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Alpena was among the stops this week for a group of teachers who have had the chance to study the science of Lake Huron with researchers aboard a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency vessel.

The group of 15 educators from across Michigan and other states including Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and New York, are participating in the Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence's Lake Huron Shipboard and Shoreline Science Workshop. The teachers have conducted research alongside scientists aboard the 180-foot EPA research vessel Lake Guardian. The workshop began in Detroit on Saturday and traveled north through Lake St. Clair , the St. Clair River and Lake Huron ports of call. It will end Friday in Milwaukee, Wis.

The workshop is a component of COSEE's Great Lakes program supported by the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network. Sea Grant Extension educators from Michigan and Wisconsin have facilitated the expedition and helped translate the onboard experience into meaningful classroom lessons that emphasize human impacts and parallels between Great Lakes and ocean systems, said Steve Stewart, Michigan Sea Grant Extension educator.

"One of the purposes of COSEE is to build relationships between the research community and the educational researchers. You're not only building a network within the teachers, you're building relationships between the researchers and educators," he said of the workshop's purpose.

Stewart said COSEE has focused on a different Great Lake for the past three years with similar programs that have taken place at Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and Lake Superior. This year's focus is Lake Huron.

During the week the teachers have taken part in assisting researchers in various scientific tests as the vessel has stopped at different research stations in Lake Huron that are normally surveyed by the crew.

"This is like a one week snapshot of what there are doing throughout the year," Stewart said.

At the beginning of the week, the teachers were given training in conducting the scientific tests which include using a secchi dish to measure water clarity, nets to obtain plankton samples, Rosette sampler to take water samples at different depths, and a box core and Ponar Grab to get samples of the lake bottom.

These tests have been done between two to four times a day, depending on how many stations the vessel visits. By the second and third day the teachers were instructed to come up with a research question to answer during the week. The teachers are then required to make a presentation of their findings and information to the rest of the group by today, said Pat Trommater, a fourth grade teacher at Carson City Elementary School.

Stewart said educators also have attended lectures on the ship with speakers from agencies including NOAA, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State University, University of Michigan and Sea Grant. The lecture topics have ranged from water quality and pollution to the Lake Huron fishery.

The vessel made a stop in Alpena on Tuesday and Wednesday. The teachers utilized the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center as their on-shore educational classroom on Tuesday. They spent the day learning about aquatic invasive species from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and MSU and Lake Huron shipwrecks from staff at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. On Wednesday the teachers resumed their water sampling activities onboard the research vessel and heard lectures from fisheries research biologists Dave Fielder and Jim Johnson of the DNR's Alpena Fisheries Research Station, said Brandon Schroeder, Michigan Sea Grant Extension educator.

"This Alpena port stop for the COSEE Great Lakes Lake Huron exploration cruise was a tremendous opportunity to connect educators from around the Great Lakes region with a wide diversity of Lake Huron research partners located and operating here out of our own Northeast Michigan communities," he said.

Trommater applied to take part in the experience because the information she's getting fits in well with state grade level content expectations. Part of the curriculum requires her to teach students about invasive species and the effect on the environment, which are among the topics she's learned about. Her research question involves the time frame for quagga mussels to clear the water.

"It's just exciting to work with all these different educators from all over the nation," she said.

Stewart said COSEE received more than 80 applicants for the 15 available spots in the program. The applications go through a review process. COSEE staff mainly look for geographic representation among the Great Lakes states and representation among the different grade levels.

Patty Ramus can be reached via e-mail at pramus@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.