The Lake Huron Coastal Centre (LHCC) is highlighting the research work done by community volunteers.
The Coastal Watchers program has volunteers measure the temperature of the lake, wind gusts and other information at different parts of the shoreline along Lake Huron.
"The Coast Watchers community science volunteer program is designed to engage members of the community to take an active part in observing and improving the quality of our nearshore waters through individual actions," said Stewardship Program Director Meredith Watson. "Through this program, community volunteers are trained to observe the coast, record qualitative and quantitative shoreline conditions, and take steps to initiate action when necessary. The Coast Watchers program has been a major part of the Lake Huron coastal center since 2005, so this means last year was our 20th year of data collection."
The LHCC is a non-profit founded in 1998 to protect and restore Lake Huron’s coastal environment and support a healthy shoreline ecosystem through education, restoration, and research.
"The Great Lakes form 20 per cent of this planet's fresh water, and we are so fortunate to live in the Great Lakes Basin, which supports the lives of millions of Canadians and Americans by providing fresh water for drinking, for fishing, for farming, for recreation, for industry and many other vital uses. But with these privileges comes a great responsibility to manage this vital resource responsibly," said Watson.
Watson said LHCC also runs several other volunteer programs, including beach cleanup and dune restoration, as well as a youth education program.
"At the Lake Huron coastal center in 2025, we removed 1200 pounds of garbage from the shoreline across 12 beach cleanup events held on public beaches. We removed 1000s of cigarette butts, 1000s of small plastic pieces, hundreds of food wrappers and Styrofoam pieces and bottle caps, just to name a few items."
Watson spoke about the LHCC programs and goals at the Kiwanis Club Sarnia-Lambton Golden K meeting on Tuesday, May 12.
