Name: Central Michigan University plans a Great Lakes research facility on Beaver Island
Start: 2011-12
End: 2011-12
Location: Beaver Island

Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago — Took place at Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.

Event

Date: 2011-12
Kind: Education
Where: Beaver Island
Carried out by: organization/central-michigan-university
Eras: Modern era
Concepts: educationsciencecommunitycommunication
Within: Beaver Island

The December 2011 Beaver Beacon reports Central Michigan University plans to center a Great Lakes research project on Beaver Island, using the former Coast Guard boat house next to Town Hall. The report describes a 28-foot vessel, twelve mesocosm tanks, public tours, a $350,000 grant for the tanks, and a larger consortium of universities and government agencies.

Evidence limits

This is a newspaper account of a planned facility and research program; it does not establish the vessel’s later arrival, construction completion, or final operating schedule.

Sources

See the sources block above.

Sources

Central Michigan University Institute for Great Lakes Research report circulated by the Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce, “CMU Reports Mesocosms Unique In All Great Lakes,” Beaver Island Forum, September 19, 2012.
The circulated report says the Whiskey Point boathouse facility was operating new mesocosms and describes them as having capabilities not matched elsewhere in the Great Lakes, while linking to CM Life. This confirms operational presence after the 2011 planning report; the forum repost is not treated as an independent technical evaluation.
forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 05 · t005510
Beaver Beacon, December 2011, "News from the Townships."
Reports CMU plans for a 28-foot research vessel, a public research museum, twelve mesocosm tanks, community tours, a $350,000 tank grant, and a multi-university and agency research consortium. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2011-12_Beaver-Beacon
Beaver Beacon, December 2011, held issue PDF, source scan.
The held December issue scan confirms the CMU research-facility report.
data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2011-12_Beaver-Beacon

Added 6 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Central Michigan University plans a Great Lakes research facility on Beaver Island”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-cmu-great-lakes-research-facility-2011/, accessed [date], citing Central Michigan University Institute for Great Lakes Research report circulated by the Beaver Island Chamber of Commerce, “CMU Reports Mesocosms Unique In All Great Lakes,” Beaver Island Forum, September 19, 2012. (and 2 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-06. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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