COSEE Great Lakes State of the Lake Education for the Public

"Go Behind the Scenes � Boats, Nets, Fish, and Lake Michigan Research"

Science Chicago--Science Saturday Event

Science Saturday, an event that was under the umbrella of the Museum of Science and Industry's Science Chicago initiative, was a successful public learning experience. We had two groups of 15 people in each group. There were four Stations with one lead scientist at each: Pat Charlebois, Debbie Lichti, Ben Martin, and Sara Creque, all with the Illinois Natural History Survey.

Citizen highlights included the following:

Checking out zooplankton with the microscopes
Viewing specimens of different fish caught in Lake Michigan
Learning about the different equipment (mainly nets) used by scientists to conduct research.
Observing underwater footage -- lots of zebra mussels, schools of fish
Seeing many species of fish, both frozen and preserved
Viewing and handling a wide array of sampling equipment
Hands-on activities (zooplankton net, temp instrument, secchi disk, microscopes)

The public learned what organisms exist in our lake and the different sampling techniques/equipment used by scientists to gather information. They also learned how invasives affect the food web; what types of sampling equipment is used and why different types are used; and how to have a career as a biologist (e.g, what courses to take, what we do, etc.) The public became more scientifically and Great Lakes literate by realizing that the lake is an ecosystem with many organisms living in it and learning more about its food web as well as the issue of invasive species.

This public outreach event broadened skills for the scientists. The hands-on experience and the public Q&A session fostered positive engagement. The scientists appeared to realize that it can be fun to interact with the public and teach them about what they love, sharing their passion for Great Lakes science. Due to their interactions with the public, it likely that the next time around it will be a less intimidating experience for the scientists, and they might be more open to conducting other events.