ALPENA — The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary will be the host of Nancy Foster Scholars this August. The scholars visit was announced at the TBNMS Advisory Council meeting Tuesday.

There will be 12 to 16 scholars in attendance and each received the Nancy Foster Scholarship administered by the National Marine Sanctuary office, Sanctuary Education Coordinator Sarah Waters said. The scholarship is given to graduate level students to continue their studies.

Each year they are given a training opportunity at one of the national marine sanctuaries, and this year they will be at Thunder Bay. They will be trained in diving, snorkeling and maritime archeology methods. The scholars also will give presentations to the public while they are here as well, Waters said.

Another student who will be in Alpena for a few weeks is intern Lina Zubieta. She is an undergraduate from the University of South Florida Tampa and her major is marine biology. She was awarded an Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship and will be in Alpena for 10 weeks to work at the sanctuary. During her time at the sanctuary she will work on a survey of people who visit.

“My specific research is a survey in the Lady Michigan and the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center,” she said.

There are two parts to the survey, one is for residents thsy asks about customer satisfaction. The other is a tourist survey that asks them questions about how they heard about the sanctuary.

“We think the information gathered here can help the Friends group and in our state and congressional delegations,” Superintendent Jeff Gray said.

In other business, Waters gave an update to exhibits at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center. There have been updates to many exhibits as well as plans to install brand new exhibits soon.

Jordan Spence can be reached via email at jspence@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.