How GVSU students are helping shape the future of Michigan’s parks

The student-led analysis has led to presentations and reports across the state. Janes said 10 research reports and more than 30 presentations have been delivered by her and students to DNR leadership in Lansing, senior staff at state parks and before governor-appointed commissions.

In October, Janes and one of those students, Ryan Schiller, visited Ludington State Park to share their findings with Park Manager Jim Gallie and his staff.

Schiller said he tracked and analyzed more than 12,000 data slips from guests at Ludington State Park, with each slip containing 13 data points. In all, it was more than 158,000 individual entries for him to process.

"While the scope of this specific project was fairly small and the dataset relatively lean, we were able to pull a surprising amount of meat out of the data, which puts in perspective what we might be able to do with more across multiple parks," Schiller said.

"Patty and I are in the process of setting up a presentation date with DNR administrators and are hoping to push for greater collection."