Pram Building Class - Week 4 - February 23, 2013

This week students glued and fastened the plywood hull sides to the prams. This required a lot of precision drilling and teamwork. Next week the bottom!

Inland Seas Featured in Crusing Grand Traverse Bay Interview

ISEA is featured in a video interview about protecting water quality in Grand Traverse Bay.  Steve Morse, a long-time friend of ISEA, developed this program to inform boaters about the need to protect Grand Traverse Bay's water quality, and the work of two organizations involved with this work, ISEA and the Watershed Center.  Click here to see the video.  You can see Steve's entire program about Grand Traverse Bay from a boater's prospective by clicking here.

Inland Seas at her dock in Suttons Bay  - ISEA Photo

--Capt. Tom

ISEA Board Strategic Planning Retreat - Feb. 15, 2013

The ISEA board and staff met all day on Friday at the Leelanau Club Golf Course for a board meeting and strategic planning session.  Big news from the board meeting was the election of our former Education Director Colleen Masterson-Bzdok to the board.  Colleen is currently serving on our Development Committee. 


Morning Board Meeting



Pam Evans of NorthSky leading the board through the strategic planning process.



Pram Building Class #3 - Framing

The students and staff are excited to see the form of the boats taking shape.  We had a great day Saturday fitting and gluing the stringers in place.

Thanks to our Boat Shop Volunteer Instructors for their dedication and leadership:

Chuck Dickerson - Lead

Terry Ciesielski, Sandy Ciesielski, Toni DeRose, Bill Emerson, Scott Myers,  Paul McEwen, John Bailey, Sandy Kushner, Larry Weingar, Mike Cherry, Larry Peyton, Jerry Battle.

--Tom Kelly

Family Science Days Continue with the Mighty Stugeon

Young scientists learned about the mighty lake sturgeon and other fishy denizens of the Great Lakes last Saturday at the Inland Seas Education Center.  These small fry got a chance to hear a story of a sturgeon, paint a life-sized sturgeon (you can see the results at the Center) and to go fishing in our indoor "pond". 

The Sturgeon Story

After landing their catch, the kids identified their fish using this chart.

The next Family Science Day will be on March 9.  Young sailors will be able to talk to a real Great Lakes schooner captain (Capt. Ben Hale) and build their own model schooners.  Shiver me timbers! (I wonder if a real sailer ever actually said this?)  Call Taryn for details and reservations: 231-271-3077.

Loon Migration Maps Online

If you missed Dan Ray's talk on Avian Botulism last evening, you can see some of the amazing loon mapping he showed.  These maps are produced by the the USGS using radio taged loons.  Click here to see the maps. 

Dan Ray presenting on Avian Botulism at the  Inland Seas Education Center

Thanks to Dan for his presentation.  Also thanks to scientists, managers and volunteers who are helping to understand this wildlife plague. 
--Tom K.

ISEA Seminar on Avian Botulism Tuesday Evening

Inland Seas Education Association is excited to offer a seminar focusing on the avian botulism monitoring program at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Dan Ray, the Project Lead, will give an overview of botulism in the Great Lakes, as well as a bird’s eye view of the monitoring activity conduced in 2012.

Where:
The Inland Seas Education Center
100 Dame St. Suttons Bay
When:
Tuesday February 12th at 7:00 pm

Free and open to the public
Please contact 231-271-3077 with any questions

Pram Building Class #3

This past Saturday our Pram Building Crew was hard at it again:

ISEA's Pram Building Class is a great example of how we transfer skills and positive attitudes from one generation to the next.  All Boat Shop Instructors are volunteers who gladly give their time to help these youngsters experience the planning, team work and skill development needed to build a boat.

This program is provided to the students at no cost.  The Pram Building Class costs ISEA about $3,800 to put on (for materials and supplies).  We are seeking corporate and/or individual partners who would like to help cover this cost.  Please contact Kathy Lievense, ISEA Development Director, for more information.  (231-271-3077).

Pram Class #2 2-2-13

Each winter the ISEA Pram Building Class constructs two Optimist prams.  These students are aged 10 - 15 and have no prior experience building boats.  The course is sponsored by ISEA and the students participate for free.  The finished boats are donated to TACS and each student builder gets a scholarship to TACS to learn how to sail the boat they built during the winter.