Oct 30 - Dec 6, 2025

Ever since humans arrived in our region thousands of years ago, the Great Lakes have shaped our history and culture, providing transportation, boundaries, food and water, recreation, inspiration for art, and even battlegrounds. Come and learn where the Lakes came from, and where they’re going in the Anthropocene epoch. We’ll hear from a geologist, an anthropologist, a historian, a master mariner, a fisheries expert and filmmakers documenting drastic ecological changes happening right now, all with fascinating stories to tell. Immerse yourself in the Great Lakes!

 

6 lectures, live at the Bayshore Centre and live streamed on Vimeo

Thursday mornings 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Replays until Jan 11 on Vimeo 

PURCHASE TICKETS (Available in Sept 2025)

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

An Undiscovered Country No Longer: The Archaeology of An Early Hunting Site Beneath Lake Huron

Since the initial discovery of early hunting sites beneath Lake Huron, archaeologists have worked to produce a progressively more detailed picture of the ancient environment and of the way human groups came to occupy and exploit the newly exposed landscape. These sites have been explored using a wide variety of methods, from sonar and remote operated vehicles (ROVs) to direct excavation by SCUBA trained archaeologists. More recently, the research tool kit has expanded to include artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and the extraction of ancient environmental DNA. While much is now known about these early hunters, many questions remain to be answered, such as the nature of their earliest sites, what relationship did they have with the peoples living around the lake, and what ultimately happened to the early hunters when the lake levels again began to rise? The talk will conclude with some thoughts on the possible answers. 

Lecturer - John O'Shea

John O'Shea is the Curator of Great Lakes Archaeology at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology and Professor in the Department of Anthropology.  He received his PhD in Prehistoric Archaeology from Cambridge University.  He has directed major field projects focused on Bronze Age societies in Hungary, Romania, and Serbia, and on late pre-contact cultures in North America.  His current work is focused on underwater archaeology in the Great Lakes, where his research involves both historic shipwrecks and ancient submerged hunting sites.

University of Michigan Great Lakes Archeology Website.

 

Thursday, Nov 6, 2025

The Geologic History and Future of the Great Lakes

The origin of the Great Lake basins of North America was a topic of great controversy in the mid-late nineteenth century.  Canadian geologists notably Joseph Spencer and Sir John William Dawson favored erosion by rivers and phases of tectonic uplift and subsidence.  The modern consensus is that the basins are primarily the result of glacial erosion and local overdeepening below sea level by successive North American ice sheets over the past 2.5 million years. I will review changing ideas on the geological evolution of mid-continent North America, the origin of the Great Lake basins and their lakes and discuss the impact of new mapping technology especially LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) which is revealing much about the work of Ice Age sheets. I will conclude by briefly discussing challenges to the waters of the Great Lakes created by human activity, especially urbanization of their surrounding watersheds and climate warming.

Lecturer -  Nick Eyles 

Nick was born in London, England and is Professor Emeritus of Geology at the University of Toronto where he has conducted award-winning research, teaching and public outreach since 1982. He is interested in the broader geological evolution of planet Earth over the past 4 billion years, and especially recurrent Ice Ages when large ice sheets and glaciers profoundly shaped Earth's surface. He has worked on all seven continents. He hosted two 5 part documentary series;  Geologic Journey - Canada and GJ - World for CBC's Nature of Things which were nominated for several Gemini awards. 

Planet Earth Lab, University of Toronto

 

Thursday, Nov 13, 2025

The Bruce Peninsula: A Great Lakes History

Georgian Bay greatly influenced both the settlement of the region and the lives of the Indigenous peoples who lived on its western shores for centuries. The story I will tell will include how the region evolved through competition between various entities: Indigenous nations, who battled to control the region; Europeans questing for furs, forest products and settlement lands, making treaties; and the port communities vying for regional economic and political dominance. Topics in my presentation will include the role of staple commodities such as fur, fish, and lumber. Also included will be the impact of the British military, the emergence of shipbuilding, shipwrecks, tourism, the role of maritime travel for political events, including an averted shipwreck which could have changed the Canadian nation. I will include stories of valiant sailors and other citizens, including some of the early visitors to the region.

Lecturer -   Paul White 

Born in Owen Sound as the fifth generation of the Bruce Peninsula’s first settler family, Paul earned a BA (Trent) and MA (Western). His thesis was “The Impact of Forest Products and Tourism Industries on the Bruce Peninsula, 1850-2019.”  A prolific writer, Paul co-authored “A Marine History of Fathom Five National Marine Park, 1850 to 1900” for Parks Canada, wrote a local history column from 1994-2003 in the Owen Sound Sun Times, and authored the books Owen Sound the Port City; Journey Through Owen Sound’s Hockey History; Journey the Bruce Peninsula: Past & Present; Shipwrecks, Parks, & Sawmills: Their Impact on the Bruce Peninsula, 1850-2019. Paul received a Heritage Ontario Award for promoting local history in 2000.

History Articles

 

Thursday, Nov 20, 2025

A Hands-on Journey on the Great Lakes with a Master Mariner

Shipping on the Great Lakes has been an integral part of our economy for over 200 years.  This marine highway extends over 3,700 kilometres from the St. Lawrence Seaway to the western edges of Lake Superior.
I will share my hands-on knowledge and experience from working on various cargo vessels such as bulk vessels, self unloaders and tankers.  This will include the ship's crew, ports visited, cargoes carried and navigation upbound and downbound through the Great Lakes including the Soo Locks, the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Over the years, there have been many positive changes and some challenges affecting the marine industry.  I will highlight some of these changes that I witnessed over my time on the ships.

Lecturer -    Captain Tim Poste 

Captain Tim Poste is currently retired after a career as a Master Mariner on the Great Lakes.  Coming from a family of mariners and following in their footsteps, his career spanned forty three years.  Tim worked on many different vessels carrying cargoes to and from ports throughout the Great Lakes to ports in the Gulf of St Lawrence and beyond.  In his retirement, Tim has maintained his marine connections by teaching part time on the vessel simulators at Georgian College in Owen Sound.

 

Thursday, Nov 27, 2025

The Lake Huron Fish Community and Ecosystem Change

The Lake Huron aquatic ecosystem has experienced profound changes to the composition and dynamics of its fish communities. Most of these recent changes are a consequence of the continued introduction of invasive exotic species which have altered food webs, affecting the most minute plankton species as well as top predatory fishes.  David will review the historic legacy of changes in the lake and highlight contemporary developments that range from tentative steps towards native species recovery to the ongoing proliferation of exotic species, habitat alteration and other changes. He will also briefly explore the possible effects of climate change on Great Lakes fish communities. 

Lecturer -     David Gonder 

David was born in Owen Sound and has spent the majority of his career working on Lake Huron at OMNR's Upper Great Lakes Management Unit.  As the Resource Management Supervisor at the Unit since 2014, he and his team lead fisheries management planning on both Lake Huron and Lake Superior.  This includes work with Indigenous communities and stakeholders as well as species specific management and rehabilitation plans.  David is also an ardent, life long fly fisher, fly tyer and rod builder.  

 

Thursday, Dec 4, 2025

All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes

For the past three years, documentary filmmakers Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick have been exploring the underwater world of the Great Lakes with a cutting-edge underwater drone, or “ROV.” Diving to the lake’s greatest depths and filming for hours at a time has allowed the husband-and-wife team to capture never-before-seen footage of the lakes’ most elusive species.
Join these freshwater explorers and their ROV, “Kiyi,” for a “behind-the-scenes” look at their latest documentary, “All Too Clear.” See how quadrillions of invasive mussels have re-engineered the Great Lakes on a scale not seen since glaciers. Organisms of all kinds—from tiny plankton to large fish—are vanishing, creating vast biological deserts. From dazzling shallow-water worlds resembling the Caribbean to the shipwreck of the “Africa,” entombed in mussels 300 feet below—All Too Clear explores the freshwater world like never before.

This lecture will begin with the showing of a 20 minute version of Yvonne and Zach's award-winning feature-length documentary, followed by the usual talk and Q&A format.

 

Lecturers - Yvonne Drebert & Zach Melnick