Guy Meadows appointed by Gov. Whitmer to state's Environmental Permit Review Commission

By Michele Bourdieu, with information from Tech Today, Michigan Tech University, and Michigan Office of the Governor

Michigan Tech University Senior Research Scientist Guy Meadows, director of Michigan Tech's Marine Engineering Laboratory and founding director of Michigan Tech's Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), has been appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the state's Environmental Permit Review Commission (EPRC).

Inset photo: Dr. Guy Meadows. (File photo courtesy Michigan Tech University)

The EPRC was created to advise the director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) on disputes related to permits and permit applications. The EPRC may advise the EGLE director on any permit or operating license issued by EGLE under the Natural Resources Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended (NREPA), or the rules promulgated under NREPA.

"I am deeply honored to be considered for such an impactful commission," Dr. Meadows told Keweenaw Now.

Meadows holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science Engineering degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Marine Science from Purdue University.

Before coming to Michigan Tech in 2012 to help establish the Great Lakes Research Center, Meadows served as Professor of Physical Oceanography for 35 years at the University of Michigan, College of Engineering, where he served the College and University as Director of the Ocean Engineering Laboratory, Director of the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research (NOAA, Joint Institute), Director of the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratories and founding Academic Director of the M-STEM Academy.*

According to his biography, Meadows' primary goal has been "to blend scientific understanding and technological advancements into environmentally sound engineering solutions for the marine environment, through teaching, research and service."*

Guy Meadows chats with Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow during her visit to the Great Lakes Research Center in April, 2017, when she heard from Michigan Tech faculty and students about projects related to the Great Lakes. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

Meadows' less formal teaching includes five nationally televised documentaries for the History and Discovery Channels. His primary research interests are in geophysical fluid dynamics with emphasis on environmental forecasting and full-scale, Great Lakes and coastal ocean experimental hydrodynamics. In this arena, he has influenced policy and explored societal impacts of environmental forecasting for coastal management, recreational health and safety, and regional climate change.*

Guy Meadows is pictured here with Michigan Tech's environmental monitoring buoy that was deployed on Aug. 18, 2015, in the Straits of Mackinac, just west of the Mackinac Bridge. The buoy is intended to provide real-time environmental monitoring of the water conditions and to improve safety for Enbridge's pipelines under the Straits. (File photo courtesy Guy Meadows of Michigan Tech University)

In 2018 Meadows led a team of 41 researchers from 7 universities plus the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, who conducted an independent risk analysis of Enbridge’s two Line 5 pipelines beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Their report details several different worst-case scenarios and outlines impacts for each. The final report, "Independent Risk Analysis for the Straits Pipelines," published in September 2018, is posted here.**

Notes:

* Read more of Guy Meadows' Biography and work on the Michigan Tech Web site. See also his story about growing up in Detroit and his first job working on a beach, as told to Cyndi Perkins.

** See a short Detroit Public TV YouTube video from Great Lakes Now of Guy Meadows describing the report during a meeting for public comments on the draft report in August 2018.