Lower Great Lakes Database Developed

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A searchable database on the Lower Great Lakes has been developed by the Great Lakes Program at the University at Buffalo and New York Sea Grant.

Its purpose is to provide researchers, legislators, staff members, agency representatives, administrators, Sea-Grant extension staff and students with resources and contacts for joint projects and collaborations involved with Great Lakes management and protection.

Specifically, the database was developed to provide the recently organized New York Coalition of Great Lakes Legislators with useable reference tools that they can easily access in order to better understand the players and policies that influence Great Lakes management issues.

"There are over 650 organizations and agencies that have some sort of governance mandate in the Great Lakes basin," said Joseph V. DePinto, director of the Great Lakes Program and UB professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering. "This database is sorely needed by all stakeholders as a means of determining who to contact with questions or comments on the many important issues facing Great Lakes basin residents."

It was developed by DePinto and Helen Domske, associate director and New York Sea Grant extension specialist, with support from New York Sea Grant, the Great Lakes Program and the Great Lakes Research Consortium.

"This project is an excellent example of how well the partnership between the Great Lakes Program at UB and New York Sea Grant has worked to serve Western New York and the whole state with respect to information and education on its most precious natural resource," said DePinto.

The database is accessible from the Great Lakes Program Web site at http://wings.buffalo.edu/glp

To run the database, users must have ACCESS97 under Windows 95/98/NT. By mid-summer, the database will be searchable from the Web site.