Above: This underwater microphone heard people and dolphins using an artificial reef in New York to find fish to eat. Credit: Stony Brook University

From “Reservation for two species—fisherman and dolphins are grabbing a bite at the same NY artificial reef” on Phys.org.

There’s plenty of fish in the sea for human fisherman and bottlenose dolphins to feast on and now, according to a study by researchers at Stony Brook University published in Marine Mammal Science , both species are using a New York artificial reef at the same time to find fish to eat – a new finding.

Using an underwater microphone deployed at 55 feet on an artificial reef three miles south of Atlantic Beach on Long Island, researchers were able to observe the sounds made by both species to determine eating habits and timing. Stony Brook graduate student in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and lead author, Colin Wirth, listened to recordings from a six-day period in June 2015 and identified sounds from human activity (recreational boat engine noise), bottlenose dolphins and noise-making fish (weakfish, oyster toadfish.)

“Dolphins make lots of very different sounds – whistles to communicate, clicks to find fish and even one that sounds like a gun going off. Boat noises are very distinct, you can hear the engines go in and of gear, so you can tell when boats are drifting at idle or are moving back and forth over the reef. It’s interesting to think about how we used the sounds to identify what fish were present and wonder if the dolphins are doing the same thing,” said Wirth.

The underwater microphone also captured sounds from animals that were not seen visually during numerous visits to the reef. “With the planned expansion of the NY artificial reef program by New York State, there are numerous opportunities to extend this work to multiple locations and new sites to further study how humans and dolphins (as well as other species) are sharing these habitats,” said Joe Warren, Associate Professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Wirth’s advisor and co-author of the study.

Above: Co-author Dr. Joseph Warren recovers the underwater microphone that was deployed on a New York artificial reef to study how humans and dolphins use the reef as a food source. Credit: Stony Brook University.

Multiple artificial reefs have been constructed by New York State and are designed to attract fish and provide a productive location for recreational fisherman to use.

Sound Check

According to researchers, boat noises began to rise in the early morning before tapering off in the mid-afternoon and were louder on weekends than on weekdays. While dolphin noises were heard regularly at the reef both day and night. During the loudest times of the study (weekend mornings) there were periods where no dolphin noises were heard. “During 100s of miles of boat surveys and dozens of SCUBA dives at the artificial reef sites, none of us ever saw a dolphin, so I was completely surprised when Colin told me that he was hearing them regularly in the recordings. Using an underwater microphone provided us a unique view of what animals (including humans) are doing at these sites,” said Prof. Warren.

This research was partially supported by funding from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Explore further: The fishy problem of underwater noise pollution

More information: Colin Wirth et al. Overlapping use of an artificial reef by humans and an apex predator (Tursiops truncatus ) in the New York Bight, Marine Mammal Science (2018). DOI: 10.1111/mms.12515

Photo above: These are randomly selected shark fin scraps derived from fin processing being prepared for DNA testing in the laboratory. This step is essential in order to determine if the fin parts are CITES listed endangered species. Credit Diego Cardeñosa

From Study Shows Threatened Sharks Still Common in Fin Trade on SBU Happenings on July 24, 2018

As millions of viewers watch the Discovery channel’s Shark Week 2018, two Stony Brook researchers are among a team that is determined to protect endangered shark species.

A study published in Conservation Letters by lead author Diego Cardeñosa, a Stony Brook University PhD student, reveals that several threatened shark species are still common in the fin trade after being listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). “CITES‐listed Sharks Remain Among the Top Species in the Contemporary Fin Trade” is the first assessment of the species composition of the fin trade after CITES regulations were put in place for commercially important shark species.

Since September 2014, CITES has regulated scalloped hammerheads, smooth hammerheads, great hammerheads, oceanic whitetips, and porbeagle sharks, some of the world’s most vulnerable and highly traded shark species. This means that permits are required to ship their products from country to country.

From February 2014 to December 2016, a collaborative research team from the U.S. and Hong Kong surveyed small scraps that are produced when imported fins are processed — when the skin, meat and cartilage is trimmed off the fin. Hong Kong is one of the world’s largest importers of shark fins, which are used to make the delicacy, shark fin soup.

The team conducted DNA testing on randomly selected scraps to look for CITES-listed species. They also recorded the incoming weights of fins from these species reported through the CITES Trade Data Base in 2015. According to this database there were only 16 shipments of these species into Hong Kong at a total weight that was less than one half of a percent of the weight of all fins imported that year.

“If this is an accurate reflection of imports, we would expect CITES-listed species would be uncommon among fins being processed in 2015-2016,” said Cardeñosa, a PhD student in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS).

“However, our research shows that these species are still commonly being processed at least one year after regulations were implemented,” emphasized Cardeñosa. “In fact, CITES-listed scalloped and smooth hammerheads represented the fourth and fifth most common species found in our survey, out of 82 species and species groups in total.” He also pointed out that because the time lag between import and processing is unknown, it is difficult to determine if some of the fins were imported before the regulations were in place.

“Although we can’t rule out some delayed processing of fins, the disconnect between reported imports and how common these species were in our survey does suggest that major underreporting of CITES imports is occurring,” said Cardenosa. “It also seems unrealistic that many countries that exported fins of these species to Hong Kong suddenly stopped doing so when the regulations came in. But these findings would be consistent with other studies that have shown that compliance with CITES regulations is relatively low during the initial phase of implementation.”

“It is great that there is now a system in place to monitor trade in these threatened shark species,” said Demian Chapman, research team leader from Florida International University. “But listing them is just the first step. Our study highlights that countries fishing, trading, and consuming shark products all have a lot of implementation work to do.”

The team made some practical suggestions on how to improve inspection efficiency so that shark-importing nations like Hong Kong can better meet their obligations to CITES. While Hong Kong has been successful in their implementation efforts — hosting nine CITES workshops for enforcement officials which led to the seizure of 5.1 metric tons of fins from listed species since late 2014 — the research team recommends these additional actions:

• Scaling up inspection capacity by employing additional inspectors
• Improving inspection efficiency by centralizing ports of entry for fins and conducting real-time DNA testing in the field
• Conducting assessments to flag high-risk shipments to prioritize inspections

Cardeñosa is now living and studying in Hong Kong to help authorities develop new approaches to monitoring fin imports for CITES-listed species, including DNA testing of fins directly at the port of entry.

“There is tremendous public support for better management of the shark fin trade in Hong Kong and the government has been willing to work with us and others to control what is coming in more effectively,” said Cardeñosa. “I am hopeful that with cooperation, increased investment, and time, CITES regulations will be fully implemented for these threatened sharks.”

Co-authors of the study include: Andrew Fields of SoMAS; Elizabeth A. Babcock, of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami; Huarong Zhang and Gunter Fischer of the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Hong Kong; Kevin Feldheim of the Field Museum, Chicago; Stanley K. H. Shea of the BLOOM Association in Hong Kong; and Demian D. Chapman of Florida International University.

The work was supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Pew Marine Fellows Program and The Roe Foundation.

Above: Heartbeet Farm co-founders Jennifer Ross, left, and Ann Pellegrino

From Mobile Farm Stand Rolls into Stony Brook on SBU Happenings on June 22, 2018

The Faculty Student Association (FSA) is bringing fresh, local, organically grown produce through the mobile farm stand HeartBeet Farms, every Tuesday this summer, starting this June 26.

HeartBeet Farms is located only three miles from Stony Brook and it organically grows fresh fruits and vegetables. The farm is the brainchild of Ann Pellegrino, Co-Founder of HeartBeet Farms.

The farm grew out of her own experience of visiting food pantries and observing the lack of fruits and vegetables options.

“I was a single mom working two jobs and raising three kids. So, I would go to food pantries to get ‘boxed stuff’ that I was very grateful for, but they had no vitamins or nutrients in them,” Pellegrino said. “Years later, when I was more stable, I wanted to help feed people and give them fruits and vegetables that had nutrients and vitamins in them.”

Jennifer Ross, Heartbeet Farms Co-Founder and Marketing Strategist, added: “Our focus with HeartBeet Farms is really to serve the immediate community, like the Town of Brookhaven, Town of Smithtown, and the Town of Islip with local, organically grown produce. With Stony Brook University being only three miles away, it was a natural fit to partner with them, so the campus community could also enjoy farm fresh products.”

Ross said that HeartBeet Farms stands out because “we are extremely passionate about what we do. We have a commitment to really connect people to where their food is coming from. It’s not just about selling organic produce, it’s about educating people that food doesn’t just come from a box.”

HeartBeet Farms has also developed an internship program for Sustainability Studies students to bring more experiential learning opportunities to Stony Brook University and be able to participate in all aspects of working on and managing a farm that grows organic produce.

From June 26 to August 14 on Tuesdays the Heartbeet Farms Mobile Farm Stand Truck will be parked on Toll Drive, West Campus from 12pm-2:30pm and an indoor farm stand will be by the  Market Place Cafe, East Campus Hospital lobby, Level 5 from 3pm-5pm.

From “Kaylee Surace ’21 Says “No More” to Ocean Waste” on Stony Brook News

Sustainability Studies student Kaylee Surace ’21 is a student on a mission — she is committed to ocean conservation.

Drawn to the ocean since she was a child, Kaylee finally decided to express her enthusiasm in a public speaking class last semester. Her goal: persuade the audience to believe in what she fiercely embraces.

In her speech, Kaylee stressed ending the use of plastic straws; she underscored that motif to her audience of more than 50 students by repeating the phrase, “Say No More.”

After seeing their reaction Kaylee felt compelled to speak up for the ocean and try and influence her peers to “be the change.”

“I developed the idea a little further, going back and forth between how I wanted to spread the message and how I wanted people to be involved,” said Kaylee.

Kaylee and her best friend Rachel Wandzilak previously took part in an internship with the nonprofit ocean awareness group Lonely Whale, whose campaign Straw-less in Seattle provided inspiration for Kaylee’s No More Project.

The project debuted on June 8, 2018, which coincided with World Oceans Day.  In honor of that occasion Kayle and Rachel joined Surfider Foundation (Eastern Long Island Chapter)and JUST Water in cleaning up Ditch Plains Beach in Montauk, NY.

“The No More Project has helped me realize my true passion for ocean conservation,” said Kaylee.  “That’s why I chose sustainability studies as my major at Stony Brook, a school I chose not only for its prestige, but also for its green reputation and commitment to sustainability.”

Kaylee and allies clean up Long Island beaches.

Since dipping her toe in the ocean of conservation, Kaylee reports that getting people to listen is the real challenge.

“I think the easiest way to get an audience to receive the message you’re trying to relay is to just make it relatable,” she said. “I say the same thing to everyone who says things like ‘but it’s just one straw,  ‘I can’t stop eating sushi because I love it too much,’  ‘but I recycle my bottles.’ Everyone has a choice to make and those choices have repercussions. I believe that the people who are stubborn about the issue are either in denial or they just haven’t made the connection yet.”

“Looking at the legislatures we have elected and the laws we enacted in our society today, locally and globally, it’s obvious there is so much progress to be made,” Kaylee added. “We have laws regulating industrialized fishing, but these laws are not being enforced as strictly as they should be and that’s simply because we live in a country that favors de-regulated capitalism. Legislature can make a difference when it comes to climate change and protecting our oceans, but I truly believe that change is vested in popular sovereignty and in the people who make up a society.”

Kaylee describes the The No More Project as a mission to educate students about marine life and plastic pollution, and work with coastal businesses to ensure that sustainable alternatives to plastics are available to benefit both the business and the ocean communities.

Kaylee plans to visit various school districts and use social media to bring her message about ocean wildlife and the effects of pollution to children. She also hopes to hold environmentally informative events that are open to the public and aid all efforts to influence the marine communities to move away from single-use plastics and find more sustainable alternatives.

“Educating children is vital because the younger they are the more curious they are, and curiosity is at the heart of change,” said Kaylee. “Ocean conservation is something that’s easily put on the back burner because none of us here are living in the middle of the Pacific, so we can’t see the damage the way we see a plastic bag on the side of a highway. We aren’t seeing the coral bleaching, ocean acidification, and fish-less ecosystems. That’s the hard stuff to explain to the average citizen.”

With The No More Project, Kaylee aims to educate and encourage students at Stony Brook University to convey these concepts to the public.

For more information contact ksurace@thenomoreproject.org.

Kaylee’s Top 10 Tips for Sustainability:

1. Be mindful of your carbon footprint & reduce energy consumption
2. Make safe, sustainable seafood choices
3. Reduce the use of single-use plastic products
4. Clean the beaches
5. Be an ocean-friendly pet owner
6. Don’t purchase items that exploit marine life
7. Support organizations working to help protect our oceans such as The No More Project
8. Influence change in your community
9. Travel the ocean responsibly
10. Educate yourself about ocean life

—  Glenn Jochum

About the Author: Lucy DiBenedetto is a fourth-year student in SoMAS Sustainability Studies Program. She currently serves as a mapping intern with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, a GIS Technician for the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program, and as a TA for GIS Design & Application I. Her passions lie within the realm of GIS and teaching others how to implement and use a GIS.

The Science of Where?

If you were to ask me six months ago what my plans for the summer were going to be, I would have responded with, “I don’t know, I might take on more shifts at work, go on more ShiRP trawls, spend more time doing research at the Peterson Lab, or go travel somewhere cool, but I know I’ll be doing at least one of those aforementioned things.” If you were to ask me five months ago what my plans were going to be, I would have jumped up and shouted, “I’m going to Redlands to work for ESRI and living the dream!”

For those of you who don’t know who I am, I’m a fourth-year Coastal Environmental Studies major with a minor in Environmental Design, Policy, and Planning and a specialization in GIS. Right now, I’m a TA for GIS Design & Application I and a lecturer across Long Island, teaching teachers how to utilize a GIS in their classrooms and teaching folks how to utilize a GIS in their career fields. I spent this past summer interning with ESRI at their headquarters in Redlands, CA with 119 others from across the country and overseas, and it was awesome!

The Science of How

A whiteboard welcomes you to ESRI Support Services

Back in mid-February 2018, I applied for seven ESRI internships and the User Conference Student Assistantship along with internships with other organizations (the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, to name a few). On March 13, I decided to take a visit to the ESRI Denver office on a whim, as I was in the area already visiting family and scouting out some possible graduate school options. I was able to get a tour of the office, talked with some cool folks, and received some cool textbooks regarding ArcGIS Pro and using GIS for conservation. Two days after the tour (March 15), I received an email from a Support Readiness Lead, Marco, asking for my availability to have a phone interview; I interviewed the next day. I talked about the tour in my interview, saying that it seemed so coincidental that I went to the office and then was notified about an interview a few days later, and even the Readiness Lead said that it was coincidental. The fact that I had visited the Denver office played no factor in me receiving an interview opportunity. Anyways, the interview was supposed to be a short 30-minute interview; I ended up interviewing for nearly an hour just talking about my experience with GIS and my teaching experiences.

Nearly two weeks went by before receiving an email from HR about making an intern offer. I signed my letter of intent and my offer on March 30, six weeks after applying for ESRI internships. My offer was to intern with Educational Services on the Support Readiness team out in Redlands and my mentor was to be Marco, who I had interviewed with two weeks prior. From that day until the end of the spring 2018 semester, I was preparing for a cross-country move and gearing up for a summer of hard work and fun!

Lucy with ESRI President and CEO Jack Dangermond

The Science of Here!

On my first day of the internship, the University Programs managers in HR spoke about the prestige of being an ESRI intern. Out of the 10,000 or so intern applicants, 115 were given the opportunity to intern with the company. Roughly 100 of those interns were based out of the Redlands location with the others interning at regional offices (Charlotte, DC, St. Louis, and Denver to name some) across the United States. I also found out that day that there had never been an intern from Stony Brook in ESRI’s history and the Readiness team also never had an intern before me. It was so awesome to find out that I had etched my name in the history books, paving the way for future ESRI interns from Stony Brook.

As a Support Readiness intern, I was part of the team that is responsible for training those who work for Technical Support/Support Services. Trainings for software update releases and new product releases were typically held on Fridays either in the morning or in the afternoon, depending on the availability of the Training Room.

I had three main tasks and one final project for the duration of my internship. The tasks were to audit and edit 72 E-training modules, write triage documentation for 17 products and 16 extensions, and learn as much of the ArcGIS platform as I could. My final project was to create a video series covering a topic that I found interesting or a topic that had a high demand for trainings. I decided to create my final project on OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) and WMS products, as I thought it would be a good challenge for me while also allowing me to show off my creative side. In addition, I was also tasked with “mini-tasks,” like proofreading presentation materials, attending trainings, giving presentations, preparing for new hires, and, yes, talking with Analysts.

In 12 weeks, I was able to learn most of the ArcGIS platform, including ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Enterprise, Portal for ArcGIS, ArcGIS Server, Operations Dashboard, ArcGIS Monitor, and the ESRI mobile apps. I was also able to beta test an upcoming app called “ArcGIS Indoors,” which allows a user to create maps of the inside of buildings and create best routes to go from an area in one building to an area in another building; the app will be released later this year.

The 2018 ESRI User Conference

One major highlight from my internship came from the day of the User Conference. I was asked by my Charlotte-based Program Manager, Jon, to help with giving a presentation to global distributors at the Global CRM Track. The presentation was in two parts: Jon and Hanna would cover Salesforce usage during the first part, Marco would cover the Support Services structure in the second part, and I would jump in whenever I was needed. It was so awesome to be able to present with my mentor during the Conference! When I wasn’t giving my presentation, which was most of the day, I was working the Expo floor with Technical Support and learning about different products that Technical Support receives cases on. I also was able to see my map in the Map Gallery (“A Geospatial Analysis of Quantuck Bay, New York: Making Decisions for Remediation“) alongside my friends’ and classmates’ posters. There were thousands of awesome maps on display and being able to see it all was truly awesome.

GIS: Inspiring What’s Next

Since my internship ended with ESRI in mid-August, I have been hard at work with completing my courses of study and teaching the GIS users of the future how to utilize a GIS to their advantage. Right now, I’m a TA for Maria Brown‘s GIS Design & Application I where it’s my goal to teach the students how to use GIS in their courses of study in an easy-to-understand way. I’m also teaching teachers across Long Island how to implement a GIS into their curriculums with Maria.

My goal in life is to teach folks how to use GIS or teach folks different aspects of GIS, and that goal was made a reality through my time as an ESRI Support Readiness intern.

From Researchers of the Month November 2018 at URECA

This month, URECA features two students who have been active in research in the School for Marine & Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS). Both currently participate in the  Stony Brook Southampton: Semester by the Sea program that emphasizes hands-on experiential learning. Both participated last summer in NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs (at different institutions). And both will be presenting their REU projects at the upcoming Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) meeting in Puerto Rico in spring 2019.

CLAIRE GARFIELD

Biology major, Honors College, Class of 2020
Research Mentors:  Dr. Jackie Collier (SoMAS);  Dr. Frank Stewart & Dr.  Nastassia Patin (Georgia Tech – REU mentors); Dr. Kiyoko Yokota (SUNY Oneonta)

COURTNEY STUART

Marine Vertebrate major, Class of 2019
Research Mentors:  Maria Brown and Dr. Nicholas Fisher (SoMAS); Dr. Douglas Rasher (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences – REU mentor)

Claire Garfield is a junior in the Honors College, majoring in Biology with minors in Chemistry, French and Marine Sciences. In her freshman year, Claire became involved in a SoMAS research project overseen by graduate student Gina Clementi that examines the effects of marine reserves on predatory fish. At the beginning of sophomore year, she began doing research under the direction of Professor Jackie Collier (SoMAS) and graduate student Kylie Langlois, working on a project that compares functional genes vs. 16s gene sequences in microbial communities from nitrogen removing biofilters (NRBs). This past summer, Claire participated in a REU program at Georgia Tech working on an aquatic chemical ecology project involving Karenia brevis (red tide) dinoflagellates, and the examination of genome sequences of the microbes found in different bloom states.

At SB, Claire has studied abroad in Rome and Ireland and will soon study abroad in Japan (Winter ’19). She has served as a teaching assistant for General Chemistry; and is a member of the SB Environmental Club and a copy editor for SB Young Investigator’s Review. She was inducted to Phi Beta Kappa in 2018.

Claire is from Oneonta, NY and was introduced to research as a high school student: she has participated in research over an extended period of time at SUNY Oneonta– studying algal communities and nutrient pollution. Claire presented a poster recently at the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography: Water Connects summer meeting in Victoria BC, Canada on “ Comparison of Algal Community Determination Techniques: Preliminary Evaluation of Pigment-Based versus Microscopic Analyses .” She has also presented her Oneonta research at the Northeast Global Lake Ecology Observatory Network meetings, the North American Lake Management Society, the GLEON 17 All-Hands Meeting, and the Northeast Aquatic Plant Management Society. Claire plans to pursue a PhD in biological oceanography. Her hobbies include swimming, scuba diving, and hiking.

As Claire nears senior year and prepares to do an honors thesis working with Dr. Collier, she reflects: “I love to do research. It’s the most relaxing thing I do….. I find a lot of solace doing research.” With her varied and extensive experiences in investigating phytoplankton community dynamics and microbial communities, she notes that “what sort of unifies them is the environmental angle and the community outreach. I like to know that the work I’m involved in will matter for people that I know – that I go to school with. That’s meaningful to me.”

Courtney Stuart  is a senior, majoring in Marine Vertebrate Biology. At the start of her junior year, Courtney joined the research laboratory of Professor Nicholas Fisher (SoMAS), where she worked closely with graduate student Abigail Tyrell. Courtney assisted with data collection and analysis for a project that investigated whether copepods are most affected by the viscous or thermal effects of temperature, and which aimed to increase understanding of how copepod behavior, locomotion, and feeding are influenced by environmental perturbations. In her junior year, Courtney took a class in GIS, served as a Teaching Assistant for GIS Fundamentals, and presented a GIS-project supervised by Maria Brown (SoMAS) at the URECA campus symposium (April 2018) titled  “Geospatial Analysis of Tiger Shark Distribution and Habitat Utilization Related to Depth and Potential Ontogenetic Diet Shifts Along the Subtidal Eastern Coastline.”  Courtney’s GIS-training and background proved to be particularly useful this past summer when she participated in an NSF-funded REU program at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine. Working with her REU mentor, Dr. Douglas Rasher, and post-doctoral scientist Dr. Thew Suskiewicz, Courtney performed geospatial analyses of the Gulf of Maine’s kelp forests over the past quarter-century, did predictive modeling/data analysis, and gained experience in the field aboard a research vessel. Although her REU is over, she is still producing maps using GIS data and contributing to the lab’s greater project. Courtney looks forward to attending the ASLO meeting in Puerto Rico this February, where she will present:  “Kelp – a Comeback Story: A Geospatial Analysis of Maine’s kelp forests over the past quarter century.”  In addition to participating in Semester by the Sea this year, Courtney is employed as a Deckhand at Southampton. She assists in outreach tours for high school groups, during which she conducts trawls, plankton tows, water and sediment samples, etc. At SB, Courtney has previously served as a Resident Assistant, and is a current member of the Marine Science and the Environmental Science Clubs. In April of 2018, she was awarded the Jeffrey Eng Memorial Scholarship in Environmental Studies and was recognized with the 2nd place People’s Choice Award at the ESRI Long Island GIS Conference. This past summer, the GIS project that she completed during her course at SB was presented at the 2018 ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, CA. Additionally, this fall she was selected as a recipient of the 2018 Evan R. Liblit Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship.

Courtney is from Nashua, New Hampshire, and grew up taking frequent trips to the coast. In summer 2017, she worked as a naturalist and environmental educator at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH, where she independently taught programs on a variety of organisms, including species such as the American lobster, horseshoe crab, and chain catshark. Courtney is currently applying to graduate programs and hopes to build on her interest in using GIS to approach community ecology questions.

Courtney is enthusiastic about the varied experiential learning opportunities she’s had as an undergraduate. Regarding research, Courtney observes that:  “When you participate in research, it makes you aware of the process from start to finish. It challenges you and forces you to develop critical thinking skills so that when you run into a problem – you learn how to solve it .” Regarding the Southampton program, she unequivocally states:  “I can’t recommend Semester by the Sea enough. When I came in as a freshman, I had heard about it and thought that I’d love to participate. That’s why I planned my schedule so that I could be there my whole senior year. . . Now that I’m living there, it’s amazing. It’s exactly what I hoped it would be! All of the classes are very specific to marine science; the community is close, and everyone is willing to help each other.”

Below are excerpts from Claire and Courtney’s interview with Karen Kernan, URECA Director.

The Interview:

Karen .  Tell me about  your research experience this past summer.

Claire. I did an REU in aquatic chemical ecology at Georgia Tech which was an amazing experience. Summer research is always great because when you’re doing things over the school year, you have to balance quite a bit with classes and what not. . .But with summer research, you can have your entire summer open to lab work. It was a great time and the research project was incredible. I really learned a lot of molecular biology techniques doing that. I learned to use NMR and mass spec. I worked in an organic chemistry lab. And I think that the skills I picked up will really help me with doing my senior thesis next year.

Courtney: I did an REU program at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences – up in East Boothbay, Maine. It was amazing. I wanted to get involved in a project that would let me use GIS in some capacity, and I was really lucky and fortunate that my whole project let me grow those skills. The entire REU experience was better than I thought it could possibly be. I was able to interact with other scientists and all of us were doing such different projects. There were people working on chemical oceanography, physical oceanography, coral reef ecology – even the molecular structure of photo-oxidized oil in the water – it was very interdisciplinary. And it was great getting to live with a fun, energetic group of people who were doing all sorts of different things, and to learn about each of their projects as we went along.

Karen.  How has research enhanced your education?

Courtney: I don’t think I would have gotten as much out of my education if I’d never done research. If you’re in a STEM field, it’s really helpful to get hands-on experience in order to actually  see what you’re learning in class happen in front of you. For instance, you can read a paper about copepods and how they are moving under a cold and viscous fluid…but until you watch it under a microscope, you might not be able to fully understand what you’re reading. Or if you’re just using GIS in class with the data that you were given – sure you can understand what the tools are and how to use them to answer a homework question – but when you are actually using them with your own data, having to mine through your data and get it into the right format for GIS analysis, and having to choose which tool is the most appropriate to use – that’s a whole other process…

I think I actually enjoy research most when I find results that I wasn’t expecting – which has happened quite a bit. You go in thinking that you know what results you’re going to get, and then you run your model and discover something you didn’t expect. That’s also the hardest part – figuring out why you got a result that you weren’t anticipating.

Karen. What other challenges does research pose?

Claire. When I first started doing research, I struggled admitting that I didn’t know how to do something or I was nervous to ask questions. Communication can be really difficult, especially if you’re a bit shy. But you learn that you have to work in a team, and you have to communicate well with your teammates. I’ve improved, a lot actually, because I’ve had to…. You really can’t get away with being unwilling to communicate your mistakes or your uncertainty. And it goes beyond the lab:  I’m much more apt to raise my hand in classes and admit that I don’t know something than I was before.

I think it’s important to know that it’s totally okay to make a mistake. People do appreciate that you’re trying to learn when you’re in lab. I’ve never had a mentor who didn’t prioritize that–the fact that I am trying to learn. I’ve never had to work with anyone who was more concerned with having a flawlessly done methodology than their mentee learning how to do things. It’s important to learn not to be afraid to make mistake, to ask for help. In some ways, that is what makes research different from classroom learning because when you make a mistake in the classroom on an exam (especially a final), you’re punished for it. But with research, for the most part, when things go wrong, you can take your mistakes and bounce back and learn from them.

Karen.  Do you think your presentation/communication skills have improved through research?

Courtney: Definitely! That began for me in the Fisher Lab. At the end of both my semesters as a research volunteer, I had to submit a final report to Abby and Dr. Fisher explaining what I had learned over the semester, what surprised me, and what discoveries I thought were most important. When I went to Bigelow, I had many opportunities to explain my project openly to a group of people who were always there to help and give me constructive criticism. We presented to each other over and over again, asking each other questions such as: “Do you think this makes sense or should I phrase it differently?” “Does this graph help you understand this concept?” …My mentor and the other senior research scientists at Bigelow were always open to helping us learn how to better explain our projects. They had a lot of tips regarding how to make research more understandable – not only to the scientific community – but to the general-public, to anyone who might happen to walk in and ask: “What are you working on? Can you explain it to me?”

Claire. Going to various conferences – in addition to being lots of fun — really helps you improve your presentation skills. And just in general, when you’re involved with research – you are doing a lot of writing, summarizing what you did. I’d say that most of the writing that I now do in college relates to research: finishing my final paper for the REU Project, or writing up abstracts for a meeting, writing up lab notebooks— all of that has helped me to improve communication skills.

Karen. Have your mentors had a big impact on your overall research experience?

Claire. I’ve been very lucky. All of the research mentors I’ve had have been incredibly supportive and helpful. Prof Collier–she’s so wonderful! It’s really nice to have a research mentor who is just very willing to let me pursue my own side projects. My mentor from the REU was also fantastic. And my first mentors at Oneonta were also a big influence.

Courtney: My mentors have been phenomenal. Dr. Nicholas Fisher, Maria Brown, and Dr. Douglas Rasher have all been incredible resources and role-models for me. I am still very close with all 3 of them, and they are helping me in my approach to moving on to graduate school. When I have questions for them about graduate programs, research, or the next step to take, they’re the first ones to help me out and give me words of encouragement.

Karen. Was it helpful getting involved in research early on?

Claire. I think my high school research experience really helped informed my interests in the long term. It was also nice starting off college knowing that I do like research and science. And now – because of my experiences, I have a much clearer idea of what I like and what I want to do. It’s a nice position to be in.

Courtney.  My involvement in research truly began during my junior year at SBU, and for me, the timing worked out great. But I had also done some research when I was in high school through my biotechnology program, and I knew coming into college that Stony Brook was a school known for its STEM programs and that I would have opportunities to be involved in research. That’s one of the critical reasons that I chose Stony Brook.

Karen. What advice about research do you have for fellow undergraduates?

Courtney:  Honestly, what I learned is that all you have to do is ask. You can go over to Challenger or Endeavour Halls at SoMAS, see if there’s someone who is conducting research that you’re interested in, and just ask “Can I get involved? Do you have opportunities for undergrads?”  When you read up about the different research groups, and you see something that sparks your interest — you just need to follow up and go talk to the PI. There’s so much to learn from the professors and grad students here, and they’re all willing to help.

Claire. I’ve had honestly nothing but great experiences from all the research I’ve ever done–but not everyone gets that. I think doing research should be doing something that you enjoy. So if something is not working out, I think that you need to be honest about where you want to be. You don’t have to force yourself to do something that makes you miserable. Maybe it’s not for you. Or maybe you just haven’t found the right lab or the right project yet. I think it’s really important not to neglect your mental health and to just know that there’s nothing wrong with waiting and looking around to find that specific thing that does it for you. Also – and this is useful too– don’t be afraid of a rejection letter.  I think I applied to 9 programs this summer….maybe only one will work out but you can’t get the opportunity if you don’t try.

From Stony Brook Makes a Splash with Best College for Marine Biology Ranking on Stony Brook News by Amelia Camurati on November 20, 2018

College Magazine has ranked Stony Brook University fourth on its list of “The 10 Best Colleges for Marine Biology,” the only university in New York State to make the top 10 list.

Stony Brook’s program in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) was regarded for its hands-on field research and experience in and around the Shinnecock Bay, the Peconic River and the greater Atlantic Ocean through the Marine Sciences Center on the Stony Brook Southampton campus.

“The center aims to serve three purposes: education, research and outreach,” the magazine said in its review. “By tying these three objectives together, Stony Brook students contribute to maintaining important New York  ecosystems by including the surrounding community in their research, and teaching them about their findings.”

Faculty and students in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, led by Dean Paul Shepson, are engaged in cutting edge research both locally and globally, ranging from organic and inorganic compounds in planktonic systems to global climate change and sea level rise, from marine conservation to severe storm forecasting, and more.

“Our Marine Science Center has a fleet of research vessels that take classes on weekly trips into Shinnecock Bay, the Peconic River and the greater Atlantic Ocean,” senior Courtney Stuart told the magazine. “This gives us young marine scientists plenty of opportunities to strengthen our research skills and learn how to use advanced research equipment—such as handhelds CTDs, D.O. meters, Profiling SeaBird CTDs, Van Dorn water samplers and more.”

The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) is SUNY’s designated school for marine and atmospheric research, sustainability studies, education and public service.

The school offers a number of degrees, including bachelor’s degrees in marine sciences, marine vertebrate biology, coastal environmental studies, environmental studies, and in atmospheric and oceanic sciences. The university also helps students explore new waters abroad with undergraduate and graduate courses in Cuba, Jamaica, Tanzania and the Bahamas.

SoMAS is one of the leading coastal oceanography institutions in the world and features classrooms on the water. The School also has a focus on studies of atmospheric sciences and meteorology and includes the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres, Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, The Center for Clean Water Technology, Institute for Particle-Related Environmental Processes, Living Marine Resources Institute, Waste Reduction and Management Institute and the Long Island Groundwater Research Institute.

From Tracking Horseshoe Crabs by Acoustic Telemetry on the Stony Brook Newsroom on January 9, 2019.

Horseshoe crabs have been on earth since before dinosaurs, and they are an important part of the life ecosystem, as multiple marine animals, such as migratory shorebirds and Loggerhead sea turtles, critically depend on horseshoe crabs for food. Horseshoe crabs have also played an integral role in human health advancements, as compounds in their blood can detect bacterial pathogens, and thus, has helped reduce the risk of infection associated with human medical supplies in recent decades. Therefore, being able to track the underwater seasonal movements of Atlantic horseshoe crabs would provide insight into their habitat use and help facilitate horseshoe crab management strategies. Justin Bopp, a SoMAS Ph.D. student working with Dr. Robert Cerrato, is using a method of acoustic telemetry to track horseshoe crab movements.

The primary technique that Justin uses to track the underwater movements of horseshoe crabs is acoustic telemetry, a method that uses the power of sound to help identify the location of marine animals throughout space and time. There are two essential technologies required when conducting an acoustic telemetry study: a passive acoustic receiver and several acoustic transmitters. First, acoustic receivers are placed in fixed locations underneath the water’s surface and be deployed for months at a time. Then, acoustic transmitters (the black cylindrical device in the included photo) are attached to the shell surface of each individual horseshoe crab and each acoustic transmitter emits a series of acoustic “pings” at a uniform frequency every one to two minutes that is unique to each individual crab.

As horseshoe crabs tagged with acoustic transmitters move underwater and are within the detection range of a submerged receiver (100-300 meters), the receiver logs the detection date and time of each individual crab. In addition, Justin can ascertain which general location each horseshoe crab was detected since he knows the exact location of each acoustic receiver. Acoustic telemetry also provides researchers with a rich amount of animal movement data; over the past two years, he has tracked the movements of over 80 horseshoe crabs in the New York region using this technique.

Findings from Justin’s research will hopefully provide novel insight into the habitat connectivity of local horseshoe crab populations and will have the potential to facilitate horseshoe crab management strategies.

The research is funded in part by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation through the Ocean and Great Lakes award.

SoMAS authors contributed 3 of the 21 invited papers published in 2019 edition of the Annual Review of Marine Sciences.  The invitation to contribute to the Annual Review of Marine Sciences is a significant honor for the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, highlighting the great work of our faculty.

The three papers included in the Annual Review featured the work of Drs. Gordon Taylor, Mary Scranton and Cindy Lee:

1) Taylor GT.  (2019). Windows into microbial seascapes: Advances in nanoscale imaging and application to marine science. Annual Review of Marine Sciences 11:465–90.

2) Muller-Karger F, Astor Y, Benitez-Nelson C, Buck K, Fanning K, Lorenzoni L, Montes E, Scranton M, Rueda-Roa D, Taylor G, Thunell R, Tappa E, Varela R. (2019). Scientific legacy of the CARIACO oceanographic time-series program. Annual Review of Marine Sciences 11:413–37.

3) Lee, Cindy (2019). Passing the baton to the next generation: A few problems that need solving. Annual Review of Marine Sciences 11:1-13.

Dr. Gordon Taylor highlighted the impact of the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series Program Legacy at SoMAS:

On January 12^th, 2017, the last of 232 monthly cruises to the CARIACO time-series station in the southern Caribbean Sea was completed. Commencing in November 1995, this project was an unprecedented collaboration between four Venezuelan and three U.S. academic institutions to document how processing of carbon in this coastal sea varies through time. To launch and sustain this program, SoMAS faculty, Drs. Mary Scranton and Gordon Taylor, teamed up with faculty from the lead institution, University of South Florida (F. Muller-Karger) and University of South Carolina (R. Thunell) to secure National Science

Project CARIACO’s sampling platform: the 75-foot R/V Hermano Gines operated by the Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales (FLASA) located on Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Foundation funding.  Likewise, Venezuelan collaborators secured funding from their own agency. The SoMAS team participated in 42 of these cruises, providing oceanographic training to 28 SoMAS graduate students, data for 8 M.S. and 6 Ph.D. theses, and lab experience for countless undergraduate and high school students. Over its 21 year lifespan, Project CARIACO involved hundreds of researchers, attracted collaborators from 64 institutions world-wide, produced more than 140 peer-reviewed articles so far, resulted in 57 student theses, and created a unique, massive and publicly-available database documenting temporal variations in more than 50 ocean variables.

For more information, visit: http://www.imars.usf.edu/cariaco

The CARIACO Project has been featured on the SoMAS website throughout the years, as well.

The Cariaco Basin Project

Carbon Retention in a Colored Ocean (CARIACO)

Research in the Cariaco Basin: 10 Years and Growing

The Regeneron Science Talent Search has named the top 300 scholars as part of its 78^th nationwide research competition among high school students. Eighteen of these students conduct research in Stony Brook University laboratories and are mentored by Stony Brook faculty. Faculty in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences mentored three of these students. Their research projects involve a wide range topics in STEM disciplines such as chemistry, cell biology, geosciences, and civil engineering. For a complete list of the 18 top scholars and their mentors see this link.

Thirteen of these students are part of the Simons Summer Research Program, including two from SoMAS. More than 2,000 students entered the 2019 competition, and among the 300 selected as top scholars each will receive $2,000. The university will receive $2,000 per scholar to be used toward STEM-related activities. The scholars are part of the select group competing for the top 40 Regeneron finalists and the top prize. Students selected as a Top 40 finalist will receive $25,000. The top prize winner will receive $250,000. The 40 finalists will be named January 23.

The following students were mentored by faculty at SoMAS:

Picture above: SoMAS MCP Students Jennifer Lopez (left) and Erika Lanfranchi (right).

Hello, my name is Erika Lanfranchi I am currently a Marine Conservation and Policy graduate student.

My love for the ocean started at a young age, growing up in Brooklyn N.Y. I loved going to Coney Island beach and visiting the New York Aquarium. Not being exposed to marine biology classes in my high school I decided to volunteer for the New York Aquarium to broaden my knowledge. My time as an education docent there pushed me to pursue a B.S. in Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy at Monmouth University. Upon completion of my degree, I knew I wanted to continue my research and spread knowledge of the importance of marine environments and the animals living in them. Stony Brook’s MCP program was the perfect fit to help me find my niche in this field.

The photo above was taken at Cape Eleuthera Institute during a two-week field research class in Eleuthera, The Bahamas with SoMAS where we conducted shark research. The goal of this class was to examine the foraging dynamics of Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) through stable isotope analysis. This is an ongoing collaborative project between SoMAS Ph.D. student Oliver Shipley, professor Michael Frisk, and Dr. Gregory Henkes from the School of Earth and Space Sciences. We used scientific longlines to capture and obtain muscle, fin, teeth, and blood samples from 17 sharks. With this information, we will have a better understanding of their ecological role and the key habitats supporting their biomass, which will benefit conservation efforts in the future.

Photo above: Marine Conservation and Policy Students at Cape Eleuthera Institute during a two-week field research class in Eleuthera

Over Winter Break, Marine Conservation and Policy students participated in a field course held in collaboration with The Cape Eleuthera Institute, a remote research station situated on Eleuthera, The Bahamas.  The educational focus of MAR 532 was to examine the foraging dynamics of Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) through stable isotope analysis. This is an ongoing collaborative project between SoMAS Ph.D. student Oliver Shipley, professor Michael Frisk, and Dr. Gregory Henkes from the School of Earth and Space Sciences.

More generally,  MAR 532 offered students an immersive experience in the tropical marine environment where they were able to sample a broad range of predators from habitats spanning mangroves, oolitic banks, coral reefs, and open-ocean/deep-water. The course was comprised of a field visit to Eleuthera to collect biological samples and conduct analytical and statistical analyses. Following the field component, students will participate in the analyses and writing of a publication-quality scientific paper.

Students in the class used scientific longlines to capture and obtain muscle, fin, teeth, and blood samples from 17 sharks. Using this information, researchers will have a better understanding of their ecological role and the key habitats supporting their biomass, which will benefit conservation efforts in the future.

Content provided by Erika Lanfranchi and Oliver Shipley.

Undergraduate Paul Boasiako Reflects on his Study Abroad experiences in MAR 388 – Tropical Marine Ecology:

Traveling to a new country, exploring a different culture and venturing outside my comfort zone were milestones I never imagined myself accomplishing some few months ago. Why would I want to willingly leave such a beautiful city like New York to go study elsewhere? How can I go a day without a high-speed WiFi network? However, after spending a few weeks in Jamaica, I can honestly say that studying abroad was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. For the first time in many years, I felt connected back to my old way of life in Ghana and Mother Nature.

My study abroad class was marine biology field-oriented class which focused on studying the Jamaican Coral reef, exploring several anthropogenic and natural factors that affect the reef, Coral reef the impacts on the Jamaica socio-economic and tourism sector and the negative effects of invasive species like lionfish on the ecology of the reef. Most of my studies took place on the open Caribbean Sea and wet lab facilities in the University of West Indies, Jamaica. My classmate and I snorkeled and dove at several locations and depth to explore the different distribution coral types, marine the vertebrates and invertebrates. We also had the opportunity to assist in faculty research using transect methods and extensive statistical methods to explain findings.

Getting the privilege to study in Jamaica has shaped my perspective and life in several ways. Apart from the rich education information that I learned about the importance of healthy coral reef structure, there is one skilled I learned that will forever stick with me. As a person who grew up in the warm tropical coast of Ghana, swimming had always been a challenge that I struggled to learn and perfect but studying in Jamaica helped me overcome this obstacle with support from my classmates and professors.  There were multiple occasions that my fear of drowning discouraged me from jumping into the sea, but the support from my classmates and professors encouraged and emboldened me to take my first paddle. As a result, I was able to experience unbelievable and beautiful scenes of different colorful corals, sponges, anemones, fishes etc. Most importantly, I had the opportunity to pet and swim with an upside-down jellyfish. The moral of this experience was not only learning to swim, but the importance of having the right support group in any crisis, confidence in oneself, and exploring new things outside one’s comfort zone. Moreover, I was able to see the impacts human activities on the corals, fish diversity and coral bleaching.

First day snorkeling and finding an upside jelly fish (Cassiopea frondosa). The jelly fish has a symbiotic relationship with an alga called zoozanthellae. These algae undergo photosynthesis and supply the jelly fish with nutrients whereas the jelly fish provides habitat and protection for the zoozanthellae.

In addition, studying abroad opened my eyes to the world around me. This is a lesson that I don’t believe I could have learned in the classroom. It required exposing myself to a new situation filled with new people and new experiences. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had. If there were one piece of advice I can offer to other students considering studying abroad, it would be to GO! Go out into the world and experience life. Find someplace that excites you. It is 100% worth it. Study abroad was one of the most formative experiences, and I know I will carry the lessons I learned in Jamaica with me for the rest of my life.

Read more about Paul’s trip on the Tropical Marine Ecology blog!

From Sydney Bell ‘22 Makes a Splash with Sustainable Designs on Campus on Stony Brook News on March 25, 2019

March is Women’s History Month and an ideal time to celebrate the brave, bold and fearless women who have influenced history. Freshman Sydney Bell is making history as she creates and sells eco-friendly apparel to help save the oceans.

Sydney, a Marine Vertebrate Biology major, wanted to be a marine biologist since she was in third grade. “I came to Stony Brook because it was so close to the ocean,” Sydney said. In the past, Sydney has swum with whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium, trained dolphins, and volunteered at a sea turtle hospital during a marine biology camp she attended.

Her love for the oceans, however, is accompanied by a passion for art. “I’ve always drawn ocean creatures just for fun to use in my different art classes, and then one day I thought, oh, this would look really cool on a shirt, I would totally wear that!” Sydney said.

After a conversation with her father, who suggested Sydney make a business from her art, Tidal Tee’s Apparel was born. “All of our designs are ocean-themed, and 100% of profits from each design go to ocean conservation non-profits,” Sydney said. Tidal Tee’s Apparel has sold almost $8,000 in apparel thus far, and has donated to seven different ocean conservation organizations, including The Bimini Sharklab, The Black Fish, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas, The Cousteau Society, Sea Shepherd, The Ocean Cleanup, and Coral Restoration Foundation.

At only 18 years old, Sydney started her own business in which all of the apparel is sustainably made, employing water-based ink to eliminate chemical runoff into water sources. Likewise, the apparel is made in factories that use solar panels and recycle their water, and all plastic packaging used by Tidal Tee’s is biodegradable and recyclable. “I really just want to raise awareness about the issues facing our ocean and hopefully raise a lot of profits that will be able to help save the ocean,” Sydney said.

After graduating from Stony Brook, Sydney hopes to pursue research to help advance ocean conservation. “I was just trying to do something that would make a difference,” she said. “I really wanted to do something now to make a change.” Sydney also started a Marine Science club on campus to connect with other students with similar interests in ocean conservation.

“Marine life is so important to me just because we’ve only discovered about five percent of the ocean, and I think it’s crazy that we’re killing off all these species and damaging this ecosystem that we know almost nothing about,” Sydney said.

Sydney hopes that students gain a greater respect for the ocean and work to protect marine life whenever possible. “We’re so close to the ocean here at Stony Brook, and every little thing you do impacts that ecosystem.”

Tidal Tee’s apparel is now available at Shop Red West, and online at tidalteesapparel.com. Meet Sydney and find out more at the “Meet the Designer” event on Wednesday, March 27 from 1 pm to 2:20 pm at Shop Red West in the Melville Library.