Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore - the Natural Resources Challenge and Nationwide Connections (U.S. National Park Service)

The Great Lakes Research and Education Center is part of a much larger National Park Service (NPS) initiative to advance the management and protection of natural resources in the National Park System. Called the Natural Resources Challenge (or simply the Challenge), this enterprise is focusing energy, commitment, and resources on the NPS mission to preserve and protect our natural heritage for the American people.

Natural Resource Challenge
http://www1.nature.nps.gov/challenge/index.htm

Research Learning Centers A network of Research Learning Centers (RLCs) was developed as a result of the Challenge. Currently 17 RLCs exist across the nation. Other Research Learning Centers http://www.nature.nps.gov/learningcenters/National Park Service, Great Lakes Region The Great Lakes Research and Education Center works with national parks and their partners in a region in the western Great Lakes area known within the National Park Service as the Great Lakes Region. We collaborate with other Natural Resource Challenge Programs within that same area. These include:

Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network
http://www1.nature.nps.gov/im/units/glkn/index.htm

Great Lakes- Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)
http://www.cesu.umn.edu/