The Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit conference was held at University of Detroit Mercy on Oct. 12 and 13. More than 400 individuals participated, 240 of whom were middle and high school students. The conference featured 10 tours of environmental sites in Detroit, with a focus on community gardens and included parks, solar installations and an “Environmental Justice” tour of pollution sites. Each day involved five concurrent youth learnshops, some given by youth, such as those from the School at Marygrove who discussed global water potability, and others who demonstrated methods of seed sterilization. Other learnshops encouraged poetry and creative writing about nature. Detroit Mercy’s Titan Equity Nourish Network (TENN) students designed a learnshop about recycling with fun and games for the participants. The annual Bioneers conference has been led for several years by College of Liberal Arts & Education (CLAE) faculty member Gail Presbey, with the help of other colleagues and community members. CLAE has been a sponsor of the conference for the last two years.CLAE Dean Jocelyn Boryczka welcomed attendees on Friday morning. The conference is a pollinator event of the national organization, found at bioneers.org. See photos of the conference at these links: Thursday Photos and Friday Photos
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