2025 Sea Grant Shipboard Science Immersion on Lake Michigan
Pennsylvania educator, Virginia Friedman of Jenkintown, PA, selected to join Sea Grant aboard EPA’s research vessel on Lake Michigan
(HARRISBURG, PA) – Pennsylvania Sea Grant is excited to announce that Virginia Friedman, a 7th grade science teacher at Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, will join Sea Grant’s Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL) staff and Great Lakes researchers to work aboard an EPA research vessel July 7-13, 2025.
Through a partnership with the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, NOAA, and with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, educators will spend a full week alongside researchers aboard the EPA R/V Lake Guardian.
Friedman is one of 15 educators from Great Lakes states embarking on the journey, which is designed to engage 5th – 12th grade educators, forge lasting relationships between Great Lakes researchers and educators, and to provide educators with resources to integrate the Great Lakes into their classrooms and other learning environments.
“I am excited by the chance to learn new skills and concepts and share my Great Lakes experiences with my students,” Friedman said. “My teaching philosophy is grounded in the idea that we learn best by doing. I love teaching middle school because students begin to see themselves as active members of society, and they are eager for opportunities to be engaged participants. Connecting with researchers and other educators will make my teaching more impactful. It’s also important for students to see their teachers as students, since our goal is for them to be life-long learners.”
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.
Hosts for the Lake Michigan expedition are CGLL partners Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Wisconsin Sea Grant. Learn more about the Sea Grant Shipboard Science Immersion experience.
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June 11, 2025
