Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program

Long Term Resource Monitoring

The INHS Great Rivers Field Station

The Great Rivers Field Station is operated by the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), Prairie Research Institute. The Great Rivers Field Station (GRFS) is located in Alton, Illinois. Staff at the GRFS conduct research on the Upper Mississippi River, including Pool 25, Pool 26, the lower portion of the Illinois River, and the Open River Reach from below Lock and Dam 26 to the Kaskaskia River. This sampling is part of a larger partnership with the Upper Mississippi River Restoration - Long Term Resource Monitoring Element (LTRM), a partnership with five other field stations from Minnesota down to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi River.

The six LTRM field stations coordinate the sampling methodology used at each station so that data collection is standardized and comparable among all LTRM stations. Support for this work comes from the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program funded by the US Army Corps of Engineers. All the state field stations work hard to be sure sampling is unified and comparable across the entire partnership. The only restoration program comparable in scope to the UMRR - LTRM, is the restoration of the Florida Everglades. Three full-time researchers conduct fish and water quality sampling for LTRM.

GRFS also has a permanent researcher who conducts the Long-Term Survey and Assessment of Large River Fishes in Illinois (LTEF). LTEF conducts electrofishing on several Mississippi River Reaches that are not sampled by LTRM, filling in data gaps that are not covered by LTRM.

In addition to our full-time staff, the GRFS supports a part-time clerical position and several seasonal technicians. Seasonal technicians at GRFS gain invaluable experience working in the field and laboratory, with many going on to have permanent positions with state and federal agencies or other academic institutions.

John Chick Field Station Team Leader
Telephone: (618) 468-2850

National Great Rivers Research and Education Center
1 Confluence Way
East Alton, Illinois 62024

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