Our yards are often a place of sanctuary-a place we get to manage to meet our needs. We don’t always think that the decisions we make in our yard or neighborhood, such as where to put our downspout, whether to fertilize or even street sweeping, could affect streams miles away-but it can! Water moves through our lawns and neighborhoods connecting them to downstream ecosystems. From yards to streets to storm drains to streams, water is moving, transforming and depositing pollutants along its path. Dr. Suchy will present on how different pollutants, such as nutrients and microplastics, move through cities-from yards to streams! Meet in the Visitor Center.

A part of the Central Michigan University, the Institute of Great Lakes Research (IGLR) takes a multidisciplinary approach to understand the complex environmental issues affecting the Great Lakes basin. IGLR faculty members are nationally and internationally recognized as experts on coastal wetlands, conservation genetics, fisheries, invasive species, limnology, aquatic population modeling, microbial ecology, landscape ecology, and geographic information sciences. To learn more about IGLR and the research they are doing, please visit them at https://www.cmich.edu/academics/colleges/college-science-engineering/centers/institute-for-great-lakes-research. 

Free | Ages 15+, under 18 w/adult