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2008 OLYMPICS

JOBS

Monday,
August 18, 2008

EPA vessel docks in
Clayton

Updated: 07/16/2008 05:19
PM

By: Brian Dwyer

CLAYTON, N.Y. -- It's an impressive sight. At 180 feet long, "The Lake
Guardian" is the largest surveillance and monitoring vessel in the EPA's entire
fleet.

And all this week, school teachers involved with the Center for
Ocean Sciences Educators Excellence Great Lakes program are getting hands-on
experience, gathering information about environmental lake conditions and
monitoring pollutant levels.

"I saw this opportunity and I couldn't believe it. I'm like a
little kid again," East Aurora High School teacher Larry Grisanti said. "When a
teacher gets to be a student again. We love learning."

"They work from morning all the way until 10 p.m. They do
research and listen to lectures," Helen Domske, a New York Sea Grant Extension
Specialist added. "They're just so excited and we just know they'll take that
excitement back to their classroom."

EPA vessel docks
in Clayton

A group of teachers from all over
the country are calling it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They are spending a
week on board an Environmental Protection Agency research vessel called "The
Lake Guardian." Our Brian Dwyer has more on their experiences and how the EPA
plans to put their work to the test.

The
teachers say the things they'll learn in the labs and doing experiments will
translate well into a lesson plan for their own students.

"Not being able to take my students to Lake Erie or to the
Niagara River seeing as how we're very underfunded for field trips, I can bring
the lake or river to the students, doing activities on a smaller scale," Kathy
Furlong, a teacher in the Buffalo Public School System said.

"By going out with the EPA on this boat, I can see what's
happening in 2008 and kind of update all of my teaching to current research,"
Diane Podgornik, a teacher from Proctor, Minnesota.

The EPA says this week isn't just about education though. They
plan to put all of this collected data to good use.

"This will all be pulled together into a comprehensive assessment
of the Lake Ontario ecosystem," EPA Environmental Specialist Frederick Luckey
said. "We're working on having a special conference in 2009 where we'll put
together all these findings."

The teachers will be on-board until Saturday. They're keeping a
blog of their experiences at www.coseegreatlakes.net/weblog.

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