Contact:

Larissa Graham, Long Island Sound Study Outreach Coordinator, NYSG, E: ljg85@cornell.edu; P: 631.632.9216

Stony Brook, NY, November 03, 2010 - This fall, Larissa Graham, New York Sea Grant's (NYSG) Long Island Sound Study (LISS) Outreach Coordinator, and Heather Young, LISS Habitat Restoration Coordinator, assisted 60 second graders from Wading River as they explored their local duck ponds and learned about polluted runoff and the harmful effects of feeding wildlife. Graham and Young also taught 275 seventh graders from Mt. Sinai as they collected water quality and fish population data in Mt. Sinai harbor to track tidal wetland loss. The activities were part of the Open Space Stewardship Program.

Since 2008, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has worked through Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Open Space Stewardship Program to increase stewardship for Long Island Sound (LIS).

NYSG works closely with partners such as NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the Long Island Sound Study to develop research projects that allow students to learn about the problems facing LIS, while collecting data that will be used by partner agencies.

To date, over 1,300 students have been involved in projects to increase awareness about tidal wetlands, invasive species, and polluted stormwater. Through this program, students develop scientific research skills while becoming environmental stewards of their study sites around Long Island Sound.

For more on this program and the related efforts of NYSG's LISS outreach coordinator Larissa Graham, see recent feature articles in the Village Beacon Record (October 21, 2010) (pdf) and the North Shore Sun (October 28, 2010)  (pdf).