Over 100 students were expected to travel to Sarnia and Point Edward for the western Lake Erie Student Summit on Wednesday.
The hands-on event focuses on building the knowledge, skills, and connections needed to protect the freshwater ecosystem.
Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) Community Education Coordinator Karlee Flear described the gathering as the "culminating event" of the Western Lake Erie Student Summit and Stewardship Project, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
"We've been working with six other conservation authorities," Flear said. "Kettle Creek, Catfish Creek, St. Clair Region, Essex Region, the Lower Thames Valley and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, to educate over 500 students from across the western Lake Erie basin this year. Our guiding question has been, how can the youth better connect, share, and care for Lake Erie?"
Several speakers are scheduled to present at the St. Clair Corporate Centre in the morning.
"Lynn Rosales from Aamjiwnaang First Nation is going to be doing an Indigenous welcome and then we also have RAEON (Real-Time Aquatic Ecosystem Observation Network) from the University of Windsor and the Water Rangers that are going to be running a citizen science activity down by the waterfront," Flear said.
The summit will move to Point Edward in the afternoon, where students will participate in four different activities.
"We have the Bluewater Anglers that are going to give a tour of their hatchery," Flear said. "We are going to be doing a fish painting activity, they're going to be getting a tourism talk from Tourism Sarnia-Lambton and eating some french fries under the bridge."
Flear explained that this area was selected for the summit as a way to understand Lake Erie's connection to the Great Lakes as a whole, with Lake Huron and the St. Clair River serving as its connecting waterways.
"We have students from London, Chatham, Windsor and from Forest all coming to the event," said Flear. "They're all students that have participated in the program and the teachers were excited to extend their learning even further and bring them to the waterfront for a day of learning."
