Contacts:

Dave White, New York Sea Grant, Recreation/Tourism Specialist, P: 315-312-3042, E: dgw9@cornell.edu

John Steinbarge, USCG Auxiliary, P: 315-635-7698


US Coast Guard Flotilla 21 Commander John Steinbarge presents New York Sea Grant Coastal Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White with the 2013 Wear It! Award! White is seen in a cold water survival suit demonstrated as a part of a public education program on life jackets at the 2014 Central New York Boat Show. Photo: Brian P. Whattam

Syracuse, NY, March 5, 2014 – U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 21 recently presented New York Sea Grant Coastal Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White with its 2013 Wear It! Award. The award recognizes excellence in teaching the public about life jacket safety.

Wear It! is a campaign of the National Safe Boating Council in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrations.

White has incorporated life jacket education into the award-winning Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign developed by New York Sea Grant (NYSG) in 2008. The training covers the various types of life jackets, boating regulations associated with life jackets, and how to get a good fit for everyone in the family, including the family dog.

The Discover Clean and Safe Boating life jacket training is offered annually at the Boating Industries Association of Upstate New York-sponsored Boat Show in Syracuse, NY, in February and at Empire Farm Days in the pond at Rodman Lot and Son Farms in Seneca Falls, NY, in August.

The Discover Clean and Safe Boating exhibit has been seen by more than 500,000 boaters and potential boaters and has visited major events in all of New York state’s coastal regions from New York City and the Hudson River to Oneida Lake, the Finger Lakes, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

The NYSG campaign has been adapted for boaters, anglers, the hearing-impaired, paddlesport enthusiasts, pet owners, and water rescue First Responders.

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 21 Commander John Steinbarge presented the 2013 Wear It! award to White at the 2014 Central New York Boat Show.

More Info: New York Sea Grant

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). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. 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 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/coastlines for NY Coastlines, its flagship publication, which, in 2014, merges with the program's e-newsletter, Currents. NY Coastlines is published several times a year.