After almost 50 years, TERC’s signature research vessel is nearing the end of its useful life. Our aspirations are for a combined research, education and outreach vessel that fulfills our mission while improving safety and minimizing our environmental impact on the lake. This research vessel will be safe, fast, efficient, and capable of conducting cutting-edge research on Lake Tahoe while training the next generation of scientists and researchers. The vessel will be used by students and researchers to take water quality samples, monitor plankton and mysis shrimp, deploy autonomous underwater vehicles , service oceanographic buoys TERC operates in collaboration with NASA, maintain a shoreline network of real-time monitoring stations, and conduct SCUBA diving surveys of algae and invasive species infestations.

Gifts to TERC’s Nearshore Network help support this novel approach to tracking the health of Tahoe’s ever-changing shoreline. The Nearshore Network’s 10 stations in the shallow water around Lake Tahoe provide researchers with real-time information on the ever-changing conditions in the most heavily used parts of the lake. Our stations can track the effects of sewage spills and algal blooms, rising temperatures or pollutants entering the lake from streams and drains. Coupled with a network of meteorological stations, and coordinated with TERC’s helicopter and drone surveillance of nearshore algae, we are working to safeguard the lake’s beaches and shoreline.

TERC has pioneered the development of a Lake Observatory at Lake Tahoe. It comprises a set of highly advanced, cutting-edge instruments that constantly provide data on the physics, biology and chemistry of the lake, and the interactions between them. This fund allows for the acquisition and upgrading of new capital equipment and the enhancement of the existing infrastructure.