New York Sea Grant Director Jim Ammerman took part in a two-day “2010 Korea - U.S. Sea Grant Collaboration International Workshop” late last September at South Korea’s Jeju National University.

Presenting twice during the meeting, Ammerman first discussed the impacts of nitrogen loading on estuaries in the New York Bight based on a regional Sea Grant planning workshop held last summer. He then switched gears for a talk the next day on the impacts and mitigation of storm surge and sea level rise on the South Shore of Long Island, focusing on the outreach work of NYSG Coastal Processes and Facilities Specialist Jay Tanski.

Ammerman’s invitation to participate in the workshop came in part from Moon-Jin Park, a former Stony Brook University (SBU) Sea Grant Scholar and current Professor and Chairman of the Department of Oceanography at the College of Natural Sciences, Chungnam National University, one of 10 flagship Korean National Universities. Park, who graduated from SBU’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in May 1990 under Professor Dong-Ping Wang, was a speaker at the conference for Chungcheong Sea Grant. His presentation examined the impacts of manmade tidal barriers in western Korea on tides and coastal currents, and the changes these caused in navigation and other features.

In other presentations at the workshop, Delaware Sea Grant Associate Director James M. Falk and Maine Sea Grant’s Natalie Springuel addressed Sea Grant’s role in promoting and developing ecotourism. South Korea’s Gyeonggi Sea Grant Advisory Scientist Jong-Geel Je discussed ecotourism and its connections to coastal wetlands conservation. ”Ecotourism would seem to be an important new area for the Korean Sea Grant programs to develop,” said Ammerman.

The Korea Sea Grant Program (KSGP) was established in 2000 by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF) as a part of “Ocean Korea 21,” Korea’s comprehensive plan to improve the management of coastal resources. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (which invited NYSG to participate in the workshop) and the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) continue to work with KSGP on their mission “to promote the involvement of universities in marine research through granting programs, outreach, and education,” a mission similar to that of the NSGO.

There are currently six entites under KSGP – YoungNam Sea Grant, based at the Korea Maritime University in Busan; HoNam Sea Grant, in Mokpo; GyeongGi Sea Grant, in Incheon; Chungcheong in Daejeon; GyeongBuk on the eastern coast; and Jeju on Jeju Island, the sponsors of this international workshop.

— Paul C. Focazio