A scene from NY & NJ Sea Grant's  #BEachSAFEly campaign, which provides tips to help keep beachgoers safe. With COVID-19 and beach safety still a priority, a poster and postcard series are being planned for summer 2021: www.nyseagrant.org/beachsafely. Credit: Joel Davenport for New York & New Jersey Sea Grant Programs.

Recent award for this COVID-19-inspired campaign marks third time in past seven years that Fair Media Council has bestowed SG with the honor

Stony Brook, NY, April 30, 2021 — In a virtual ceremony held last Friday afternoon, Sea Grant's COVID-19-inspired "#BEachSAFEly" campaign received a Folio Award from the Fair Media Council (FMC) for "Best Social Media Public Awareness Campaign".

In the summer of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, as well as the middle of beach season, New York Sea Grant and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium developed and implemented this nine week social media campaign.

The nine bilingual (available in English and Spanish) illustrated messages for #BEachSAFEly, created by freelance designer Joel Davenport, not only focused on standard “ocean hazards” tips such as “Break the Grip of the Rip,” but also incorporated general safety and health concerns related to COVID-19  Other messages included: "Stay social, be distant"; "Don’t let your mask become marine debris!"; “Stay dry when waves are high”; and "Grab your sunscreen and sanitizer," among others.

The campaign, which will continue again this summer on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, was supported by a COVID-19 Rapid Response grant from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Details on #BEachSAFEly and its recent award are featured in NYSG’s Spring 2021 newsletter, NY Coastlines. E-subscriptions can be made at www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines.

Other highlights from the e-newsletter:

(a) A variety of stories focusing on “How Sea Grant benefits you in 2021.”

(b) Details on current funding and other opportunities

(c) A number of partner, national and regional news items, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s upcoming outlook for the hurricane season as well as the return of #BioBlitz in the Great Lakes region.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, 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.

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.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.