We Invite You to Attend the
2015 G-WOW
Changing Culture, Changing Climate Institute
July 13-16
Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center-Ashland, WI
surrounding Lake Superior coastal & tribal communities
Bonus Day on July 17 @ Fond du Lac Tribal College
Experiential climate change professional development training for educators
that integrates place-based cultural perspectives with
climate science to engage learners!
http://fyi.uwex.edu/nglvc/cool-coasts/2015-g-wow-institute/
Application deadline: June 5
Climate change research
documents the importance of
local, place-based evidence of
climate change gained through
experiential learning to be as, or
more effective, than simply
studying analytical climate change
data to increase climate change
literacy. –Columbia University
Increase your climate change core competencies
and ability to investigate and teach about this
critical issue at the 2015 “G-WOW” Changing
Climate, Changing Culture Institute.
This Institute provides what’s missing in most
climate change training and teaching—the
integration of climate change science with placebased evidence of how it is affecting both the
environment and people.
Discover how climate change is affecting cultural traditions of the Lake Superior
Ojibwe. Learn how to apply the latest climate research to determine if culture and
science agree that climate change is affecting all people and cultures. Explore what
educators and students can do to respond to this critical issue.
In this Institute you will learn how to:
 Integrate global, national, and state level scientific climate change research with
place-based evidence climate change, based on evaluating impacts on traditional
Ojibwe lifeways as an indicator of how this climate change is affecting the
environment and people of all cultures.
 Integrate Native perspectives and traditional ecological knowledge to address the
issue of climate change. Ojibwe language and cultural components are infused
throughout this training.
 Provide students with knowledge about what they can do to mitigate or adapt to a
changing climate and guide them to act on that knowledge through community
based service projects.
Who: This Institute content is
designed for middle school and above
classroom and community educators.
When: Monday, July 13 through
Thursday, July 16 2015;
8 am – 5 pm (approx.) daily.
NEW IN 2015: Friday, July 17th
BONUS DAY at Fond du Lac Tribal
Community College-Duluth, MN.
Training from NASA on Climate
Change Education Tools.
Where: The Institute is based at the
Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in
Ashland, WI, with field trips to the
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore,
and Lake Superior coastal areas
including, lands of the Lake Superior
Ojibwe.
What’s Included? Instruction,
breakfast snacks, lunches, Monday
evening cookout dinner, bus
transportation to field sites, boat tours
to Stockton Island and the Kakagon
Sloughs, and supporting resources.
Participants will be responsible for:
 Breakfast and Evening Meals,
except for Monday evening BBQ
cookout dinner. Light morning
snacks are provided.
 Lodging. A list of area lodging
options is available upon request.
Cost: FREE. Institute costs are
supported by the WI Coastal
Management Program, NOAA, and
project partners.
Stipend: A stipend up to $300 is
available to all participants.
Credit: Is available.
Additional Benefits: Each participant
will receive supporting resources.
Detailed Agenda & Application
Materials available @
http://fyi.uwex.edu/nglvc/coolcoasts/2015-g-wow-institute/
A $300 teacher stipend and credit
is available.
Participants commit to developing
a climate change lesson plan or
service project and uploading it to
the G-WOW website to share it
with others.
ABOUT THIS INSTITUTE… integrating culture with science
Our goal is to train educators to teach about climate change by integrating cultural
perspectives with science and engage learners in taking action on the issue of
climate change. Educators will learn how to help students investigate the complex
issue of climate change and answer the questions. What is climate change? How we
are affected by it? What can we do about it?
The climate change training in this Institute applies many disciplines such as science,
math, social studies, language arts and related arts. Ojibwe cultural perspectives and
language are infused.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE LITERACY… building teaching & outreach skills
The G-WOW Changing Climate, Changing Culture Institute incorporates these essential elements of successful climate
change professional development:
Climate Content Expertise
Climate scientists from the University of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Initiative on
Climate Change Impact (WICCI), and others will build participant’s climate change
core competencies, understanding of how to apply climate research at the community
level, and share tips for communicating about climate change.
“When I saw that we would be
teaching about climate change
this fall, I thought Ugghhh!!!
How will we make this tolerable
for the kids? Now I see that the
cultural impact of climate change
is how to approach middle school
kids with this topic.” G-WOW
Institute teacher participant
Place-Based, Cultural Perspectives
This Institute is unique because it integrates climate science with place-based evidence
of climate change impacts on traditional Ojibwe cultural practices, such as wild ricing,
as an indicator of how climate change is affecting people of all cultures. Natural
resource and traditional ecological knowledge specialists from the Great Lakes Indian
Fish and Wildlife Commission, Bad River Tribal Natural Resource Department, UW-Extension, and Apostle Islands
National Lakeshore will share cultural perspectives and how to integrate them with climate science. Participants will learn
how to use the G-WOW climate change model to help students evaluate how climate change is impacting both the
environment and people with the goal of creating community service learning
projects to address climate change.
A Coastal Focus
Coastal areas provide prime examples of climate change impacts and future
vulnerabilities affecting ecosystems, communities, and economies. Using coastal
areas as the classroom allows climate change concepts to become more real and
offers the opportunity to investigate impacts of climate change first hand.
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Superintendent Bob Krumenaker
leading a Stockton Island Climate Walk.
Educators completing the Institute are eligible to apply for funding support to
bring their students to a Coastal Climate Camp field day experience at the
Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center and/or the Apostle Islands National
Lakeshore.
Planning Time and Resources
Institute participants will be given focused, facilitated time to collaborate on ideas for climate lesson plans and service
projects. Tangible, ready-to-use resources will be available to take back to the classrooms and community. Online
resources will provide educators and students with opportunities for virtual learning experiences and a template for
developing similar experiences in their local area.
INSTITUTE AGENDA … experiential learning in diverse settings
A detailed Institute itinerary is available at http://fyi.uwex.edu/nglvc/cool-coasts/2015-g-wow-institute/
Institute activities include classroom and field experiences that require moderate physical activity in rain or shine
conditions within Lake Superior coastal environments.
Day 1: Integrating Culture and Science, Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center-Ashland, WI.
Understand inter-relationships between climate, the environment, culture, and economies. Build your
climate change core competency by learning how to integrate place-based evidence with the latest
climate research. Learn how phenology wheels can be used as a tool to express these interrelationships. Build collaborations over a Native Foods lunch and mixer BBQ dinner.
Day 2: Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, Bad RiverKakagon Sloughs, Bad River Tribal Forest-Odanah, WI
Do culture and science agree on climate change? Meet Great Lakes
Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission natural resource and traditional
ecological specialists and learn how climate impacts culture and the
environment. Take a guided boat tour of the pristine Kakagon
Sloughs and wild rice beds to investigate place-based evidence of
climate change impacts on manoomin (wild rice) and natural
resources valued by the Ojibwe. Investigate climate research on
climate impacts on northern forests with hands-on field
investigations. Explore the relationship of climate to cultures and
economies that rely on the sustainability of forest resources. Take away
hands-on climate change forestry activities that you can use with your
students.
Learning about climate impacts
on wild rice in the Kakagon
Sloughs. Training features
experiential learning in a variety
of settings
Day 3: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore-Bayfield, WI
Learn how the climate change is affecting our national parks and how National Park Service is adapting.
Take a boat to Stockton Island for a Climate Walk that will reveal evidence of how climate change has
affected Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands in the past and what might happen in the future.
Day 4: Putting It All Together- NGLVC-Ashland, WI
Learn how to use ready-made climate change teaching tools that integrate culture and science such as
the G-WOW curriculum, Climate Jeopardy Game, Project Budburst, Phenology Wheels, and other fun
interactive resources for teaching about climate change. Develop a climate change service project to
implement in your community and share ideas with others.
SPECIAL BONUS DAY, FRIDAY JULY 17TH
G-WOW Institute participants are invited by the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in
Duluth, MN to participate in an interactive NASA televised training program called “Climate Change
in the Classroom… Using NASA Climate Resources.” The College is providing motor coach
transportation, lunch, and will share examples of place-based climate change tools they have
developed. There is no charge to attend this special event.
INSTRUCTORS … state, tribal, and local climate change and cultural specialists include:
 Dr. Dan Vimont-Assoc. Professor, Center for Climatic Research-UW Madison Associate scientist and associate
director, Center for Climatic Research- University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bob Krumenaker-Superintendent, Neil Howk-Assistant Chief of Interpretation and Education, and Damon
Panek-Ojibwe Specialist/Park Ranger, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

Sue Erickson-Public Information Director, Peter David- Wildlife Biologist, Peter and Lisa David-Manoomin
Biologists, Wes Ballinger-Language Specialist: Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Stephen Handler-Climate Change Specialist, US Forest Service Northern Research Station and Northern
Institute of Applied Climate Science.

Naomi Tillison-Bad River Natural Resource Department and Eric Oliphant-Forester, Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Cathy Techtmann-Environmental Outreach State Specialist, University of Wisconsin-Extension.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARTICIPANTS… applying knowledge learned in your community
1. Participate in the 4-day G-WOW Changing Climate, Changing Culture Institute, July 13-16, 2014. We highly
encourage you to take advantage of the Bonus Day training at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College on Friday,
July 17.
2. Develop a service project for students or youth that focuses on mitigating, adapting to, or educating about climate
change impacts-- to be initiated by December 2015.
3. Participate in a Coastal Climate Camp field trip in fall, 2015 at the Northern Great Lake Visitor Center and/or
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, or other field locations.
4. Upload climate service projects descriptions, outcomes, resources, and tools
developed to the G-WOW website www.g-wow.org. by December, 2015.
5. Assist in improving the Institute by completing a final program evaluation.
G-WOW Team members guide
you through the training and
development of climate change
outreach for your students and
community
READY TO APPLY? ... space is limited!
Application forms, information, and Institute updates are available at http://fyi.uwex.edu/nglvc/cool-coasts/2015-g-wowinstitute/
Enrollment is limited to 30 participants. Acceptance will be determined by a screening committee based on a review of the
application materials.
Applications are due on or before June 5, 2014. Applicants will be notified of acceptance to the Institute by June 12, 2012.
Please submit all completed application materials to Cat Techtmann- UW Extension, Courthouse, 300 Taconite St., Hurley,
WI 54534, catherine.techtmann@xes.uwex.edu, or FAX: 715.561.2704.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Cat at catherine.techtmann@ces.uwex.edu, or phone 715.561.2695.
Project Partners Include:
The University of Wisconsin Extension (as a partner in this project) provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title IX and American
with Disabilities (ADA) requirements. Requests for reasonable accommodations for disabilities or limitations should be made prior to the date of the program or activity
for which it is needed. Please do so as early as possible prior to the program or activity so that proper arrangements can be made. Requests are kept confidential. If you