Researchers collect water samples at the Bride Brook marsh at Rocky Neck State Park as part of a CTSG-funded project.A HUGE THANK YOU to the 23 volunteers who picked up 30 pounds of trash at Ocean Beach Park in New London on International Coastal Cleanup Day Sept. 21! A special nod to Elia Gerena, 2nd from left, who recruited his friends and family to help out as part of his Bar Mitzvah project! What a great finale to the 2024 #DontTrashLISound campaign!!Teachers examine marine life through microscopes during the Long Island Sound Mentor Teacher workshop at Hammonasset Beach State Park on Sept. 14.Kayakers and rowers paddle from the shores of UConn Avery Point during the Messing About in Boats event for students, faculty and staff Sept. 13 sponsored by the CT NERR, CT Sea Grant, the John Gardner Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association and the campus.The Moriello family of Bethany joined 25 other volunteers who collected 64 pounds of trash at Hammonassett Beach State Park to kick off the 2024 #DontTrashLISound campaign on Aug. 17.Zach Gordon, left, regional aquaculture extension liaison, and Kristen Jabanoski, science communications specialist at the NOAA Milford lab, talk to visitors about shellfish at the CTSG-Milford lab booth at the Milford Oyster Festival on Aug. 17.Researchers lower a probe into Beebe Cove in Groton at sunrise on Aug. 13 as part of a CTSG-funded project studying whether eelgrass and oysters can live symbiotically.UConn Professor Beth Lawrence, right, talks to a member of her research team while other team members collect gas samples and record data for a CTSG-funded project at Great Meadows Marsh in Stratford on Aug. 12Henry Choong, one of 20 researchers who took part in a CTSG-funded Rapid Assessment Survey of invasive species in Long Island Sound Aug. 6-7, looks at two invasive hydroids he found in a Branford marina.Hannah Roby, a oceanography master's degree student, dissects a black sea bass on July 26 for CTSG-funded research into the diets of black sea bass becoming prevalent in Long Island Sound with rising water temperatures.Yale Professor Gaboury Benoit removes trash collected at a boom he placed on the Mill River in New Haven as part of CTSG-funded research into the plastic litter cycle.CTSG staff toured the "Entwined" exhibit at Mystic Seaport about Indigenous and Black maritime history as part of DEI initiatives.Lots of shellfish lovers stayed cool on July 13 while harvesting clams at Garvan Point beach at the annual Clam Dig sponsored by the Madison Shellfish Commission.The cargo ship Frauke carries the first shipment of nacelles (generators) for the Revolution Wind project to State Pier in New London on July 10, 2024.Dancers perform at the Sliver by the River celebration in Bridgeport in May, which included participation by CT Sea Grant Sustainable & Resilient Communities Extension Educator Deb Abibou.Waterford High School student Caydin Martinez, left, shows two of the approximately 370 Waterford elementary school students how to measure the depth of marsh sediment during Marine Science Day at Waterford Town Beach on June 3.Some of the 10 people who joined the CT Trails Day hike at Haley Farm State Park in Groton start the June 1 event co-led by the CT National Estuarine Research Reserve and CT Sea Grant.Flanders Elementary School teacher Laura Moore leads her first-grade students to a beach treasure hunt activity at Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme on May 30, 2024, as part of the Long Island Sound Schools network program.Deborah Abibou, second from left, Sarah Schechter, fourth from left, and Maggie Cozens, sixth from left, all of CT Sea Grant, hear from members of the public about proposed revisions to the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan for Long Island Sound at a public engagement meeting at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven on May 8.Anoushka Concepcion, left, associate extension educator/seaweed aquaculture, and Clayton McGoldrick, lab technician, show the new mobile seaweed lab that arrived at the UConn Avery Point campus on April 29.A UConn Avery Point student holds Mr. Bob, a Buff Laced Polish hen that was part of the campus EcoHusky Club's Earth Day event, which included environmentally themed displays from many groups including CT Sea Grant.CTSG's Mike Gilman, 2nd row, 5th from left; and Zach Gordon, 3rd row, 3rd from left, were among those attending the Sea Grant Aquaculture Academy in New Hampshire April 8-11.Students at the Drop-In Learning Center in New London show sea creature puppets they made during an outreach activity led by CTSG staff during school vacation week.CTSG extension educators Owen Placido, second from right, and Sarah Schechter, not shown, led a talk about the formation of Connecticut's beaches to a group at the solar eclipse viewing event at Camp Harkness in Waterford on April 8.Pianist Hea Youn Chung, left, and Molly James, a UConn marine sciences doctoral candidate, led a performance and discussion of their "Harmony of Nature II" project on March 27. Their project received a CT Sea Grant Arts Suppport Award.Assistant Extension Educator Michael Gilman talks about different types of oyster cages to some of the students in the 2024 "Foundations of Shellfish Farming" class being offered by CT Sea Grant.Fisherman John Genther, center, received a Meritorious Service Award from the Coast Guard for saving a man's life less than two weeks after taking first aid training hosted by CTSG.Lauren Barrett, left, Kayla Mladinich Poole, center, and Kristen Williams, CTSG-sponsored members of the 2024 class of the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, gather at a NOAA Hydrolab exhibit during program orientation in Silver Spring, MD, this winter.Michael Thomas of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and Alissa Dragan, supervising environmental analyst at the state Department of Agriculture Bureau of Aquaculture, discuss ways to improve access to shellfishing grounds for his and other tribes in Connecticut after his talk at the Annual Gathering of Shellfish Commissions on Feb. 3.Some of the 80 students who participated in the the LEARN Sustainers of the Sound program supported by CT Sea Grant look from the beach at the Avery Point campus during a scavenger hunt activity. The Dec. 13 program included fish painting and a lesson on Long Island Sound.Ralph Lewis, state geologist emeritus, talks about the coastal geology section he wrote for the CTSG book "Connecticut's Sandy Shores" during a book launch and signing event on Nov. 29.Ulysses Hammond, interim executive director of CT Port Authority, points to components of the South Fork wind farm being stage at State Pier in New London during a Nov. 20 tour of the site for about 15 people, including CTSG Director Sylvain De Guise, third from left, and other CTSG staff members.Commercial fishermen practice cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills on a mannequin during first aid training class hosted by CT Sea Grant on Oct. 24, 2023.Volunteer Bobbi Brown, left, shows Anthony Leggitt, 5, how to cast a fishing rod during the CT Sea Grant-Groundwork Bridgeport "Let's Go Fishing" event Aug. 19 on Knowlton Park on the Pequonnock River.Fishermen in immersion suits practice getting into a life raft during Safety and Survival training in October 2022.Dr. Camille Gaynus, board chair of the professional organization Black in Marine Science, talks about marine science careers and the need for diversification and participation in these fields with students at the Sound School in New Haven last week as part of a project with the West River Watershed Partnership, Project WET, CT Sea Grant and CT DEEP.Mark Phegley, left, QCW sign maker for UConn, directs student employees John Poland, center, and Braden Gutierrez in the positioning of a Connecticut Blue Heritage Trail sign at Bluff Point State Park on June 9. The trail is a project of CTSG, UConn and CT DEEP.David Carey, left, and Matt Bartel of the state Bureau of Aquaculturefill bags with oyster shell piled at Hammonassett Beach State Park that will be moved to oyster restoration areas in Branford and Bridgeport as part of a 2022 project with CT Sea Grant.UConn Marine Sciences Professor Hannes Baumann, left, and Connecticut Sea Grant Director Sylvain De Guise unveil a public outreach sign about endangered Atlantic sturgeon at Hammonassett Beach State Park on May 7.
Halle Berger

UConn doctoral student awarded NOAA-Sea Grant fellowship

October 1, 2024

Halle Berger, a UConn marine sciences doctoral student, is one of 10 early career scientists awarded the 2024 National Marine Fisheries-Sea Grant Fellowship that provides support for critical fisheries research. Her research focuses on sea scallops, one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States.

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CTSG-funded researchers work on a marsh sediment project at Great Meadows in Stratford in the summer of 2024. Judy Benson / CT Sea Grant

Research funding orientation meeting slated for Oct. 18

September 25, 2024

CT Sea Grant will host an orientation meeting on Oct. 18 aimed at introducing new and interested researchers to CTSG and CTSG research opportunities, in addition to providing a primer on submitting grants to CTSG and including outreach and education components in your grant proposals.

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Two CTSG-CLEAR webinars planned for Climate Week

September 4, 2024

As part of statewide Climate Week events Sept. 22-28, Connecticut Sea Grant and the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) will host two free webinars for the public, “Rebuild by Design’s Atlas of Accountability,” and “UConn Climate Corps: Climate Adaptation Projects in Communities.”

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"Emerging Research on Shellfish, Aquaculture, and Marine Plastics" fact sheet

Fact sheet explains shellfish aquaculture, plastics research

August 13, 2024

A new fact sheet, “Emerging Research on Shellfish, Aquaculture, and Marine Plastics” explores the issue of microplastics and shellfish aquaculture. The research shows that microplastic exposure risk from shellfish is extremely low, and that aquaculture gear at a study site did not contribute to microplastic pollution.

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Plastic-free products found in by participants in the plastic-free week include, from left, compostable trash bags, anti-perspirant in a recyclable can, detergent sheets and powered detergent, a shampoo bar, body lotion in a recyclable can, biodegradable sandwich bags and reusable produce bags.

Taking a small step in a world awash in plastic

August 12, 2024

Trying to give up single-use plastics can seem like a fool’s errand, with nearly every imaginable product you can buy ensconced in plastic packaging. A few of us at CTSG decided to try anyway for a week last month, as part of the international Plastic-Free July initiative. This article, published in The Day and CT Hearst newspapers the week of Aug. 11, introduces the 8th annual #DontTrashLISound campaign that kicks off Aug. 17.

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Residential flooding in coastal Connecticut communities like that caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 will be one of the hazards addressed by the Connecticut Sea Grant project.

Project to boost preparedness of residents of 3 cities     

August 8, 2024

Aging residents of underserved groups in Stamford, West Haven and New London will be better equipped to recover from the effects of severe weather events that cause flooding, power outages and other impacts to their communities, thanks to a project led by CTSG and UConn Extension.

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