GRPM Research
The Grand Rapids Public Museum leads research with a team of scientists and experts along with community partners on a variety of topics. Findings are shared through academic journals and conferences, and with the public on the Museum’s website and blog, and live from the field events. Many of these research projects are also the inspiration to educational programming offered by the Museum.Â
The Museum’s research team is led by the GRPM’s scientists on staff, Dr. Stephanie Ogren, VP of Science and Education, and Dr. Cory Redman, Science Curator.
Research
Grand River Research
The GRPM provides historical, cultural and scientific interpretation of the watershed including how human actions have affected and will continue to affect the future of natural and human systems. To tell the river restoration story, there are data and knowledge gaps that the Museum and partners are working to fill, including information about the historic and current fish community, how humans interact with the river, and how the restoration actions may change human behavior. The Museum and partner agencies have teamed up to answer some of these questions.Â
Partners include:
The GRPM, Encompass Socio-ecological Consulting LLC and John Ball Zoo research team is working to document young Lake Sturgeon in the Lower Grand River. Finding and documenting these fish indicates successful reproduction and recruitment into the Grand River population. Recently on September 8 and 15, 2022, juvenile Lake Sturgeon were documented in the Grand River by scientists, indicating successful reproduction and recruitment into the Grand River population.
The Grand Rapids Public Museum, Encompass Socio-ecological Consulting LLC, John Ball Zoo and the Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds are studying how the Grand River is used by anglers. The research will help document the long-term changes that occur when the city of Grand Rapids begins the river rehabilitation that will add two miles of rapid habitat throughout downtown Grand Rapids, as proposed by Grand Rapids White Water. The research uses a community science technique where professionals and the public work together to document the number of people fishing in the downtown area and the general locations of anglers. Community Science Training for Angler Counts takes place seasonally.
This annual assessment of fish species will provide a baseline dataset of fish communities in the area of the proposed restoration project. Fish communities are counted through electrofishing surveys. It is a partnership between Grand Valley Metro Council, Grand Valley State University, Encompass Socio-Ecological Consulting and the GRPM. Multiple Grand Valley State University graduate students have worked on this important dataset.
Annual macroinvertebrate (aquatic insects) surveys are conducted near the Museum’s Spillman Carousel in the Grand River. This project has been completed in partnership with the Grand Rapids White Water Summer Science and Leadership program since 2019. The Museum is contributing to a large data collection effort, spearheaded by Grand Valley Metro Council with many partners.
This year Grand Valley State University and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will add to the research being conducted on the Grand River by assisting in mapping the Lower Grand River and building a habitat suitability index for juvenile Lake Sturgeon.​
Other Science Research
During the middle Devonian (383 – 393 million years ago), Michigan was covered by a warm shallow sea. The rock units that were deposited during this time are rich with marine invertebrate fossils and can be found throughout the state, but some of the best exposures are in rock quarries. The GRPM has been working with students from Grand Valley State University and Grand Rapids Community College to bulk sample middle Devonian shales, identify all the invertebrates preserved, and look at ecological trends through time.
The scientists, educators, and students from the GRPM, Paraguay’s Universidad Nacional de Asunción (National University of Asunción), and the University of New Mexico are collaboratively working in the Pilcomayo River Megafan in Paraguay to better understand the process of fossil preservation. They’re studying how bones are preserved in a megafan river system and comparing them to the fossil vertebrate material found in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona and the Toadstool Geological Park in Nebraska.
The GRPM is a partner with the Michigan Vernal Pool Patrol. This program works with citizens, professional scientists, and community organizations to identify, map, monitor, and increase the awareness and protection of vernal pools across the state. Vernal pools are a special type of wetland that consist of small, shallow pools of water that typically fill in the spring and dry up during the summer or fall. Vernal pools are critical habitat for the reproduction of a number of invertebrate and amphibian species, and important habitat for many other animal and plant species. The GRPM is helping with mapping and surveying vernal pools in the greater Grand Rapids area with Dr. Cory Redman serving as the Kent County Coordinator for the Vernal Pool Patrol.
The GRPM received the donation of a partial American Mastodon skeleton found near Kent City, Michigan in August 2022. The Clapp Family Mastodon, named in honor of the landowners and donors, was found while digging a culvert and is now displayed as part of the Museum’s core exhibits.  GRPM’s Science Curator, Dr. Cory Redman led the excavation and curation of the Clapp Family Mastodon and worked with Dr. Dan Fisher at the University of Michigan to study the bones and learn as much about this unique animal as possible.  Around 131 bones were recovered or 70% of the skeleton, making this a rare find.  We know that the Clapp Family Mastodon was a juvenile male that died 13,210 years ago, base on radiocarbon dating. Pollen analysis of the sediment that surrounded the bones indicate the local vegetation was dominated by spruce and oak trees, with abundant sedge wetlands.Â
Limestones and other rocks record changes in Earth’s carbon cycle on global and local scales. For most of Earth’s 4.6 billion year history the ratio of heavy and light carbon atoms is usually in balance, but between 2.4 and 2.2 billion years ago, the world’s oceans shift toward heavy carbon atoms for reasons that are not entirely known even after decades of research. Dr. Cory Redman collaborated with geology professors and undergraduate students at Grand Valley State University to study this heavy carbon incursion in stromatolites from the Kona and Randville Dolomites in the upper Peninsula of Michigan. Stromatolites are layered, sedimentary structures formed by algal mats and the oldest evidence of life on Earth (~3.5 billion years old). Living stromatolites are still found today, like in Shark bay, Australia.
Universal Design
The Museum along with partners DisArt, Disability Advocates and Occupational Therapy departments of Western Michigan University, Colorado Mesa University, and Grand Valley State University are working to research, evaluate and collaborate on implementing the principles of universal design in a museum setting.
- Use of Pre-Visit Materials for Museum Visitors with Autism Spectrum Disorder (2022 Research group)
- A Survey of Assistive Technology Preferences for Museum Visitors with Sensory Impairment (2022 Research group)
- Evaluation and Development of Sensory Inclusive events at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
- Development of staff training materials for interactions with guests that have different abilities.
- Jennifer K. Fortuna, Kayleigh Thomas, Jenna Asper, Laura Matney, Kyra Chase, Stephanie Ogren, and Julia VanderMolen. A Survey of Universal Design at Museums: Current Industry Practice and Perceptions. The Open Journal of Physical Therapy.
- Fortuna, J., Harrison, C., Eekhoff, A., Marthaler, C., Seromik, M., Ogren, S., & VanderMolen, J. (In Press). Perceptions of accessibility from museum visitors who are visually impaired: A case study. Visitor Studies.
Museum Education
Through a partnership with Grand Valley State University’s educational instruction program the GRPM is featured in research surrounding using the Museum space as a learning lab.
- Erica R. Hamilton & Kelly C. Margot (2020) Learning to Teach in a Museum: Benefits of a Museum–University Partnership, Journal of Museum Education, 45:4, 462-475, DOI: 10.1080/10598650.2020.1807242
- Hamilton, E.R., & Vriend Van Duinen, D. (2021). Hybrid Spaces: Adolescent Literacy and Learning in a Museum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 64( 5), 511– 520. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1123
Museum Published Research
Museum Staff often lend their expertise to other researchers and have published on related topics.
Andrea Melvin, Collections Curator
Andrea Melvin (2018) The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
Uniform, Dress, 44:2, 119-132, https://doi.org/10.1080/03612112.2018.1497856.
Dr. Stephanie Ogren, Vice President of Science and Education
Fortuna, J. K., Chamberlain, E., Filice, L., Kurt, M., Porter, T., Twichell, S., & Ogren, S.(2024). Exploring the Usefulness of Pre-Visit Materials for Children with Autism at a Public Museum. Translational Science in Occupation, 1(1). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.32873/unmc.dc.tso.1.1.04.
K. T. Scribner, G. Uhrig, J. Kanefsky, N. M. Sard, M. Holtgren, C. Jerome, & S. Ogren. (2022). Pedigree-based decadal estimates of lake sturgeon adult spawning numbers and genetic diversity of stream-side hatchery produced offspring. Journal of Great Lakes research, 48, 551-564. doi:Â 10.1016/j.jglr.2021.12.005
Ogren, Stephanie & Huckins, Casey. (2015). Culvert replacements: Improvement of stream biotic integrity?. Restoration Ecology. 23. 10.1111/rec.12250
Dr. Cory Redman, Science Curator​
Redman, C.M., Tomiya, S., Bitterman, K., Cain, K., and Meachen, J.A. (2021). Utilizing inquiry-driven science outreach to curate Natural Trap Cave fossils and inspire the pursuit of STEM careers. Evolution: Education and Outreach. Vol. 14, No. 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/
Meachen, J.A., Redman, C.M., Gilber, B.M., Reppen, R., Chomko, S., Lippincott, K., Breithaupt, B.H., Lovelace, D., and Laden, J. (2022). A history of paleontological excavations at the Pleistocene fossil site Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming. Journal of Paleontological Techniques. No. 26.
Redman, C.M., Moore, J.R., Lovelace, D.M., Meachen, J.A. (2023). The rank abundance distribution of learge-bodied vertebrates from Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming. Quaternary International. Vol. 647–648, Pages 42-52, ISSN 1040-618, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
McGuire, J.L., Woodruff, A., Iacono, J., Sethna, J.M., Schap, J.A., Redman, C.M., and Meachen, J.A. (2023). Evaluating the taphonomic consistency of microvertebrate assemblages at Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming, USA. Quaternary International. Vol. 647–648, Pages 63-70, ISSN 1040-6182, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Lovelace, D.M., Redman, C.M., Minckley, T.A., Schubert, B.W., Mahan, S., Wood, J.R., McGuire, J.L., Laden, J., Bitterman, K., Heiniger, H., Fenderson, L., Cooper, A., Mitchell, K.J., and Meachen, J.M. (2023). An age-depth model and revised stratigraphy of vertebrate bearing units in Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming.  Quaternary International. Vol. 647–648, Pages 4-21, ISSN 1040-6182, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
Brown, G.T, Giannecchini, M.L., Redman, C.M., Winkelstern, I.Z., Wilmeth, D.T. (2025). Sedimentology, petrography, and carbon isotopes of the ~2.2 Ga. Randville Domomite, Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Precambrian Research. 430: 107916. Read the full article here.
Giannecchini, M.L., Brown, G.D., Redman, C.M., Winkelstern, I.Z., Wilmeth, D.T. (2026). Sedimentology, petrography, and carbon isotopes of the ~ 2.2 Ga Kona Dolomite, Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Precambrian Research. 439: 108107. Read the full article here.
