Ashley Community Schools’ science teacher, Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge park ranger set sail on July 7.
By Cindy Hudson
Very soon, two Michigan educators will join Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL) staff and Great Lakes scientists to work aboard a U.S. EPA research vessel for a week. Deann Smith, a science teacher at Ashley Community Schools, and Erika Van Kirk, a Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge park ranger, were chosen from a large pool of applicants and will set sail July 7 from Milwaukee, Wis.
Through a partnership with the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, NOAA, and with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the duo will join 13 other educators spending a full week alongside researchers aboard the EPA R/V Lake Guardian. Hosts for the Lake Michigan expedition are CGLL partners Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Wisconsin Sea Grant, both part of the NOAA-National Sea Grant network of 34 university-based programs.
Smith, a resident of Elsie, teaches science, biology, chemistry, and physical education. She enjoys learning new information and thought this program would help tie in with what she has already done, including participating in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Salmon in the Classroom program. “I’m hoping to help my students understand that what we do in the middle of Michigan impacts the Great Lakes as well,” Smith said. “Gaining the hands-on experience will help with that.” Smith has a busy schedule planned for the summer. At the end of July, she will be chaperoning eight high school students on a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
Van Kirk, of Hamtramck, is a park ranger with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. In this role she is responsible for connecting partners and the public to natural resources through place-based education. She delivers environmental education programs to school-aged children, experiential recreational programming to groups, and interpretive programming to the public.
“The thing I love about my job is connecting people with nature,” Van Kirk said. “Inevitably it sparks their curiosity. When we do that together, we notice and experience so much more than when we are alone. It’s important to make sure people understand about and have personal connections to our natural resources that affect our day-to-day lives. Everything is connected.”
The Shipboard Science Immersions are designed to promote Great Lakes sciences while forging lasting relationships between Great Lakes researchers and educators. CGLL is a collaborative effort led by Sea Grant educators throughout the U.S. Great Lakes watershed. CGLL fosters informed and responsible decisions that advance basin-wide stewardship by providing hands-on experiences, educational resources, and networking opportunities promoting Great Lakes literacy among an engaged community of educators, scientists, and youth.
“We do a lot of programming looking at animals higher up in the food web,” said Van Kirk. “I’m hoping to learn more about the lower food web and how to sample larval fish. I’m hoping I can adapt some of the techniques we learn on the Lake Guardian to use at our own Detroit River pier. Perhaps we can do some water testing with youth to explore water quality and human impacts on the watershed.”
Having the opportunity to join scientists to work on the Lake Guardian is “unbelievable,” Smith said. “It’s humbling and I know it will be enlightening. I hope that I will be learning how to teach my kids how to care for what I will learn.”
The R/V Lake Guardian is the largest research vessel operating in the Great Lakes, and the research program rotates through all five of the lakes. In 2026, it is anticipated to be sailing on Lake Superior. More than 200 teachers have participated in the Shipboard Science Immersion program since it began in 2006. Smith and Van Kirk will return to Milwaukee on July 13.
For more information on the 2025 Shipboard Science Immersions, visit the Center for Great Lakes Literacy website.
