The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, one of a network of environmental research laboratories of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, celebrates its 25th anniversary April 25-26 with an open house, seminars, and a banquet featuring an address by a former U.S. Ambassador to Canada and Michigan governor.

A lab-wide public open house is scheduled from 1-5 p.m. on April 25 at GLERL, 2205 Commonwealth Avenue, Ann Arbor. The official anniversary ceremony at the lab is scheduled from 9:30-11:30 a.m., April 26, followed by an afternoon of seminars from
1-5 p.m. The ceremony and seminars also are open to the public. The festivities conclude with a private reception-banquet from 6-10 p.m. at the Holiday Inn- North Campus. Former Ambassador James J. Blanchard is slated to give the keynote address. Blanchard also served two terms as governor of Michigan.

The lab's staff concentrates on coastal and estuarine water research with special emphasis on the Great Lakes. Areas of study include the invasive zebra mussel, regional effects related to global climate change, hydrology and water levels of the Great Lakes, and the sources and effects of toxicants in the lakes.

"An outstanding level of significant work concerning various aspects of the Great Lakes has come out of this lab in the past twenty-five years, and we look forward to much more in the future," said GLERL Director Stephen Brandt.

NOAA's mission is to describe and predict change in the earth's environment and to conserve and manage wisely the nation's coastal and marine resources.

For more information about the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, visit: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov.