Happy 50th Anniversary to Sea Grant - Beginning in March 2016, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Sea Grant College Program began looking back over its five decades of bringing science to America's shores. Throughout the next year, New York Sea Grant will continue to spotlight some of these coastal effort milestones - both statewide and nationally - via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.

Here are the first several in the #SeaGrant50 series:

(1) Sea Grant Announces 50th Anniversary: www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/blog/17

(2) The Dazzling Dr. Spilhaus: www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/blog/18

(3) Video Illustrates Sea Grant's 50 Years of Science Serving America's Coast: www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/blog/19

(4) Impacts on Coastlines in New York and Throughout the Country: www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/blog/20


In Other News from NOAA's New York Sea Grant ...

(1) Funding Opportunity: 2017-2019 Long Island Sound Research - Pre-proposals being accepted at www.nyseagrant.org/proposals through June 6, 2016. More details also at http://ow.ly/10rs5N.

(2) We're coordinating The State of Lake Erie meeting on Thursday, April 14th: http://ow.ly/1065uY.

(3) The Second Annual Watercraft Inspection Steward Program Workshop Set for Friday, April 29th: http://ow.ly/ZQV7k, http://ow.ly/10rr9j.

And, for those who couldn't be a part of our five-part Watercraft Inspection Webinar series in Fall 2015, you can stream each discussion and download presentations at www.nyseagrant.org/watercraftinspection.

(4) Limited registration is currently open for a four-day Great Lakes regional seafood workshop (May 9-12): http://ow.ly/10oVB8.

Also: NYSG's Seafood Safety and Technology Specialist Michael Ciaramella, who will be in attendance at the workshop, has recently completely revised our program's online seafood resources, www.nyseagrant.org/seafood.

(5) In late March, researchers from NOAA Sea Grant's Coastal Storm Awareness Program (CSAP) [www.nyseagrant.org/csap] discussed evacuation planning at the 2016 National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, Florida [http://www.hurricanemeeting.com]. Details at http://ow.ly/10rqt3.

(6) Pitch in with us and The Long Island Sound Study (LISS) throughout the year. There'll be plenty of volunteer opportunities in New York and Connecticut: http://ow.ly/Ydmzp.

Also: what does #LISound mean to you? Here's what NYSG's LI Sound Outreach Coordinator Amy Mandelbaum has to say: http://ow.ly/UT60X  #ProtectLISound

(7) Our traveling “Great Lakes Shipwrecks” exhibit continues its two-and-a-half month residency through mid-April at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center in Erie, Pennsylvania: http://ow.ly/XQJSE.

(8) Videos and presentations from November 2015's Nature-Based Shoreline Practices Workshop can now be found at www.nyseagrant.org/naturebasedshorelines.



Top 10 Trending News Stories from NOAA ...

(1) U.S. CLIMATE >>> According to the March 2016 U.S. Climate Report (http://1.usa.gov/2018pRE), the contiguous United States experienced its warmest March since 2012. Alaska and every state in the Lower 48 had an above-average March temperature. #‎StateOfClimate?

(2) LIVING SHORELINES >>> Check out NOAA National Ocean Service's latest Diving Deeper podcast: http://ow.ly/10ruc4. Learn how "Living Shorelines" are better than hardened bulkheads or seawalls for people and ecosystems along our coasts.

(3) U.S. DROUGHT >>> According to the April 5, 2016 U.S. Drought Monitor (http://1.usa.gov/1PWBTbL), moderate to exceptional drought covers 16.7% of the contiguous United States, an increase from last week’s 15.1%. However, the worst drought categories (extreme to exceptional drought) held steady at 3.8% for a fourth consecutive week. #‎DroughtMonitor?

(4) CLIMATE NEWS >>> On March 24, 2016, the blanket of sea ice capping the Arctic Ocean reached its annual winter high. For the second year in a row it was a new record low: http://go.usa.gov/csvSY.

(5) OCEAN FACTS >>> What is a wave? Why does the ocean have waves? Video: http://ow.ly/10rxSJ FAQs: http://ow.ly/10rwqL.

(6) GLOBAL CLIMATE >>> According to the February 2016 Global Climate Report (http://1.usa.gov/1SPVZLh), the temperature across global land and ocean surfaces for February 2016 was the highest for February since record keeping began in 1880. It was also the highest departure from average among all 1,646 months in the record.

(7) EL NINO >>> An early April 2016 PBS Newshour story features NOAA scientists studying ?#‎ElNino? from air and sea to improve weather forecasts and models.: http://ow.ly/10ruz5. Also, did El Niño play a starring role in this past winter's climate? http://go.usa.gov/c7BY4.

(8) WORLD WATER DAY >>> In the spirit of this day (March 22), The White House and NOAA announced sustainable water initiatives: http://ow.ly/10ryJr.

(9) CLIMATE NEWS >>> A new report on how climate change worsens risks to public health: http://ow.ly/10rvns.

(10) WATER RESOURCES >>> A comprehensive dashboard offers access to maps and data that can help water resource managers and urban planners monitor the potential for extreme precipitation and drought in their regions: http://ow.ly/10rzYU.

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On www.nyseagrant.org ...

- Our "Trending Topics," such as climate change and green tips for coastal living, via a section on our homepage, www.nyseagrant.org.

- For the latest news from NYSG, check out our 'Currents' section, www.nyseagrant.org/currents, as well as our 'by-topic' archives, www.nyseagrant.org/currentsarchive.

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