Lizhu Wang

Lizhu Wang is a senior science advisor at the International Joint Commission (IJC) Great Lakes Office and an adjunct associate professor at University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Before joining IJC, he was the director of the Institute for Fisheries Research (a collaborative unit between University of Michigan and Michigan Department of Natural Resources, 2003-2011) and a senior research scientist at Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (1994-2003). His research interests include evaluating influences of natural and anthropogenic environmental factors on water quality, physical habitat, and biological communities; modeling relationships among hydrology, thermal, landscape, land-use, physical habitat, and biota; and assessing potential impacts of climate and land-use changes on aquatic ecosystems. During the past 20 years, his work has focused on linking science with natural resource management, especially translating science into governmental management decision making. He has a long history of working on the Great Lakes ecosystem, including assessment of land-use impacts on Great Lakes tributary water quality, physical habitat, and biological communities; development of Great Lakes aquatic habitat framework; and involvement in Great Lakes habitat condition assessment. He serves as the secretariat for IJC’s Science Advisory Board Research Coordination Committee that consists of leaders from federal and university research institutions, which provides advice on science and research in the Great Lakes region to the governments of Canada and the U.S. He has intensive experience in developing and managing budgets and handling financial accounts, which he gained from responsibilities as the director of Institute for Fisheries Research, a principal investigator for numerous projects, and a contracting officer representative for the Department of State. He greatly values IAGLR and its role in promoting Great Lakes research and communicating research findings through publications and conferences.