Lake Superior Youth Symposium 2025

Sharon M. Day - Keynote Presenter

Sharon M. Day, Nagamoo Ma'iingen is from the Wabizhizhe clan and enrolled at Bois Forte. She has led water walks since 2011, walking the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, and the St. Louise rivers to name a few. Always speaking to the water, following in the teachings of Grandmother Josephine Mandamin ibah. She is also a writer, an artist and writer for the Ikidowin Youth Theater. In her day job, she is the Executive Director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force in Minneapolis. 

Rachel Portinga - Keynote Address
Crossing boundaries to address social justice and sustainability challenges in the Lake Superior watershed

Rachel Portinga (she/her) has been privileged to live on Anishinaabe territory in the Lake Superior watershed since 2007. While in Onigamiising (Duluth, MN) she earned an MS of Integrated Biosciences at the U of MN Duluth, then taught biology courses at numerous postsecondary institutions in the Arrowhead region. She has been living in Anemki-Wiikwedong (Thunder Bay, ON) for the last five years as a PhD Candidate of Health Sciences at Lakehead University. Her research interests include: how people collaborate across boundaries (e.g., sectoral, disciplinary, geopolitical) to work towards social justice, ecological sustainability, and health promotion and how people use watersheds as eco-social settings for teaching, organizing, research, and action. She engages in boundary crossing every day personally as an American living in Canada, and professionally as the Coordinator of the Lake Superior Living Labs Network. She is always excited to bring people together across boundaries, particularly over good food. She is also an organizer for community groups committed to climate justice & action, seed saving, and equity, accessibility, & decolonization. For fun she bakes, sews, canoes, and plays ultimate frisbee. She is an enthusiastic, but moderately skilled birder and seed saver, and she has been known to get overly competitive during Scattergories.

Zaria Romero - Keynote Address

Zaria Romero (she/her) is currently a Minnesota Green Corps Member serving at Carver County in Chaska, MN where she is working on projects related to Waste Reduction and Recycling. Zaria is passionate about preserving natural spaces, working on local projects, and promoting behavior change to build a sustainable society. She graduated from UW-Madison in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Conservation Biology and Psychology. As an undergraduate, she studied abroad in Ecuador in a Tropical Conservation Program and conducted research projects in the Amazon Rainforest and Galapagos. While in Ecuador, Zaria also served as an environmental educator, teaching environmental issues relevant to the students’ lives and helping them develop a connection with nature. In her sophomore year, Zaria started a project on campus through the student group ENACTUS, called the “Badger Move-Out” project at UW-Madison. Each year the August move-out in Madison sends over one million pounds of material to the landfill, and much of it is still in good condition. To combat this, Zaria created the Badger Move-Out project to divert these usable items from the landfill and create a more circular economy. In high school, Zaria participated in the Youth Convening Minnesota project, organizing and moderating a meeting about climate change involving local leaders and community members. Zaria is deeply committed to promoting change through local efforts with immediate impact, as well as seeking opportunities to scale up for maximal impact.

Here are the field trips that will be offered, and below is a sampling of options. When registering, individuals will be asked to rank their top 4 choices so be sure to check out the full list if you're planning to attend.

• UMD’s Research/Vessel Blue Heron boat tour & beach clean up
• Put your problem-solving skills to work with search and rescue officials from the St. Louis County Rescue Squad
• Visit the Two Harbors lakeshore to collect invasive species samples and then examine and learn about their characteristics
• See the sites, smell the smells and learn what happens when you flush with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District
• Plant some seeds and learn about the research happening at the UMD Land Lab growing vegetables, growing climate smart tree seedlings, and experimenting with biochar

Here are the workshops that will be offered, below is a sampling of the workshops planned. Registrants will need to rank their top 5 choices, so be sure to check out the full list of options.

• Collect water samples, prepare them and observe them to learn about microbial life and how its used in environmental sciences.
• Go on a hike to create ephemeral art sculptures from bits of nature
• Use historical data to plot file and interpret results to determine how light decays in a water column.
• Learn about the economy around Great Lakes science and sustainability and explore career opportunities in the blue economy.
• Move with Lake Superior in a dance/movement workshop (no dance experience necessary) inspired by the landscape of Park Point and Lake Superior.
• Know your fish? See samples and to learn about Lake Superior fish, the food web and learn how to determine a fish’s age.
• What pollutants create the biggest impact on Lake Superior? Learn about the flow of water through a watershed and help sort trap samples in a pollution experiment!
• Dream big and imagine positive stories about the future using prompts and your creativity as a group.
• Take part in an interactive, inclusive game that is ancient and original and based on Indigenous cultural traditions.

In addition to providing excellent youth programming, LSYS 2025 will offer workshops for teachers and chaperones accompanying youth participants. For example:

• DIY Solor Commons - Learn how to design a 40kW school solar PV asset through Solar Commons tools.
• Learn about the research supporting Weikart’s model of Youth Program Quality from the University of Minnesota Extension which specializes in the experiential learning model.
• Get an introduction to geospatial tools through some fun exploration of Lake Superior shipwrecks and online mapping. We’ll try using ArcGIS which is an online tool available for free to all K-12 educators.
• Check out the watershed teaching guide, which will be provided for free, that was developed for First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario.

Joseph 'Minwaanimad' Gokee - Stick Maker and Baaga'adowewin player and enrolled member of the Bad River band in Wisconsin. Joseph is currently teaching and organizing games with the Center of American Indian and Minority Health coordinating traditional great lakes style lacrosse. Learn more about the return of Baaga’adowewin, or stickball, via this short film.