The U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office Research Vessel Lake Guardian. Credit: Michael Milligan

Fifteen Teachers From Five Great Lakes States, One Week on EPA Research Vessel Lake Guardian

Contacts: 

Nate Drag, NYSG Great Lakes Literacy Specialist, E: nwd4@cornell.edu, P: 716-645-3610 

Kara Lynn Dunn, NYSG's Freelance Great Lakes Publicist, E: karalynn@gisco.net, P: 315-465-7578

Rochester, NY, June 14, 2023 - Fifteen educators from five states along the Great Lakes will become scientists during the 2023 Shipboard Science Workshop on Lake Ontario aboard the Lake Guardian, the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) research vessel. This unique workshop, hosted by New York Sea Grant (NYSG) will take place July 6-12, 2023. The ship will depart from Rochester and make shore stops in Youngstown and Oswego.

Teachers from New York, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin will learn alongside research scientists from U.S. EPA GLNPO, the Great Lakes Research Consortium, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and Cornell University. 

NYSG Great Lakes Literacy Specialist Nate Drag will guide the teachers in developing lesson plans and curricula to take back to their classrooms to inspire students. 

“This unique shipboard hands-on learning experience increases teachers’ understanding of the Great Lakes’ unparalleled value and fosters creation of personalized teaching resources to spark student interest in the world’s largest surface freshwater system,” said Drag.

Among their activities, the group will take part in water sampling and be able to analyze the samples in on-board laboratories. 

This Shipboard Science Workshop is supported with Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding, through an interagency agreement by the U.S. EPA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and National Sea Grant Office. Learn more on Lake Guardian (via EPA) and CSMI (via EPA) 

New York Sea Grant leads the Lake Ontario Shipboard Science Workshop in cooperation with the Center for Great Lakes Literacy.

More Info: All Aboard, Teachers!

The 2023 Lake Ontario Shipboard Science Workshop teachers by state are:

New York:

• Barbara Bibbins, Belleville-Henderson Central School, Belleville
• Melissa Elliott, North Tonawanda High School, North Tonawanda
• Joseph Perry, Palmyra-Macedon High School, Palmyra
• Christy Pratt, Horseheads High School, Horseheads, Chemung County
• Peter Spence, Byron-Bergen Jr/Sr High School, Bergen
• Tara Spitzer-List, Virtual Academy of Rochester, Rochester
• Tucker Ruderman, World of Inquiry School #58, Rochester

Illinois:

• Jennifer Kahn, Libertyville High School, Libertyville
• Colleen McVeigh, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago 

Michigan:

• Katrina Coyne, Flat Rock Community High School, Flat Rock
• Natalie Cypher, Michigan Outdoor Adventure Center, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Detroit
• Stephanie Dege, Posen High School, Posen

Ohio: 
 
• Beth Schoonover, Stow-Munroe Falls High School, Stow

Wisconsin:

• Jennifer Koziar, Edgewood Campus School, Madison
• Dana Lex, West De Pere High School, De Pere


More Info: Insights from New York 2023 Shipboard Science Workshop Teachers 

Here is some background information and quotes from the seven New York State-based teachers in the 2023 Lake Ontario Shipboard Science Workshop group:


Barbara Bibbins, Bellevile-Henderson

Barbara Bibbins
8th grade and Regents Science teacher
Belleville-Henderson Central School, Belleville, New York

“This workshop is an opportunity to ‘walk the walk’ alongside Great Lakes’ scientists through collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data as well as gain a deeper understanding of human impacts on our local environment. This experience will help me strengthen my place-based curriculum where I endeavor to lead students to better understand the world by studying local ecology,” Bibbins said.


Melissa Elliott, North Tonawanda

Melissa Elliott
Teaches biology in an Integrated Co-Teaching classroom and through a program for at-risk high school students 
North Tonawanda High School, North Tonawanda, New York

“Our watershed informs our values, culture, and identity, and gives us the resources we need to survive. I am excited for this unique opportunity to experience the Great Lakes so that I can uncover the beauty of our water for myself, my students, and others around me,” Elliott said.

“Following this experience, I will ground my lessons in Great Lakes curriculum, lead students on stewardship projects directly related to our water, and share my experience with students, teachers, my friends and family, so that they may share in my passion and knowledge,” Elliott adds.


Joseph Perry, Palmyra-Macedon

Joseph Perry
Regents Earth Science teacher
Palmyra-Macedon High School, Palmyra, New York

“I look forward to learning more about the Great Lakes and its ecosystem with other enthusiastic educators alongside respected researchers. After which, I will be able to transfer that experience into real-world lessons that will bring earth science alive for my students and that I can share with my colleagues across the region,” Perry said. 


Christy Pratt, Horseheads

Christy Pratt
Teaches 9th through 12th grade sciences from astronomy, earth and general science to historical geology, forensic science, and North American wildlife
Horseheads High School, Horseheads, New York

“This one-of-a-kind workshop is a unique opportunity to learn techniques, tips, and strategies that will help my students to feel more comfortable in constructing science-based presentations and computational simulations that illustrate the relationships of the management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, biodiversity, and the impacts of human activity,” Pratt said.


Peter Spence, Byron-Bergen

Peter Spence 
High School Living Environment and AP Environmental Science teacher 
Byron-Bergen Junior-Senior High School, Bergen, New York

“I am honored to be part of a team of teachers from several states to conduct research on Lake Ontario with Great Lakes scientists. I look forward to working alongside my colleagues to develop new real-world strategies to bring awareness about the Great lakes to my classes,” Spence said. 


Tara Spitzer-List, Virtual Academy of Rochester

Tara Spitzer-List 
Teaches earth and middle school science, biology, and Advanced Placement (AP) environmental science; writes curricula for and works with students taking blended online science courses and AP and dual credit science courses at the Virtual Academy of Rochester, Rochester, New York

“I am excited to have the opportunity to become a scientist on Lake Ontario aboard the Lake Guardian. This workshop will allow me to gain new ideas that I can readily apply with students about local issues, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing data, designing solutions and models, and understanding human impact,” Sptizer-List said. 

Tucker Ruderman
Teaches grade 4, World of Inquiry School #58, Rochester City School District

“This workshop on Lake Ontario is a hands-on opportunity for engaging and broadening our teaching horizons. I’m looking forward to experiencing real-world science and sharing it with students and our community,” Ruderman said.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.