IJC Town Hall Session 8: Great Lakes Science
Lizhu Wang, International Joint Commission, [email protected]
Abstract
Science provides the foundation for implementing management decisions, policies and programs. In Annex 10 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), Canada and the United States commit to enhancing coordination, integration, synthesis and assessment of Great Lakes science activities through four primary tasks. The task of implementing the Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) includes coordinating planning, delivery and reporting of science in relation to the specific priorities identified through the Lakewide Management process. The task of ecological indicators is to maintain science-based ecosystem indicators to assess the state of the Great Lakes, anticipate emerging threats, and measure progress in relation to the GLWQA’s General and Specific Objectives. The task of data management and sharing is to improve accessibility to the State of the Great Lakes indicator and sub-indicator data and to develop a data platform assessment tool and data metrics to enable users to evaluate data sharing platforms and inventories needed to achieve all annex objectives. The last task is to increase understanding of Traditional Ecological Knowledge and look for opportunities for its application to GLWQA activities. This session provides an opportunity for participants to discuss and identify how the Science Annex tasks can be accomplished and improved.