ELLICOTTVILLE — Science teacher Jennifer Crane of the Big Picture Learning School through Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES will join the Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL) staff and Great Lakes scientists to work aboard an EPA research vessel for a week in July.

Crane is among a group of 15 educators who will assist the scientists and work with Sea Grant literacy specialists to develop Great Lakes lessons to take back to classrooms.

The July 7-13 experience aboard the EPA R/V Lake Guardian on Lake Michigan is made possible by a partnership with the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office and NOAA, with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Hosts for the Lake Michigan expedition are CGLL partners Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Wisconsin Sea Grant.

Crane teaches New York State Regents Living Environment and Earth and Space Science as well as General Science and STEAM classes at the high school level. She has nine years of experience teaching Kindergarten through grade 12.

“I’m excited to work along scientists,” Crane said. “My time spent on the Lake Guardian will allow me to develop a Great Lakes-based interdisciplinary program for my students, especially with my watershed biology class. I look forward to adapting the data we collect on Lake Michigan for studies of Lake Erie and its watershed.”

Crane’s own continuing education has included New York Sea Grant workshops on Great Lakes coastal resilience and plankton in the Great Lakes aquatic food web.

“I have a passion for watershed ecology and look forward to sharing my shipboard immersion through Big Picture Learning’s annual conference that draws BPL teachers from across the world and at local outdoor recreation and environmental clean-up events,” she said.

Crane is an outdoor hike and white water rafting group leader and serves on the Buffalo Women of Environmental Learning and Leadership (BWELL) Board of Directors. She developed and runs a Buffalo Engineering and Awareness for Minorities Saturday Academy for children.

“The teachers who experience this unique Shipboard Science Immersion become ambassadors for the Great Lakes, extending their knowledge gain and their enthusiasm for environmental stewardship of all water resources to their students, colleagues, and communities,” said Nate Drag, New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Literacy Specialist.

Drag coordinates the Lake Ontario Shipboard Science Immersion teacher expeditions. The Lake Guardian returns to Lake Ontario on its five-year rotation schedule in 2028.

In the meantime, New York Sea Grant provides professional development opportunities for teachers throughout New York State. Summer 2025 workshops will be held in Buffalo, Oswego and Rochester. Contact Drag at nwd4@cornell.edu for details.

The Shipboard Science Immersion is designed to promote Great Lakes science while forging lasting relationships between Great Lakes researchers and educators. CGLL is a collaborative effort led by Sea Grant educators throughout the Great Lakes watershed. CGLL fosters informed and responsible decisions that advance basin-wide stewardship by providing hands-on science experiences, educational resources, and networking opportunities, promoting Great Lakes literacy among an engaged community of teachers, scientists and youth.

For more information on the Shipboard Science Immersion program and future expedition opportunities, visit https://cgll.org.