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, titled “Connecticut oyster recycling program reinvigorates reefs.” Watch the story here.
Long Island Sound
Shell recycling initiative being introduced in Connecticut
Article by Connecticut Sea Grant 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 instead of being hauled away with other garbage. That’s the message shell recycling advocates […]
9 Projects Focus on LIS Marshes, Water Quality, Public Beaches
Long Island Sound water quality, salt marsh and public beach characteristics will be examined by marine and social scientists in nine research projects awarded funding by the Connecticut and New York Sea Grant programs (CTSG and NYSG respectively) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Long Island Sound Study (LISS) Research Grant Program. These new projects, […]
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 […]
2022 Long Island Sound Research Conference Announced
The 2022 Long Island Sound Research Conference will take place in Bridgeport on May 25, 2022. Oral presentations and posters across disciplines in natural and social sciences that contribute to the four themes of the Long Island Sound Study CCMP are welcome. These are: Clean waters and healthy watershed Thriving habitats and abundant wildlife Sustainable […]
#DoOneThing theme of 2021 #DontTrashLISound campaign
The Connecticut Sea Grant program, joined by volunteers from Save the Sound, the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and other groups, will launch the fifth annual #DontTrashLISound campaign with a cleanup at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport on Aug. 16. This year’s campaign, run by the Connecticut and New York Sea Grant programs with support […]
Teacher Webinar Offered on Long Island Sound Habitats
A new educational tool for teachers will be showcased in an Aug. 19 webinar sponsored by the Long Island Sound Study national estuary program and its partners Connecticut Sea Grant (CTSG) and New York Sea Grant (NYSG). Titled “A Spotlight on Long Island Sound Habitats,” the webinar will showcase a Next Generation Science Standards-based StoryMap […]
Gov. Lamont Signs Legislation Supporting Continued Growth of CT’s Shellfish Industry
Stratford – Gov. Ned Lamont joined legislators, state officials, agricultural advocates and business representatives on July 23 for a bill signing ceremony near the shore of the Long Island Sound to commemorate the enactment of legislation implementing policies that will support continued growth of Connecticut’s shellfish industry in an effort to increase the populations of oysters […]
1st marine economics fellow to focus on natural coastal resources
By Judy Benson Oversimplified, shoreline beaches are where the sand meets the sea. Too often, this two-dimensional view has become the foundation of efforts to restore storm and erosion-battered beaches on Long Island Sound and other coastal areas. These projects mainly seek to widen the flat open sand swathe to maintain maximum recreational worth and […]
N-Sink Online Tool
A New Way of Looking at Nitrogen Pollution Extension educators from the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) and their partners have developed an online tool that helps land owners and land use decision makers better understand the direct connection between their land and nitrogen (N) pollution in coastal waters. The tool, called […]
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 […]
Healthy Soils to be Focus of 2021 Coastal Certificate Program
This year’s Coastal Certificate Program will take place virtually over four days in mid-May. Led by Judy Preston, CT Sea Grant’s Long Island Sound outreach coordinator, this year’s classes will emphasize healthy soils at the root of healthy gardens, landscapes, and ultimately the watersheds that are essential to clean waters and a healthy Sound. The […]
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 […]
Connecticut Sea Grant’s Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Report
Connecticut Sea Grant’s Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Report is now available. With photos, graphics, and summaries of many projects and initiatives, it’s a great way to get a quick overview of Connecticut Sea Grant‘s programs. It is available here. Original Post
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 […]
UConn CLEAR Webinars in February
Registration is open for all three February webinars! Wednesday, February 10, 1:00 – 1:30 PM Long Island Sound Report Card: Grading the Urban Sea Peter Linderoth, Save the Sound What is this map telling us? Join Peter Linderoth from Save the Sound as he discusses the latest release of the Long Island Sound Report Card. The Report […]
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, 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 […]
Marsh migration research paved way for new NOAA fellow
Most visitors to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Conn., probably drive by the small stand of cedar trees along the main road without noticing the stark differences. One group presents healthy deep green funnels pointing skyward. Adjacent is another group partially bare of needles. A few feet away is a clump of standing dead […]
CT, NY Sea Grants to Create Plan for LIS Debris Reduction
Abandoned boats, broken lobster traps, discarded tires and all types of other trash aren’t just eyesores on Long Island Sound’s beaches, coves and channels. They’re also hazards to wildlife that can impede navigation and threaten human safety and health. To address this problem, Connecticut and New York Sea Grant programs will initiate a Marine Debris […]
‘Gardening for Good’ show features Sea Grant’s Preston
Listen and learn about sustainable gardening in “Gardening for Good,” the new monthly radio show hosted by Judy Preston, the Long Island Sound outreach coordinator for Connecticut Sea Grant. It airs at 10 a.m. on Fridays on iWCRV Internet radio: http://icrvradio.com/programs/program/298 The common theme is sustainable gardening, with emphasis on water quality and connecting the watershed […]
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 […]
CT Sea Grant: Re-Thinking Relationships with the Places We Love
The Fall-Winter 2019-20 issue of Wrack Lines, a publication of Connecticut Sea Grant is now posted at: https://seagrant.uconn.edu/?p=5770. In this issue we’re re-thinking relationships with the places we love.
35 Volunteers Help Kickoff Campaign with Beach Cleanup
New Haven – One hundred pounds of litter – everything from deflated Mylar balloons and monofilament fishing line to plastic bottles, Styrofoam cups, straws, cigarette butts and lots of bottle caps — filled the buckets and reusable bags of 35 volunteers Thursday at Lighthouse Point Park as they helped launch a campaign to keep plastic trash […]
Shellfish Mapping Tool
A new version of the Connecticut Aquaculture Mapping Atlas has been launched at: http://clear3.uconn.edu/aquaculture/. The new and improved website was built based on feedback from shellfish interest groups like yours. The latest version of this interactive map viewer includes new data layers and functions. The viewer includes updated commercial and recreational harvest areas, natural beds, […]
State’s Aquaculture Industry Nets Benefits from Changes in Federal Plan
By Sheila Foran for UConn Today Commercial shellfish farmers who use the ocean to grow their crops off the nation’s coastline now have the same kind of protection against crop losses as do people who farm on land, due to a recent change in federal policy. The new language providing coverage was added to the […]
New Guide to Help Fish, Shellfish and Seaweed Growers Manage Risks
New Guide to Help Fish, Shellfish and Seaweed Growers Manage Risks GROTON CT—A new 285-page illustrated manual, the Northeastern U.S. Aquaculture Management Guide, has just been published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center. Edited by Tessa L. Getchis, Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension aquaculture specialist, the manual is a […]
A Watershed Moment
By Michael Dietz Many of us have heard about watershed protection efforts. Perhaps you live in a drinking water supply watershed. Poor Willy Wonka was wrongly accused of poisoning the watershed of his brown river (it turned out to be chocolate). But what is a watershed, really? In physical terms, a watershed is an area […]
State Sees High Level of Beach Erosion After Powerful Storms
OLD LYME, CT (WFSB) – The Connecticut shoreline is eroding at rates not seen in our lifetime, and the devastation was sped up by powerful storms like Irene and Sandy. In some spots, five years of erosion was accomplished in just three months, and for the first time, Channel 3 Eyewitness News is showing you the dramatic […]
NEMO Monitoring Project Looks At Nitrogen Processing Through “Bioretention”
By Chet Arnold In January, CLEAR’s NEMO Program broke ground on a new monitoring project focused on the Low Impact Development (LID) practice of bioretention. Bioretention is the practice of reducing the quantity, and increasing the quality, of runoff by directing it to a depression filled with plants. This is the same concept as the more widely recognized […]