Welcome to Fall 2021!
Greetings!
Welcome back SoMAS students! And welcome to new SoMAS students! We intend to make this an exciting time for you. And it is an important time for all of our students – half of you (last year’s Freshmen students, and this year’s new students) have perhaps not yet been to the SoMAS campus! And some of our Juniors will be doing Semester by the Sea, and Seniors will be doing new things like internships or research, and thinking ahead to graduation and beyond. So, many milestones ahead of us. We are working hard to ensure that your classroom experiences are vital, interactive, surprising, stimulating, different, and safe, all at once! Of course at SoMAS, safety comes first, so you will find that everyone in the buildings and classrooms will be masked up, and hopefully every single person you interact with will be vaccinated – we should all take that as our very important social responsibility, to ourselves and to each other. For the latest information, please visit the Stony Brook University Stronger Together website.
This is (as always!) an exciting time to be a SoMAS student. You will learn about and be engaged in what we do – working toward a fundamental understanding about the natural environments – the atmosphere, the oceans, the cryosphere, the terrestrial biosphere, the built environments, and how they interact and depend on each other, and from this we can develop tools that provide predictability, and the capacity to protect those environments. We sure have a lot of challenges – the need for food security, a clean and adequate supply of water, clean air, a healthy and diverse biosphere, ocean conservation, and a stable climate. We most certainly do not have a stable climate, and SoMAS is engaged on many fronts to address climate change, and contribute to successful pursuit of those challenges. I am aware that many of you sincerely want to “save the world.” That’s great, we need you to do that. But you can’t do it alone, and your road to meaningful and important contributions will start with and include things you learn and partnerships you make here at SoMAS. If it all feels overwhelming sometimes, well – it should! But with good partnerships involving smart and ambitious people, you can get many good things done. You will feel that everyone around you here at SoMAS shares your passion for making the world a better, more sustainable, place. Let’s do that together!
We look forward to meeting you at various events at SoMAS, in the classroom, in the hallways, in our labs, and on social media. For that, some of the places we may connect are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and I’m told from time to time we post on TikTok. We are also in the process of migrating to a new website. For a sneak peek, please visit the new page. Keep in mind that the SoMAS faculty and staff are here to help you succeed. Reach out to us, and ask for help when you need it! And that starts with me. Thanks for joining us, we will have a great time, and not just learn things, we will create new knowledge, together!
Go Seawolves!
Regards,
Paul Shepson,
Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Stronger Together With Your Support!
Dear SoMAS Friends/Colleagues:
I am writing to encourage you to be part of Stony Brook University’s annual “Giving Day” today!
As part of Giving Day, you can directly support SoMAS – a University leader in the areas of education, research, and public service regarding the oceans and atmosphere, their interactions, the life systems they support, how human systems impact them, and how these systems can be more sustainable. As you know, we work hard to develop and communicate innovative solutions to the environmental problems of society at local, regional, national, and global scales; in other words, we are committed to Making Scientific Research Count!
SoMAS and its faculty, staff, and students have been very significantly challenged and impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and we need your help now more than ever to sustain our role as a world leader for understanding the impact of human behavior on our marine, atmospheric and terrestrial environments.
Your gift to the SoMAS Total Immersion Scholarship allows high school students with financial need and who are interested in degrees in marine sciences, atmospheric sciences, or sustainability studies to spend part of the summer experiencing the fantastic opportunities in these fields.
Your gift to the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology will help fund our research to develop novel and affordable approaches for nutrient and contaminant removal from Long Island waters.
Your gift to the Gelfond Fund for Mercury Research and Outreach will fund research on pollutants cycling in our environment and the public health implications of pollutants in fish. Our work is at the intersection of environmental science and public health, and focuses on a variety of contaminants, including mercury.
Your gift, no matter the amount, will make a difference!
Thank you for your support of SoMAS!
Paul Shepson,
Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Making 2021 A Great Year
Dear SoMAS students:
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
I feel confident that 2021 will be a great year, because we will make it that way!
There are so many reasons to be optimistic about this year, and the future.
First, we have all been through a lot, together, and we have persevered. We have much more to do before we have conquered COVID-19, but it is encouraging to see President Biden’s administration take it very seriously, and develop plans to do so. We are all looking forward with great anticipation to the time when we can all work together, in the field, on our passion – contributing to a healthier natural world. And, we look forward to our future together with animated and engaging dialogue in the classroom. It will come!
At SoMAS, this year should see completion of the Flax Pond Marine Laboratory‘s shellfish hatchery, which will include a high quality sea water intake system, that will enable exciting new research efforts at Flax Pond. We will begin our new adventure as Host for the Peconic Estuary Partnership (PEP), which has as its mission “Protecting and restoring the Peconic Estuary and its watershed”. We are delighted to have this opportunity (through a grant from EPA) to contribute to the success of PEP, and extend our reach and positive impact on the east end.
And speaking of estuaries, this year we will celebrate the arrival of Yong Chen and his group at SoMAS; Yong et al. will lead us forward in the pursuit of the scientific opportunities from the remarkable treasure trove represented in the Hudson River Biological Monitoring Program samples and data.
There is a wide array of exciting research activities going on this year, such as Pavlos Kollias and Mariko Oue‘s upcoming work on studies of convective clouds in the Gulf Coast region, as part of the Experiment of Sea Breeze Convection, Aerosols, Precipitation and Environment (ESCAPE) project in Houston in the summer, and furthering the application of state-of-the art radar meteorology to better understand convective clouds.
And speaking of wind, there are new projects spinning up (so to speak…) around campus related to the New York State implementation of off-shore wind power, including a new project involving Mike Frisk and Bob Cerrato, and colleagues. This connects us to the Governor’s plan to develop 9GW of off-shore wind power, an important contributor to the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). By the end of this year, the Climate Action Council will have completed development of the “Scoping Plan” that lays out NY’s approach to meeting the goals of the CLCPA. We’ll want to stay on top of that! But it is exciting that New York State is leading the country in this way.
We can hope for the passage of the “Environmental Bond Act” that would support New York with its associated investments in renewable energy. All of these new activities described above should bring new opportunities for our students, to be a part of these exciting new initiatives, through undergraduate research and/or internships.
And speaking of climate mitigation, isn’t it exciting that the U.S. will re-join the Paris Climate Accord? We should want the U.S. to lead, and innovate, and define new ways to simultaneously meet our energy needs in sustainable ways, and contribute to a vibrant economy. We can do that, if we can imagine a better future, and commit, together, to getting there. It is great to be among the leaders in this area; we can celebrate our recognition as #3 among the “Top 10 Colleges where you can make a difference in the climate crisis” by continuing to lead, and innovate.
I should also say that with the arrival of Paul Goldbart as our new Provost, and given the recent arrival of Maurie McInnis as President, we look forward to having a long-term stable, creative, and supportive leadership at Stony Brook University. Their success is ours, and vice versa, so let us work together to help them succeed.
We have a great deal of work to do, but that only compels and energizes us. Quoting from Amanda Gorman‘s inspiring poem:
“When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Together, we will make this year great, and our world a little brighter and more hopeful.
Thank you for that.
Regards,
Paul Shepson, Dean of SoMAS
Happy Holidays & Joyful New Year!
Greetings!
Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
Did you hear that!!?? 2020 is over!
While many of us suffered some heartbreaking losses, and are healing, we can also spend a little bit of time thinking about positive things that came from our experience with 2020.
Foremost among them for me is that we learned how to regularly connect electronically with friends and colleagues and loved ones who live far away. It is so easy to do that now, and we do, and it doesn’t consume any (well, at least not many) fossil fuels! Jody and I used to miss playing Euchre (we will teach you when we are able to, in-person…) with our good friends and family across the country. Now we play often with Zoom and a Euchre app, and it is fun! We have ongoing Marco Polos with the grandchildren, and Face Times. We learned that staying home, and reading, playing games, working on the house, and talking can be relaxing and nice. Being slow, once in a while. Enjoying Long Island, walking on West Meadow Beach, canoeing in Setauket Harbor, walking the dogs in Forsythe Meadow Park (try it!). We take comfort in the boundless joy of our dogs, who LOVE being in quarantine with us! We also expressed, in many ways, how much our family members mean to us. We did that in part sometimes by NOT seeing them as much, in person. That hurts, but they know we love them.
We have learned that instead of going into NYC for a meeting, we can do some of them remotely, and contribute to the goals of the CLCPA and reducing traffic congestion. And that we can even do a national meeting remotely. (Well, I don’t like this last part very much, Jody and I like reconnecting with old colleagues, and going to our favorite restaurants in S.F., like Scala’s. We did miss AGU in SF this year! But, we have great restaurants right here on Long Island, and there seems to be an endless supply of them!) Sometimes, although we are ALL tired of Zooming all day long, a Zoom meeting can be refreshing and less stressful than traveling to a meeting, which is a silver lining. No suitcase to unpack afterwards!
I also learned and thought about all the things I love about SoMAS. I really enjoy talking to students about what they are doing, what they are learning, adventures they are having, problems they encounter that hopefully we can help with; I like their energy and enthusiasm and passion for protecting planet Earth and all of its miraculous parts. We share this very important thing – we really care about taking care of nature, experiencing it, marveling at it. I really like going to seminars and seeing friends, and talking about their science and discovery and hard work. I like to learn about science that is very different from mine, but that has the same foundational connections. I like thinking about how they can do it even better, hopefully by collaborating with others at Stony Brook and SoMAS. I like listening to a great lecture, and watching students try to stump the professor, or challenge his/her assumptions about the world. I really like having faculty and staff meetings in Endeavour 120 where I can see my friends and colleagues and laugh with them. I like getting on a boat in Southampton and listening to Chris Paparo’s corny jokes. What’s better than a good corny joke? I like seeing undergraduate students doing research together in the worm lab, and learning how to develop and pursue a hypothesis. I love that SoMAS has been a great refuge from the stress of American politics. We could all do better than many of the folks in DC, couldn’t we? We would sit and listen, and respect each other, and identify compromise solutions to tough but important problems. I like who we are. I like that people enjoy working at SoMAS and don’t want to leave, they just want to make it as good as it can be.
You might notice that very many of these things require that we are together, in person, enjoying interacting with each other. So, until it is safe to be in person and really enjoy these things, we will take a deep breath, and keep our distance, for a little while longer, and keep doing the things that take us out of this pandemic – wear a mask, socially distance, wash your hands, take care of each other. Focus on our many blessings, and the positive aspects of being at home. We will get there. It is very exciting that whatever 2021 will bring, it will be better! We will make it that way, together. Peace to all of you.
Best Regards,
Shep
Paul Shepson
Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Director, Marine Sciences Research Center
Giving Day
Dear SoMAS Friends/Colleagues:
I am writing to encourage you to be part of Stony Brook University’s annual Giving Day!
As part of Giving Day, you can directly support SoMAS – a University leader in the areas of education, research, and public service regarding the oceans and atmosphere, their interactions, the life systems they support, how human systems impact them, and how these systems can be more sustainable. As you know, we work hard to develop and communicate innovative solutions to the environmental problems of society at local, regional, national, and global scales.
SoMAS and its faculty, staff, and students have been very significantly challenged and impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and we need your help now more than ever to sustain our role as a world leader for understanding the impact of human behavior on our marine, atmospheric and terrestrial environments.
Your gift to the SoMAS Total Immersion Scholarship allows high school students with financial need and who are interested in degrees in marine sciences, atmospheric sciences, or sustainability studies to spend part of the summer experiencing the fantastic opportunities in these fields.
Your support of the Bay Scallop Bowl will help Stony Brook University organize the regional competition for the National Ocean Science Bowl, whose objective is to raise awareness and understanding of the oceans and coastal resources among the nation’s high school students.
Your gift to the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology will help fund our research to develop novel and affordable approaches for nutrient and contaminant removal from Long Island waters.
Your gift, no matter the amount, will make a difference!
Thank you for your support of SoMAS!
Paul Shepson
Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
The Faculty and Staff of SoMAS thank you for your support!
Welcome to Fall 2020!
Photo above: A double rainbow over Setauket, NY on the day before Earth Day (credit to Mariana Ruis)
Welcome back students!
What a year we have had so far! We hope that you have had time to rest, and to reflect and renew your goals and commitment to your partnership with SoMAS and SBU in developing your skills, and exciting and rewarding career options. This has, so far, been a year to remember, or, is it, one to forget? As you know, there are yet still important events for us to live through and participate in for the rest of 2020. This reminds me to express how important it is for all of us to exercise our civic duty and vote. This is one of your ways to contribute to and participate in the well-being of everyone in our country. In any case, we have been tested and challenged this year, mostly by the natural world, on which we depend for our very existence. While this has indeed been challenging, I am heartened by the fact that all in SoMAS share a deep passion for understanding and protecting the natural world. And, because of our impacts, it really needs and demands our help! While there are many paths to financial and career success and satisfaction, I hope you know that there is great honor in supporting the natural world, and the services that it provides to humanity.
We are here to help you succeed, and are working hard to ensure that you have access to great experiences here in SoMAS. Please get to know the faculty and staff, and try to get involved with what they and your fellow students are doing. Our students are great, they are the future leaders of the world. So, get to know as many of them as you can, make contacts, and lifelong friends. While you may be challenged, and it will often feel very hard, be sure to know that you can do it, and that you are never alone. Just reach out if/when you need help. There is honor and human dignity in the question – “Can you help me, please?” And, of course, there is great honor in providing help to others around you. Doing that is a good experience and contributes to the quality of our community. When you have finished your degree, and, you will, and you have met many challenges, you will know that you are capable of doing great things and solving problems that once seemed too big. You will have a degree in self-confidence that will take you far.
So, please, wear your mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands often, give to others, work hard, and, most of all, be kind to all the people in your life. They will give back to you. And, remember, we are here to help you. If you are not getting the help you need, remember, the buck stops here in my office (145 Endeavour). Stop in and see me! Best of “luck”!
Paul Shepson
Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
New Year’s Resolutions
Greetings!
So, it’s 2020! That’s crazy! This makes it seem like we are finally in the 21st Century. We should make some big resolutions. Right? I will resolve to do the best I can do to promote SoMAS, its students, staff, and faculty, and their fantastic achievements.
Here are some other resolutions that I wish for all of us!
- We could try to regularly help someone in need.
- We could do things every day that help with a cleaner, more natural environment like use less plastic and not buy water in small plastic bottles.
- We could try to reduce our carbon footprint, by doing things like drive less, use public transportation more, and walk or ride a bicycle. And not use the handicap button to open a door, unless we personally need that support. And not using the elevator as much, especially to go down! Pushing that button and using the elevator warm the planet!
- We can take time to enjoy the natural world, and every once in a while, put our phones down; even talk to each other!
- We can tell and teach young people that they do have power, they can make the world a better place, and there is hope for the future.
- We can make SoMAS a fun place to work, and we can strive to make it better.
- We can help our country to aim higher and to be better, with respect to tolerance of all others, to be kind, and to lead in these things by example.
- And we will most definitely all vote and encourage everyone we know to vote. It is our right, our opportunity, our responsibility!
Thank you for all that you do.
May your 2020 be healthy, exciting, and productive!
Best,
Paul Shepson
Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Greetings!
Photo above: the SoMAS table at Stony Brook University’s CommUniversity Day.
Welcome to SoMAS! Or if you are a SoMAS veteran (you know, like me!), welcome back!
I hope you had a great summer, got a lot done, and are eager to get back to your good work! This is an exciting time to be studying and working at SoMAS. We have recently slightly reorganized, formalizing three Divisions (Atmospheric Sciences, Marine Sciences, and Sustainability Studies) within SoMAS, with three great Division Heads, in Brian Colle, Bob Cerrato, and Kate Aubrecht, respectively. These Divisions exist to help give our educational and research initiatives some organizational structure and leadership. But, otherwise, we resist any thoughts of a divided SoMAS!
Indeed, as discussed in our strategic plan, we are all about working with our colleagues in SoMAS and across campus on doing integrated studies of Earth environment challenges, such as clean water availability, food security, waste management, climate change and associated challenges such as ocean acidification, sustainable fisheries, sea level rise, storm surge and coastal flooding, and predictability of extreme events. The past year made it clear that climate change is here. As examples, July was the warmest year on record; the West Antarctic Ice sheet is thinning, and this summer, the Greenland ice sheet experienced record melt rates. But there is encouraging news on the New York State horizon, with the recent passing of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which mandates aggressive CO2 reductions for New York State, e.g. 40% reduction by 2030. This means both massive change and challenges for New York, but also great opportunities for new businesses.
This also means opportunities for those of us at Stony Brook University to help the State find viable paths to meet the exciting goals established in this law. And we have good ideas about how to do that. How exciting that Stony Brook can be a partner in building a better, stronger, economically vibrant New York State! And SoMAS endeavors to be a leader in this process. But, whether you are a marine science, or atmospheric science, or sustainability studies student, you should know (I think you do!) that you have made a wise choice in choosing a field that is about understanding and protecting Earth resources. The world needs you, literally! I look forward to meeting you, and contributing to and celebrating your success.
Go Seawolves!
Paul Shepson
Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
P.S. We hope you can join us on the Academic Mall for Stony Brook University’s CommUniversity Day on Saturday, September 21, 2019 from 12 – 4 p.m
Greetings!
I am very pleased to direct your attention to the new SoMAS Strategic Plan, “A Vision for SoMAS Science, Education, and Outreach Leadership, 2019-2024”, available on SoMAS website as of April 22.
This plan is the culmination of a multi-step process, starting with our Faculty and Staff retreat, which took place on October 5, 2018, at Sunwood. That retreat led to the kickoff of the planning process by the Strategic Planning Committee, which then proceeded through a heroic set of meetings among committee members, as well as several meetings with Faculty and Staff through the Fall and Spring. The committee was charged with creating a document that was bold in its goals and objectives, that expresses a clear and ambitious vision for the future of SoMAS, and which is fully implementable. The result speaks for itself, but I think the committee and all of SoMAS did a great job with this effort.
The document expresses a vision for continuing excellence in marine and atmospheric sciences and sustainability, as well as integration of those disciplines, and excellence and leadership in education and outreach. But most importantly, SoMAS aims to take a leadership role in connecting disciplines across campus with the aim of making real progress with respect to a number of Earth and human interaction challenges, and effective and meaningful engagement with important local, New York State, and national scale stakeholders. This is exciting indeed for us, and we look forward to working with a wide array of partners in pursuit of success at SoMAS and Stony Brook University.
In the coming months we will develop an implementation plan, and we will keep you informed as that process continues.
We hope that you can support us on our mission and join us on April 30 for Stony Brook University’s first Giving Day. This 24 hour online campaign offers a chance for everyone to come together, show their school pride, and provide indispensable funding to fuel further excellence. TOGETHER we can provide the best possible experience for our students!
Thank you for your interest in and commitment to SoMAS!
Paul Shepson
Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Holiday Greetings!
Holiday greetings to you all!
This is a great time to reflect on 2018, how much we have accomplished, and how fortunate we are. We are fortunate to have such bright, hardworking, and ambitious students, from whom we can learn. They are a significant part of what makes SoMAS great. I hope for us that every student has experiences in SoMAS that make her/him say “Wow, that was cool!”. I have been delighted in the half year I have been here to meet so many people in our community who got their degrees in our programs. I have spent much of my time learning about us, who we are, and our fantastic achievements, and even greater potential. Jody and I have been delighted to be welcomed to and integrated into the SBU and the broader Long Island community, and what a great sense of family we have here. Wherever I go, I hear “you just have great people in SoMAS”. Yes, I know!
In the past year, there have been many exciting scientific accomplishments, and new developments with programs, and our facilities. This and our developing strategic planning progress, and our associated intense ambitions for the success and prominence of SoMAS should bring us all excitement for the coming year. I look forward to working with each and all of you in ensuring that SoMAS is truly exceptional, and high-impact. This certainly is a time in which we need inspired leadership, and I believe that SoMAS can provide important leadership for our students, the State, Nation, and World. In the words of the old African proverb: “If you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” Let us lead, together.
I wish for all of you peace and good health, strong and enriching bonds with friends and family, and a productive new year!
Paul Shepson
Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Director, Marine Sciences Research Center