A freshwater laboratory
Wet and dry lab space for water chemistry, microscopy, identification, and sample processing.
The vision
A place to begin.
A future to build.
A conservation hatchery, applied research center, and community learning space—connected by a commitment to prairie waters and the generations who will inherit them.
A potential home on the Big Sioux
Close to the water.
Connected to the region.
The early facility concept considers a location near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, within the Big Sioux River watershed and close to colleges, conservation programs, and community partners.
A site has not been identified in the founding proposal. The emphasis is on a practical home for shared research, native-species propagation, field operations, and education.
Explore the facility concept
Inside the proposed hub
One place.
Connected kinds of work.
Propagation & rearing
Controlled systems for native fishes and mussels, host-fish rearing, and experimental work.
A base for fieldwork
Equipment storage, field operations, and space for maintaining and preparing research gear.
A community classroom
A place for workshops, tours, students, and shared freshwater learning.
Conceptual program areas from the proposal; not an architectural plan or an existing facility.
Five-to-ten-year ambitions
What progress
could look like.
Targets from the founding proposal—not outcomes already achieved.
Create conservation capacity
Develop captive propagation protocols for at least two flagship fish species and establish propagation capacity for at least two mussel species.
Build useful, collaborative science
Produce five peer-reviewed articles or contributions to agency technical publications and secure at least three multi-year cooperative agreements.
Grow a regional community of practice
Train five or more students or early-career professionals and earn recognition as a conservation partner across at least two states.
Sustaining the work
A foundation
that can endure.
The proposal explores a mix of grants, collaborative agreements, contract science, and mission-related earned income.
Training, technical services, and community support could help sustain conservation work over time. The detailed business ideas and preliminary figures remain in the working proposal for further development.
Explore the funding ideas
Where the vision began
A living document.
An open possibility.
This website draws from Liz’s October 2026 founding proposal: a place to gather ideas, describe the need, and imagine an institute built around freshwater life.
The complete document is here for anyone who wants to spend more time with the science, people, values, and practical questions behind the vision.
Read the founding proposal