The Mississippi Adventure 2000

Our Captain

Ike Hastings If Mark Twain were alive today, he would be living like Ike Hastings. In the constant company of his parrot and dog Inge, Ike spends his summers exploring the channels of the Mississippi and its major tributaries aboard a remarkable vessel that is as steeped in historic tradition as it is technologically advanced.

Interactive Expedition Crew

We've chosen the six crew members for the Expedition 2000. Click on the student's name to get more information.

	Brooke LaLonde is a senior at Garber High School in Essexville, MI. She's also a seasoned veteran of Rivers of Life, having been with us on the 1999 Expedition. Her principle responsibility on the trip will be as a production assistant on the video documentary we'll shoot during the trip.
	Becky Madison is a senior at the New Country School in Henderson, MN. Becky's senior project is to research and evaluate several watershed indicators, build a demonstration model of a watershed and tutor younger students on what they can do to improve the conditions in their watershed.
	Andrea Bosco is a Junior at Garber High School in Essexville, MI, and a classmate of Brooke's. Andrea has created a project that will look at the zebra mussel in the Mississippi River, and compare it to conditions back in her home watershed on Saginaw Bay, MI.
	Thor Carlson is a sophomore at Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, MN. Thor will be looking at bird habitats on the Mississippi River, and is hoping to work with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on the data he collects.
	Jamie Pfister is a senior at the School of Environmental Studies at the Minnesota Zoo. Jamie is intensely interested in water quality issues, and will be sampling plants along the river during the Interactive Expedition.
	Matthew Swanson is from South Minneapolis, MN. Matthew will be taking a first-hand look at the fish of the Mississippi River. At least, he hopes so- he's planning on doing quite a bit of fishing, and he'd like to be looking at a fish at the end of his line.
	CGEE Trip Leaders
	John Shepard is Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of Hamline University's Center for Global Environmental Education. He has more than 20 years of experience as an outdoor program manager, environmental education center director, and wilderness trip leader for the YMCA and the National Youth Leadership Council.
	Peggy Knapp, Producer of Rivers of Life, is an award-winning correspondent and video producer, specializing in science and environmental issues. She has appeared regularly on the popular PBS science series, "Newton's Apple" and as a reporter and producer for CNN's environmental newsmagazine, "Earth Matters."