Each reserve within the National Estuarine Research Reserve System maintains a specific site profile that synthesizes knowledge about its physical and biological characteristics to guide research and monitoring activities. Traditionally, the site profile has been a book or PDF, with limited support for a more interactive and modern interface design. Working with contractors and reserve partners, a transfer project team developed a template and outline for a modernized web-based site profile, and a user guide with clear step by step instructions to create a digital profile. The updated site profile addresses the needs identified by the survey and focus groups, providing reserves with an option to include cultural and historical components of estuaries on their sites, as well as an optional section to identify future threats and corresponding research needs. Other key site profile features include ArcGIS mapping components and Zotero based bibliographies that allow for access to all citations in the site profiles. 

About this resource

Each National Estuarine Research Reserve develops a site profile synthesizing knowledge about its physical, historical, social and biological characteristics to guide research activities. This digital site profile helps users orient to the Lake Superior Reserve and understand its context.