What’s it like to view a shipwreck through an underwater camera or to wade into a stream to collect fish and invertebrates? Students from UW-Parkside, UW-Green Bay and Calvin College did this and more as they explored freshwater habitats along Lake Michigan’s coast from Green Bay to Racine.
The students were enrolled in our “Human Interactions with Lake Michigan Coastal Ecosystems” course, which was developed and is taught by faculty from UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences, UW-Green Bay and UW-Parkside. The three-credit summer course teaches students how Wisconsin’s freshwater coast has been impacted by climate change, wastewater runoff, agricultural runoff and coastal erosion.
One highlight was using side scan sonar and an ROV to explore the Francis Hinton shipwreck, part of NOAA’s Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
This course is open to any university student. Lodging and meals are provided through funding by the Freshwater Collaborative.