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Natural Resources Research Institute
Sue Hendrickson, NRRI and Dave Paulson, Minitex, on a recent
tour of the Natural Resources Research Institute in Hermantown.
Originally published in Resource Sharing News
March 2003
Sue Hendrickson, Librarian at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Natural Resources Research Institute
(NRRI) Library in Hermantown, just west of Duluth, recently welcomed visiting Minitex staff members Rhonda
Wemark, Dave Paulson, and Carol Nelson for a tour.
The NRRI Library provides information services to the Institute's technical staff of 125, the university
community, industry representatives and the general public. Research at NRRI tends to concentrate on
forest landscapes, peat, mining and minerals, chemical derivatives from natural products, wetlands,
streams, and inland lakes. The study of Lake Superior is also a popular topic of study at the Institute.
NRRI's mission is "to foster economic development of Minnesota's natural resources in an environmentally
sound manner to promote private sector employment." A Minnesota "state special" appropriation provides
the Institute's base funding, with grants and contracts contributing to its operating budget. The
Institute's activities are threefold. To provide:
- Strong applied research and development efforts to assist Minnesota companies.
- Information for resource and business managers to make sound economic and environmental decisions.
-
Institute engineers, scientists and business experts to partner with entrepreneurs and companies on
near-term economic development efforts.
Toward that goal, NRRI researchers recently teamed with experts from the Minnesota DNR and the U.S.
Geological Survey to develop maps detailing the depth and substrate types of Lake Superior's near
shore from Duluth to Grand Marais. Using sonar, global positioning systems, and geographic information
systems, scientists gathered data valuable for fishery maintenance, shoreline protection and lakeshore
development.
Sue's work with her patrons ranges from providing general information to tailoring the results to very
specific queries. She helps interpret bibliographic information, provides in-depth literature searches,
and provides direction in locating research materials. She fulfills most of her user needs using the
NRRI and University of Minnesota Duluth collections.
Access to materials through Minitex provides a complement to the resources available at the library.
Sue is pleased with Minitex services. She says, "I realize others in special libraries share the same
needs as our clientele. Minitex greatly assists us in fulfilling the requests of our patrons."
On the tour, Minitex Staff learned that NRRI is located in a former US Air Force Building—which
helps to explain the enormous elevators that were designed to hold very large equipment. We also saw
bulletin boards explaining research activities at NRRI including photos of current and past projects.
Some departments display examples of products they have helped to develop, such as coffee mugs made of
taconite by-products, imitation logs, and photos of pre-cut, site built housing materials.
The quantity of successful product development projects and research efforts in which NRRI has been
involved is impressive. Products range from the 'Ladder Buddy', an award winning ladder attachment, to
aquaculture products which make crayfish more valuable to the food and bait industries. NRRI has even
been instrumental in turning lamprey (an exotic species not native to the Great Lakes and which is
destructive to local fish) into an export food product to Spain and Portugal, where they are a culinary
delicacy!
To Minitex staff, the Aquaculture Laboratory left a lasting impression. Lampreys slither around, and
crawfish have even managed to escape. "We have many exciting research projects going on at NRRI all the
time," Sue declares. To learn more, visit the NRRI Web site
and the Natural Resources Library Web site.