Wisconsin Sea Grant is a statewide program of basic and applied research, education, outreach and technology transfer dedicated to the stewardship and sustainable use of the nation’s Great Lakes and ocean resources.
Headquartered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the institute is housed in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research’s Aquatic Sciences Center. Wisconsin Sea Grant is part of a national network of 34 university-based programs funded through the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce and through matching contributions from participating states and the private sector.
Please contact us if you need anything on this website in an alternate format, info@seagrant.wisc.edu or (608) 262-0905.
Each year, the program scrutinizes the impact it has on coastal communities, serving people and better understanding the Great Lakes ecosystem. Our 2024 program one sheet provides a summary. Additionally, you can visit our timeline for past program and Great Lakes milestones.
Each program within the National Sea Grant College Program undergoes a review of functioning, organization, collaboration and service to coastal people and organizations. In preparation, individual programs provide a self-assessment. Here’s Wisconsin Sea Grant’s from its most recent review, completed in December 2024.
Land and Water Acknowledgement
Wisconsin Sea Grant’s work takes place in the Great Lakes of Michigan and Superior and the state of Wisconsin. We acknowledge we are guests on the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee and Potawatomi peoples.
We are an organization working for diverse, thriving coastal ecosystems and communities. We embrace the value of both Western scientific approaches and local Indigenous knowledge to strengthen our relationships with the waters, land and peoples of Wisconsin.
This water and land acknowledgment is a reminder of elements of our setting that have been overlooked, ignored or misrepresented by the dominant stories and teachings of American history. We must face the outcomes of unjust treaties and land granting systems, dispossession and harm caused by our university’s past complicity with policies of cultural and physical genocide as we seek reconciliation with the 12 First Nations of Wisconsin.
With humility and openness, we pledge to do the hard work of reflection and truth-telling to move toward a more just future.
An expanded statement: Wisconsin Sea Grant’s work takes place in the Great Lakes of Michigan and Superior and the state of Wisconsin. We acknowledge we are guests on the traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee and Potawatomi peoples.
We are an organization working for diverse, thriving coastal ecosystems and communities. We embrace the value of both Western scientific approaches and local Indigenous knowledge to strengthen our relationships with the waters, land and peoples of Wisconsin.
This water and land acknowledgment is a reminder of the cultural, historical and natural elements of our setting that have been overlooked, ignored or misrepresented by the dominant stories and teachings of American history. We must face the outcomes of unjust treaties and land granting systems, dispossession and harm caused by our university’s past complicity with policies of cultural and physical genocide as we seek reconciliation with the contemporary 12 First Nations of Wisconsin, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Brothertown Indian Nation, Forest County Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk Nation, La Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Oneida Nation, St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, Sokaogon Chippewa Community Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians. Land that Wisconsin now occupies has been home in the past to the Mississippian, Oneota, Dakota, Sauk, Fox, Mascouten, Kickapoo, Ottawa, Miami and Huron.*
With humility and openness, we pledge to do the hard work of reflection and truth-telling to move toward a more just future. We continue our learning and reflection about past and present people and cultures at resources such as Wisconsin First Nations and Native-Land.
Further, we commit to taking these actions:
- Continuing to do the personal and organizational work identified within our 2021-22 externally facilitated equity assessment.
- Creating opportunities for diverse voices to respond to the biannual research call-for-proposals process.
- Deepening our engagement throughout Wisconsin and the Great Lakes basin with communities that have not traditionally been heard and whose requests have not been acted upon.
*Source: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS3584
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