Shipboard research - a partnership among teachers and scientists

Session: Great Lakes Outreach and Education (1)

Helen Domske, SUNY @ Buffalo, NY Sea Grant - GL Program, [email protected]
Marte Kitson, Minnesota Sea Grant, [email protected]

Abstract

Shipboard research is quite standard in the Great Lakes, but the Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL) uses an innovative approach to research and science learning by partnering scientists and teachers in exemplary shipboard programs aboard U.S. EPA’s R/V Lake Guardian and the S/V Denis Sullivan.  Teachers and scientists work shoulder-to-shoulder aboard these ships to conduct research, learn about the Great Lakes, and share ideas. These basin-wide programs are led by educators from the Sea Grant Great Lakes Network, with the goal of improving Great Lakes education. With funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, CGLL has worked with educators and scientists to conduct research and then have educators utilize what they have learned in order to engage their students in stewardship activities and increase their Great Lakes awareness. This session will highlight the methodology used and impacts that have resulted from these unique shipboard partnerships, and also touch on how the S/V Denis Sullivan workshop now serves as a platform for a CGLL mentor teacher program.