The North American Great Lakes are a massive and precious system of five lakes that hold around 20 percent of the Earth’s freshwater, but did you know there’s an even larger system of Great Lakes in Africa? 

Like most of us, this was a less-explored topic for Ted Lawrence (MS ’05/PHD ’15) who, when pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), landed an internship at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC). It was here he was exposed to research on Lake Victoria, one of the seven African Great Lakes, and what set him on the path he’s on today, supporting African scientists, and especially women scientists, working on freshwater. 

His internship at the GLFC led to a full-time position as their communications and policy specialist, where Lawrence helped lead outreach efforts to educate about the invasive vampire fish, the sea lamprey and the work the GLFC does to control them. At one point, he found himself working with Jeremy Wade of the show River Monsters, to help with the logistics of sticking a sea lamprey onto Jay Leno’s hand during an episode of The Tonight Show, to help him experience what trout or salmon feel when they encounter the invasive species. 

As exciting as that was, it was the discovery of the vast system of lakes in Africa that narrowed his focus as he transitioned from master’s student to PhD candidate at SEAS.

Lawrence’s interest in Africa began in Senegal, West Africa, during his service in the Peace Corps. Upon his return, he was encouraged by SEAS Professor Michael Moore, a family friend, to attend SEAS for a master’s degree. He did, and after completing his degree in 2005, Lawrence continued at SEAS to pursue a PhD, with the encouragement and support of the GLFC. He conducted a comparative analysis of the North American Great Lakes and the African Great Lakes to get started on understanding the similarities and differences of these two, large freshwater systems. His studies focused on researching governance, policy and management of large, multijurisdictional freshwater resources. 

“The similarities between the African and North American Great Lakes—both good and bad—are many. Threats include harmful algal blooms, pollution and many other anthropogenic activities, including climate change, all of which threaten these large freshwater systems on which millions of people living on the shores and beyond, rely on,” says Lawrence.

Like the North American Great Lakes, the African Great Lakes provide vital resources to more than 62 million people—food, clean water, jobs—and are essential to biodiversity.

As his interest in the region grew, Lawrence began to cultivate networks, determining where African researchers needed support to restore and preserve the health of the lakes, and, just two years after obtaining his PhD, in 2017, launched the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education (ACARE).

Lawrence founded ACARE with colleagues and experts in Africa, North America and Europe, with two main objectives: to help address the challenges of global freshwater resources, and to provide collaborative learning opportunities and professional development support to young African scientists focused on freshwater that would positively affect policy and management.

“When we started, we had no funding, so we knew we’d need to build from the ground up, with buy-in from everyone involved,” says Lawrence. “I had built a strong network of individuals interested in creating such a center of excellence, and we’ve done just that, with the goal of supporting researchers on the ground to give them agency and empower them to push forward the research that they know is needed.”

One of the core programs that has grown out of ACARE is their African Women in Science (AWIS) program, which aims to break down historical and cultural gender barriers by providing support and mentoring for early-career women scientists who are underrepresented in the field. 

“Historically, there have been few women in freshwater science and leadership roles in Africa, so we are helping them gain experience and professional tools to increase their ability to obtain these positions,” says Lawrence. 

The program, launched in 2021, attracts over 150 applicants per year. The selection process brings together a new cohort of 12-18 African women in the 20-40 age range who are either in MS or PhD programs or early careers. The women engage in a ten-month program of virtual engagement and a one-month travel program to the U.S. and Canada to further their in-field training and in-person experiences. 

The North American program includes professional leadership training and hands-on experience with partners such as the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Experimental Lakes Area (Canada). The participants also attend an international conference where they give scientific presentations on their subject, thus enhancing their public speaking and broadening their professional networks. Additionally, the program builds a mentorship and alumni program that helps them pursue successful careers.

“We help them get their foot in the door,” says Stephanie Smith, ACARE’s strategic advisor who helped develop the AWIS program. “With the leadership and training we provide, these women gain new opportunities. For example, we have an alum who is now pursuing a PhD at Bowling Green State University, and we have another finishing her PhD at Michigan State University.”

Diane Umutoni, a freshwater scientist from Kigali, Rwanda, who is an AWIS alum and is now the program’s coordinator, says, “In the program, the women gain self-confidence, leadership skills, writing skills, and they create a strong atmosphere of teamwork. It’s an eye-opening program that takes them out of their comfort zone and we see women begin to believe in themselves, especially after they see the outcomes for others who have taken part in the program.” 

According to Smith and Umutoni, the AWIS program’s mentorship program has had an especially profound impact thanks to the power of peer-to-peer exchange. 

“Our part in the mentorship program lasts for five months a year, but we see the women maintaining these relationships, working on proposals, writing scientific papers, attending trainings and overall supporting each other, which is creating lasting impact from the program,” says Smith.

Venny Mziri, who lives in Kenya and was in the 2021 cohort, agrees that the program offered her new opportunities, saying, "The skills and networks gained through AWIS expanded my horizons in ways I hadn't imagined. I’m now better equipped to handle my roles at work, moreover with increased responsibilities."

Another woman from the 2021 cohort, Neema Maheshe, who lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adds, “Thanks to AWIS, I gained the courage to pursue my dream of studying, even when I was initially discouraged by many people. I’m now studying and living with a sister I met through the program."

Lawrence says that one of the things that makes the AWIS program successful is that part of the programming addresses systemic barriers head-on. 

“One of the more unique aspects of the AWIS program is that we don’t fully put the burden of change on the women. Part of the program addresses systemic gender barriers and entrenched roles by speaking with participants’ families and workplaces to ensure they are aware and supportive of the training, goals of the women, and value that women have in the sciences.”

Beyond AWIS, ACARE promotes accessibility and activities that enhance and elevate the work of scientists on the African Great Lakes. The center facilitates and funds an advisory group program, where over 150 freshwater experts from each of the ten riparian countries of each of the African Great Lakes, come together virtually every month to harmonize research, share information and data, write proposals and scientific papers, and discuss issues and progress. 

ACARE also organizes an annual meeting that meets in a different African country each year and draws around 200 freshwater experts. During the annual meeting, the experts get to network, learn about other advisory group’s progress, and plan for regional collaborations, such as monitoring all the lakes to determine the impacts of climate change, among other issues, and they have published countless research articles that they ensure are open access.

“It’s common for researchers from the Global North to come into Africa, study something specific like sand grain size on a beach, use local colleagues to get the research done, then leave, publish it, then the study is behind a paywall and people on the ground don’t have access,” says Lawrence. “From the beginning, we set out to do two critical things: first, create a ResearchGate-type database for the African Great Lakes, so that relevant information is known, and if it’s somehow unavailable, scientists can email us and request a copy of the study; and second, ensure that future projects and researchers that want to study the African Great Lakes, tap into, and work with the richest network of African freshwater scientists in the world”

For Lawrence and his colleagues, the ultimate priority is to continue fostering a global freshwater community that can, collectively, address the challenges of these critical freshwater resources. As Lawrence says, “It takes more than a village to protect our freshwater lakes.” 

“We’re strengthening science on the African Great Lakes through networks and relationships, and thus building the global freshwater community,” says Lawrence. “The exchange is so important, because all people need to be fed and taken care of, and the African Great Lakes support over 65 million people in livelihood and food security and are the most biodiverse freshwater systems in the world. It’s a massive human support system that’s well worth studying and protecting.”