Telling the Lake Huron Story

Spend a day with Walter Hoagman and you’re likely to get a whirlwind tour of coastal Lake Huron. A Michigan Sea Grant Extension Agent based in East Tawas since 1989, Hoagman has become a resident expert on everything from Lake Huron’s coastal plants and wetlands to fisheries, migrating birds and shipwrecks.

“I enjoyed this aspect of my job very much—the field days out walking the shore to collect material and plants, take photos and record observations about the birds, fish, and physical dynamics of Lake Huron,” says Hoagman, who retires May 31.

Hoagman used the data as a basis for creating two popular field guides: Great Lakes Coastal Plants and Great Lakes Wetlands as well as web pages highlighting unique features of the northern Lake Huron coastline. He shared his knowledge with students and adults during many educational presentations in northeast Michigan.

Before becoming an extension agent, Hoagman held faculty positions at the University of Virginia and Indiana State University. He worked on a United Nations project for the Mekong River in Southeast Asia (Cambodia).

Hoagman has published numerous scientific articles during his career and provided technical assistance to businesses, organizations and individuals on sportfishing, aquaculture, water quality, aquatic nuisance species, and shoreline ecology.

But his lasting memories, says Hoagman, will be of walking the coast with his black lab Bunker, collecting data along the Lake Huron shoreline.

“Taking information back to the office and putting together the coastal zone story—the ecology, hydrology and botany of Lake Huron—into two field guides has made the circle complete.”

Walter Hoagman and his wife Athelia will retire to Guthries Creek, Virginia, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay.