From Boreal Community Media - April 19, 2019

The Swenson College of Science & Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth is hosting an interdisciplinary and immersive experience for youth in middle school and high school from May 16-19.

The 13th Lake Superior Youth Symposium rotates to a different community in the Lake Superior watershed in the U.S. and Canada every two years.

The symposium will feature hands-on workshops, a wide variety of field trips, and presentations from researchers, student activists, social media influencers and a keynote from 2013 CNN Hero of the Year Chad Pregracke. Pregracke founded Living Lands & Waters, devoted to cleaning waterways when he was 17 years old. The organization now has more than 100,000 volunteers and has led river clean up efforts in 20 states.

Registration is open online at www.z.umn.edu/lsys2019 until May 1. The cost to participate is $200 and includes lodging, food and transportation to symposium activities. Chaperones are needed to accompany youth so parents and teachers can also sign up to attend or request a chaperone be assigned.

Space is limited and workshop and field trip choices are first come, first served, so organizers are encouraging people to sign up now.

For more information about LSYS, visit the website at www.z.umn.edu/lsys2019 or contact Kireta at [email protected] or 218-726-7409.

Symposium organizers are providing all of this programming in partnership with more than 25 organizations. Their goal is to ensure that LSYS participants have a high impact experience.

“We’re encouraging participants to explore their relationship with the Great Lakes through multiple perspectives,” said organizer Amy Kireta, an outreach specialist at UMD. “So, we’ve incorporated a wide variety of opportunities to explore things like art, science, culture and history to learn how they relate to freshwater resources.”

“UMD has never hosted this event so we wanted to make a big splash and take advantage of all that the community has to offer,” said Kireta. “All of the organizers are so excited and we think it will be an unforgettable and potentially life-changing experience for participants.”

UMD’s Swenson College of Science & Engineering is hosting this event and has 3,440 undergraduates and more than 300 graduate students. It is also home to ten academic departments, as well as the Large Lakes Observatory, the UMD Air Force ROTC program, and the Iron Range Engineering program. The college connects its students with hands-on research opportunities through its collaboration with multiple research institutions and area businesses. To learn more, visit: http://www.d.umn.edu/scse/.