Shipboard Blog Covers Lake Ontario Learning Cruise on EPA Research Vessel; Ship Docks in Clayton Wednesday

Contact: Kara Lynn Dunn, Publicist, NY Sea Grant, 315-465-7578, 465-4271

OSWEGO, NY, July 15, 2008 - New York Sea Grant is hosting 15 teachers and non-formal environmental educators for a week-long, hands-on learning cruise aboard the federal research vessel the Peter Wise Lake Guardian this week (July 13-19). The teachers are working alongside the federal researchers that regularly monitor the Great Lakes from aboard the Environmental Protection Agency ship that is the only self-contained, nonpolluting vessel on the Great Lakes. New York Sea Grant’s Website Content Manager Paul Focazio is keeping a blog of the daily activities aboard the 180-foot-long research vessel. Click here to link to Paul’s COSEE Lake Ontario blog.

New York Sea Grant's Great Lakes Coastal Education Specialist Helen Domske is leading the workshop designed to promote Great Lakes and ocean sciences and to forge lasting relationships between science researchers and educators. The teachers participate in field exercises, help scientists collecting data, and explore classroom activities relating to the Great Lakes and ocean resources. The teachers – from New York and five other states - are journaling and developing classroom projects to take back to their schools.

The Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes is making this summer's Shipboard and Shoreline Science teachers’ workshop possible. The tour started in Buffalo, NY, traveled through the Welland Canal, and has already docked in Youngstown and Toronto. The schedule includes stops at Clayton on Wednesday for an EPA press event, Oswego on Thursday, Rochester on Friday, and Youngstown on Saturday. The Oswego stop includes a land tour with the Eastern Lake Ontario Dunes and Wetlands Program and a visit to the Salmon River Fish Hatchery.