This past January, the River Talk series featured Jeff Savage from the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and Marvin Defoe, an elder with the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. They shared their memories and stories of Spirit Island.
The November River Talks featured Samuel Geer, president of Urban Ecosystems, presenting, “Revealing the Invisible: Experiencing and Interpreting the St. Louis River Along Waabizheshikana (The Marten Trail).” Through his landscape architecture practice, Geer was the lead designer of the interpretive plan for the trail, which was formerly known as the Western Waterfront Trail in Duluth, Minnesota.
The new season of River Talks began in October with three speakers who described projects designed to control stormwater runoff and prevent pollution at the marina on Barker’s Island in Superior, Wisconsin. Theresa Qualls with the Wisconsin Clean Marina Program, Eric Thomas with Barker’s Island Marina and Michael Krick with the city of Superior gave in-person presentations in the Lake Superior Estuarium.
With the cool blue of Lake Superior and soft sloshing waves as a background, The River Talks season ended on a Wisconsin Point beach after a year of virtual presentations. Thomas Howes, natural resources manager with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa presented, “Ojibwe connection to Wisconsin Point: Past, present and future,” Read more about Ojibwe history on Wisconsin Point is complicated, painful, beautiful[…]
Our “River of Poems” reading in conjunction with the St. Louis River Summit featured a dozen poets from across the country and around the world!
The February River Talk featured Alexis Berke with the Great Lakes Aquarium presenting, “A virtual visit: Explore the St. Louis River exhibits and animals at the Great Lakes Aquarium.” Berke, director of learning and engagement, offered a mini-guided tour of the St. Louis River exhibits at the aquarium designed for all ages
The November River Talk featured Dustin Haines, research coordinator for the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve. His Zoom talk held in cooperation with Café Scientifique Twin Ports, was titled, ““Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Clash of Wetlands With Lake Levels, Invasives and Humans.”
The new season of River Talks began in October with two speakers who discussed the impacts of water level changes in the St. Louis River Estuary via Zoom. Brandon Krumwiede, Great Lakes geospatial coordinator with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, presented, “Water Level Change Impacts in the St. Louis River Estuary.” And Hannah Burgstaler, freshwater fellow at the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, presented, “St. Louis River Estuary Water Level and Canada Geese Population Effect on Manoomin Survival Rate.”
The final River Talk of the season, “Deterring Geese on the St. Louis River to Protect Wild Rice,” was presented by Sam Hansen, a former summer undergraduate research fellow with the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve, on May 13.
As part of the River Talks series, Vern Northrup presented his five-year photography journey titled, “Akinomaage: Teaching from the Earth,” on March 3 at the St. Louis River Summit held at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.