Northern Michigan’s Bluetech Innovation Hub

The Boardman River Dams Ecosystem Restoration Project will reconnect over 160 miles of free-flowing, cold-water stream and restore hundreds of acres of wetland and upland habitat. It is one of the most comprehensive dam removal and restoration projects in Michigan’s history and one of the largest such projects in the Great Lakes Basin.

The Traverse City Downtown Development Authority kicked off a civic engagement design process in 2018 to lead the Lower Boardman River Unified Plan, which provides a cohesive vision for the river corridor, as well as steps to address land use, public access, infrastructure, culture, and habitat. The scope of this plan encompasses the 1.6 miles of the Boardman/Ottaway River that meanders through Downtown – from the northern shore of Boardman Lake to Lake Michigan.

FishPass is the capstone of a ~20y restoration project on the Boardman/Ottaway River, re-connecting the river with Lake Michigan. FishPass is led by Great Lakes Fishery Commission, in partnership with the City of Traverse City, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and many other partners. FishPass will replace the failing Union Street Dam with a new labyrinth weir and infrastructure that will allow researchers to sort and selectively pass desirable native fishes while blocking harmful invaders like sea lamprey.

Headquartered in Traverse City, Circle of Blue creates award-winning nonprofit journalism from the frontlines of water, food, and energy in the changing climate. Its visionary work across the Great Lakes, U.S., China, Australia, Mexico, India, and the Middle East earned the Rockefeller Centennial Innovation Award, one of the nation’s top honors. Circle of Blue meets the demand for information and collaboration in the challenge of the century: water.

The Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA) is part of a nationwide network of Resource Conservation and Development Councils. The organization serves northwest lower Michigan. CRA’s RiverCare Program was created to guarantee that natural resource professionals maintain a consistent and prioritized action plan for each river in CRA’s region, find and repair physical problems before they become worse, and maintain efficient, coordinated local river committees of agency, resident, and interest group representatives.

The mission of the Discovery Center & Pier is to connect people of all ages, needs, and abilities to the Great Lakes through recreation, education, science, history and stewardship.

For Love of Water (FLOW) is a nonprofit organization whose mission upholds that certain natural resources like navigable waters are preserved in perpetuity for the benefit of the public to use and enjoy. FLOW seeks to safeguard the Great Lakes, the planet’s largest freshwater lake system, by advancing public trust solutions and cutting-edge policy work. FLOW has built key partnerships with state and regional Great Lakes groups, leveraged their expertise to influence agencies and impact state and federal legislation, and grown to be a trusted source of current information on issues affecting our freshwater seas.

Inside the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), biologists, geologists, engineers, chemists, remote-sensing specialists, and computer scientists work together along Michigan Tech’s Innovation Shore. GLRC research vessels launch right from campus on the Keweenaw Waterway, just miles away from Lake Superior. Activities include deploying under-ice robots, studying lake ecology and fish biology, capturing sonar images with autonomous subsurface vehicles, and investigating aerosol chemistry and how warm winters impact the coastal food chain.

Based out of the Boardman River Nature Center, the Grand Traverse Conservation District provides gateways to the natural world, restores natural areas, trains future generations of conservation leaders, and supports sustainable, local agriculture. Their “Protecting Our Lakes & Shorelands” series is available here.

Hybrid Robotics design and manufacture marine robotic solutions for research and inspections. They have developed systems for unmanned surface vessels to complete routine, as well as high-risk, marine missions previously inaccessible due to technological and environmental limitations without the need for a boat, divers, or aerial support.

The Inland Seas Education Association provides learners of all ages with hands-on experiences aboard traditionally rigged tall ship schooners, along the shores of the Great Lakes, and in local rivers, streams, and wetlands. As a non-profit organization located in Suttons Bay, Michigan, its goal is to provide people with the information they need to become stewards of the Great Lakes.

OLA Filter is an easy-to-use, affordable water filter that uses ultrafiltration technology to remove bacterial contamination from drinking water in developing countries. The product was co-invented by Traverse-City based inventor Theresa Smith.

Quantum has taken the art and science of sailmaking to the highest level to produce the most efficient and fastest sail shapes possible. Quantum’s proprietary iQ Technology® system was created by experts with over 20 years of knowledge and expertise in both sailing and the complexities of engineered structures. Integrating state-of-the-art sail design and manufacturing methods with on-the-water-testing, Quantum® sails are perfected to offer sailors of all levels outstanding performance, consistency, and repeatability.

The Watershed Center of Grand Traverse Bay has a 20 year history of protecting and preserving Grand Traverse Bay and its 1,000-square mile watershed through on-the-ground projects and advocacy.

Some of their projects include the Boardman River Watershed Prosperity Plan – a vision and roadmap for the future management of one of Michigan’s most beautiful watersheds. It meets the community’s desire to have a management plan for the river and provides a blueprint for multi-jurisdictional cooperation to improve the environmental, economic, and social prosperity of the watershed region.

SampleServe is a user-friendly app and platform that simplifies environmental sample collection, project management, and communication between technicians, managers, and labs, and then quickly generates a wide variety of regulatorily required reports.

Solve for X, L3C / The SolvePFAS Projects: Michigan is one of the first states in the nation to design and implement a multi-pronged strategy to detect, measure, and eradicate PFAS in ground and surface water. The company has five projects in development to address PFAS:

1. a mobile PFAS Laboratory for in situ sample diagnostics
2. a handheld sensor for detecting PFAS, algae, e. coli and other contaminants in real-time
3. an Environmental Impact Investment platform focused on innovative water, air, and soil stewardship
4. a catalog of carbon-negative or -neutral products for water and soil treatment, and carbon sequestration
5. a catalog of PFAS-free products to replace the ‘forever chemicals’ in industrial & consumer supply chains

Vector Center helps companies, institutions, and governments navigate and mitigate profound water and systemic risks. Their revolutionary Perception Reality Engine™, provides real-time, contextualized intelligence for decision-makers about water and intersecting threats around the globe at a moment when risks are becoming realities.

Vector Center’s approach combines state of the art satellite data, social sentiment analysis, and on-the-ground investigative research backed by a network of best-in-class, purpose-driven innovators at the forefront of sustainability, analytics, and global trends.