GLIN==> Lake Superior Research Expedition - Follow Progress, Ask Questions

University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program

For immediate release

July 21, 2011

Contact: Sharon Moen, Communications Coordinator, smoen at umn.edu 
<mailto:smoen at umn.edu>, or (218) 726-6195 <tel:%28218%29%20726-6195>


*Educators and Researchers Conduct Shipboard Science*

     From today through July 27, follow a unique research/educator
    expedition on Lake Superior through several avenues:

    A Web presence: http://1.usa.gov/lakesci11

    A blog: www.epa.gov/blog <http://www.epa.gov/blog>, and

    Twitter: www.twitter.com/EPAresearch
    <http://www.twitter.com/EPAresearch>.

Send questions to the expedition's educators and scientists through the 
MAILBAG feature on the lakesci11 Web page or through Twitter using the 
hashtag LakeSci11.

    On July 20, 15 teachers and environmental educators from around the
    Great Lakes Basin boarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
    (EPA) research vessel, /Lake Guardian/, in Duluth, Minn. Onboard,
    teachers and scientists are working in around the clock shifts to
    collect data about aquatic organisms and water quality that will be
    used to investigate the influence of the landscape on nearshore
    water quality, focusing on areas surrounding major rivers. At the
    end of a week plying Lake Superior’s waters and investigating the
    shoreline, the educators will fan back across the Great Lakes region
    ready to integrate freshwater science into their classrooms and
    programs.

    "The 2011 Lake Superior Shipboard and Shoreline Science workshop is
    promising to be exceptional," said Cindy Hagley, Environmental
    Quality Extension Educator for the University of Minnesota Sea Grant
    Program. "We have an array of talented scientists joining us onboard
    and at ports to discuss their research. I think the educators aboard
    the /Lake Guardian/ this week will find the experience memorable and
    applicable to their teaching."

    The participating educators, some from as far away as New York and
    others as close as a few miles, were chosen from more than 50
    applicants.

    Joel Hoffman, a biologist with the EPA, and other staff from the EPA
    are helping the educators learn about ecological processes and lake
    systems. Extension educators from the Centers for Ocean Education
    Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes and the Minnesota Sea Grant Program
    are facilitating the expedition and helping translate the onboard
    experience into classroom lessons. The program will also connect
    with two other science workshops for teachers. Teachers
    participating in a “Great Lakes Rocks!” workshop at the Chicago
    Museum of Science and Industry will be able to discuss science with
    the onboard educators via satellite and teachers participating in
    the first ever workshop at the new Lake Superior National Estuarine
    Research Reserve will join the crew to collect data in the St. Louis
    River Estuary.

    The Lake Guardian's planned nautical route runs north out of Duluth
    for a few miles, then heads along Wisconsin's South Shore, around
    the Apostle Islands, to the Keewenaw Peninsula and back.

    The Shipboard and Shoreline Science Workshop is supported by the EPA
    and the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences and
    the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sea Grant
    Program through the COSEE Great Lakes, with support from Minnesota
    Sea Grant.

    ###


    Minnesota Sea Grant facilitates interaction among the public and
    scientists to enhance the environment and economies along Lake
    Superior and Minnesota's inland waters by identifying information
    needs, fostering research, and communicating results. Minnesota Sea
    Grant is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration (NOAA) and the University of Minnesota. It is part of
    NOAA Sea Grant, a nationwide network of 32 similar science-based
    programs.




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