Laboratory Information:
Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center
2630 Fanta Reed Road
La Crosse, WI 54603
Phone: 608-783-6451
Fax: 608-783-6066
Website: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/
Agency/Department: Dept. of Interior
Region: Midwest
Background/History of the Laboratory:
In 1959, the Fish Control Laboratory was established in La Crosse,
Wisconsin in an old fish hatchery facility. Its
mission was to investigate and develop chemical agents for the control of undesirable freshwater fish.
In 1968,
the laboratory was renamed the National Fisheries Research Center - La Crosse. Its mission was expanded
to
include research into the control of sea lamprey in the Great lakes and the development of chemicals
for public
aquaculture.
In 1994, as a result of the reorganization of the research components of the Department of the Interior,
the
Center was renamed the Upper Mississippi Science Center. This Center was formed by merging the National
Fisheries Research Center-La Crosse with the La Crosse field station of
the Pautuxent Wildlife Research
Center. In 1999, the Environmental Management Technical Center, which managed the Long Term Resource
Monitoring Program, and the Upper Mississippi Science Center were merged to form the Upper Midwest
Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC).
Mission of the Laboratory:
The majority of our ecological research is conducted in support of Department of the
Interior issues and lands
in the Upper Midwest. UMESC links its research closely with other USGS science
centers to broadly address
ecological and population concerns throughout the Nation’s heartland.
Primary Research Focus:
-
Mississippi River Basin
- Great Lakes Basin
Research Theme Focus:
-
River Ecology
- Restoration of Degraded
Habitats
- Declining Species
- Invasive Species
