Marine Knowledge is Power: Predicting Ocean Resources for Coastal Communities

Big ocean changes are happening, but global trends may not accurately represent what happens in coastal regions. With support from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), UConn marine scientist Samantha Siedlecki’s research aims to help address this gap in knowledge.

Through a new NCAR program launching this summer, Siedlecki will couple global models with regionally refined systems so that coastal communities can better predict what biogeochemical changes their waters might face in the future. Her NCAR project focuses specifically on coastal biogeochemistry and health metrics relevant to marine resource management on the Northeast Atlantic shelf.

UConn Today: https://today.uconn.edu/school-stories/marine-knowledge-is-power/Twitter: https://twitter.com/UConnResearch/status/1131164302327595009LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6536935526912573441

Jim O’Donnell is a professor of marine sciences at UConn and leader of the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Change. He sat down with Face the Facts With Max Reiss to talk about our changing climate and what impacts Connecticut residents could see in the future, especially along the shoreline Face the Facts With Max Reiss airs Sundays at 10 a.m.

The ocean is filled with a myriad of life forms, but many people don’t think of the shoreline itself as “living.” Through a new project, James O’Donnell, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Connecticut, and collaborators from Sacred Heart University will collect data and develop statistical measures to improve tracking of Connecticut’s living shoreline projects.

 

The University of Connecticut’s 90 ft oceanographic research vessel R/V Connecticut has new life, with increased capability, thanks to a midlife refit.

The research vessel supports UConn’s Department of Marine Sciences, which is located on the university’s coastal campus at Avery Point, on the shores of Long Island Sound. Within the Department, faculty, staff, and students carry out cutting-edge research using observations and numerical models to conduct cross-disciplinary investigations in biological, chemical, physical and geological oceanography and marine meteorology.

Originally built at a length of 76 feet in 1998, the R/V Connecticut was in need of additional staterooms and lab space to meet the Department of Marine Sciences’ needs.

See http://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=28194:uconn-research-vessel-gets-new-life-with-refit&Itemid=231

 

Save the Sound has launched a groundbreaking water testing program that will dramatically increase available data on the health of Long Island Sound. The bi-state non-profit organization already issues a closely watched “report card” on the health of the estuary. Now, the Unified Water Study: Long Island Sound Embayment Research will test water conditions in the Sound’s bays and harbors.

Read more by following the links below!

http://fox61.com/2017/05/31/study-will-sample-water-in-long-island-sound-this-summer/

http://today.uconn.edu/2017/05/save-sound-launches-unified-water-study-long-island-sound/

http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20170529/nonprofit-save-the-sound-researches-water-quality-in-connecticut-long-island-bays-and-harbors

The smile that says ‘I’d like to eat you!’ Photographer captures terrifying close-up of great white shark’s teeth as he comes face-to-face with deadly predator.

There can be few more terrifying sights in the world than a shark grinning greedily at you.

But American marine biologist Chris Perkins has captured the underwater predator in all its glory in a series of stunning images.

The stillness of the water gives an eerie insight into the stealth these apex predators use when breaching the ocean waves in search of their next meal.

Read more here!

Real-world problems in Wequetequock Cove that have been one of the challenges taken on by the citizen science group CUSH, or Clean Up Sound and Harbors, this fall turned into an opportunity for some marine science students.

http://www.theday.com/local/20151111/wequetequock-cove-becomes-lesson-for-avery-point-students

Friday morning (9-25-15), a group of interested graduate and undergraduate students from the Marine Sciences Department went to Mumford Cove to go beach seining.  Check out the action from the trip.

http://befel.marinesciences.uconn.edu/2015/09/26/field-work-beachseining-from-the-fish-perspective/