Research conducted on the Great Lakes is very important. With the knowledge gained, lets hope that our government has the will to do what is necessary for the sake of our freshwater seas.The Lake Guardian is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) largest Great Lakes' research and monitoring vessel. It is the only self-contained, non-polluting research vessel on the Great Lakes. The Lake Guardian, operated by the EPAs Chicago-based Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO, conducts monitoring programs that sample the water, aquatic life, sediments, and air in order to assess the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem by using state-of-the-art data collection techniques and instruments during the biannual spring and summer surveys. It is also used to support research activities conducted by Federal, State, and, local agencies, and universities. R/V Lake Guardian has been operating on the waters of the Great Lakes for the past 12 years. The ship is offshore, collecting data, for approximately 7 months a year
