Late
last
month,
middle
and
high
school
teachers,
graduate
students,
and
nature
center
educators
enjoyed
a
rare
learning
opportunity
on
Lakes
Ontario
and
Erie
while
aboard
the
180-foot-long
federal
research
vessel
Lake
Guardian.
The
week-long
educational
tour,
valued
at
$70,000,
garnered
write-ups
in
the
Watertown
Daily
Times,
Palladium
Times,
and
Syracuse
Post
Standard,
as
well
as
news
segments
by
local
television
and
NPR
radio
stations.
" The Lake Guardian
course was a rewarding
experience for me, both
professionally and personally," says
NYSG's Coastal Education
Specialist Helen Domske,
who led the training
program along with Niagara
University faculty. "The
EPA folks were pleased,
we received glowing evaluations,
and Sea Grant received
press coverage in several
ports along the lake."
The trip was made possible
by a partnership between
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA),
Niagara University, the
Niagara Environmental
Leadership Institute,
and New York Sea Grant.
The course was also a
success thanks in part
to the US Fish and Wildlife
Service's Lower GL Resources
Office and the Great
Lakes Program at the
University at Buffalo.
" This
collaboration
illustrates how
strongly the
EPA believes,
as does Sea Grant,
in teaching teachers
about the Great
Lakes environment," says
Domske. "New
York Sea Grant
believes in the
'teach the teacher'
approach and
this course was
an innovative
way to get teachers
to infuse Great
Lakes materials
into their science
curriculum."
Domske, who has more
than 20 years experience
as an aquatic science
educator, offers teacher
training every summer.
Four years ago, she had
an opportunity to teach
aboard the R/V Lake Guardian
on Lake Erie. On renewing
her experience on Lake
Ontario in July, she
says, "The chance
to work on a top-notch
research vessel again
and share those opportunities
with students and teachers
was wonderful. To experience
the size, power and beauty
of Lake Ontario from
aboard this ship was
overwhelming."
Learning aboard the Lake
Guardian gave the teachers
and students the hands-on
experiences of seining
(net collecting) and
scientifically aging
fish, as well as collecting
plankton, lake bottom
and water samples. The
group also traveled by
van to the Black Pond
Wildlife Management Area
along Lake Ontario's
eastern shoreline for
a program on dune ecology
and to the nearby Salmon
River Fish Hatchery.
" I know the teachers
and students have learned
a great deal and they
will enthusiastically
share their hands-on
environmental experiences
with those they interact
with," says Domske.
For more information
on this event and other
New York Sea Grant activities,
visit http://www.nyseagrant.org/. Also
see Education
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