Webinar for Educators: Climate Change and the Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are home to 20 percent of the planet's surface freshwater. The region is a global agricultural powerhouse. And the lakes support $25 billion in shipping commerce and a $7 billion fishing industry. But more intense rainfall, warming temperatures, and invasive species are taking a toll, all in different ways for each of the lakes.

The Pulitzer Center education staff invites students and educators to join us on Wednesday, September 16 from 4:00-5:00 pm CT for a webinar with reporter Tony Briscoe to examine the profound impact of climate change on the Great Lakes region. The webinar will include a presentation led by Briscoe examining his reporting "Great Lakes, High Stakes." We'll review instructional materials designed to help students explore the effects of climate change on the identities, homes, and livelihoods of communities living in the Great Lakes region and brainstorm actionable ways for students to advocate for the environment.

Briscoe's presentation will contextualize the evolving narrative of climate change with a local lens, investigating effects on agriculture, wildlife, water sanitation, fishing and dairy industries, tourism, culture, and identity.

Webinar attendees will receive a 1-hour certificate of attendance upon completion of a short survey. Click here to register!

Tony Briscoe is a reporter for ProPublica Illinois. He previously worked at the Chicago Tribune as an environmental reporter, writing extensively about issues facing the Great Lakes and the impacts of climate change in the Midwest. His reporting on the Illinois EPA's environmental justice program revealed lapses in state outreach efforts to low-income and minority communities, leading to reform in community engagement practices. Briscoe placed second in the environmental writing category at the 86th National Headliner Awards for his series exploring how global warming is jeopardizing the Great Lakes. He was awarded the 2019 Peter Lisagor Award for best science and environmental reporting in Chicago. A graduate of Michigan State University, Briscoe began his career as a breaking news reporter at The Detroit News.

"Great Lakes, High Stakes" is part of the Pulitzer Center's Connected Coastlines project, a nationwide climate reporting initiative in U.S. coastal states. The initiative is building a consortium of newsrooms and independent journalists across America to report on the local effects of erratic weather patterns on coastal populations using the latest climate science. Currently, the Pulitzer Center is supporting 16 reporting projects and will cover climate change issues on every coastline in the mainland U.S.—the East Coast, Great Lakes, Gulf Coast and West Coast—along with Hawaii and Alaska. Please visit the special website we've created for the Connected Coastlines projects.