During the two years prior to October 2009 university researchers engaged in over 186 research projects funded by more than $32.7 million in grants.[1] Grand Valley's Annis Water Resources Institute conducts research on water resources, including: ecosystem structure and function, contaminants and toxicology, hydrology, land use, watershed, stream, and wetland ecology, water quality, and basic and applied limnology.[2] GVSU's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) recently received funding for its $3.7 million Lake Michigan Offshore Wind Assessment Project to test wind energy on Lake Michigan.