Principal Investigators: Joan B. Rose (MSU), Stephen B. Brandt (NOAA/GLERL), and Edward Rutherford (CILER)

The NOAA Center of Excellence for Great Lakes and Human Health is a multi-disciplinary research center that focuses on human health effects in the Great Lakes related to beach closings, drinking water quality, and harmful algal blooms. Defining and forecasting these relationships are the primary focus of the Center. Research concentrates on providing forecasts of water quality. Research Objectives for the project:

• Genetic characterization of waterborne pathogens.
• Development and application of microbial tools for hazard identification.
• Source tracking and use at field sites.
• Microbial transport modeling.
• Surface water, groundwater and vadose zone hydrology modeling and watershed modeling.
• GIS and remote sensing.
• Quantitative microbial risk assessment.