GM Awards $40K for MTU’s Great Lakes Education Program
Michigan Tech’s Ride the Waves program, coordinated by the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach, will receive a $40K two-year grant from General Motors to conduct Great Lakes education using the research vessel Agassiz. The Center has received funding from GM for the program since 2016.
The purpose of the funding is to put rural and underserved youth ‘on the water’ to learn about STEM careers related to the Great Lakes, inland waters, environmental stewardship and sustainability. This will be accomplished through scientific excursions aboard MTU’s research vessel Agassiz paired with laboratory investigations led by Michigan Tech scientists and graduate students. Since 2016, Ride the Waves with GM has served nearly 3000 participants delivering a variety of programs, including “How Scientists Assess the Health of the Great Lakes (Lake Superior & Portage Lake), “Copper Mining & Milling Waste Remediation” (Torch Lake) and Geoheritage Explorations (Keweenaw Bay).
Attention to inclusion and diversity has been a high priority of Ride the Waves with GM. The program has provided opportunities for Keweenaw Bay Indian Community youth, Michigan Tech’s Women in Engineering Program and Muslim Students Association, along with students from Detroit and Flint high schools, to learn how scientists assess the health of the Great Lakes.
“We very much appreciate this new funding from GM to support K-12 STEM education focused on the Great Lakes,” explains Joan Chadde, Director, Center for Science & Environmental Outreach. “We are very committed to increasing diversity in natural resources and STEM careers. This grant will help to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Regardless of what a student chooses to become, our goal is for all students to choose to become active stewards of the Great Lakes, an invaluable state, national and global freshwater resource.”
For more information, contact Joan Chadde, Director, Center for Science & Environmental Outreach at jchadde@mtu.edu, or visit the Great Lakes Research Center website: CLICK HERE
