On an unusually hot day in late June, a group of about 20 Detroit high schoolers boarded a 105-foot, three-masted tall ship and set sail along the Detroit River. For some, it was their first time on a boat. Many of those students left hoping it wouldn’t be their last.

Every great river carries great stories in its flow. Stories of exploration and commerce, yes, but also of connection and belonging, collective action and empowerment. And so every great river also needs its story keepers. For the past five years, the University of Michigan’s Detroit River Story Lab has been supporting local efforts to lift up river stories and amplify the voices of their tellers.… Read more: Five years of telling stories along the Detroit River awakens belonging

(Great Lakes Echo | October 22, 2025) The Detroit River serves as an important geographic feature, connecting Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie and creating a natural border between the United States and Canada. Despite its physical prominence in Detroit, its rich cultural significance is lost among many community residents. David Porter, a professor of English and comparative literature at the University of Michigan, founded… Read more: Detroit River-based programs foster stewardship through community connection

Margaret Fornes, U-M Detroit, August 5, 2025

Margaret Fornes, U-M Detroit, August 5, 2025

(Planet Detroit | May 28, 2025) Harry Jones aims to make sailing accessible for Detroit youth, growing the Detroit Community Sailing Center from eight to 80 participants, and forging partnerships to establish the Detroit River Education Center.

(Click On Detroit | April 13, 2025) The ripple effects of the labor shortage are being felt across various sectors, including a critical industry in Michigan. The maritime profession is facing two significant challenges: an aging workforce and a lack of young people entering the trade. On a pleasant spring day, the Detroit River looks inviting.

(U-M Detroit | March 17, 2025) The Detroit River Story Lab has received a $15,000 grant from the DTE Energy Foundation to support its Skiff & Schooner Program. The Schooner Program first hoisted its sails four years ago as an opportunity for local students to experience the Detroit River and learn about the environmental and cultural heritage of their home communities from the decks of… Read more: DTE Energy Foundation grant helps kids set sail with the Detroit River Schooner program

(Detroit River Living | Spring 2025) For centuries, the Detroit River and the far-reaching trade activity it has enabled have been a source of prosperity for local residents. The strategic location of this 30-mile strait motivated the establishment of Fort Detroit and enabled its transformation into a major city. While the river’s role has shifted over the years, it remains a vital source of economic… Read more: Detroit River Story Lab Connects Local Youth and Employers

(University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability Article | December 19, 2024) University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) alumna Amy Emmert (MS/MSEd ’03) decided to work toward her master’s degree at SEAS because she wanted to expand her skill set to better match what she was doing in her career. Trained as a biologist, Emmert worked as a zookeeper during college… Read more: Amy Emmert: Leading environmental education at Belle Isle in Detroit

(Michigan Today | September 20, 2024) When the iconic Michigan Central Station in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood reopened to tremendous fanfare in summer 2024, Motor City native Angela Dillard took a moment to reflect. Years ago, U-M’s vice provost for undergraduate education advocated for the demolition of the decrepit, windowless high-rise. “To be wrong about things like that is a real pleasure,” says Dillard, who is… Read more: Taking it to the streets: How the humanities can reframe urban renewal

(Telegram Newspaper | August 29, 2024) Detroit! Meaning strait in French, a narrow passage of water linking two larger areas of water. Detroit! Take a moment and think about that. The land area you live on is named after the watermark of the area. In context the river is what enriches the land. University of Michigan’s Detroit River Story Lab is doing their part educating… Read more: Students Sail the Detroit River

(Detroit Free Press | July 19, 2024) Eight middle school students returned to Belle Isle this summer for another year of sailing lessons. But a few months ago, before they hit the water, those students learned a new lesson: how to build a boat. The Detroit Community Sailing Center launched a pilot program this year that gave students an opportunity to learn how to build… Read more: Students from Belle Isle program build their own boat. Now they look to sail it

(Detroit River Story Lab Article | July 10, 2024) Lavonnes Bolds, a forestry student in his final year at Michigan State University, was one young person who attended the recent Detroit River Youth Career Expo to learn how to explore his passions and build his career right here in Michigan. “I’ve lived in Detroit my whole life, and my two biggest goals are to help… Read more: Young Detroiters discover water-linked educational and career pathways at Detroit River Youth Career Expo

(Detroit River Living | December 2023) Virtually hidden behind grimy industrial sites, unsightly infrastructure and bland parking lots, the Detroit River was practically an afterthought for decades. But as the city continues its renaissance, centering the river’s historic, ecological and cultural importance has become a higher priority for many. That’s the goal of the University of Michigan’s Detroit River Story Lab, which partners with local… Read more: A River Runs Through Us — and with it, Countless Stories

(Schoolcraft College Article | October 20, 2023) Several Schoolcraft College students recently did what those on Gilligan’s Island couldn’t do: return to civilization after a three-hour boat tour. Instead of being stranded on a tropical island, those students made it back to land after spending part of the day on Sept. 11 on the Alliance, a 105-foot schooner with three masts that takes guests back… Read more: Schoolcraft students get firsthand educational experience on three-masted schooner on Detroit River

(Egalitarian Metropolis Article | November 8, 2023) Launched in response to the growing crisis of narrative infrastructure, the Detroit River Story Lab is a collaborative, public-facing initiative that leverages the sociocultural, economic, and ecological centrality of the Detroit River corridor to reimagine it as an urban case study in narrative placemaking and civic renewal. 

(University of Michigan College of Language, Science and the Arts Article | November 6, 2023) LSA’s Detroit River Story Lab teaches students from elementary school through college about the past and future of the vibrant body of water.

(University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability Article | October 30, 2023) Four University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) master’s students are currently working with U-M’s Detroit River Story Lab to highlight the history of the Detroit River and surrounding communities. “The river is the lifeblood of Detroit. The more I learn [about the river], the more important I’ve learned it… Read more: SEAS master’s students participate in community-based storytelling through Detroit River Story Lab

(Fox 2 Detroit | October 5, 2023) The students of Western International High School may have come prepared for sailing the Detroit River in mid-September. They also may have been ready for hoisting sails, steering the ship, and learning about the wildlife in their backyard. But nothing would prepare them for what they pulled out of the water. The associate director told them they were… Read more: Sailing the Detroit River, Western International students study biology and reconnect with their home

(Detroit Free Press | August 22, 2023) Sprinkles of rain accompanied a breeze just strong enough to keep a two-masted tall ship coasting down the Detroit River. It’s part of the third annual Detroit River Skiff & Schooner Program, hosted by the U-M’s Detroit River Story Lab, which offers hands-on educational opportunities for Detroit-area youth focused on the the river’s rich historical, cultural, and environmental… Read more: Schooner program provides hands-on learning opportunities for local youth

(University of Michigan Marsal Family School of Education Article | October 3, 2022) Marquise Griffin, a U-M doctoral student pursuing a joint degree in English and education, led an onboard learning station about Detroit as a river city. He explained to the students that Black and Indigenous people were fundamental to harnessing the river’s resources to build the city. But, over time, their communities were… Read more: JPEE student Marquise Griffin teaches students how their communities connect with the Detroit River’s cultural and environmental heritage

(U-M Detroit | October 18, 2022) When Michigan Chief Justice Augustus Woodward drew up the University of Michigan’s founding charter in 1817, he saw the new educational program as part of Detroit’s urban renaissance. In 1805, a devastating fire had reduced the timbered city to ashes. Faced with the task of rebuilding, Woodward drew up an ambitious city plan that hinged on long boulevards radiating… Read more: Digital Exhibit: The Detroit River and the University of Michigan

Turn off your phone. Close your eyes. Tune in to your senses. What do you hear? What do you feel? Students aboard the two-masted schooner Inland Seas this summer shouted out answers as they sailed along the Detroit River: Waves! Gulls! A noisy freighter! “The wind is all in your eyes!” one student exclaimed. The students were participating in the Skiff and Schooner program piloted by the University of Michigan’s Detroit… Read more: Detroit River Story Lab program connects students to cultural, environmental heritage

(Inland Seas Education Association Schoolship Blog | August 2, 2022) As a grey sea of heavy clouds opened up to release a downpour of warm rain, cyclists and pedestrians fled the Detroit Riverwalk. Not far away aboard the Inland Seas, it was business as usual as we drifted through the rain past the Renaissance Center near downtown Detroit, plankton net swirling through the water as teenagers… Read more: Combining Health and Environment Learning on the Detroit River

(Detroit Free Press | August 12, 2022) The currents in the Detroit River danced calmly Friday afternoon as a group of teens went out for a boat ride — on a vessel they built with their own hands. Over the course of the week, the University of Michigan’s Detroit River Story Lab, in partnership with the Green Door Initiative, hosted the third in a series… Read more: Detroit youth launch boats they built themselves at Riverside Marina

(Special to Michigan News | August 4, 2022) The waters were clear and blue the morning of the schooner outing, but students were still apprehensive. Some had never been on a boat before, and the sailing ship was an intimidating start to getting one’s sea legs. The schooner outings are part of the Detroit River Skiff and Schooner Program, which was created by the University of… Read more: Power of Place: Transformational experiences on the Detroit River thanks to Skiff and Schooner Program

(Tall Ships America Blog | July 14, 2022) U-M English Major Katie Moore is working as a Communications Intern this summer with Tall Ships America through a partnership with the Detroit River Story Lab. This blog post describes her introduction to the world of tall ship sailing on the Great Lakes. Read additional blog posts by Katie here or follow her on Instagram @tallshipsamerica.

(Inland Seas Education Association Schoolship Blog | June 30, 2022) As part of a DRSL-sponsored internship with the Inland Seas Education Association, U-M graduate student Marquise Griffin has been developing a ship-board learning activity focused on local communities’ historical ties with the Detroit River.

(Practical Humanities Blog | May 6, 2022) What does literary theory have to do with the Detroit River? A lot, it turns out! The Detroit River Story Lab is a great example of what practical humanities looks like – in practice. It is a collectively led interdisciplinary project at the University of Michigan. It is also, importantly, a partnership between several UM schools and colleges and a… Read more: Community-engaged research on the Detroit River

(Michigan News | May 3, 2022) There’s no better place to learn about the impact the Detroit River has had on our region than from a skiff you’ve built with your own hands or from aboard a large schooner, sails aloft in American and Canadian winds. A pilot project developed last summer by the Detroit River Story Lab at the University of Michigan and achieved… Read more: Story Lab receives Community Foundation grant to continue Skiff & Schooner program

(Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Article | January 19, 2022) During the fall 2021 semester, Taubman College students in the Detroit River StoryLab Physical Planning and Design Workshop experimented with storytelling and representation strategies in collaboration with the Detroit Historical Society. Led by María Arquero de Alarcón, associate professor of architecture and urban and regional planning, students explored Wahnabezee — or Belle Isle, as… Read more: Taubman Students Explore Counter-Mapping and Storytelling on Detroit’s Belle Isle

(University Record | January 10, 2022) Helping to hoist the sail on the tall ship Inland Seas was a unique experience for Leya Phinisee, a sixth-grader from Flint. She and her dad, Jason, joined one of the three educational sail outings aboard the 77-foot schooner on the Detroit River that the University of Michigan sponsors for local nonprofit groups in the summer. “I learned about… Read more: What Lies Beneath: Detroit River Narratives Emerge Through Schooner Trips, Boat Building

(Michigan News | March 8, 2021) The University of Michigan ramped up its collaborations on a multitude of projects in the city of Detroit during the pandemic, including outreach to residents on issues ranging from unemployment to the COVID-19 vaccine. Initiatives such as Poverty Solutions, which created an Economic Mobility Partnership with the city of Detroit, and a partnership with four community organizations to help… Read more: Detroit partnerships, initiatives on the rise during pandemic

(Graham Sustainability Institute | February 18, 2021) The Detroit River Story Lab was one of seven University of Michigan projects to receive funding  from the Graham Sustainability Institute’s Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program. Each project has dramatic potential to help reduce net carbon emissions. “I congratulate the U-M researchers of the CNAP teams whose exciting projects apply multidisciplinary problem-solving to the challenge of climate change,” said… Read more: Detroit River Story Lab receives carbon neutrality grant

(Michigan News | December 21, 2020) Darin Stockdill’s work with Detroit youth at a community center and as a middle and high school social studies and English teacher will certainly inform his current project. As part of the larger Detroit River Story Lab project led by University of Michigan English professor David Porter, Stockdill will support history scholars and educators connected to the Detroit River Project… Read more: Q&A: Darin Stockdill talks about the need for Detroit River curriculum in middle school

(All Things Considered | November 23, 2020) After years of work, the University of Michigan is launching the Detroit River Story Lab. It’s a multi-faceted partnership between the university, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and several local environmental organizations. The project was created by David Porter, an English professor at the university, who says that the goal is to put regional perspectives and storytelling at the heart of project.

(Michigan News | October 22, 2020) Two years in the making, the Detroit River Story Lab lifts off at the University of Michigan this semester with grant-funded partnerships and several multidisciplinary courses devoted to the international waterway’s long and deep store of sustaining narratives, past and present. As envisioned by David Porter, professor of English and comparative literature, the multiyear project spans both sides of… Read more: U-M story lab to amplify Detroit River narratives