Bolingbrook Teacher Joins Scientists Aboard Research Vessel

Submitted by Valley View School Distrit 365U

Following what he terms “an eye-opening experience” on Lake Michigan aboard the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency research vessel Lake Guardian, Humphrey Middle School 6th grade science teacher Mike Stoehrmann has embarked on a campaign to educate his students on plastics pollution and water contaminants.

Courtesy of an Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Stoehrmann was one of only 15 educators selected to spend a week aboard the ship helping EPA scientists collect data on environmental issues in the Lake Michigan ecosystem.

“It was an amazing experience,” the long-time Humphrey teacher said. “The opportunity to work side-by-side with published scientists on topics relevant to all of us is something that I can immediately bring back to my classroom and my students.”

In an effort to determine the effects of the use of plastics in everyday life, Stoehrmann’s group dragged sleds and utilized Go Pro cameras to take sediment core samples from the Lake Michigan floor.

“They’ve done samples of water before but have never taken samples from the bottom. They wanted to go a little deeper to see what was settling to the bottom,” he said. “We collected a ton of samples and processed some of them on board.”

Stoehrmann was surprised by what they found.

“The plastics aren’t being treated. They’re just being washed into our waterways,” he said. “Our wastewater treatment plants take care of the organic materials and get rid of the really bad stuff before they dump it back into our waterways but they don’t actually filter out the plastics.”

The research team found micro beads from face scrubs at the bottom of Lake Michigan. They also found the little plastics pods used for detergent in washing machines and dishwashers and even the lose strings that come off clothes during washing.

“There’s a lot of things you don’t think about that are mixing with our drinking water,” he said. “It’s a little nerve racking.”

Stoehrmann, who is encouraged by a recently-passed Illinois law banning the distribution of face scrubs with micro beads by 2017, has already convinced his family to stop using plastic particle-filled face scrubs.

“We’re definitely more aware of what’s out there and what we’re using,” he said.

But the Humphrey Science Key leader and Science Club sponsor is now busy looking at ways to include the research from his trip in this year’s science curriculum. He has talked to officials in the Bolingbrook Department of Public Works who have agreed to not only host student field trips to the Bolingbrook wastewater treatment plant, but also visit classrooms to discuss the entire water treatment process.

And, utilizing the knowledge (and some similar equipment) from his Lake Michigan cruise, he plans to have Humphrey Science Club members don hip waders and utilize plankton nets to collect and analyze samples from various waterways in the Bolingbrook area.

“It will be kind of interesting to find out what’s in our water around here,” he said.

Stoehrmann said he was truly honored to be one of only two Illinois teachers who participated in the Lake Michigan Shipboard Science Workshop, which was supported by the EPA through funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL) cgll.org.

The Center for Great Lakes Literacy is a collaborative effort led by Sea Grant educators throughout the Great Lakes region. CGLL fosters informed and responsible decision-making that advances basin-wide stewardship by providing hands-on experiences, educational resources and networking opportunities.

Teachers tweeted and blogged about the cruise. Weblogs can be read by visiting http://www.cgll.org/category/shipboard-science/2015-lake-michigan-shipboard-science/.