Photo above: Inauguration of Shinnecock Bay as a Global “Hope Spot”. Stony Brook marine scientists, Mission Blue and Dr. Sylvia Earle, The Explorers Club, members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners and others come together during a day that includes explanations of innovative environmental research, boat tours, and a celebration of “World Oceans Week.”
Congratulations to Dr. Kevin Reed, who has been promoted to Professor!
Congratulations to Adjunct Professor Richard Murdocco for his website The Foggiest Idea, which won a first place prize at the Press Club of Long Island Media Awards for coverage of severe weather and extreme storm events by the Press Club of Long Island. The recognition was given in the form of a first place prize in the Weather – Narrative category. The organization recognized “Sandy’s Biggest Legacy – Better Forecasts,” an article which captured the lasting policy implications of Superstorm Sandy’s 2012 landfall.
Dr. Zhien Wang, who will join us in the September, has received his first award as an SBU professor from the NSF Physical and Dynamic Meteorology and the Arctic Natural Sciences Programs in support of the project “Cold-Air outbreak Experiment in the Sub-Arctic Region (CAESAR)” in the amount $848,435, for the project period 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2026.
Arctic climate is changing at a faster pace than anywhere on Earth. Climate projections indicate that the Arctic will continue to warm, but uncertainties arise due to questions about the future behavior of Arctic clouds. An area of primary uncertainty is the properties of clouds that form during cold-air outbreaks, where very cold airmasses over the Arctic ice move southward over the relatively warm open ocean. This award will help to provide observational data of these clouds (and precipitation) and the exchange of energy between the ocean and atmosphere during the Cold-Air outbreak Experiment in the Sub-Arctic Region (CAESAR), which will be conducted in Spring 2024 out of northern Scandinavia. The observations collected during CAESAR will be used to better understand the characteristics of the cold-air outbreak system, and the Arctic climate system more broadly, to inform climate models and projections. The project will also help to improve forecasting of weather hazards with significant relevance to naval operations, commercial shipping, and coastal communities. The broader field effort includes significant opportunities for students and early-career scientists, international collaboration, and public outreach. This specific project includes a training component for senior level undergraduate students on field methods and observations that will parallel the planning and execution of the CAESAR campaign.
This goal of this project is to use multiple remote sensor and in-situ measurements to (1) characterize Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) fluxes, structure and cloud properties and (2) understand the process controlling the evolution of MBL fluxes, structures and cloud properties during cold-air outbreaks (CAOs). The research team will deploy the Multi-function Airborne Raman Lidar (MARLi) and the nadir-only Airborne Doppler Lidar (ADL) to provide profiles of water vapor, temperature, air vertical velocity, and aerosol/cloud structure below the NSF/NCAR C-130 research aircraft to document MBL thermodynamic and dynamic structures, mixing across the MBL top, and cloud phase and property distributions. Analysis of MARLi and ADL data, combined with other observations and modeling during CAESAR, will allow the team to focus on understanding of how upstream boundary layer stratification and wind, MBL rolls and small-scale vertical motions, and surface fluxes and Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) top entrainment/mixing controls MBL development and evolution during CAOs. In addition, these measurements will address the question of how aerosol, MBL processes, and cloud dynamics (stratiform and convective clouds) impact mixed-phase cloud properties, especially liquid-ice mass partitioning.
News Headlines at Stony Brook University
- Geoff Bansen ’10 Delivers SOMAS Convocation Address
- 28th Annual Stony Brook Film Festival Schedule Announced
- “The Knowledge You Gain Here Lasts A Lifetime.” Meteorologist Geoff Bansen ’10 Gives SoMAS Convocation Keynote Address
- Celebrating Major Accomplishments at the Graduate School
- Dr. Jackie Collier is the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service to Graduate Education by a Graduate Program Director
- Stony Brook Hosts Prince Albert II of Monaco For Tour of Future New York Climate Exchange Site on Governors Island
- Five More Professors Honored as SUNY Distinguished Faculty, including Dr. Chris Gobler
- SBU Awarded IBM Grant to Support Sustainability Accelerator
- Two Seawolves Earn Spring SUNY Scholar Athlete of the Year Honors
- President McInnis Discusses The New York Climate Exchange on PBS
Latest Publications
Sylvers, L. H., & Gobler, C. J. (2023). Cultivable seaweeds eliminate the lethal effects of the harmful alga, Margalefidinium polykrikoides, on early life stage fish. Aquaculture, 739676.
Czaja Jr, R., Holmberg, R., Espinosa, E. P., Hennen, D., Cerrato, R., Lwiza, K., … & Allam, B. (2023). Behavioral and physiological effects of ocean acidification and warming on larvae of a continental shelf bivalve. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 192, 115048.
Shen, C., Wu, D., Chen, B., Khazaei, B., & Han, C. (2023). Phosphorus removal potential of aquatic macrophytes in a shallow eutrophic system. Hydrobiologia, 1-14.
Mamouri, R. E., Ansmann, A., Ohneiser, K., Knopf, D. A., Nisantzi, A., Bühl, J., … & Hadjimitsis, D. (2023). Wildfire smoke triggers cirrus formation: Lidar observations over the Eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus). EGUsphere, 2023, 1-30.
Stansfield, A. M., & Reed, K. A. (2023). Global tropical cyclone precipitation scaling with sea surface temperature. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 6(1), 60.
Chang, E. K., Wolfe, C. L., Stewart, A. L., & McWilliams, J. C. (2023). Comments on “Horizontal gravity disturbance vector in atmospheric dynamics” by Peter C. Chu. Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, 101382.
Colle, B. A., Yeh, P., Finlon, J. A., McMurdie, L., McDonald, V., & DeLaFrance, A. (2023). An Investigation of a Northeast US Cyclone Event Without Well-Defined Snow Banding During IMPACTS. Monthly Weather Review.
Yu, S., Hannah, W. M., Peng, L., Bhouri, M. A., Gupta, R., Lin, J., … Khairoutdinov, M. … & Pritchard, M. S. (2023). ClimSim: An open large-scale dataset for training high-resolution physics emulators in hybrid multi-scale climate simulators. arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.08754.
Rider, T. (2023). Peter von Danzig: The Story of a Great Caravel, 1462–75. Beata Możejko. Trans. Barbara Gostyńska. The Northern World 86. Leiden: Brill, 2020. xii 308 pp. €138. Renaissance Quarterly, 76(1), 255-256. doi:10.1017/rqx.2023.132
Wang, J., & Zhang, M. (2023). The Impact of Constrained Data Assimilation on the Forecasts of Three Convection Systems during the ARM MC3E Field Campaign. Monthly Weather Review, 151(2), 449-464.
Reed, K. A., Stansfield, A. M., Hsu, W. C., Kooperman, G. J., Akinsanola, A. A., Hannah, W. M., … & Medeiros, B. (2023). Evaluating the simulation of CONUS precipitation by storm type in E3SM. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(12), e2022GL102409.
Press Headlines
Times Beacon Record: Making Democracy Work: How can we manage our waters?
- Stony Brook University established the Center for Clean Water Technology, and the NYS DEC initiated the Climate Smart Communities program to encourage municipalities to demonstrate various levels of commitment to climate-smart activities.
Ocean News & Technology Magazine: New Radar Will Improve Life-Saving Weather Predictions and Climate Projections
- APAR will provide educational and training opportunities that will advance the next generation climate and weather workforce. Activities will be led by a diverse project team that includes scientists and engineers from NCAR, Colorado State University, State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University of Oklahoma.
Hechinger Report: Column: What does it look like when higher ed actually takes climate change seriously?
- SUNY-Stony Brook will anchor The New York Climate Exchange, a brand-new, $700 million campus on Governors Island in New York. Also ran on KQED, Portland Local News and others.
Newsday: Algae bloom spurs call to avoid pond swimming in Riverhead, Southampton
- Health officials and scientists from Stony Brook University found the blue-green algae in South Merrits Pond in Riverhead and Mill Pond in Southampton. Residents should avoid contact with the water and keep pets and children away from the ponds, officials said. Cyanobacteria, a naturally occurring algae, can become overly abundant and produce floating pond scum on the surface or may make water appear as if it has been painted. Also ran in World News.
Suffolk County Government: Cyanobacteria Blooms found in Excess in Ponds in Riverhead and Southampton
- Analysis of surface water samples performed by SUNY Stony Brook has confirmed the presence of recent cyanobacteria blooms, more commonly known as blue–green algae, in South Merrits Pond in Riverhead and Mill Pond in Southampton. Due to these findings, health officials ask residents not to use, swim, or wade in these waters, and to keep their children and pets away from the area.
Westhampton-Hampton Bays Patch: Great White Shark Spotted Off Coast Of Long Island: Ocearch
- Christopher Paparo, manager of Stony Brook Southampton’s marine sciences center, told Patch in a past interview that at one time, sharks were very common in area waters. “They have been heavily fished, and their numbers have dropped. Due to regulations and better environmental conditions, we have seen some species returning to where they once roamed.”
Newsday: Stony Brook Film Festival sets 2023 lineup
- Though known mostly for its foreign titles, the festival includes a locally made documentary, “Radioactive: The Women of Three Mile Island,” from Heidi Hutner, a professor in Stony Brook University’s English Department. Her film, which revisits the 1979 partial meltdown of a nuclear power plant through the eyes of four homemakers and two lawyers, won the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary at Dances with Films, a long-running showcase for independent titles.
Newswise: The UN Holds Sessions on World Oceans Week (press release)
- Word-renowned marine scientists like Stony Brook University’s Ellen Pikitch come together to talk conservation, ocean sustainability, and new technologies to enhance marine research
New York Times: More Fish, More Whales, More Ships — and More Whale Strikes
- Many humpbacks that wash up are juveniles, like some 93 percent of humpbacks struck by vessels in the New York Bight, according to research by four scientists from Stony Brook University and one from the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society on Long Island. And there is no question that the shipping lanes around New York are busy these days, Sieswerda said, so it is as if “they’re playing in traffic.” Also ran in DNYUZ, News Pub and Daily Expert News.
Hakai Magazine: Marine Protected Areas, Explained
- Because these reserves tend to be very large and prohibit almost all human activities within, many of them are also having a broader conservation impact on the ecosystem, says Ellen Pikitch, a professor of ocean conservation science at Stony Brook University in New York.
Post and Courier: Climate change is making SC hurricanes more dangerous. Do people in your county know?
- As the storm approached, scientists at Stony Brook University knew ocean temperatures off the Carolina coast were 0.75°C above average. Elevated moisture hung in the air. Both variables can supercharge hurricanes. One of their pre-landfall predictions turned out to be correct: rainfall was significantly increased by warming.
Marine Fuels and Marine Engine: Whales and Convictions: Concerns
- Stony Brook University and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society indicate that a significant percentage (around 93%) of humpback whales struck by vessels in the New York Bight are juveniles. The busy shipping lanes around New York, combined with the increase in online shopping leading to more ships transporting goods to the ports, are believed to contribute to the higher mortality rates.
WSHU-FM/NPR: Shinnecock Bay restoration is a model for ocean conversation, UN Leaders say
- Ellen Pikitch, endowed professor of ocean conservation science at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, presented her work on Tuesday in front of the United Nations, joining “a world-renowned group of environmental marine scientists and other leaders to discuss environmental and related issues concerning the safety of the oceans, and new scientific work aimed at preserving our oceans and mitigating climate change.”
Environmental Defense Fund: Using sound to improve fishery management study sardines in the Philippines
- By EDF’s Jose Ingles, Jimely Flores and Rod Fujita, and Joseph Warren, Stony Brook University. Also ran in Manila News.
USA Today: New airborne radar planned to improve weather forecasts on land and sea
- Scientists and engineers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Colorado State University, State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University of Oklahoma.
Inside Climate News: How Are Hurricanes Connected to Climate Change?
- Climate change increased Hurricane Ian’s rainfall rates by more than 10 percent, according to one preliminary study by researchers at Stony Brook University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Yahoo News: UCAR receives funding for new radar technology
- In addition to partnering with Ball Aerospace and NOAA, Lee said NCAR will be partnering with universities such as Colorado State University, State University of New York Stony Brook, University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Oklahoma. Also ran in Daily Camera and Broomfield Enterprise.
Nyack-Piermont Patch: Candidate Profile: Mandelbaum For Village Trustee In 2023 Primary
- Taylor Mandelbaum will also be on the November ballot on the Working Families Party line. He is a data scientist and meteorologist with a master’s degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from Stony Brook University.
Scientific American/Wafact: When Disaster Strikes, Is Climate Change to Blame?
- Like the WWA, Wehner and his collaborator, Kevin Reed of Stony Brook University, are trying to conduct attribution studies in almost real time. They analyzed Hurricane Ian in September 2022 while the storm was still clobbering Florida. Their quick work was possible partly because they had just published a paper on the 2020 hurricane season, finding that climate change caused it to be 5 percent wetter. Also ran in World News Era.
27East: Celebrating Shinnecock Bay as a Global Hope Spot
- Last year, Shinnecock Bay achieved a global distinction shared with such internationally recognized locations as the Galapagos Islands, the Sargasso Sea, and the Ross Sea in Antarctica. It was named a Global Hope Spot in recognition of restorative work led by scientists at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) in Southampton.
KVIA-TV: Without climate change, these extreme weather events would not have happened
- The hurricane was at least 10% wetter because of climate change, according to an analysis by scientists at Stony Brook University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
CNN: Without climate change, these extreme weather events would not have happened
- The hurricane was at least 10% wetter because of climate change, according to an analysis by scientists at Stony Brook University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Also ran on KAKE-TV.
Global Business Newswire: When Catastrophe Strikes, Is Local Weather Change to Blame?
- Just like the WWA, Wehner and his collaborator, Kevin Reed of Stony Brook University, try to conduct attribution research in virtually actual time. Also ran in News Mixed Buzz.
East Hampton Star: Water Work Green-Lighted
- The Center for Clean Water Technology at Stony Brook University will receive $113,869 for the installation of wood chip biofilter polishing units at eight sites in the town where an innovative alternative septic system is being, or was previously, installed.
Newsday: Smoke caused Long Island’s worst air quality since at least 1999, pollution data shows
- “We should be really happy that air has been getting steadily better in the United States — it used to be just horrible,” said Paul Shepson, dean of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, who added that climate change could make wildfires more common. “On a stagnant sunny summer day, the skyline of some cities looked like it did [on June 7]. That never happens anymore, even in Los Angeles.”
Long Island Press: Plandome Manor Proposal Raises Leeds Pond Concerns
- Wagner, the attorney, argued that there is no correlation between the restoration and the effort to preserve the pond. But Christopher Gobler, a professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, was one of six experts who spoke on the potential environmental problems of Leeds Pond. Gobler believes that the pond would be significantly worsened by the usage of nearly one million pounds of soil that would be needed for the fill. An ecological survey of the pond in May found that it is polluted by toxins.
Times Beacon Record: WMHO connects students over the Sound for third year
- WMHO collaborated with Stony Brook University’s Ecology and Evolution Distinguished Professor Jeffrey Levinton, and Dr. Taylor Evans of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences to develop a system of data collection parameters for monitoring and analyzing West Meadow Creek’s water quality and species counts.
Clinton Herald/Associated Press Photo: Prince Albert New York
- Monaco’s Prince Albert listens during a tour of the future site of NYC Climate Exchange, anchored by Stony Brook University, on Governor’s Island, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in New York. Prince Albert was honored by Stony Brook in 2022 “for his world leadership” on conservation and climate policies. Also ran in Daily Review, Post Register, The Herald Journal, Goshen News, Go Skag it.com, Northern Virginia Daily and several others.
The Island 360: Leeds Ponds property hearing extended to at least July
- Additional opponents against the application include Frank Picininni of Spadefoot Design and Construction, Chris Gobler, chair of coastal ecology and conservation at Stony Brook University and Bret Bennington, a geology professor at Hofstra University.
Newsday: Commuters get new tree-lined connector linking High Line with Moynihan Train Hall
- The park’s transformation from tourist attraction to connector has been underway for years, said Donovan Finn, a Stony Brook University environmental planning professor. “The more you connect it to other things that people want and need to get to, separated from the street and from traffic, it becomes part of the city’s transportation infrastructure. You’re turning it into something with utility, as opposed to something fun to stroll down with your out-of-town relatives.”
The Daily Gazette: Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons valedictorian Ava Giordano excited for what future holds – CLASS OF 2023
- Giordano will be attending Stony Brook University, in Suffolk County, in the fall. She plans to major in environmental studies, she said. Giordano says she is very excited for college, and that she hopes to try new clubs and activities in the fall.
The BroadSheet: Seeking Ideas That Are All Wet
- The Climate Challenge is part of the Center for Climate Solutions, a planned $700-million project that will combine interdisciplinary research on climate change with education in a single physical hub. In April, the administration of Mayor Eric Adams announced that a partnership led by the State University of New York at Stony Brook had won a competition to build the facility.
Fabbaloo: Stony Brook Living Laboratory: Advancing Sustainable Development with 3D Printing
- The recently announced Stony Brook Living Laboratory project is a US$700M, multidisciplinary initiative aimed at promoting sustainable development and environmental stewardship. 3D printing could be used in various aspects of the project. The campus, which will be on New York’s Manhattan Governors Island will be dedicated to solving the climate crisis we are facing in the form of severe weather among other natural disasters.
Herald-Chronicle: Prince Albert New York
- Clare Newman, far left, president and CEO for the Trust of Governor’s Island, prepares Monaco’s Prince Albert, wearing baseball cap, for a tour of the future site of NYC Climate Exchange, anchored by Stony Brook University, on Governor’s Island, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, in New York. Prince Albert was honored by Stony Brook in 2022 “for his world leadership” on conservation and climate policies.
Suffolk County Government: Cyanobacteria Blooms found in Swan Pond in East Hampton
- Analysis of surface water samples performed by SUNY Stony Brook has confirmed the presence of new cyanobacteria blooms, more commonly known as blue–green algae, in Swan Pond-which is located just west of Hog Creek in East Hampton. Due to these findings, health officials ask residents not to use or swim or wade in these waters and to keep their children and pets away from the area.
Travel Weekly: Swan Hellenic unveils actions to restore the oceans and waters by 2030
- “But we have also gone further,” Zito added. “We’ve partnered with numerous Citizen Science initiatives, enabling our onboard experts and guests to contribute valuable conservation data. This ranges from reporting cloud data with NASA and recording whale sightings with Happywhale, to monitoring phytoplankton with the Secchi Disk Study and Antarctic seabird numbers with Stony Brook University. Also ran in Insider Travel Report, TravelDailyNews International and others.
Brookhaven Lab: Science Workshop Outlines a TRACER Future
- Pavlos Kollias, a Stony Brook University professor and Brookhaven Lab scientist, delivered a look at convective storm-cell tracking. It involved a combination of aircraft, surface observatories, and radar, including a second-generation C-Band Scanning ARM Precipitation Radar in the town of Pearland.
