Environmental Sciences program to partner with famous Tall Ship for Great Lakes study

One of the nation’s most well-known maritime icons, the Flagship Niagara, will partner with SUNY Fredonia this summer to offer undergraduates an unparalleled environmental science field experience.

Students will spend three weeks sailing — and living — on the historic vessel. The voyage will take participants to some of the most environmentally sensitive areas within three of the five Great Lakes as students, faculty and other researchers participate in the first-ever plastics pollution study.

From July 11 to 31, students will sail across lakes Erie, Huron and Superior, and live in an environment reminiscent of the original Niagara — a War of 1812 warship. Meals are cooked on a real wood-burning stove and everyone sleeps in hammocks. Students will also learn how to sail the ship by participating in a variety of day-to-day activities.

The general public is also invited to join the SUNY Fredonia voyage, as well as two other distinct voyages that will take place from May 31 to June 19 and from June 22 to July 12. While the ship charges tuition for its three-week voyages, the experience remains one of the most affordable opportunities of its kind in the United States.

The Flagship Niagara is one of the largest tall ships in North America, and is well regarded as the most historically authentic. It is a reproduction of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s victorious flagship from the Battle of Lake Erie. The current Niagara was built in 1988 and is home ported at the Erie Maritime Museum in Erie, Pa. It is operated by the Flagship Niagara League and owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Students seeking to enroll in the course should contact Dr. Sherri Mason within SUNY Fredonia’s Department of Chemistry, at mason@fredonia.edu or 716-673-3292. Members of the general public interested in joining any of these voyages should call the museum at (814) 452-2744, ext. 223, or emailing sail@flagshipniagara.org.