There are many research projects and laboratories at MSU that work on water. Here, we focus on projects and groups that involve multiple disciplines, operate for multiple years, and are supported by ongoing external funding. For additional projects, please see individual faculty websites (which you can find through our People page).
Long-term Multidisciplinary Projects and Laboratories
Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center (ADREC)
The MSU Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center (MSU ADREC) is to provide platform for multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, and multi-national collaborations that develop sustainable waste-to-resource solutions to address current and future waste utilization challenges. The research and development activities in the center are focusing on developing the technologies that are able to economically address waste utilization needs of our global community. The specific objectives are to: 1) develop novel waste-to-resource technologies capable to convert organic wastes into value-added products, 2) fulfill commercialization and technology transfer of new waste-to-resource concepts, and 3) educate the next generation of engineers, scientists and policymakers on waste utilization design and practice.
CSI-Limnology is an interdisciplinary group of researchers conducting research on a key problem in macro-systems ecology namely, the identification and study of cross-scale interactions (CSIs) at sub-regional to continental scales.
Improving Access to Clean Energy in Rural Central America
The goal of the project is to develop and deploy an integrated small-scale self-sustained waste-to-clean energy generation system producing value-added by-products such as fertilizers for local farming applications and reclaiming water. A small-scale portable demonstration solar-biopower generation system will be first developed to convert agricultural waste streams such as animal manure, crop residues, and food wastes into clean electricity and heat, reclaim the wastewater, and produce valuable byproducts.
Landscape Ecology & Ecosystem Science (LEES) Lab
The LEES Lab at the CGCEO of Michigan State University, directed by Dr.Jiquan Chen, is interested in scientific investigations and education on fundamental ecosystem and landscape processes for understanding ecosystem functions and management. One of their current projects, the Lake Erie Sensor Network (LESN) is a real-time platform that focuses on net ecosystem exchange of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, H2O, and energy) as well as the physical, chemical and biological properties of the western basin of Lake Erie. All data, including those of six flux towers, will be open access to promote education, research, and public awareness.
Landscape Limnology Research Group
The Landscape Limnology group is a multidisciplinary team working together to conduct research on landscape limnology, with special focus on developing the critical underlying principles of this emerging subdiscipline and applying those principles to the management and conservation of freshwater resources.
The MSU Hydrogeology Lab evaluates human impacts on the water cycle through changes in climate and land use. The research group couples novel models with high resolution field data to explore the physical, chemical, and ecological processes in natural and human-altered systems.
MSU Hydrology & Water Resources Group
Housed in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, the Hydrology & Water Resources Group focuses on research areas such as surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology, and contaminant fate and transport modeling.
NSF PIRE for Water and Commerce brings together three US universities, five international academic institutions in Turkey, Singapore and France, and industry partners to educate students in the technology and international dimensions of water resources and their connection to a global movement of goods, materials, and energy.
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