Lake State students invited to learn aboard a schooner this summer

NEWS RELEASE

LAKE SUPERIOR
STATE UNIVERSITY

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Students invited to sail St. Marys River, Straits with LSSU

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI - Students who sign up for a couple of special courses this summer with Lake Superior State University will have the opportunity to sail the St. Marys River, Straits of Mackinac and northern Lake Michigan while studying.

LSSU is offering Island Ecology and Oceanography during a special arrangement with the Inland Seas, a schooner based out of Suttons Bay.

This is the third year that LSSU has offered courses that incorporate sailing cruises aboard the 77 ft. Inland Seas.

Both courses are offered during the second summer session, June 18-July 27.

"Being able to offer classes such as these is one of the unique aspects of an LSSU education," said professor Barbara Evans, who helps coordinate the program with Inland Seas. "Students have told us that while on the lake they have felt as if they were thousands of miles away from campus when really they are less than 100 miles away. They really enjoy the experience. The Inland Seas crew is very professional and they do a great job of involving the students in every aspect of the sailing experience."

In Island Ecology, taught by professors Jason Garvon and Greg Zimmerman, students will meet from 10 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays to discuss concepts and case studies of island ecology, with emphasis on issues for populations and habitats on Great Lakes islands.

Topics include loss of biodiversity, invasive species, dynamics of isolated populations, and management issues.

The class will conclude with four days and three nights, August 6-9, on the Inland Seas.

Students will visit Sugar Island, Lime Island and Harbour Island in the St. Marys River, and St. Helena Island in the Straits of Mackinac, examining first-hand the ecological conditions and issues on those islands.

The cruise will conclude in Petoskey.

Prerequisites for the course include BIOL132 General Biology and permission of the instructors.

A special non-refundable course fee of $480 covers charges associated with the cruise.

Additional coursework will be completed through the Internet.

"We list BIOL 132 as a prerequisite, but a reasonable background in ecology will do, too," said Zimmerman, noting that potential students should contact him or Garvon for additional information.

High school biology teachers would be welcome, he added.

Professor Derek Wright will teach the LSSU Oceanography course, a four-credit general education science elective that will meet from 10-11:50 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.

The course laboratory will be held on board the Inland Seas from July 23-27.

There is a $600 non-refundable fee for the five-day, four-night stay aboard the ship.

"We'll depart Suttons Bay on July 23, sail to Beaver Island, then from Beaver Island to St. Ignace, where we will disembark on July 27," said Wright. "Along the way, we'll be taking instruction in sailing and discussing water quality, aquatic ecology, and Great Lakes fisheries."

Wright said interested students should contact Barbara Keller, dean of the LSSU College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, at [email protected] or 906-635-2267.

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Pictured: Signs on Lime Island describe some of its natural features, such as the colony of terns that nest there every year.

The terns are quite vocal and nest on the end of the pier in the background.

The colony is just one of the many sights that wait to greet LSSU students who are part of an Island Ecology course being offered this summer.

Photo by Tom Pink for LSSU.