Lake science network has roots in Wisconsin

From UW Madison:

Inspired and led by freshwater scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researchers eager to understand global ecosystems from end to end are now monitoring a series of buoys in lakes on every continent except Africa. Each buoy carries instruments to measure fundamental data on the weather above the water and the temperature and chemistry below it.

The buoys are linked through GLEON — the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network — but the motivation is mainly local, says UW-Madison limnologist Timothy Kratz, who chairs the network's advisory board.

The network represents a grassroots approach to large-scale science, says Kratz. "We have these large, top-down initiatives, where all the instruments are as similar as possible, but this network is very much bottom-up. Each site already has its own local reasons for getting measurements. Banding together in the network makes the process more efficient, so we don't repeat each other's mistakes."

Read full press release.

Visit GLEON website.