Members of the Avery Point EcoHusky Club, bottom right, make seed bombs for a fellow student at the campus Earth Day festival on April 19. Behind them CT Sea Grant staff share information about shell recycling.Research Coordinator Syma Ebbin, second from right, leads a tour of the Blue Heritage Trail and CT NERR sites as part of the Northeast Sea Grant Conference hosted by CT Sea Grant March 14-16. About 100 staff from NE Sea Grant programs participated.Michael Gilman, right, aquaculture extension assistant, teaches students in the "Foundations of Shellfish Farming" course that began on Jan. 24.Tessa Getchis, left, aquaculture extension specialist, introduces a presentation about shell recycling during the Annual Meeting of Shellfish Commissions on Jan. 21, 2023.UConn Avery Point EcoHusky Club members and Syma Ebbin, 3rd from left, faculty advisor and CTSG research coordinator, gather at a campus building with solar panels and a small wind turbine installed thanks to the club’s work.A truck drives through floodwaters on a street in Groton, as town crews clear debris left by high tide. Heavy rains Dec. 22 and 23 left several areas flooded along the CT coast, where rising sea levels and intensifying storms are increasing the need for CTSG resilience projects.Fishermen in immersion suits practice getting into a life raft during Safety and Survival training in October 2022.A large school of menhaden swim by the docks at the UConn Avery Point campus during their fall migration to the southeast Atlantic coast for the winter.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.Mitchell College students collect and record trash at Greens Harbor Beach in New London to cap the 2022 #DontTrashLISound campaign on International Coastal Cleanup Day Sept. 17Far right, one of the 8 portable refrigeration units provided to small- to medium-sized oyster farmers this spring to enable them to directly sell their shellfish to customers at docks, farmers markets and festivals such as this one at Stonington Vineyards on Sept. 17.Zach Gordon, left, and Mike Gilman were some of the CTSG aquaculture staff at the Milford Oyster Festival on Aug. 20.CT Sea Grant Director Sylvain De Guise was one of several speakers at an Aug. 8 event at Ash Creek in Fairfield announcing the Connecticut Shellfish Restoration Guide.The staff of Connecticut Sea Grant are based at the UConn Avery Point campus in Groton.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.Graduates of the 2020 and 2021 Coastal Certificate program gather for a hike at Fenwick Grove in Old Saybrook on Oct. 23.About 50 volunteers joined the cleanup at Ocean Beach Park in New London on Sept. 18, one of two dozen events that capped the #DontTrashLISound - #DoOneThing campaign.The Mehta family were among volunteers at the Sherwood Island State Park cleanup that launched this year's #DontTrashLISound-#DoOneThing campaign.CTSG Aquaculture Extension Specialist Tessa Getchis, left, Kristin DeRosia-Banick of the state Bureau of Aquaculture and Clinton Shellfish Commission Chairman Wayne Church examine an oyster bed in the Hammock River on June 15 as part of shellfish bed assessments along the shoreline this summer.Felicia Cooper, right, performs her original puppet show, "Ish" at UConn Avery Point on Earth Day April 22.Lindsey Kollmer, CT River River Estuary Aquatic Invasive Plant Steward, pulls invasive water chestnut from Selden CoveCrew members of Pot Luck, a vessel owned by Sam Fernandez of Sam's Seafood, sort clams from oysters as part of a restoration of natural shellfish beds near Bridgeport on June 10.Customers leave with oysters and lobsters purchased on May 23 at the new direct sales market at the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative.Participants in the National Seaweed Symposium gather near one of the exhibits at the Seaweed Showcase on the second day of the event.New Britain YWCA summer campersUniversity of Delaware student Samuel Koeck, center, and Sacred Heart University students Jeffrey Young, right, and Adrian Nelson, second from left, work with Chris Hauser (in mini-excavator) to improve the living shoreline at Stratford Point in a project jointly funded by CT and DE Sea Grants.Sea Grant dayak fleet takes to the Mystic River on July 3 to test out a new aquaculture eco-tour being developed in partnership with Adventure Mystic, Mystic Oysters & Connecticut Cultured Oysters.Maria Cruz, second from right, and her family look for clues during the Thames River Quest at Fort Trumbull State Park sponsored by CT Sea Grant and the Thames River Heritage Park.Students in the “Global One Health: U.S. and Irish Perspective” class at UConn see kelp harvested from J.P. Vellotti’s beds in Groton as part of a visit to the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative on May 16 organized by CT Sea Grant.Karen Wynn of Guilford, left, looks at "They Came By Water," one of the pieces in the "Crosscurrents" exhibit, with Kam Ghaffari of East Lyme. Behind them is "Sea Form" another of the works in the show.Nissrine Essafi, a student in the Climate Corps class taught by CT Sea Grant's Juliana Barrett and Bruce Hyde, shows a map of Charleston, S.C., during a presentation of a project about sea level rise impacts.

Payne named to Global Group of Ocean Literacy Experts

May 24, 2023

UNESCO has established an international Group of Experts on Ocean Literacy, with 20 members from diverse disciplines, stakeholder groups, geographical regions, and with a focus on gender balance. The group includes CTSG Education Coordinator Diana Payne.

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Tempered optimism is message of National Seaweed Symposium

May 11, 2023

Seaweed isn’t exotic or strange to the native Alaskan community that is his home, said Keolani Booth during his keynote address at the 2023 National Seaweed Symposium in Portland, Maine, setting the stage for the three-day event last month of robust and varied presentations and networking.

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2023 undergraduate fellows to focus on plastics, sea scallops

May 9, 2023

Big challenges don’t scare Myalia Durno and Brendon Goulette, recipients of CTSG Undergraduate Research Fellowships. This summer, after finishing the spring semesters at their respective colleges, Durno and Goulette will delve into two of the most complex problems facing the marine environment.

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Workers sort oysters freshly harvested from Long Island Sound.

WTNH Channel 8 airs story on CT shell recycling program

April 20, 2023

WTNH Channel 8 news broadcast a story about Connecticut Sea Grant’s shell recycling initiative on its April 19 show. CTSG’s Tessa Getchis, aquaculture extension specialist, and Michael Gilman, shell recycling coordinator, were interviewed for the piece. 

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Volunteers planting a riparian buffer.

Native Plants for Riparian Corridors in CT guide available

April 5, 2023

“Native Plants for Riparian Corridors in Connecticut” lists native trees, shrubs, ferns, grasses, sedges, reeds and herbaceous plants that can grow and thrive in areas along the banks of rivers, streams and other bodies of water, along with their wildlife value.

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Fairfield Shellfish Commission volunteers collect the shell from restaurants that participate voluntarily.

Shell recycling initiative being introduced in Connecticut

March 28, 2023

Empty oyster and clam shells from Long Island Sound shouldn’t be treated like trash. They are vital components of healthy habitat for shellfish and other marine life, and need to be returned to their watery home. That’s the message shell recycling advocates are advancing as part of a new statewide initiative.

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Cover of Wrack Lines Fall-Winter 2022-2023 issue

Events

  1. Jun 11 2023 Madison Clam Dig10:00am
  2. Jun 24 Town of Fairfield Annual Clam Clinic9:30am
  3. Jun 25 Experience the Sound1:00pm
  4. Oct 14 Southeastern New England Marine Educators12:00am
All Events »