Bayfield to Baikal: Two Big Lakes, One Big Adventure

A presentation by Bayfield High School students who explored the world’s two largest lakes.

Rick Erickson, a science teacher at Bayfield High School, loves Lake Superior, teaching, learning and taking really fun adventures. In fact, he’s so good at teaching, he’s the Wisconsin High School Teacher of the Year for 2013-2014.

Rick’s passion for Lake Superior and developing innovative teaching methods motivated him to create and deliver a unique experiential curriculum for his students that examined how living next to the world’s largest lake (by surface area)—Lake Superior—affects their lifestyles and culture.

Those studies led him and his students to wonder about the people living near the other world’s largest lake (by volume)—Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. So, they packed up their bags, crossed the ocean, traveled across a continent and jumped in that lake—5,409 miles away.

The public is invited to learn from the amazing Bayfield High School students, their teacher and chaperones as they share a slideshow and conversation about the natural history and cultures of people living near very large lakes. We’ll also hear how a contingent of Russian students, teachers and others are currently planning to visit our Big Lake in the summer of 2015, and how you can be involved.

Please support these young people by listening to their stories about this once-in-a-lifetime multi-cultural adventure.

This program is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, Northland College and the Lake Superior Binational Forum.