New office to open at NIU for US Geological Survey

DeKALB – The U.S. Geological Survey will open a branch on Northern Illinois University’s campus this year, and school officials said they think the move will boost collaborations and foster more research opportunities.

Karinne Bredberg, NIU’s director of the office of innovation, said the university has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey to house the Central Midwest Water Science Center in the former NIU Department of Technology print shop. The survey houses an office on Peace Road in DeKalb, which will relocate to NIU campus under the new plan.

She expects the move will bolster the university’s research and education.

“The collaboration agreement is basically just strengthening the partnership we’ve already had with [the survey],” Bredberg said. “We’ve had a long standing partnership with them. They work with our faculty, and have hired students, and interns and graduate students. It’s just really bolstering the research that they do, and that we do, and making it a collaborative effort.”

A Central Midwest Water Science Center branch office on NIU’s campus was expected to open this spring after a $500,000 renovation. The renovation of the 11,700-square-foot former print shop will be funded by a U.S. Geological Survey grant reimbursement to the university, officials said.

Barrie Bode, interim associate vice president for research at NIU, said officials believe there would be delays in its opening, however.

“The timeline for this to happen is going to be sometime in this calendar year because like everything else you always run into construction and renovation delays,” Bode said. “And so, we’re kind of experiencing that now but anticipate that it’s going to get done within the next few months.”

The Central Midwest Water Service Center branch office is expected to coincide with NIU’s ongoing plans to expand the institution’s research on earth and food sciences, the environment and education and outreach, according to an NIU news release.

“What I’m really excited about is that this is likely going to give our students gateways into potential careers with the [survey] and the Department of the Interior, under which they operate.”

—  Barrie Bode

That research also is expected to be a central aspect of the university’s yearslong plans to build a $23 million Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability. The facility, first announced in fall 2018, was granted $15 million in state funding in December 2022. That center is expected to begin construction in 2025.

That doesn’t mean the university has not already begun collaborating with the U.S. Geological Survey, however. In November 2023, NIU professor Melissa Lenczewski oversaw the installation of a monitoring well, in a joint project between the federal agency and university.

“The well will be used to monitoring groundwater levels and quality by NIU students associated with prairie restoration,” Lenczewski wrote in an email. “The installation used USGS’ Geoprobe Direct Push rig with NIU students and staff doing the core logging.”

Bode said he believes the budding partnership will enable more research to be conducted on campus – including Lenczewski’s foray into analyzing microplastics in ground water.

He said he thinks the real winners of these new partnerships are the students, however.

“What I’m really excited about is that this is likely going to give our students gateways into potential careers with the [Survey] and the Department of the Interior, under which they operate,” Bode said. “And so we’re always looking for ways to enhance the student experience, and make their education here more meaningful with regard to their careers, and this will definitely aid in that mission.”

Bode said the availability and access to experiences he likened to an internship are invaluable to those who seek a career path in water sciences. He gave the credit for new new access to Bredberg, who he said spearheaded the collaboration.

Bredberg said she was excited to bring something to campus that excited members of the NIU community.

“[The collaboration] really puts an exciting atmosphere around research and instruction when we have campus partners actually located here,” Bredberg said.

Bode said he thinks the proximity will help facilitate and aid access to collaborations with faculty, and by proxy their students.

“We’re really excited to more formally enhance the relationship between [the Geological Survey] and NIU by bringing them to campus,” Bode said. “And it’s really important to have a physical proximity for collaborations in research.”