Center for Great Lakes Literacy

The vision of the CGLL is to develop a Great Lakes-literate public capable of effectively contributing to the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the Great Lakes.

The Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL) is a collaborative effort led by Sea Grant educators from Minnesota Sea Grant and other Sea Grant programs throughout the Great Lakes watershed. The Center fosters informed and responsible decisions that advance basin-wide stewardship by providing hands-on experiences, educational resources and networking opportunities that promote Great Lakes literacy among an engaged community of educators, scientists and citizens.

CGLL offers:

• Annual Great Lakes Shipboard Science workshops that connect educators with scientists aboard the EPA’s R/V Lake Guardian;
• Webinars and social media postings featuring pressing Great Lakes issues;
• Land-based watershed workshops that facilitate strong community-school partnerships resulting in action-oriented Great Lakes stewardship and restoration activities; Great Lakes Awareness Day events for the public at prominent educational institutions—aquariums, zoos, museums, etc.;
• Limno Loan Program for Hydrolab water quality monitoring equipment;
• Educator Day at the International Association for Great Lakes Research Conference;
• Citizen science and other volunteer activities that create opportunities for adults to become involved in watershed restoration;
• The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network has long taken a leadership role in increasing opportunities for educators, their students, and others to learn more about and become better stewards of the Great Lakes environment.

Minnesota Sea Grant belongs to the Great Lakes Sea Grant Education Network and is one of the seven Great Lakes Sea Grant programs, along with Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois-Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York Sea Grant programs. Together, these seven programs provide professional learning opportunities for educators and educational programming for youth about the Great Lakes.

In 2021, Minnesota Sea Grant Center for Great Lake Literacy hosted Dinner on the Lakes, a monthly talk series for educators by educators. We also led the 2021 Great Lakes Bioblitz, and co-hosted an iNaturalist workshop mini-series with Wisconsin Sea Grant that taught educators how to use iNaturalist and participate in the Bioblitz. We also co-hosted the 2021 Trimming Our Sails workshop series, and a mentor teacher training with Wisconsin Sea Grant.

The CGLL seeks to engage teachers and educators from throughout the Great Lakes region.

Financial support for the CGLL comes primarily from grants.

"I just want to extend a heart filled thank you for getting me aboard Great Lake Science. As you know this is my last year teaching high school physics and biology and I will greatly miss the formal classroom, but after 33 years of educating, and having the opportunity to change careers I just can't resist this opportunity. I can honestly say my experiences with this group of Great Lakes educators is one of the top influences of how and what I taught, and again I thank you for taking me aboard.

Fair winds and I look forward to our courses crossing again."

Bo DeRemee
Retired teacher
Ely High School, Ely, Minnesota