St. Louis River and Estuary Institute
2025 St. Louis River & Estuary Institute featuring Waters to the Sea®
Free for Educators and Face-to-Face!
St. Louis River and Estuary Institute | June 23-25, 2025 | Duluth, MN
Join us for the St Louis River and Estuary Institute (SLRII)—a free professional development program located in Duluth, MN, designed to inspire, educate, and engage educators through experiential, inquiry-based science and engineering investigations around the St Louis River and Estuary and Lake Superior.
Activities
During the River Institute experience, participants will:
Explore the St Louis River and Estuary by canoe and paddle from Chamber Groves Park to the Duluth Boy Scout Landing to experience unique vantage points of the river and estuary.
Explore the St Louis River and Estuary by land at Jay Cooke State Park and the Great Lakes Aquarium
Hear from expert presenters about Lake Superior, the St Louis River and Estuary, geology, climate change, and MN Native American History.
Conduct inquiry-based science investigations of lake, river, and estuary habitats.
Design solutions to engineering challenges based on water issues and climate change.
Make scientific observations in the field and learn strategies to use science notebooks in the classroom.
Share strategies to help students 'think like a scientist,' 'design like an engineer,' and 'write like an author.'
Engage with rich multimedia learning tools such as Waters to the Sea® and the 'Sea Change' Documentary
Integrate citizen science and service learning to clean our waterways and help cities adapt to flooding using the Adopt-a-Drain Program.
***** NEW THIS SUMMER ! ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE $500 WORTH OF ADOPT-A-DRAIN K-12 MATERIALS to use with their classroom.*****
Each Rivers Institute Participant Will Receive
3 full days of instruction
18 Continuing Education Credits
Lunch each day
Exposure to the Waters to the Sea® multimedia tools, Adopt-a-Drain Program, Adopt-a-Drain K-12 for Educators, and other online resources for the classroom
The option to purchase two graduate-level credits at the reduced rate of $200/credit from Hamline University
Eligibility
All K-12 formal and informal educators are welcome to apply!
Funding
The 2025 St Louis River Estuary Institute is funded through the generous financial assistance of our donors. With their ongoing support we enable hundreds of teachers to improve the way they understand and teach science, and help thousands of students connect with the natural world.
Contact
Sara Robertson
Program Administrator
srobertson01@hamline.edu