NYSG’s Long Island Sound Stewards program engages K-12 and college students in citizen science research projects

Contact:

Anna Weshner-Dunning, NYSG Long Island Sound Study Outreach Coordinator, P: 631-632-8730, E: amw392@cornell.edu

Stony Brook, NY, March 4, 2019 - The Long Island Sound Stewardship (LISS) Initiative was created, and continues, to fulfill a mission to protect and restore lands around the Long Island Sound that are important for maintaining a healthy environment for marine animals and humans. Projects conducted through LISS are restoring important habitats and ecosystems.

The LISS New York Outreach Coordinator developed the Sound Stewards program to promote stewardship among K-12 and college students through involvement in citizen science research projects in Long Island Sound Stewardship Areas.

NYSG works closely with LISS and partners, including the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, to develop citizen science research projects that allow students to learn about the problems facing Long Island Sound and ways to address those issues, while simultaneously collecting data that will be used by partner agencies.

The data collected through the LISS program at Sunken Meadow State Park in the Nissequogue River Stewardship Area adds to a larger database that spans more than a decade and highlights ecosystem changes there over time. The data has also quantified post-Hurricane Sandy restoration of migratory fish species following the restoration of the tidal flow that had been restricted due to storm damage.

More than 230 students participated in LISS programming in 2018. Since the program began in 2008, more than 4,000 students have been involved in these citizen science research projects. New York Sea Grant shares the impact of this work, highlighting biodiversity, water quality, habitat changes, and other key environmental sustainability factors with stakeholders and elected officials.


Middle school students seine for organisms as part of the Long Island Sound Stewards program. Credit: NYSDEC.

Partners:

• Long Island Sound Study
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly. Our program also produces an occasional e-newsletter,"NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.