the special episode on freshwater conservation that features AWRI as one of the focal institutions.

This 6 minute video is the segment being aired as part of the Profiles Series special episode on freshwater conservation.

This 10 minute video includes the Profiles Series feature on AWRI, with additional footage of the vessel education program and community leaders.

This video provides an overview of the Lake Michigan Center and the funding campaign and donors whose generous donations allowed AWRI to move from GVSU's Allendale Campus to its current home in Muskegon.