NY Coastlines—New York Sea Grant (NYSG)'s flagship publication—and its news archive, Currents, highlight news, events and other activities from our coastal program's various research, extension and education endeavors throughout New York's marine and Great Lakes waters
Winter 2020
NY Coastlines / Currents; Vol. 48, No. 1 / Vol. 8, No. 1 & 2
NYSG Director's Letter: Becky Shuford
Welcome to New York Sea Grant (NYSG)'s first e-newsletter of the new year ... and the new decade!
We're looking forward to another exciting year of partnerships and projects around the State that support sustainable and resilient coastal communities.
In this issue you will find spotlights on each of our three new Extension Specialists who joined NYSG last fall.
We also highlight results of several projects from our last round of funded research, summaries of a number of coastal resilience as well as seafood tools and resources that have been developed, as well as several stories about our education efforts.
Finally, we would like to call your attention to the RISE 2019 Conference that NYSG participated in in November 2019. This conference was hosted by the University at Albany, with partnerships and contributions from across the SUNY family as well as colleges and universities around the country. The focus of this conference was about establishing a national conversation and community network to guide and facilitate "University Engagement in Pre- and Post Disaster Environments: Lessons from Puerto Rico."
More specifically, the RISE platform seeks to re-envision how universities communities, NGOs, private sector partners, and local governments interact and how to match the knowledge and capacities of an extended partner network with community needs. If you are interested in getting engaged or following the dialog, you can sign up for the RISE e-mail list.
This dialog is relevant to resilience conversations being had by all communities, including in New York, that may be faced with coastal hazards and storm events (or even other natural disasters as the recent spate of earthquakes, also in Puerto Rico, demonstrates).
NYSG looks forward to continuing to engage with our partners as we collectively work towards solutions for coastal and climate resilience and sustainability in the State and beyond.
What's Trending: New Year, New Staff: Three New NYSG Extension Staffers Arrive
Three new staffers who arrived at NYSG this past fall are ready to make their mark as Cornell Cooperative Extension specialists in 2020.
(Above, l-r) Jessica Kuonen, who prior to coming aboard with NYSG helped develop NYSG's inundation mapping tools for Lake Ontario communities after 2017's high water levels, is the program's Hudson Estuary Resilience Specialist Read on >>
Jimena Perez-Viscasillas is NYSG's Outreach Coordinator for Long Island Sound Study, a cooperative program of the Environmental Protection Agency and the states of Connecticut and New York Read on >>
Monica L. Miles, our new Coastal Literacy Specialist, is also Associate Director of the Great Lakes Program at the University at Buffalo. Read on >>
What's Trending: Central NY Boat Show
On Saturday, February 22nd from 9 am---5 pm, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and NYSG will offer youth ages 10 to 17 the boater safety course required for them to legally operate a motorboat or personal watercraft on NY waters. The training will be held at the 2020 Central New York Boat Show at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY. Read on >>
What's Trending: RISE For Resilience
As shared at November 2019's Resilience In Sustainable rEconstruction (RISE) event at the University at Albany, NYSG provides multiple opportunities for climate and resilience research, extension, outreach and education along the State's marine and Great Lakes coastlines. Learn more how our nearly 50 year coastal program connects NY-ers to climate science. Read on >>
What's Trending: Multimedia From Sea Grant
Videos, podcasts, comics, interactive narratives—Sea Grant programs make them all and more! Explore an array of Sea Grant marine, coastal and Great Lakes features courtesy of the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) at seagrant.noaa.gov/features.
New York's offerings among this national multimedia collection include a podcast from Jamaica Bay and a handful of videos on NSGO's YouTube playlists from our program's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/nyseagrant.
NYSG's featured videos include those from our "Currents Clips" series, which first came ashore in May 2019.
"Currents Clips" immerses NYSG's Web site visitors, social media followers and NY Coastlines subscribers into the program's coastal research, extension and education stories.
Experience the first and second waves at nyseagrant.org/currentsclips.
Opportunities: Fellowships, Funding
New Year, New Fellows: NYSG's Three 2020 National Knauss Fellows in D.C.
NY's 2020 awardees for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship are now "on the job."
Like the other highly qualified 65+ graduate students from around the country, (above, l-r) Celina Scott-Buechler (from Cornell University), Irvin Huang (from Stony Brook University) and Naomi Lewandowski (from Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York) have been matched with "hosts" in the legislative branch, executive branch, or appropriate associations / institutions located in the Washington, DC area for a one year paid fellowship. Read on >>
Want to apply? If you're a graduate student at a New York institution with an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources, you can submit for a 2021 fellowship through February 21, 2020 via New York Sea Grant (NYSG) at nyseagrant.org/proposals.
For more, see:
NYSG/NSGO Knauss Fellowship overview one-pager: PDF
National Sea Grant:
Knauss overview seagrant.noaa.gov/Knauss
Prospective Knauss fellows seagrant.noaa.gov/Prospective
In The Spotlight From Knauss Fellowship to center stage ( January 2020)
One Knauss Alum's unique career move from the fellowship to a successful music career
Knauss blog seagrant.noaa.gov/knauss-blog
Read entries from current & past fellows
Funding Opportunity: 2020 NOAA Sea Grant National Aquaculture
The National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) has announced a federal funding opportunity to advance U.S aquaculture, open to Sea Grant programs.
NSGCP anticipates approximately $5M will be available for research projects and programs that will significantly advance the understanding of the economics of aquaculture businesses in the U.S. and address gaps regarding important market information.
The overall goal is to advance business management towards development of a sustainable marine and Great Lakes aquaculture industry in the U.S. Successful proposals will address geographic and/or topical needs and will fully integrate research, extension, and education.
Proposals that will support broad, non-proprietary research to address critical gaps with respect to aquaculture economics and market needs; make that information available to U.S. aquaculture businesses and management agencies; and build the capacity of Sea Grant and its partners, including Sea Grant aquaculture extension personnel and industry stakeholders, are preferred.
All proposals to this competition must be submitted by a Sea Grant program. Other interested entities must submit proposals in partnership with and through a relevant Sea Grant Program.
Want to apply? Notices of intent to submit are due February 26, 2020; Full proposals due April 22, 2020 --- both via New York Sea Grant.
For more, see:
National Sea Grant: Efforts in aquaculture
seagrant.noaa.gov/Our-Work/Aquaculture
National Sea Grant: Funding Opportunities
seagrant.noaa.gov/Funding
National Sea Grant Awards $16 million to Advance U.S. Aquaculture (September 2019)
#Research
A Chemical Clock to Study Coastal Water Quality
While we cannot see submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), it's important that researchers at Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences analyze photographic evidence of it.
SGD is a hydrogeologic mechanism whereby water is pushed in different ways underground toward the sea, and vice versa. This mixing zone between groundwater and seawater in the coastal aquifer is critically important for controlling a variety of chemical reactions. Read on >>
In Photos: The Cisco, Perhaps the Biggest Little Fish, Could Make its Comeback
Scientists led by Matthew Hare of Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources are using genetics in a NYSG-funded project to locate the spawning grounds of the cisco, a little-known but key fish in the Lake Ontario food chain. Read on >>
Refuge Areas Could Protect Prized Fisheries in a Changing Climate
How climate change might impact some aquatic organisms in New York's waters was the focus of a recently-completed NYSG-funded study led by researcher Christopher Gobler from Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. Read on >>
#Extension
Seafood Marketing Resources
Some free, customizable resources have been developed by NYSG in collaboration with the National Aquaculture Association to assist in branding and marketing your seafood products and dishes: www.nyseagrant.org/seafoodmarketing
Sodus Point Project Receives Public Outreach Award
The Post-Flood Recovery Building Workshop for the Village of Sodus Point, a project organized by the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council and NYSG, has received a 2019 Public Outreach Award from the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association. Read on >>
Related NYSG Extension news ...
NY Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Index (CRI)
NYSG published this 44-page self-assessment tool with supplemental information as a guide to understand how prepared a community is for coastal flooding and weather disasters such as wind and ice storms, ice jams, and flash flooding.
The CRI, authored by NYSG Coastal Community Specialist Mary Austerman, is designed to empower municipal leaders, local planners, engineers, floodplain managers and others to guide discussions about their community's resilience to coastal hazards. Read on >>
Lake Ontario 2017 Flood Photos
When researchers from Cornell University's NYSG-funded 2017 Coastal Flooding Survey Project surveyed NY waterfront property owners, they not only collected qualitative data about parcel location, severity of inundation, flood insurance, severity of erosion, damage to shoreline protection, and overall impacts, but they also were provided with pictures of the waterline and the property damage. Recently added to this photo collection, organized by Lake Ontario's shoreline counties, are images from both the Town and City of Oswego. Read on >>
#Education
No Child or Teacher Left Inside: Operation Salt Marsh Restoration
In this New York State Department of Environmental Conservation / NYSG-sponsored project, award-winning students and teachers from Smithtown West and Brentwood High School have suited up to not only restore salt marshes, but also develop solutions on how to preserve the marsh. Read on >>
More NYSG Education news ...
NYSG and NYSDEC Partner on Educational Resources, Funding Opportunities for Teachers
New funding opportunities listed on "New York's Great Lakes," www.nyseagrant.org/nygreatlakes, and the "Great Lakes Ecosystem Education Exchange," www.nyseagrant.org/gleee. In addition to these two Web site partnerships between NYSG and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the pair also offer Great Lakes Basin Bins for educators. Monica Lynn Miles, NYSG's Great Lakes Literacy Educator, has more on these resources for educators. Read on >>
Solutions for Pollution
Now through April 1, 2020, Long Island high school students can submit concepts for reducing trash in NY's waterways and on our beaches with a focus on the Long Island Sound and its associated harbors. Top three winning entries will receive cash awards. For more info and to enter, visit www.solution4pollution.org.
Winter 2020
NYSG's Currents News Archives (Vol. 9, No. 1 & 2)
Keep tabs on NYSG's news in between issues of NY Coastlines / Currents via our Web site (www.nyseagrant.org) and blog (www.nyseagrant.org/blog).
Here's a sampling of other stories that have made waves these past few months on our social media platforms (www.facebook.com/nyseagrant, www.twitter.com/nyseagrant) and via our site's News (www.nyseagrant.org/currents) and topic-based News Archives (www.nyseagrant.org/currentsarchive) sections ...
Partner News
NOAA National Weather Service: Winter Safety Campaign
Also: "Be a Force of Nature" and follow the Weather-Ready Nation team on Twitter at @WRNAmbassadors
NOAA's Summary of 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season (November 2019) Read on >>
The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, which ended on November 30th, was marked by tropical activity that churned busily from mid-August through October.
NYSG Extension and Education > New Staff, Fellows
In Media: SBU Grad Student Selected for Competitive Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship (December 2019) Read on >>
In Media: New Long Island Sound Study Outreach Coordinator at SBU (December 2019) Read on >>
In Media: Monica Lynn Miles joins UB as Great Lakes educator (September 2019) Read on >>
NYSG Extension and Education > NYC
On Air: Communicating the Impacts of Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change on New York City and the Courses of Action (December 2019) Read on >>
In Media: RiSC - Students Become School Boiler-Room Sleuths to Assess Climate Change Risks (December 2019) Read on >>
In Media: Citizen Scientists on the Flood Watch (December 2019) Read on >>
On YouTube: CUNY TV's Simply Science Spotlights Jamaica Bay Flood Watch (November 2019) Read on >>
NYSG Extension and Education > Coastal Resilience
On Air: NY Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Index Gives Lakefront Communities a Tool to Measure Vulnerability (February 2020) Read on >>
On Air: New Tool Could Help Lake Ontario Communities Prepare for Future Flooding (January 2020) Read on >>
In Media: Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Index - Resource of the Month (January 2020) Read on >>
NYSG Funded Projects > Research
In Media: Study Examines Efficiency of Medicine Removal from Wastewater Treatment Plants (January 2020) Read on >>
In Media: NY Sea Grant Contributes to Marine Aquaculture Research Projects (November 2019) Read on >>
In Media: Funding Helps Researchers Clam Up (November 2019) Read on >>
NYSG Funded Projects > Marine, Great Lakes Small Grants
In Media: New Map Will Connect Genesee River Kayakers, Communities (December 2019) Read on >>
In Media: Funding Announced for Recreational Fishing Projects in Local Communities (October 2019) Read on >>
In 2019, The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York Sea Grant distributed more than $74,000 in funding for several recreational fishing projects to benefit New York's communities.
One of these projects, a $15,000 grant to Friends of the East River Esplanade, resulted in the early October '19 unveiling of a ADA-accessible bait station on East Harlem's waterfront where fishermen/women can prepare bait, inspect catches to see if they require release and clean catches to take home ...
On YouTube: East River's New El Barrio Bait Station Unveiled (October 2019) Read on >>
On Air: New El Barrio Bait Station Could Be Prototype For City's Waterfronts (October 2019) Read on >>
In Media: New Esplanade Bait Station To Aid East River Anglers In Harlem (October 2019) Read on >>
