2017 Great Lakes Student Conference

May 18, 2017 | SCRCA Education Team

 

In an effort to increase Great Lakes literacy, the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority (SCRCA) organized a Great Lakes Specialist High Skills Major Student Conference with the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB) through support from the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC). Over 70 students from four LKDSB high schools attended the conference. Students had the opportunity to learn from experts about issues surrounding the Great Lakes, explore cultural connections to water, and discover possible career paths.

The conference began with a welcome message and opening remarks from Melissa Gill, SCRCA Education Technician, and Steve Arnold, St. Clair Township Mayor and SCRCA Chair. This was followed by keynote speaker, Carolyn O’Neill from MOECC, who provided a presentation on “The Great Lakes: An Introduction.”

Students then broke out into groups and rotated through the six workshops, which included:

• Water Quality with Pollutech
• First Nation Cultural Connection to Water with Aamjiwnaang First Nation
• Species at Risk with Sciensational Snakes
• Habitat Restoration with Return the Landscape
• Fish Sampling with biologists from the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority
• Soil Erosion and Nutrient Runoff with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs