Note: Event follow-up photos are featured below this news item
New York, NY, September 26, 2012 - New York Sea Grant (NYSG) will be at several festivals in the New York metro area this fall, providing attendees with kid-friendly Color Your Catch brochures, news on NYSG's education and research efforts in and around New York City and information on the health of Long Island Sound (Note: a list of related resource links is provided at the bottom of this news item).
NYSG will also have flyers on-hand spotlighting an opportunity for teachers and educators to take part in a Share-A-Thon at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, Brooklyn (pdf). Sponsored by NYSG, the New York State Marine Education Association (NYSMEA) and the Wildlife Conservation Society New York Aquarium, this mid-October event is and ideal forum for idea and activity sharing to benefit the classroom or outreach programs. Attendees will receive a certificate for three hours of professional development credit. Those interested can register here.
Postcards (pdf) will also be available at each of the NYSG-attended fall festivals on how to sign up for NYSG's e-list (click here), from which NY Coastlines, the program's flagship publication, and Currents, it's e-supplement newsletter, are distributed.
For those wondering how Long Island Sound measures up, NYSG's table will showcase a status and trends report (pdf) on this nationally-designated estuary that connects in with the New York - New Jersey Harbor Estuary and the New York Bight.
"Sound Health is a wonderful tool that LISS has developed to update watershed residents on water quality, animal and plant populations, and land use around the Sound," says Larissa Graham, New York Sea Grant's Long Island Sound Study Outreach Coordinator.
As part of the National Estuary Day celebration this Saturday, September 29, 2012, the Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC) will host fall's first festival, this one for Little Neck Bay to commemorate the value and role of estuaries. APEC, a non-profit environmental education nature center in Douglaston, Queens, is situated in Alley Pond Park on the tidal marsh lands adjacent to Alley Creek and Little Neck Bay.
"Our mission is to establish awareness, understanding and appreciation of the environment and the responsibilities associated with preserving that environment in the urban setting through education," says APEC Educator Karen Pierro.
APEC's festival for Little Neck Bay - which provides a variety of sea life with habitat, as well as recreational opportunities for Queens residents - will feature educational exhibits and interactive booths from various organizations and neighborhood groups, including New York Sea Grant. Family-friendly activities, such as free on-the-bay boat rides, as well as entertainment, hands-on demonstrations, crafts, and games will also be offered.
Financial support for the festival was provided by Long Island Sound Study (LISS), which, conducted under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Estuary Program, is a cooperative effort between the EPA and the states of Connecticut and New York to restore and protect the Sound and its ecosystems. NYSG partners with EPA to support a LISS Outreach Coordinator.
For more information on this festival, see APEC's flyer (pdf) or the event posting via the Web site for the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (click here), which APEC is a partner organization.
On Saturday, October 6, 2012, the New York City Department of Parks and the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) will host the 20th Annual Little Red Lighthouse Festival at Fort Washington Park under the George Washington Bridge. This park was the first public green space that NYRP Founder Bette Midler targeted for her initial restoration and greening efforts.
The festival focus is on Manhattan’s only remaining lighthouse, which acquired its nickname from Hildegarde H. Swift's 1942 children’s book, “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge.” Activities will include tours and readings of the book, as well as fishing clinics and live music and theater.
For more information on this festival, including lighthouse tour times, see the event listing on NYRP's Web site (click here).
New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This network also includes a National Sea Grant Law Center and National Sea Grant Library. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971. For updates on New York Sea Grant activities, www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign-up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for NY Coastlines, its flagship publication, and Currents, its e-newsletter supplement, each distributed 3-4 times a year.
Some of the NYSG resources that will be promoted at these fall festivals include ...
- NYSG/NYSMEA Fall Share-A-Thon
Teachers and presenters are welcome to register for this event, to be held at the New York Aquarium on October 13, 2012
- Fact Sheet: NYSG in NYC (pdf)
Highlights the program's research, extension and education efforts in and around the New York City region
- Fall Postcard: NYSG's E-List Sign-up (pdf)
Encouraging NYSG's users to connect in via the program's E-list, from which NY Coastlines, our flagship publication, and Currents, our e-supplement newsletter, are distributed
- Subscribe to NYSG's NY Coastlines / E-Currents (click here)
- Brochure: Color Your Catch (pdf)
Kids learn about some Long Island fish species - including bluefish, summer flounder and striped bass - while they color away and draw lines to their favorite catch.
- Long Island Sound Health 2010 (click here)
Find out how Long Island Sound measures up in this status and trends report
Images from APEC's Little Neck Bay Festival (September 29, 2012) ...
New York Sea Grant was at the table with NYC and Long Island Sound resources for Alley Pond Environmental Center's eighth annual Little Neck Bay Fest. Photo by Paul C. Focazio, NYSG.
New York Sea Grant and Long Island Sound Study offer ways you can make a difference on National Estuary Day and everyday: www.longislandsoundstudy.net/get-involved/what-you-can-do. Photo by Paul C. Focazio, NYSG.
Little Neck Bay, NY - This embayment, which lies in western Long Island, NY, off Long Island Sound, forms the western boundary of the Great Neck Peninsula, the eastern boundary of which is Manhasset Bay.
Images from NYC Department of Parks & Recreation / NYRP Little Red Lighthouse Festival (October 6, 2012) ...
The Little Red Lighthouse Festival - located at NYC's Fort Washington Park under the George Washington Bridge - features tours of Manhattan’s only remaining lighthouse as well as fishing clinics and live music and theater.
Fort Washington Park under the George Washington Bridge was the first public green space that New York Restoration Project Founder Bette Midler targeted for her initial restoration and greening efforts. Photo by Paul C. Focazio, NYSG.
The Little Red Lighthouse Festival featured tours of Manhattan’s only remaining lighthouse as well as fishing clinics and live music and theater. Photo by Paul C. Focazio, NYSG.
