One of the things that has really surprised us—for the better—was going from being a government facility to an independent not for profit.

We are now much more flexible to look at a much broader range of scientific questions, but we are no longer constrained by governmental mandates, and can respond to any environmental issue that we consider to be a threat to our freshwater supplies.

This also means we can work with a broader range of collaborators.

When we moved status, it was definitely a leap of faith. I am not sure many of us expected for us to do even better than we ever had over our first forty years, but here we are—collaborating with more partners, working on a broader range of issues, using new techniques, monitoring with higher resolution.