A workshop group led by Mentor Teachers from PS 583 participated in water quality testing aboard the SUNY Maritime Research Vessel. Credit: Lillit Genovesi/NYSG
Contacts:
Jimena Perez-Viscasillas, NYSG Long Island Sound Study Outreach Coordinator, E: jbp25@cornell.edu, P: (631) 824-4906
Lillit (Lilli) Genovesi, NYSG Long Island Sound Outreach Coordinator, NYC, E: Lillit.Genovesi@cornell.edu, P: (718) 874-0120
Professional development for teachers and outdoor education programming are successfully reaching K-12 youth in NY’s Long Island Sound region
Queens, NY, May 27, 2025 - Many New Yorkers are unaware of the invaluable resources that Long Island Sound offers, such as critical habitats for rare species. An underutilized natural treasure, the Sound is a powerful outdoor classroom, offering students an environment in which to explore and participate in hands-on STEM activities that enhance learning and the development of new skills.
New York Sea Grant (NYSG) works with educators, schools, and partner organizations to provide immersive, place-based activities that bring meaning and purpose to learning. Through the peer-to-peer Long Island Sound Mentor Teacher Program, teachers meet and share successful strategies for implementing ocean literacy into existing curricula. Designed for both classroom and field learning, coastal workshops feature lessons and activities that introduce students to new skills, opportunities, and STEM careers. Sound Stewards compliment Mentor Teachers by providing ready-to-implement outdoor education that informs and inspires students. Together, these programs inspire a new generation of environmental stewards equipped with the knowledge and skills to make a positive impact.
Three Mentor Teacher workshops (New York City, Westchester, and Long Island) in 2024 hosted 35 educators and showcased activities such as environmental monitoring, data collection, modeling, and more. Teachers implemented the lessons in their schools and several Mentor Teachers engaged their own students in Sound Stewards’ programs.
“Participating in the Long Island Sound Mentor Teachers program and with the Sound Stewards has been a transformative experience for myself and my school. Students and staff here have been on an exciting journey of discovering our local marine resources, careers in marine sciences and STEM, and our coastal community, bringing new meaning to science learning.” — Denise Aikens, Science Cluster Teacher, PS 583, The Bronx
Providing professional development for teachers and outdoor education for students, NYSG has reached more than 3,000 K-12 students, with visits to the coast to learn about the Sound, participation in hands-on STEM activities, and learning real-world skills needed for a sustainable future.
Project Partners/Funders:
• City Island Oyster Reef
• Long Island Sound Study
• New York City Parks
• New York City Parks Marine Education Center (Mamaroneck)
• SUNY Maritime
• Town of Brookhaven
• University of Connecticut
• Urban Park Rangers
• Western Suffolk BOCES
More Info: New York Sea Grant
Established in 1966, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program promotes the informed stewardship of coastal resources in 34 joint federal/state university-based programs in every U.S. coastal state (marine and Great Lakes) and Puerto Rico. The Sea Grant model has also inspired similar projects in the Pacific region, Korea and Indonesia.
Since 1971, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.
NYSG historically leverages on average a 3 to 6-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually. We benefit from this, as these resources are invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in New York.
Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.
New York Sea Grant, one of the largest of the state Sea Grant programs, is a cooperative program of the State University of New York (SUNY) and Cornell University. The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org, follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube). NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which it publishes 2-3 times a year.