[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/salmon_kids.jpg” caption=”Alison Sills, associate dean of studies, helps students reintroduce salmon to the Bronte Creek Watershed in Lowville Park.”]Earlier this month, volunteers from the McMaster Let's Talk Science Partnership Program (LTSPP) helped more than 100 students from Hamilton Public Schools with a project that reintroduced salmon to the local Bronte Creek Watershed in Lowville Park, just north of Burlington.

The LTSPP volunteers have been visiting three local classrooms since February. They helped guide teachers and students in raising salmon from eggs, and taught the children about nature, sustainability and the environment.

The LTSPP is supported by more than 100 McMaster undergraduate and graduate science students who volunteer their time to work directly with teachers and community educators to teach cutting-edge science to elementary and high school students through various outreach projects.

“The volunteers that make up the base of knowledge through LTSPP at McMaster Univeristy are a vital resourse in the Hamilton community and are able to connect the student with the science at McMaster University,” said Alison Sills, associate dean of studies and advisor to the McMaster LTSPP coordinators. “With many new revitalization projects happening within the Hamilton community, the Salmon Reintroduction Initiative gives us a chance to continue to educate our youth, not only in aspects of science, but in the preservation of our community's natural environments and the species within them.”

Funding for the Salmon Reintroduction Project was provided by the Hamilton Community Foundation, which helped to create hands-on hatchery kits for three classrooms in three different high needs elementary schools in Hamilton.

The kits include a tank and chiller to raise the salmon from eggs. The kits helped teach students important skills, knowledge and attitudes about environmental science. The students were given the opportunity to reintroduce the salmon back into their natural habitat since being eradicated from the Lake Ontario watershed in the late 1800s.

“This project has had a phenomenal impact on so many levels,” says Diana Dregoesc, coordinator of the Salmon Reintroduction Initiative project through the McMaster LTSPP and a PhD student in Biology. “We have seen an increased enthusiasm and interest from the kids about science and the environment, and the McMaster LTSPP volunteers have been able to provide free resources to teachers, who often find it difficult to find educational support opportunities for their classrooms. We have also created mentorship opportunities for science students at McMaster.”

The hatchery kits were a novel way to show students how easily science can be understood and applied to our daily lives and the natural environment. The students had the opportunity to meet young scientists and professional role models from the University and be engaged in science-based hands-on activities that will increase their enthusiasm and curiosity for science.

The salmon eggs were donated by the Ontario Federation of Hunters and Anglers, and location scouting and permit assistance for the release was provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the City of Burlington.

For more information about the Salmon Reintroduction Initiative and other McMaster LTSPP programs, please visit www.science.mcmaster.ca/lts/.