As the end of Summer leads into the start of the Fall Semester, SoMAS Faculty and Staff are still in the news. Here’s the press and research updates from August:
Dr. Roger Flood has received a new award from the State of Connecticut Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection in the amount $1,230,036.96 in support of the project “Multibeam Mapping in Long Island Sound – LISS Enhancement”, for the period 7/29/21 – 7/29/23.
Benthic mapping in Long Island Sound (LIS) has long been identified as a priority need and is essential to improving science-based environmental management and mitigation decisions. Sea floor landscape maps depicting habitat structure and the ecological characteristics associated with those habitats are critical pieces of information which typically integrate information from a variety of sources including acoustic bathymetry and backscatter, sedimentary, geochemical, physical, and biological data.
Analysis of the NOAA bathymetric data shows that there are two large areas in central Long Island Sound, about 40 and 100 square miles and mapped before 2004, which lack the kind of high-quality data necessary to support even the initial stages of benthic mapping. High-resolution morphological data is needed in order to extrapolate the results of the high-priority areas throughout Long Island Sound, a high priority of the LIS Cable Fund.
We propose to begin an effort, including both SoMAS and UConn facilities and investigators, to collect and process the high-resolution multibeam data needed in the larger (~100 square mile) primary study area to support the objectives of the LIS Cable Fund benthic mapping initiative. We will purchase a high-resolution multibeam mapping system that is capable of collecting the needed high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data and water-column data and we will conduct a number of 5 day cruises, up to 24 hours/day of mapping, over two years to complete the mapping of the primary study area. System purchase, installation, acceptance and about 10 days of mapping will occur in Year 1 and about 25 to 30 days of mapping will occur in Year 2. The existence of a highly capable, shallow-water multibeam system within the Long Island Sound community will make possible a range of other projects, for example determining how fast bottom morphology and habitat characteristics change in response to shorter-term events such as seasonal anoxia and storm or storm surge or longer-term changes due to climate or ecological evolution. Little is known about how seafloor morphology evolves over those kinds of time scales.
Dr. Arjun Venkatesan (and co-PI Ben Hsiao) have received a new award from NSF, in support of the project:
“ERASE-PFAS: Understanding the surface-active properties of PFAS for enhanced removal by bubbling-assisted water treatment processes”, in the amount $400,655, for the project period 8/1/21 – 7/31/25.
There is a lack of understanding on how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) surfactant’s bulk and surface behavior influence their removal during water treatment processes. PFAS exhibits both oleophobic/lipophobic (oil/lipid-repellent) and hydrophobic (water-repellent) properties, and thus tend to accumulate at the air-water interface. But the interaction of PFAS with air-bubbles during treatment is unrecognized and has not been studied in-depth thus far. The proposed research is geared to address this important knowledge gap, provide the mechanistic understanding of the air-water interfacial accumulation of PFAS, and develop a simple bubbling-assisted water treatment process to efficiently capture and remove PFAS from contaminated waters. The governing hypotheses of this study are two: (A) introduction of nano- to micro-sized air bubbles in a water column can effectively capture PFAS molecules and concentrate them at the air-water interface; and (B) stability and lifetime of the accumulated PFAS at the air-water interface is dependent on the individual PFAS’s surface tension, presence of cationic modifiers, and self-assembly behavior at concentrations below their critical micelle concentration (CMC). The planned research activities include: (i) determination of the surface tension, self-assembly structure at the air-water interface, and CMC of PFAS using conventional and synchrotron X-ray scattering techniques as a function of water quality parameters; (ii) understanding of conditions that can increase air-water interface accumulation of PFAS (specifically for short-chain compounds with modifiers like polycations) to improve its separation from source waters; (iii) study of the impact of different bubble sizes (nano-micro-mm) in the extraction of PFAS from water and their accumulation at the water surface; and (iv) implementation of the developed air-bubbling system at optimal air-water partitioning conditions in combination with conventional coagulants and adsorbents for effective removal of PFAS. The simplicity of the proposed approach allows it to be employed in combination with conventional coagulation-flocculation systems and additionally help in the optimization of existing dissolved-air flotation (DAF) systems to efficiently remove PFAS from source waters. Thus, results from this work can provide great cost-saving benefits to water treatment utilities seeking to upgrade their processes to treat PFAS. Furthermore, this approach can easily be modified and engineered for remediation of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF)-impacted soil and groundwater, providing great flexibility in its application for treating other contaminated matrices (e.g., sludge, landfill leachate etc.). Advanced characterization of the air-water accumulation of PFAS provided through X-ray synchrotron measurements will additionally help to reveal unrecognized fate and transport mechanisms of PFAS in various environmental systems. In addition to scientific advancement, the PIs will engage in outreach activities to communicate their findings to the public and partner with the Simons Summer Research and Women in Science and Engineering Programs at Stony Brook University to involve highly motivated high school students and female undergraduates, respectively, the opportunity to engage in hands-on research.
Dr. Yong Chen has received a new award from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, in the amount $49,500 for the period 1/1/21 – 3/31/22, in support of the project “Assessing the spatio-temporal dynamics of longfin squid suitable habitat and abundance in the New York Bight”. An abstract is provided below.
The Chen Lab Group will develop and parameterize the habitat suitability index models and Species Distributional Models for the Longfin Squid in the New York Bight. They will use the defined models to hindcast the distributions of suitable habitat and abundance distributions of Longfin Squid in the New York Bight and forecast the Longfin Squid abundance distributions under defined climate change scenarios. This study will yield the information to inform the NYSDEC of potential impacts from the future offshore wind energy areas to the ecologically and economically important fisheries in the New York Bight.
Other Press Features
Newsday: Long Island weekly water quality report: Mixed, but improved, conditions
- During the summer, a team of students and scientists led by Chris Gobler, professor of marine science at Stony Brook University and director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology, tests the water quality weekly at about 30 locations around Long Island.
Perishable News: NY Sea Grant Provides Seafood Resources During COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond
- Mike Ciaramella, Seafood Specialist with New York Sea Grant (NYSG) who is based at Stony Brook University, worked with colleagues in the industry to produce a series of seafood processing and marketing guides and resources to help seafood marketers envision opening up new markets for seafood and its products.
Newsday: New app offers information on Long Island waterways, shores
- The new app, from scientists at Stony Brook University who study the environment, tracks and displays real-time information about the Island’s waterways and shores.
News12: Stony Brook unveils app that shows water quality at beaches across Long Island
- A group of Stony Brook scientists made an app that lets you make sure where you are swimming is sanitary.
Innovate LI: Life’s A Beach With SBU’s Inclusive Water-Quality App
- That’s the promise of the Long Island Beach and Water Quality App, a unique public app designed by Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences to give users instant information on dozens of Long Island beaches and bodies of water. Also mentioned in this edition.
Trend Hunter: Comprehensive Water Quality Apps
- A group of scientists and innovators over at Stony Brook University in New York have developed an easy-to-use water quality app that is designed to enable citizens and residents of the area access assessments of water quality along Long Island.
WSHU: Stony Brook Professors Create App To Assess Long Island Beach Water Quality
Smart Water Magazine: Scientists use new method to predict precipitation changes
- But now a study by researchers in Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) provides a new mathematical method to understand the physical causes of future regional precipitation changes, which has an impact on the environment, climate and many types of human activities worldwide.
Politifact/The Poynter Institute: What does extreme weather tell us about climate change?
- “The question that is always asked by the media and the public about an impactful storm is, ‘Is this storm due to climate change?’” said atmospheric scientist Kevin Reed at Stony Brook University. “That is a question scientists will never be able to answer adequately.”
Vox: Climate change worsens extreme weather. A revolution in attribution science proved it.
- “Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a shift in the ways scientists answer that question,” said Kevin Reed, an associate professor at Stony Brook University who studies climate attribution but was not involved in the IPCC report. Also ran in News24, and NYUZ.
Newsday: Climate change expected to continue to take toll on Long Island
- Lobster, and the lobster industry, once flourished on Long Island, with dozens if not hundreds of lobster boats working in Long Island Sound. But by 1999, the industry disappeared as the Island’s waters got too warm for the marine crustaceans to survive, according to Christopher J. Gobler, professor of marine sciences at Stony Brook University.
Newsday: Long Island weekly water quality report: Just one poor site on North Shore
- During the summer, a team of students and scientists led by Chris Gobler, professor of marine science at Stony Brook University and director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology, tests the water quality weekly at about 30 locations around Long Island.
Suffolk Times: Editorial: Great change is already upon us
- We need to be better able to predict what is coming and create a master plan for how to deal with it. New York State should consider funding a Climate Change Institute at Stony Brook University.
Fox News: New York shark sightings prompt new flag warnings at beaches
- Stony Brook University’s Southampton Marine Science Center manager Christopher Paparo was born and raised on Long Island and has been exploring its wilds for more than 30 years. Also ran at Armed Post.
Times Beacon Record: SBU’s Gobler and Jang create water quality app for Long Island
- Stony Brook University’s Christopher Gobler, endowed chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation, and Sung-Gheel Jang, faculty director in the Geospatial Center at Stony Brook University, have created a free app that provides information on water quality on Long Island.
Newsday: Wettest July on record for NY, forecasters say, as they look at weather to come
- For the New York region, Edmund Kar-Man Chang, professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, said by email that “the above average temperature mainly reflects the global warming temperature trend, and there is no strong forcing on the precipitation over our region.”
Newsday: Shinnecock women launch kelp hatchery, cultivation operation
- Kelp has shown an ability to thrive in shallow waters around Long Island. One Stony Brook University test site on Moriches Bay was among the most successful among a half dozen funded by Suffolk County through the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
New York Ag: Would We Still Have Severe Storms if the Gulf was Filled with Soil?
- Kevin Reed of Stony Brook University was supported by an NSF grant. Also ran in the Indiana Ag. and Mirage News.
The Guardian: ‘It’s a miracle crop’: the pioneers pushing the powers of seaweed
- “If everyone’s homes got upgraded today, the contaminated groundwater that was created yesterday is still creeping towards the bays and estuaries,” said Dr Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University. Also ran in USA News Hub.
MSN/The Guardian: ‘It’s a miracle crop’: the pioneers pushing the powers of seaweed
- Local officials are trying to convince homeowners to replace thousands of systems – but seaweed could boost these efforts. “If everyone’s homes got upgraded today, the contaminated groundwater that was created yesterday is still creeping towards the bays and estuaries,” said Dr Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University.
East Hampton Star: Algal Bloom Closes Georgica Pond
- That action followed the annual report delivered on Aug. 15 by Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences to the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, a group of pond front property owners who organized to mitigate conditions in the pond, which has seen blooms of cyanobacteria each summer for almost a decade now.
East Hampton Star: ‘Kelp and More Kelp’ in Harbors Here
- They would be monitored biweekly, with growth and nitrogen and phosphorus concentration monitored by Stony Brook University.
Newsday: Tropical Storm Henri likely fouled some bodies of water, scientists say
- This week’s samples from 29 bodies of water on the North and South shores revealed “A high level of fecal bacteria that was just ubiquitous,” said Christopher Gobler, endowed chair of coastal ecology and conservation and principal investigator with the Gobler Laboratory at Stony Brook University.
Newsday: Long Island weekly water quality report: Mostly fair conditions
- During the summer, a team of students and scientists led by Chris Gobler, professor of marine science at Stony Brook University and director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology, tests the water quality weekly at about 30 locations around Long Island.
New Yorker: The Day the Dinosaurs Died
- The talk, limited though it was, caused a stir. Kirk Cochran, a professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at Stony Brook University, in New York, recalled that when DePalma presented his findings there were gasps of amazement in the audience.
