Great Lakes and Plains

Who are we?

The Great Lakes and Plains Region includes educators from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. This is most recently formed regional alumni group. The region held its inaugural meeting virtually on October 31, 2020. In a 2021, alumni from the region reconvened for virtual book club. You can learn more about these activities in the sections below.

The goals for alumni regions are to build an understanding of physical and marine oceanography among alumni and their students, to establish strong relationships among alumni that emphasize collective participation of groups of teachers, and to develop relationships with NOAA scientists and broaden their connection to NOAA beyond the Teacher at Sea program.

  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting.
  • A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.

Regional Meetings and Alumni Map

2020

Due to challenges and restrictions from the pandemic, the Great Lakes and Plains Region alumni convened virtually on October 31, 2020 for a 2.5 hour meeting in which alumni were able to reconnect, share stories about their Teacher at Sea experiences, share resources, and bond during a team-building virtual science museum scavenger hunt with Watson Adventures.

All Great Lakes and Plains alumni attending the meeting received a copy of the book The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan, and in the Winter 2021, alumni from the region met again virtually for several book club discussions. The goal of the book club was to create another opportunity for alumni to get to know each other and to share how they might use the regionally-specific content from the book in their classrooms.

A group of people in a Zoom meeting and they are all wearing different marine animal hats.

Great Lakes and Plains Alumni Spotlights