Grand Calumet River Educator Tour
Free July 31 tour will visit two major restoration sites.
Media Contacts
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Chip Sutton
The Nature Conservancy
Email: csutton@tnc.org -
On a balmy summer morning, The Nature Conservancy’s Jessica Fernandez is standing on the banks of the Grand Calumet River, her binoculars steadied on a sandhill crane. She watches as the crane grabs its breakfast of fish and then takes flight, its majestic wings catching the morning sun.
“We’ve watched a pair of sandhills return to this area every year for several years,” says Fernandez. “This wouldn’t have been the case just 10 years ago, but the massive clean-up that has been happening here in and along the Grand Calumet River has improved habitat and opened the door for wildlife to move back in.” Fernandez hopes that others will learn of the remediation restoration efforts to address environmental degradation in this area and come to appreciate this local natural resource.
To help achieve that, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant are putting on an educator’s workshop that includes an immersive tour of two major restoration sites within the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern (AOC) and an introduction to the Virtual Reality Experience and Curriculum that features regional restoration sites in East Chicago and Hammond, Indiana. These sites showcase the transformation of heavily polluted industrial landscapes into thriving ecosystems through sediment remediation and habitat restoration.
The event is called “Restoring the Grand Calumet: Educator Tour of Revitalized River Ecosystems and Virtual Reality Curriculum Workshop” and it will take place on Thursday July 31st from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Central) at Purdue NW Hammond Campus (2200 169th Street in Hammond, Indiana). The tour is open to all 6-12 grade formal and non-formal educators and is a free event. The deadline to register is July 21st.
Participants will explore the science and impact of ecological restoration, hear from restoration experts and engage with place-based virtual reality curriculum aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Educators can earn 6 ISBE clock hours (IL) or 6 Professional Growth Points (IN).
More information can be found on the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant webpage.
This educator tour is funded by Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more resilient. The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 81 countries and territories (40 by direct conservation impact and 41 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit nature.org or follow @nature_press on X.