Mike Gilman of Branford recently joined us as an Assistant Extension Educator with Connecticut Sea Grant, where he works with our aquaculture program. Mike received his bachelor of science from Albertus Magnus College and a master of science from Southern Connecticut State University. What is your area of interest? My main areas of interest are […]
Connecticut Sea Grant
Seaweed growers urged to pursue markets in plant-based foods
Story and photos by Judy Benson Carl Jorgensen, consultant to the Plant Based Foods Association and the Plant Based Foods Institute, talks about the potential of kelp in the plant-based food industry during the 8th Annual Connecticut Seaweed Stakeholders Meeting. Plant-based alternatives to meat, milk and other foods derived from animal products are the fastest […]
Long Island Sound School network applications sought
Interested in joining like-minded educators in protecting the Long Island Sound watershed and inspiring the next generation of stewards? Funded by EPA Long Island Sound Study and facilitated by Connecticut Sea Grant and Mercy University, the Long Island Sound (LIS) School network compels schools to make a commitment to the protection and conservation of local watersheds, Long Island Sound, and […]
Read the Latest Issue of Wrack Lines
The new issue of Wrack Lines, a Connecticut Sea Grant publication is available, with articles about marine scientists, fishermen & offshore wind, marine economics, a new aquaculture course and more: https://seagrant.uconn.edu/?p=10622
Where Can I Purchase Sugar Kelp?
Sugar kelp is an excellent dietary source of fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, iron, calcium, and more. With the start of the harvesting season, there will be an abundant supply of kelp ready for purchase. Where can you purchase locally grown sugar kelp? See below! Learn more: Seaweed is on the Menu with Connecticut’s Sugar […]
Deploying Sugar Kelp Seed String
The collapse of the lobster fishery in the late 1990s forced many lobstering families to find alternative ways to make a living on the water. While many transitioned into shellfish aquaculture, one lobsterman was interested in adding a new crop into his business: sugar kelp. DJ King (King Lobsters) cultivates shellfish and sugar kelp on […]
Fall-Winter 2022-2023 Wrack Lines
The Fall-Winter 2022-2023 issue of Wrack Lines is filled with articles and images telling stories around the theme of “Looking Ahead: people and projects shaping the future.” The magazine leads with the first in what will be a series of articles about offshore wind development impacting Connecticut, followed by the inspiring story of how a dying forest was […]
CT Sea Grant Fall-Winter Magazine
Connecticut Sea Grant has published their Fall-Winter 2021-2022 issue of Wrack Lines magazine. The theme is “Discovery, Rediscovery and Rebirth”. It can be found in print and online here. The lead article package describes the Connecticut Estuarine Research Reserve (CT NERR), a collection of the waters and lands at the lower Connecticut River and the […]
CT Sea Grant publishes guidebook on Long Island Sound
In the early 1990s Connecticut Sea Grant published popular guidebooks of Long Island Sound called Living Treasures: The Plants and Animals of Long Island Sound and Tesoros Vivientes: Las plantas y animales del Long Island Sound. Accompanying the books, the Sea Grant educators also developed slide presentations, which provide a great overview of the plants and animals that live […]
Celebrate CT Trails Day June 5 with Thames River Quests
The Thames River Heritage Park and Connecticut Sea Grant are celebrating Connecticut Trails Day on June 5 by inviting people to visit one or more of the four park sites where they can enjoy a self-guided, educational activity and receive a complimentary harbor cruise ticket for the heritage park water taxi. In the Thames River […]
New Interactive Tool Will Guide Shellfish Restoration in LIS
Oyster habitat in Long Island Sound is a bit like sunny summer days at the seashore—generally speaking, the more the merrier. These native bivalves help keep the Sound clean by filtering excess nutrients and shoring up shorelines with colonies that create structure and buffer wave action, while also creating habitat for juvenile fish and other […]
Getchis recognized with award for pandemic response efforts
Connecticut Sea Grant Aquaculture Extension Specialist Tessa Getchis will receive a Service Excellence Award in the University of Connecticut chapter of the American Association of University Professors’ 2021 UConn-AAUP Excellence Awards. The awards have been given annually since 1997 in six categories, and this year focused specifically on responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Getchis, who […]
LIS Blue Plan now in hands of CT Legislature
The Long Island Sound Blue Plan, a marine spatial plan for what many consider the state’s most valuable natural resource, has been voted out of the state Legislature’s Environment Committee and awaits a vote in the full House and Senate. Read about the plan and why many believe it should be approved in articles by […]
Long Island Sound Mentor Teacher Program Intern Sought
Connecticut Sea Grant has announced a new internship opportunity for a graduate student in the Long Island Sound Mentor Teacher program. Applications are due by Feb. 26. Description: Connecticut Sea Grant (CTSG) based at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point, Groton, seeks a graduate student intern to research, plan, develop, record, and edit virtual programming with […]
CT Sea Grant Fellowship Opportunities
Connecticut Sea Grant has announced new fellowship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students! To learn more about the Undergraduate Summer Marine Science Research Fellowship for Underrepresented/Underserved Students click here. To learn more about the Coastal & Marine Economics Fellowship 2021-22 click here.
25th season of Coastal Perspective Lectures Announced
Skip Finley The 25th season of the Coastal Perspectives Lectures will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 9 with a presentation by author and historian Skip Finley titled, “A Voyage of Discovery with Skip Finley.” This annual lecture series spans the breadth of human interactions with coastal waters, including speakers from the natural and social […]
CTSG-led Project Looks to Help Unlock Potential of Seaweed
Story and photos by Judy Benson Connecticut Sea Grant will lead a three-year, multi-state initiative to create the economic and business framework needed to spur the fledgling domestic kelp industry into the mainstream. Supported by a $766,650 federal grant announced today, the project will involve nine East and West Coast states where nascent seaweed aquaculture […]
CTSG, Avalonia project looks to prepare forest for the future
By Judy Benson Stonington – Battered by coastal storms and infestations of wooly adelgids, gypsy moth, winter moth and emerald ash borer, sections of the 200-acre Hoffman Evergreen Preserve will now serve as a living lab and demonstration site for how land managers can help forests adapt to climate change. “We want to increase the resilience […]
As seas rise, communities can turn retreat into opportunity
Kristin Walker, project engineer for the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, explains on Oct. 22 how the former home site is now being planted with native species to create a flood plain habitat. Story and photos by Judy Benson Retreat isn’t defeat. It’s deliberately stepping back to make a better future. “Retreat is very difficult, […]
Journal examines role of ‘blue humanities’ in ocean literacy
This special issue of Parks Stewardship Forum, guest-edited by Connecticut Sea Grant Research Coordinator Syma Ebbin, looks at how the “blue humanities” can bolster the public’s ocean literacy and sense of stewardship for the seas. Articles in this issue make the case that the arts and humanities can and should contribute to marine conservation. In addition […]
Another Summer Chapter for a Climate Corps Student
By Sarah Schechter, UConn Class of 2021 In the fall of my sophomore year at UConn, I enrolled in EVST 3100 – “Climate Resilience and Adaptation: Municipal Policy and Planning.” This is a course about climate change that allows students to look at real world problems and learn how to solve them in a classroom […]
Connecticut stays on guard against toxic algae blooms
Article by Judy Benson If you’re a Connecticut shellfish farmer, your ears might perk up a bit when you hear the term HABs – harmful algal blooms. Toxic HABs outbreaks, sometimes referred to as “red tide” or “brown tide” because of the discolored water that can occur along with it, have caused recent shellfish bed […]
Discarded fabric, puppets are grist for marine-themed art
Two artists using different mediums have been awarded 2020 Connecticut Sea Grant Arts Support Awards to create works conveying messages about human connections to the sea and the threats it faces. The two artists were chosen to each receive a $1,000 award. The awards are funded by Connecticut Sea Grant and one is being matched […]
Meet Lindsey Kollmer: Connecticut River Estuary Aquatic Invasive Plant Steward Intern
Hello! My name is Lindsey Kollmer and I am honored and excited to be the Connecticut River Estuary Aquatic Invasive Plant Steward Intern for the summer of 2020. I am a rising Junior at UConn currently pursuing a double major of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Molecular & Cellular Biology. I am a member of […]
Fellowship Supports Diversity in Marine, Coastal Research
Three undergraduate students helping pave the way for greater diversity in the sciences have been chosen as the first recipients of Connecticut Sea Grant’s new summer undergraduate research fellowships for underrepresented and underserved students in marine and coastal scientific research. UConn students Andrew Tienken and Larissa Tabb and Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) student James […]
In a Paradise Threatened, Teaching Girls to Be the Change They Want to See
Tessa L. Getchis, aquaculture extension educator and aquaculture extension specialist for Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension for the last 20 years, spent last August through December in the Dominican Republic with her husband Ryan and their two school-aged daughters. While past trips to this island nation had been vacation-length recreational time, this was an […]
CT Sea Grant Sponsors Three in Prestigious Marine Policy Fellowship
Two University of Connecticut graduate students and a third from Yale University have been chosen for the 2021 NOAA Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program, which places early career professionals with federal government offices for one year. Halle Berger and Alec Shub, UConn marine science graduate students, and Emily Tucker, a Yale […]
Climate Change and Aquaculture in Connecticut’s Long Island Sound
Tessa Getchis, one of our Connecticut Sea Grant Extension educators, and David Carey of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture look at the challenges that climate change is creating for Connecticut aquaculture producers in this new report available from the USDA Climate Hubs. https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/index.php/hubs/northeast/topic/climate-change-and-aquaculture-connecticuts-long-island-sound
Seafood Consumption is Increasing
Human demand for seafood is rising, but the world ocean can only provide a limited share of what we consume. Over the last 50 years, the average annual growth in seafood production exceeded that of all other types of terrestrial animal production. In 2018, global seafood production was estimated at an all-time high of 178.8 […]
Thames River Quests are fun for anytime this summer
The Thames River Heritage Park and Connecticut Sea Grant are inviting people to solve a word puzzle while exploring historic sites in New London and Groton by completing one or more of the four Thames River Quests any time this summer. Those who complete the quests can enter a prize drawing for heritage park T-shirts […]
Project Expands Support for CT Shellfish Industry
Connecticut shellfish farmers who endured severe sales losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic are being offered the chance to earn income by working on a unique project to rehabilitate the state’s natural shellfish beds. The project, developed by Connecticut Sea Grant and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, will employ shellfish farmers with vessels normally used […]
Summer Environmental Education Academy
Connecticut educators are invited to participate in FE3: Facilitating Excellence in Environmental Education, Climate Simulation Workshop and Resources professional development program from July 14 to 16. To meet changing health directives this workshop will be offered electronically from a.m. to 3 p.m. A flier for the Summer Environmental Education Academy can be found here. This series […]
Supporting Connecticut’s Shellfish Industry During COVID-19
SUPPORTING CONNECTICUT’S SHELLFISH INDUSTRY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC Phased Response to Rehabilitate Natural Beds (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Agriculture is collaborating with state and federal partners on the development of a phased response to support shellfish farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The innovative program will enable shellfish farmers to contribute to the rehabilitation of […]
Connecticut Seafood Survey Can Help Guide Industry
The final report from the Connecticut Seafood Survey: Assessing Seafood Consumption, Knowledge, Behaviors and Preferences of Connecticut Seafood is now published. This new report from Connecticut Sea Grant includes findings from a survey of Connecticut residents about their seafood related consumption, knowledge, behaviors and preferences. Read the report at: https://seagrant.uconn.edu/?p=6305
Grant Will Fund Creation of Climate Impacts Video
Adapt CT, an outreach partnership of Connecticut Sea Grant and the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR), has been awarded a $2,978 grant to fund a student intern to work on a video about climate change in Connecticut. The video is intended primarily for municipal commission members. The grant is one of 14 […]
Online Education Resources from Connecticut Sea Grant
Connecticut Sea Grant is encouraging teachers and parents to check out the many online educational resources available that can be used for virtual and at-home lessons about Long Island Sound and the larger marine environment. These can be found on the educational publications section of the CT Sea Grant website. In addition to online resources, a […]
Support for the Aquaculture Industry
Sales revenue for Connecticut aquaculture producers fell an average of 93 percent in February and March compared to the same period in 2019, and 70 percent of the workforce employed in shellfish, seaweed and finfish farming operations have been laid off due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These are some of the findings of […]
Take a Fun, Educational Beach Walk and Share Your Finds
Beachcombing along the Connecticut coast can be a fun and healthy educational activity for families eager to get out outdoors while the COVID-19 virus keeps children home from school. Among the many publications available from its website, Connecticut Sea Grant is calling attention to Living Treasures: The Plants and Animals of Long Island Sound, […]
Aquaculture Farmers: Local Health Dept. & District Contact Info
If you are considering direct sales via farm stands or markets, we previously sent the guidance and it is also at:http://aquaculture.uconn.edu. An important step in the approval process is to contact your local health department or district. Contact information is below. Keep in mind that these folks are very busy right now. Be persistent; be […]
Managing Stress – You and Your Families
In this challenging time, we need to take care of each other and especially ourselves. Self-care is important to our physical and mental health. We all deserve self-care, especially now. Please consider these resources. The first is a video on managing stress during a pandemic. It was worth the 17 minutes to hear tips on […]