Water Connects Us All: Louisiana Educators Explore Connections Across the Mississippi Watershed During a Week of Nature Place-Based Learning and Stewardship in Minnesota

From the Bird’s Foot Delta of southeast Louisiana to the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota, the water connects us all. Traveling almost 3,000 miles in a week, 11 teachers from south Louisiana attended The Water Connects Us All Minnesota Summer Institute, a five-day professional learning experience funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program.

The institute centered on the question: “How does the water connect us all?” Through place-based field experiences, teachers learned how watersheds link distant regions ecologically, culturally and economically. Highlights included:

• Investigating the freshwater St. Louis Estuary and Lake Superior, the largest freshwater port in the U.S., in Duluth
• Exploring the Mississippi River headwaters and learning about the river system at Itasca State Park
• Walking through Itasca’s old-growth pine forests to study human-environment interconnections
• Participating in indigenous knowledge exchanges focused on manoomin (wild rice) conservation and cultural significance
• Engaging in an environmental action project removing invasive buckthorn and monitoring pollinators at Crosby Farm Regional Park in Minneapolis

Throughout the week, teachers documented their insights through reflective writing seminars and synthesis sessions, while discussing how to bring Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) to their students. Participants gained resources, including field sampling tools, and refined skills and strategies for engaging students in locally relevant learning as well as reflection techniques to support nature place-based learning in their own classrooms.

The institute was led by a team from Louisiana Sea Grant’s Department of Education and Engagement, including Ali McMillan, Vanessa van Heerden and Dani DiIullo, as well as Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell, professor in the Payne School of Education at Louisiana State University. The institute immersed teachers in more than 22 hours of outdoor learning, exploring various landscapes and environmental challenges alongside several local partners, including: Emily Schilling with the University of Minnesota Itasca Biological Station; Hilarie Sorensen, Madison Rodman and Kelsey Prihoda with Minnesota Sea Grant; Karina Heim from the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve; Sandra Lichter from Itasca State Park; Ojibwe partner, Leanna Goose; and Jessica Drummond with Great River Greening.

“Our week in Minnesota was full of exploration, collaboration, and action with an incredible group of Louisiana educators and local partners,” said McMillan. “We are all looking forward to seeing these experiences grow as we head downstream into our local watersheds.”

The Water Connects Us All initiative continues with additional field experience for educators at the Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge, in Grand Isle, and in the Atchafalaya Basin, all while supporting teachers as they extend their watershed learning into local coastal ecosystems with their students.

Water Connects Us All is a two-year NOAA B-WET–funded project designed to support south Louisiana teachers as they lead MWEEs with local partners in their own communities. The program fosters environmental literacy, stewardship and connections between communities across South Louisiana and the greater Mississippi River watershed. For more information, please contact McMillan at aholl68@lsu.edu.