An Ohio Sea Grant awarded to Dr. John Peck, professor and chair of the Department of Geosciences, provided a rare opportunity for an undergraduate geology student to gain hands-on experience studying Lake Erie. Sophomore Ayya Nafe spent the week of Aug. 8–14, 2025, living and working aboard the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research ship The Lake Guardian. She collaborated with EPA scientists and students from other universities to collect sediment cores, which will be analyzed to document changes in Lake Erie’s environmental conditions.