Three Pa. educators to study Lake Erie issues aboard EPA research vessel Lake Guardian

When the Environmental Protection Agency research vessel Lake Guardian arrives in Presque Isle Bay, it will be carrying not only scientists but also three Pennsylvania educators.

The three, including one from Erie County, were among 15 chosen from an applicant pool of 115 Great Lakes-region educators. Those selected for the shipboard science workshop on Lake Erie were to leave Cleveland on July 7 and return there July 13, with stops at Erie and at Put-In-Bay, Ohio. The educators will then take their new knowledge back to the classrooms, according to a news release from Pennsylvania Sea Grant , which is hosting this year's workshop with Ohio Sea Grant .

The annual Lake Guardian workshop rotates among the five Great Lakes and provides educators with the opportunity to live and work alongside Great Lakes scientists on a vessel conducting critical research, according to the release.

The Pennsylvania educators

Casey Keating is an interpretive naturalist at Asbury Woods in Millcreek Township. She plans and leads field trips for students in kindergarten through eighth grade and teaches public programs for toddlers to adults.

“This experience will be particularly relevant to my work because many of the field trips and programs we offer are related to water, and Asbury Woods is in the Lake Erie watershed, so we often teach about where our water goes and how our actions affect our natural environment," she said in the news release from Pennsylvania Sea Grant. "I plan on using the experience to develop new programs that will focus on how water travels, how it shapes the watersheds and world around us, and how it supports such diverse life.”

Brienne May is a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Franklin Regional Intermediate School in Murrysville, east of Pittsburgh.

Sarah Sato is an environmental education specialist for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, in Landenberg, southwest of Philadelphia.

What they will do

Keating, May and Sato will experience hands-on opportunities to explore microplastics, benthic organisms, cyanobacteria and other Lake Erie-specific topics, organizers said.

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The opportunity is made possible through a partnership with the U.S. EPA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , and with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative . The experience is organized by the Sea Grant Center for Great Lakes Literacy .

On their Erie stop, educators will visit Barracks Beach at Presque Isle State Park , the Tom Ridge Environmental Center and the Erie Maritime Museum .

Where can I see the Lake Guardian?

While people could see the Lake Guardian docked July 11 in Presque Isle Bay, the general public won't be able to board the vessel, a Pennsylvania Sea Grant official said.

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Dana Massing can be reached at dmassing@timesnews.com .

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Three Pa. educators to study Lake Erie issues aboard EPA research vessel Lake Guardian