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MSU Extension Service offers 6-week class on inland lake ecology

Mullet Lake
Teresa Homsi
/

Lake ecology, watersheds, shorelines, and Michigan water law – are some topics covered in an upcoming online course for the general public.

The 6-week course, led by the MSU Extension Service, is focused on inland lakes, and it teaches the basics on how lakes work and what we can do to protect them.

Paige Filice is a natural resource educator with the MSU Extension Service. She said in the 8 years the course has been offered, it’s attracted a variety of people - like lakefront property owners, local government officials, realtors, and people who just love lakes.

“Because we have so many inland lakes, and of course, the Great Lakes, we just generally have a higher interest and getting to know what they're all about," Filice said. "This course is really for anyone who has any interest in seeing what's going on underwater.”

Filice said the class takes about two hours a week, but it’s available for six months after registration, so people can do it at their own pace.

Filice said this is the only course of its kind offered by the extension service, but she hopes to expand the program to include content on fisheries and wildlife in the future.

The course begins in January, and the MSU website has more details on registration deadlines and cost.

Teresa Homsi is an environmental reporter and Report for America Corp Member based in northern Michigan for WCMU. She is covering rural environmental issues, public health and Michigan commerce. Homsi has a bachelor’s from Central Michigan University in environmental studies, journalism and anthropology. During her undergraduate, she was a beat reporter for CMU’s student newspaper Central Michigan Life and interned for the Huron Daily Tribune. She has also interned for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy in the superfund section. *Report for America is a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms, more info at https://www.reportforamerica.org/