Michigan Tech’s research vessel “Agassiz” has been guiding interested members of the community on short scientific excursions at the Copper Country Strawberry Festival for the past nine years. Although this activity has become a very popular attraction, the primary purpose of the “Ride the Waves” community outreach program has been to get youth on the water to learn about the Great Lakes – and, hopefully, increase their interest in science and engineering – with the goal of creating future environmental stewards.
Michigan Tech scientists use the R/V Agassiz to gather data on Portage Lake, Lake Superior, and other Great Lakes waterways. General Motors has graciously provided funding to cover the primary costs of the Ride the Waves outreach program, which takes students in grades 4-12 on the R/V Agassiz to see how scientists collect data to assess the health of the Great Lakes. The students then return to the Great Lakes Research Center with samples they collected to participate in a laboratory investigation.
To pre-register for the Ride the Waves scientific excursion at the Copper Country Strawberry Festival, please click either the button below or the picture to the right. If the time slot you are interested in is no longer avaialable on the registration form, there will still be the chance for availability at the dock during the Strawberry Festival, since we are only providing advanced reservations for half of the available spots for each departure.
Registration at the dock on the day of the Ride the Waves program, will be avaialable first come, first served and registrations wil only be taken from the next immediate time slot.
(Note: If anyone signed up for a particular time slot is not present for the pre-boarding information briefing 15 minutes prior to departure, their reservation will be offered to the next available person awaiting an opportunity to participate.)
The scheduled departure times from the dock are as follows:
Saturday July 8, 2023
- 12:30
- 1:15
- 2:00
- 3:30
- 4:15
- 5:00