Torch Lake Education Activities

Torch LakeThe Albany (N.Y.) Times Union published a story about an educational cruise led by Professor Noel Urban (CEE) to teach plant technicians from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department about the impact on Torch Lake of mining and the stamp sands it left. The story, initially published by the Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton, was picked up by Associated Press wire service and made available to member media outlets all over the country.

From Tech Today.

Students observe effects of mining on Torch Lake

Nothing can live in the stamp sands that cover the bottom of Torch Lake, Michigan Technological University Environmental Engineering Professor Noel Urban told a group of young plant technicians from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department.

The KBIC technicians got a chance to see some of those efforts as well, exploring and doing experiments at the Amheek Stamp Mill, also known as the Tamarack City Stamp Mill, where the Environmental Protection Agency had just finished an asbestos cleanup the day before, as well as the Torch Lake shoreline and the Lake Linden Campground.

“We have them collecting scientific data, like do we have good (plant) ground coverage” in areas above stamp sand beaches that have had remediation,” said Joan Chadde, education program coordinator at Michigan Tech.

Read more at AP and the Daily Mining Gazette, by Dan Roblee.

Teachers Participate in Watershed Investigations

Watershed Teacher Institute 2014The Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette published an article about two brothers, both high school science teachers, who participated in Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Watershed Investigations Teacher Institute this summer.

From Tech Today.

Local teachers travel to study lakes

A local high school teacher and his brother were among the group of educators who took part in a weeklong summer program at the Michigan Technological University as part of the Great Lakes Teacher Institute.

 “The classes are really cool because the teachers meet and work with professors and researchers, experts who are very passionate about their fields of study or their research, professionals who really enjoy connecting with teachers from the K-12 level.”

Read more at The Journal Gazette, by Vivian Sade.

Adults and Kids Learn About Great Lakes Research

boarding_agassiz50Adults and kids learn about Great Lakes research, fish food web, marine robotics, more …

On July 1, 2014, the Portage Lake District Library and Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) partnered for a science program that included a ride on the Agassiz from the Portage Library to the GLRC, a visit to a GLRC laboratory to see what’s in the water — using microscopes — and to dissect a fish stomach, and a chance to drive and observe the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) designed by Dollar Bay (Mich.) High School students to photograph what’s under the water.

Read more at Keweenaw Now, by Michele Bourdieu.