It has been an honor to serve as the interim dean of SoMAS for the past few years. SoMAS is truly a remarkable institution with a great history and a bright future.
While facing formidable University-wide budgetary challenges, we are nonetheless in a very strong position moving forward. Our research portfolio is robust and relevant to ongoing marine, atmospheric, and sustainability issues. We must remain committed to our fundamental mission of being the marine and atmospheric sciences program for the SUNY system, the state, and the region. Our diverse research efforts in climate change, severe weather, coastal resilience, marine pollution, clean water, and marine animal diseases are but a few examples of where we are making significant environmental impacts and for which we should be proud.
However, research is only the beginning. We must turn our scientific findings into beneficial societal outcomes through policy and implementation of ideas. To that end, we have helped ban DDT and initiated one of the most formidable environmental NGOs in the world. Our faculty helped identify the ozone hole, eventually contributing to its significant amelioration. We contributed to ending ocean dumping worldwide and have created beneficial products from waste materials. Large sewage outfalls are being relocated and hypoxia is being reduced in Long Island Sound. Our staff have invented equipment used worldwide by oceanic institutions to ensure clean data collection from bubble-sensitive instruments. We have developed techniques to synthesize information from a large ensemble of forecast models to improve predictions of extreme weather, and have enhanced seasonal and sub-seasonal weather forecasts. Our research on forage fish has influenced global standards for their management and policy changes in the U. S.
Our educational programs are producing excellent students who in many cases are finding relevant, fascinating jobs in their fields. The Sustainability Studies program has added diversity to our undergraduate environmental, marine and atmospheric science education and as a result we are thinking a little differently today.
And, SoMAS has an outstanding faculty and staff, truly devoted to promoting the work and values of our institution. We have every reason to be extremely optimistic about our future and our ability to meet the environmental challenges of our times.
Have a wonderful, enjoyable summer.
Larry
