LSSI News & Events

 

2019 Lake Superior Water Festival Draws 350 Students from Western UP

Three hundred and fifty students in grades 9-12 in fourteen classes from six schools in Houghton, Keweenaw, Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties poured into MTU’s Great Lakes Research Center on Thursday, October 24 for the 8th Annual Lake Superior Water Festival. Students attended either the morning session from 8:45-11:30 am or the afternoon from noon-2:55 pm. Students from the following high schools participated: Calumet, L.L. Wright (Ironwood), Horizons (Mohawk), Lake Linden-Hubbell, Watersmeet, and Ewen-Trout Creek.

Fourteen different sessions were offered throughout the day presented by Michigan Tech scientists, graduate students, and staff, as well as, Copper Harbor Trails, U.S. Coast Guard, Ottawa National Forest, and Isle Royale National Park.

The Water Festival provides an opportunity for students to learn about and celebrate our most precious natural resource — the Great Lakes! A wide variety of topics from science and engineering to land and water stewardship will be presented. Students attend four 35-minute activities. Some of the topics to be presented include, Leave No Trace Outdoors, cleaning wastewater, careers with the U.S. Coast Guard, emerging contaminants & water quality, wetlands ecology, invasive species, stream dynamics, and more.

The 2019 Water Festival is made possible with funding from the Keweenaw Community Foundation Youth Advisory Council, Western UP MiSTEM Network, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, Wege Foundation, MTU Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and the Great Lakes Research Center.

The Festival is coordinated by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative and MTU Center for Science & Environmental Outreach.

For more information, contact: Joan Chadde (jchadde@mtu.edu) or Lloyd Wescoat (lwescoat@mtu.edu) or call 906-487-3341.

Dr. Casey Huckins (Biological Sciences) explains how stream erosion affects trout habitat and survival.

PHOTO CAPTION: Dr. Casey Huckins (Biological Sciences) explains how stream erosion affects trout habitat and survival.

Two LL Wright HS (Ironwood) students design a process to clean wastewater in 'Drain to Drinking Water' session presented by Joan Chadde.

PHOTO CAPTION: Two LL Wright HS (Ironwood) students design a process to clean wastewater in 'Drain to Drinking Water' session presented by Joan Chadde.

Dr. Brian Barkdoll (Civil & Environmental Engineering) shows students a stream model used to measure the erosion impacts of high stream flows on bridge piers.

PHOTO CAPTION: Dr. Brian Barkdoll (Civil & Environmental Engineering) shows students a stream model used to measure the erosion impacts of high stream flows on bridge piers.