Photo above: The inaugural class of Stony Brook’s 2023 Chancellor’s Summer Research Excellence Fund internships which facilitated the university’s Summer Opportunity for Academic Research (SUNY SOAR). SUNY SOAR is a pilot program that provided $250,000 from SUNY to Stony Brook as well as to other SUNY institutions.
And the Fall 2023 Semester has begun! Here’s the latest news and press headlines from August at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University.
Congratulations to Dr. Donovan Finn, Dr. David Taylor, and Dr. Mary Collins who have all been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.
At the American Meteorological Society 32nd Conference on Weather Analysis and Forecasting (WAF)/28th Conference on Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) on 17-21 July in Madison, WI, two SoMAS students received awards for their presentations.
- Outstanding Oral Presentations:
Phillip Yeh – Variability of Cool Season Precipitation Structures Within the Cyclone Comma Head - Outstanding Poster Presentations:
Josef Moses – A Virtual Workshop Involving College Students to Explore the Relative Role of Visualization and Stakeholder Interaction on Risk Perception
Congratulations to Dr. Edmund Chang, who has been elected to be a (2024) Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS)! Fellows are recognized for having “made outstanding contributions to the atmospheric or related oceanic or hydrologic sciences or their applications during a substantial period of years.” New fellows represent not more than two-tenths of 1 percent of all AMS Members. The award will be presented at the January 2024 AMS meeting in Baltimore.
Dr. Frank Roethel and co-Pi Kaitlin Giglio have received a new award from DEC, in support of the project entitled “Regional Solid Waste Management Study”, in the amount $250,000, for the project period 02/08/2023 – 08/08/2024.
Solid waste management practices on Long Island need to be assessed now. Local jurisdictions operate individually when it comes to waste management, and there are many common logistical issues that each one deals with. It is important to identify these commonalities in order to formulate a comprehensive plan that prescribes long term, achievable goals that are both optimal and practical.
This study proposes to develop a metric that, thru data collection and examination of various factors affecting the function of the waste management industry, provides practical and effective recommendations with respect to:
- Construction and Demolition Debris Management
- Ash Reduction and Management
- Transportation of Solid Waste and Recyclables on and off of Long Island
Dr. Joe Warren has received a new award from the Office of Naval Research in support of his project “Vessel-based Portable Echosounder System for Improved Interpretation of Gulf of Maine Long Term Monitoring Efforts”, in the amount $87,699, for the project period 9/1/23 – 8/31/24.
This proposal will procure a three frequency, broadband, portable vessel-based echosounder system for conducting surveys in and around long-term monitoring sites in the Gulf of Maine. Stationary upward-looking echosounders have been deployed at multiple sites in this region for the past three years, however as these instruments are fixed on the seafloor, they are unable to fully resolve the spatial variability in physical and biological scattering processes occurring in this region. Having a portable multi-frequency echosounder system will allow the collection of backscatter data at these long term monitoring sites to provide information regarding the spatial (and short-term temporal) variability in backscatter at these sites.
This information is necessary to provide the range(s) that the stationary data may be extrapolated out spatially (i.e. the autocorrelation scale of backscattering signals). Two primary advantages of this system are: 1) it is portable (i.e. able to be deployed from a variety of vessels via an instrument well or polemount) and 2) it covers a broad range of frequencies (30-70 kHz, 160-240 kHz, 280 – 450 kHz) which will allow for remote identification of various scattering processes (e.g. swimbladdered fish, small (copepods) and large (krill) crustacean zooplankton, suspended sediments, and microstructure).
Dr. Joe Warren has also received a second award from ONR, in support of the project “Using concurrent in situ measurements of animal movement and turbulent microstructure in the pelagic ocean to quantify the role of biology in ocean mixing”, in the amount $4,500,000, for the period 9/1/23 – 8/31/26.
The magnitude of ocean mixing due to the movement of biological organisms is a function of animal and group size, swimming velocity, turbulence and dissipation rates, ocean stratification, and other factors. However, the temporal and spatial extent of animal-driven mixing is not well understood. Some observations have shown that moving organisms can create turbulence in their path. But there are key questions that remain unknown about the extent of these processes, the magnitude of biological-driven mixing processes, and under what conditions biological mixing is important relative to other processes in the open ocean.
Our project objectives are: measure turbulence in the ocean before, during, and after animal vertical migration events; combine net, optical, acoustic, and eDNA techniques to measure in situ behavior, abundance and type of migrators; quantify characteristics (taxa, numerical abundance, size, swimming velocities) of migrating organisms; determine if eDNA can estimate organism abundance relative to traditional net and acoustic methods; evaluate if eDNA techniques can resolve transitory organisms over short temporal ranges (hours to days); compare organism-caused turbulence relative to other physical oceanographic processes; determine if our results are extendable to additional areas of Naval interest; and develop a multi-platform sampling strategy that is applicable and transferable for investigating biological-mixing in other oceanographic contexts.
To achieve these goals we will combine multiple methods (microstructure, acoustic, optic, net, and eDNA) and platforms (vessel, ocean gliders, a new autonomous vertical profiler) to measure ocean mixing before, during, and after aggregations of animals move through the ocean. The majority of these measurements will be made in situ (at depth) on undisturbed animals. These sensors will also produce information (animal type and length, swimming velocities, numerical densities) needed to accurately model animal-driven turbulence quantities. We will integrate net tow, acoustic, optical, and environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling to identify organisms and address critical research questions relating to residence time of eDNA material and the relationship between eDNA quantities and animal abundance.
Identical instruments for measuring microstructure and acoustic backscatter will be on both the vertical profiler and the gliders providing the ability to compare measurements from different platforms. Our field effort plan consists of two two-week-long expeditions where the gliders will provide reconnaissance information which will be used to select regions where we know: epi and meso-pelagic organisms are abundant and that other physical mixing processes (upwelling, downwelling, frontal zones) are low to ensure that our microstructure measurements can be attributed to biological sources.
Our study location is the Gulf of Mexico because: it is a deep, open ocean habitat; the vertical migrators consist of a variety of organisms ranging from small crustaceans to larger nekton which have been studied acoustically and through eDNA. However, the approach used in this project will provide methods and techniques that can be applied to other areas of Naval operational interest, as well as a predictive modeling effort to determine what conditions are necessary (both biologically and physically) for biologically-driven mixing to impact water column structure.
Drs. Bob Aller and Qingzhi Zhu have received a new award from NSF (Chemical Oceanography) in support of the project “Coupled Carbonate Dissolution and Authigenic Clay Formation in the Bioturbated Zone”, in the amount $802,309, for the period 9/1/23 – 8/31/26!
Chemical reactions that occur in ocean sediments play an important role in global geochemical cycles, including the carbon cycle. Understanding these reactions is key to predicting the response of the ocean to ongoing disturbances like climate change. This project will combine field measurements, controlled laboratory experiments, and modeling to increase understanding of the interplay of sediment mixing by burrowing organisms and geochemical reactions, and how they affect the ocean’s carbon and alkalinity balance. The project provides for the training of graduate and undergraduate students in field work, experimental procedures, the use of sophisticated state-of-the-art analytical equipment, quantitative data analysis, and numerical modeling techniques. The educational goals are to encourage scientific discovery while fostering creativity, promote critical-thinking skills, enhance problem solving skills, and to encourage the development of the next generation of scientists to be able to address the many environmental challenges facing society.
The general objectives of the project are to advance our conceptual understanding and predictive quantitative modeling of the impacts of complex patterns of oxidation – reduction and acid-base reactions on biogeochemical processes within the bioturbated zone. In continental margin deposits underlying oxygenated water, the reoxidation of reduced metabolic products such as ammonium, iron (II), manganese (II) and pyrite results in strong acid production. Sedimentary pyrite oxidation in particular can drive carbonate dissolution and silicate authigenesis. The resulting coupling of carbonate and silicate reactions remains poorly known, and may produce or consume carbonate alkalinity. These reactions are focused at boundaries between oxic and anoxic zones. Oxic-anoxic zonation and zonal interaction patterns in bioturbated deposits reflect the formation, scaling, and residence times of irrigated burrow structures as well as feeding and mobility activity, which dynamically exposes anoxic sediment and promotes reoxidation and oxic-anoxic oscillations. As shown by initial experiments, these processes result not only in undersaturation of carbonates and enhanced dissolution, but may also promote forward (alkalinity producing) and reverse (alkalinity consuming) silicate weathering reactions. The proposed research will utilize a combined approach of field measurements, controlled laboratory experimental manipulations and geometric mimics, 2-D imaging sensors, and theoretical modeling, to address how complex, dynamic biogenic transport-reaction geometries that result from bioturbation activities, mediate coupled redox reactions associated with carbonate dissolution and clay authigenesis, and affect net benthic alkalinity fluxes. This novel research will further constrain factors controlling net sediment-water alkalinity fluxes between lithogenic deposits and overlying water, and thus models of ocean acidification.
SBU News Features
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- SBU Environmentalist Charles F. Wurster, Co-Founder of Environmental Defense Fund, Dies at 92
- Inaugural Class of Chancellor’s Summer Research Excellence Fund Is a Success
- SBU Launches Faculty-Driven ‘Collaborative for the Earth
- Excitement and Promise: Students Welcomed Back to Campus
- Internship Brings Chemistry Major Closer to the Ground
Latest Seminar Videos
TAOS, 2023-08-24 – Dr. Jaeyeon Lee – “East Asian Extratropical Cyclones and Their Future Change”
The Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences hosted the 2023 Marine Conservation and Policy Symposium on August 24, 2023. MCP students presented their work from their Capstone Projects and Internships, which they have been working on in labs and at field sites both near and far. This year’s students have demonstrated the breadth of this program, with topics ranging from the effects of heavy metals on horseshoe crab eggs, to the efficacy of conservation areas in Jamaica, to exploring diversity and equity in youth environmental and marine education.
- Casey Broecker – Comprehensive review of the Hudson River Biological Monitoring Program
- Travis Cutter – STEM Belonging: The CURE for Student Attrition?
- Christopher Eagler – Assessment of Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) population and productivity trends in New York State from 2001-2022
- Allison Gallagher – Exploring Trophic Dynamics in Shinnecock Bay, NY: Long-Term Trawl Survey and eDNA Insights
- Corinn Kraemer – Water quality and submerged aquatic vegetation planting in the Hudson River near Staatsburg, New York
- Hayley Fier – Comparison of Antarctic Cetacean and Pinniped Sightings from Tourism Vessels and Scientific Literature
- Heather Leonard – Monitoring a Fecal Fiasco: Indicator Bacteria Sampling to Save the Sound
- Paris Martin – Helping at the Hatchery: Spawn and Substrate Experiments with Ribbed Mussels
- Anna Meichenbaum – An Ecological Study of Hippocampus erectus in Shinnecock Bay, Long Island: Utilizing scientific and citizen science-based monitoring techniques
- Peter Martin – Survival and Development of Horseshoe Crab Eggs Exposed to Olivine-Derived Nickel
- Catherine Alexander – Investigation of the Hydrologic ‘Fishbone Method’: a Case Study of India’s Unquestioned Mangrove Restoration Model in Andhra Pradesh
- Katherine Miller – Diversity and Equity in Youth Environmental and Marine Education in Western Suffolk
- Isaac Nikolic – A Story Map for Homeowners on When to use a Living Shoreline
- Tyler Potter – Investigating the economic benefits of recreational saltwater fishing on state economies: A New York State study
- Illusion Rivera – The American Lobster Fishery & Derelict Lobster Trap Removal
- Jessica Salmon – Jamaican Special Fisheries Conservation Areas affect snapper and parrotfish species abundance, and parrotfish species life phases
- Madilyn Sausville – Ecosystem Structure Comparisons Between Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Restoration Sites and Natural Meadows to Determine Recovery Status and Natural Meadows to Determine Recovery Status
- Yurika Tomita – Uncovering Hidden Anthropogenic Debris: A Scientific Study on Collecting Macroplastic Pollution in Shinnecock Bay
- George Kalantzopoulos– A Five Year Review on the Common Angelshark
Latest Publications
Liu, Y., Zhang, C., Wei, X., Xu, B., Xue, Y., Ren, Y., & Chen, Y. Coupling dynamic energy budget and population dynamic models to inform stock enhancement in fisheries management. Fish and Fisheries.
Kim, J., Hodgdon, C., Evans, K. S., & Chen, Y. Spatial Dynamics of Maine Lobster Landings in a Changing Coastal System. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, 1171269.
Colle, B. A., Hathaway, J. R., Bojsza, E. J., Moses, J. M., Sanders, S. J., Rowan, K. E., … & Brennan, S. E. (2023). Risk Perception and Preparation for Storm Surge Flooding: A Virtual Workshop with Visualization and Stakeholder Interaction. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
Cerrato, R.M., M. Sclafani. 2023. Reef Benthic Fauna and Sediment Characterization. Marine Sciences Research Center Special Report No. 142, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 90 pp.
Czaja Jr, R., Pales-Espinosa, E., Cerrato, R. M., Lwiza, K., & Allam, B. (2023). Using meta-analysis to explore the roles of global upwelling exposure and experimental design in bivalve responses to low pH. Science of The Total Environment, 902, 165900.
Brianik, C. J., Bouallegui, Y., & Allam, B. (2023). Triploid animals, a potential model for ETosis research: Influence of polyploidy on the formation and efficacy of extracellular traps in the eastern oyster. Fish & Shellfish Immunology, 108992.
Nofal, O. M., Amini, K., Padgett, J. E., van de Lindt, J. W., Rosenheim, N., Darestani, Y. M., … Hamideh, S. … & Duenas-Osorio, L. (2023). Multi-hazard socio-physical resilience assessment of hurricane-induced hazards on coastal communities. Resilient Cities and Structures, 2(2), 67-81.
De Silva, D., & Gobler, C. J. Effects of the harmful alga Margalefidinium (aka Cochlodinium) polykrikoides on clearance rates of the hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, 1252540.
Shipley, O. N., McMeans, B. C., Besser, A. C., Bloomfield, E. J., & Newsome, S. D. Energy channelling, food chain length and body condition in a northern lake predator. Freshwater Biology.
Sobel, A. H., Lee, C. Y., Bowen, S. G., Camargo, S. J., Cane, M. A., Clement, A., … Reed, K. A. … & Tippett, M. K. (2023). Near-term tropical cyclone risk and coupled Earth system model biases. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(33), e2209631120.
Li, Y., Ma, J., Costigan, A., Yang, X., Pikitch, E. K., Chen, Y. (2023). Reconciling China’s domestic marine conservation agenda with the global 30 × 30 initiative. Marine Policy, Volume 156, 105790.
Lato, K. A., Fuirst, M., Veit, R. R., & Thorne, L. H. (2023). Peri‐urban systems alter trophic niche size and overlap in sympatric coastal bird species. Ecosphere, 14(8), e4643.
Hill, D. T., & Collins, M. B. (2023). Competition, Chromium, and Contracts: The Interaction Between Bidding Intensity and Toxic Waste Releases. Society & Natural Resources, 1-23.
Olin, J.A., Urakawa, H., Frisk, M.G., Newton, A.L., Manz, M., Fogg, M., McMullen, C., Crawford, L. and Shipley, O.N. (2023),DNA metabarcoding of cloacal swabs provides insight into diets of highly migratory sharks in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. J Fish Biol. Accepted Author Manuscript. https://doi.org/
Latest Press Headlines
Riverhead Local: Republican county legislators block November referendum on 1/8% sales tax hike to fund advanced septic systems and sewer expansion
- Legislators had the most questions for Stony Brook University Professor Christopher Gobler of the university’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and co-director for its Center for Clean Water Technology, who testified on the impacts of nitrogen pollution on groundwater, surface waters and human health.
Shelter Island Reporter: Police Dept: Algal blooms in creeks
- Last weekend, residents observed what they thought was a “brown tide” in the creeks.” Water Advisory Committee Chairman Peter Grand asked those on the committee and residents to document what they observed with a tool (see link below) created to track reports of waterways problems so they can be investigated by Christopher Gobler, Ph.D., co-Director for the Stony Brook Center for Clean Water Technology and a professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
Phys.org: DNA decodes the dining preferences of the shell-shelling whitespotted eagle ray
- “Understanding the dietary preferences of whitespotted eagle rays also can offer valuable insights into the toxin pathways in ecosystems such as the Indian River Lagoon in the face of harmful algal blooms,” said Brianna Cahill, corresponding author, an FAU Harbor Branch marine science and oceanography graduate, and a research technician at Stony Brook University. Also ran in Today’s Chronicle, Play Crazy Game, News Concerns and Crumpe.com.
Newsday: Charles Wurster, Stony Brook University professor, dies at 92
- That activism would continue when Dr. Wurster became a professor at Stony Brook University and, ultimately, a co-founder of the Environmental Defense Fund as it played a major role leading to the banning of DDT and related pesticides in 1972.
Untapped Cities: Sunken Ice Cream Trucks Were Used Create Artificial Reefs in NYC
- All of the artificial reefs in its jurisdiction are continuously monitored by the DEC through a variety of methods including underwater remote-operated vehicles, monitoring dives, aerial reef surveys of site usage, and many more. The DEC also partners with Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences to conduct further research.
New York Daily News: Tourniquet saved leg after woman bitten by shark at Rockaway Beach, first NYC attack in 70 years
- “Today it was really windy, the water was churned up. The water is probably a little more murky. That all adds to the potential of these bites happening,” said Christopher Paparo, manager of the marine lab at Stony Brook University. The southern coast of Long Island is an important habitat for many species of sharks, including sand tiger sharks, dusky sharks and sandbar sharks, according to Paparo.
ProPublica: The (Random) Forests for the Trees: How Our Spillover Model Works
- With the help of epidemiologists and forest-loss experts, along with one of ProPublica’s data science advisers, Heather Lynch, professor of ecology and evolution at Stony Brook University, we developed a machine-learning model designed to detect locations that bore striking similarity to places that had experienced outbreaks. Also ran in MSN.
Associated Press: Woman seriously injured by rare shark bite off NYC’s Rockaway Beach
- Christopher Paparo, the manager of Stony Brook University’s Marine Sciences Center, agreed the wound was “unlike anything we’ve been seeing.” Also ran in News12, The Columbian, Sky News and several others.
Vox: Why are sharks in New York biting people?
- Shark bites are, of course, frightening, but there’s actually a bit of good news behind the recent spate of attacks. A rise in bites typically points to a rise in sharks, and a rise in sharks indicates that the marine habitat is full of fish, i.e., shark food. “Sharks are a sign of a healthy ecosystem,” said Chris Paparo, a shark expert at Stony Brook University in Long Island. “I look at that as a sign of successful conservation.”
- One Long Island shark expert told the Daily News it was likely that the attack on Monday was the result of poor visibility in the water. ‘Today it was really windy, the water was churned up. The water is probably a little more murky. That all adds to the potential of these bites happening,’ said Christopher Paparo, manager of the marine lab at Stony Brook University. Also ran in Denver Gazette, Spokesman-Review and many others.
WPIX-TV: More sharks spotted nearby after attack at NYC beach
- Stony Brook University’s Christopher Paparo weighs in about shark behavior regarding this recent event.
The Register Herald/New York Daily News: Tourniquet saved leg after woman bitten by shark at Rockaway Beach, first NYC attack in 70 years
- “Today it was really windy, the water was churned up. The water is probably a little more murky. That all adds to the potential of these bites happening,” said Christopher Paparo, manager of the marine lab at Stony Brook University. Also ran in Hastings Tribune, Journal of Emergency Medical Services and others.
The Messenger: Cops Save NYC Shark-Attack Victim With Leg Tourniquet: Report
- Chris Paparo, the manager of Stony Brook University’s Southampton Marine Science Center on Long Island, blamed Monday’s attack on windy weather that “churned up” the water off Rockaway Beach and made it “a little more murky” than usual.
Science: As two landmark climate satellites go dark, NASA scales back their planned successor
- Even if NASA eliminates the high frequency, cloud-sensitive band, Pavlos Kollias, an atmospheric scientist at Stony Brook University, is hopeful that design tweaks can minimize the science loss. The team is pondering using a much larger deployable radar antenna, increasing its resolution, and new techniques will allow it to measure the total amount of water in the air below it much better than CloudSat, while also penetrating closer to the surface, Kollias says.
Jewish Voice: Shark Attack Leaves Woman with Major Injury at NY’s Rockaway Beach
- The increase in shark sightings has sparked concern, particularly as this summer on Long Island has seen a higher frequency of reported shark attacks. Experts, however, urge caution against unnecessary panic. The Post report noted that Bradley Peterson, a professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, emphasized that while there have been several incidents, no lives have been lost or limbs severely injured. He encouraged people to “step back a little from the hysteria.”
The Telegraph: ‘Extremely rare’ New York shark attack critically injures swimmer
- Experts say the increased number of sand tiger sharks is due to a number of factors, including improved water quality and thriving populations of the bunker fish that sharks feed on. Last year, researchers at Stony Brook University said the increased numbers were “a success story for conservation” and attributed the rise to ongoing work cleaning the water around Long Island. Also ran in MSN UK and UK Yahoo Finance.
The 1014: Shark Attacks Increase at New York Beaches
- Experts attribute the rise in shark populations to improved water quality and thriving numbers of the bunker fish, which sharks feed on. Stony Brook University researchers consider this an achievement in conservation. Additionally, authorities have been using drones to monitor and search for sharks, which has been somewhat successful. Drones spotted a group of sand tiger sharks swimming offshore on July 4, resulting in the closure of a popular beach.
Science Times: First in 65 Years Shark Attack in New York City’s Rockaway Beach: Victim Now in Stable Condition
- Shark expert Chris Paparo at Stony Brook University notes that sharks signify a healthy ecosystem and successful conservation efforts. Globally, shark and ray populations have plummeted by over 70% due to industrial fishing, which not only directly kills sharks but also depletes their food sources. However, along the Eastern Seaboard, fisheries have adopted protective measures to preserve declining shark populations and their prey, while New York has improved river cleanliness flowing into the ocean.
Newsday: Hurricane season for Atlantic now predicted to be more intense, with record warm seas, NOAA says
- Some variability in water temperature is to be expected and water temperature is not the only factor affecting storm development. But the correlation between increased temperature and more frequent and higher energy storms is powerful, said Kevin Reed, Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
Inside Climate News: NOAA Adjusts Hurricane Season Prediction to ‘Above-Normal’
- Researchers at Stony Brook University in New York and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California concluded that climate change increased Ian’s rainfall rates by more than 10 percent. Some areas were hammered by more than 20 inches of rain. Hurricane Fiona, another September storm, caused devastating flooding in Puerto Rico. Also ran in Hero Magazine.
The U.S. Sun: Scientist explains surge in shark sightings after spate of maulings as attacks hit record high
- “Sharks are a sign of a healthy ecosystem,” said Chris Paparo, a shark expert at Stony Brook University in Long Island.
NBC New York: Drones to fly rest of summer over NYC beaches after serious shark bite, first in decades (not on the video)
- Most reported bites in New York waters involve smaller sharks mistaking a person’s ankle or lower leg for a fish, leaving behind minor grazing marks or puncture wounds. In recent years, New York has seen an uptick in those types of shark encounters, though none of the resulting injuries were considered serious. “This is something qualitatively different,” Naylor said. Christopher Paparo, the manager of Stony Brook University’s Marine Sciences Center, agreed the wound was “unlike anything we’ve been seeing.” Also ran in Bulletin Reporter.
The US Sun: Shark drone patrols could close New York beaches after woman is seriously injured in rare attack
- The manager of Stony Brook University’s Marine Sciences Center, Christopher Paparo said that her wound was “unlike anything we’ve been seeing.” Also ran in Techno Trenz.
Vox/GNN: New York’s shark-infested waters are a good thing. Yes, really.
- Shark bites are, of course, frightening, but there’s actually a bit of good news behind the recent spate of attacks. A rise in bites typically points to a rise in sharks, and a rise in sharks indicates that the marine habitat is full of fish, i.e., shark food. “Sharks are a sign of a healthy ecosystem,” said Chris Paparo, a shark expert at Stony Brook University in Long Island. “I look at that as a sign of successful conservation.”
The Guardian: It’s the ‘Swiss army knife of the sea’. But can kelp survive rising marine heat?
- “Over the last 30 or 40 years, we’ve seen a pretty big decline in the kelp populations around Long Island. In large part, that’s due to climate change and water temperatures increasing,” said Michael Doall, a former oyster farmer and marine scientist at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences. Also ran in MSN, Yahoo News and others.
Times Beacon Record: SBU’s John Mak helps prove how sea spray and Saharan dust remove methane
- Recently, John E. Mak, a Professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University worked with an international group of scientists to demonstrate a process that removes methane from the atmosphere. Also ran in Latest Finance News.
Inside Climate News: NOAA Adjusts Hurricane Season Prediction to ‘Above-Normal’
- Researchers at Stony Brook University in New York and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California concluded that climate change increased Ian’s rainfall rates by more than 10 percent. Some areas were hammered by more than 20 inches of rain. Hurricane Fiona, another September storm, caused devastating flooding in Puerto Rico. Also ran in Ars Technica, Crumpe.com and others.
East Hampton Star: Satisfy Your Curiosity About Sharks
- On Wednesday at 2 p.m., field researchers will present their recent work and take questions from guests. They will also talk about their affiliation with Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, with which they are evaluating the impact of undersea wind-farm power transmission cables on shark populations.
Times Beacon Record: Long Island scientists seek horseshoe crab answers
- “One of the things we’re trying to do is look at spawning in a more comprehensive way,” said Robert Cerrato, a professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. “We’re trying to figure out if there are specific things that [horseshoe crabs] are responding to” when they come up on the beach to lay their eggs.
Newsday: Maui wildfires show again that we need better alerts for extreme weather
- This guest essay reflects the views of Richard Murdocco, adjunct professor of environmental policy and planning at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and the Public Policy Graduate Program at Stony Brook University.
Bloomberg: One Nassau County Has a Housing Crisis, the Other Nassau County Has a Solution
- “It’s hard to find people my age on Long Island,” Jason Mueller says. He’d like to stay when he completes a graduate marine sciences program at Stony Brook University at the end of the year, but local rents look out of reach even if he and his partner, a library student, get good jobs. Also ran in Verified News Explorer (no paywall).
Forbes: Could Heavy Rainfall From A Storm Like Hilary Trigger An Earthquake?
- Researchers at Stony Brook University have also weighed in on the topic. The USGS site goes on to note, “Using computer models, they demonstrated that annual variations in stress on California’s faults are larger during years of unusually heavy precipitation or drought.” That 2021 study focused on California, but another 2021 study also found correlations between rainfall and earthquakes in China. Also ran in Crast and Tech Codex.
Yahoo News: Tropical Storm Hilary hammers California with ‘life-threatening’ floods causing 911 outage
- Dr Marshall Sheperd, the director of the University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences Programme, writes in Forbes that a Stony Brook University study demonstrates that stress on California’s famed fault lines is higher in years with more rainfall. Also ran on London News Station and Henry Clubs.
The Statesman (India): Is it a hurriquake? Earthquake hits California as Hilary strikes
- In an article for Forbes on the subject on Sunday, Dr. Marshall Sheperd—a specialist in weather and climate who also serves as the director of the University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences Program—mentioned a Stony Brook University study that used computer modeling to demonstrate that stress on California’s famed fault lines is higher in years with more rainfall. Also ran in AL.com.
The Week: A summer of shark attacks
- The Cape is now home to a booming population of seals and some 800 great whites, one of the world’s largest populations. “Sharks are a sign of a healthy ecosystem,” said Chris Paparo, a shark expert at Stony Brook University in Long Island. Some scientists believe global warming is also pushing more sharks to Northeastern waters. Also ran in Yahoo News and USA News Hub.
- One Long Island shark expert told the Daily News it was likely the attack on Monday was the result of poor visibility in the water. ‘Today it was really windy, the water was churned up. The water is probably a little more murky. That all adds to the potential of these bites happening,’ said Christopher Paparo, manager of the marine lab at Stony Brook University. Also ran in NY Breaking, Daily UK News and several others.
Times Beacon Record: Suffolk County’s bus system, a need to resolve the density-population challenge
- Richard Murdocco is an adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science at Stony Brook University. He noted the vital need the county’s bus system fulfills, particularly for vulnerable populations. “Socially, it’s a service,” he said. “If people are taking the bus in Suffolk County, there’s a reason why,” as bus riders are often “the most vulnerable, and they need and rely on the bus system. It’s a public good.” Murdocco considered mass transit in general as “a financial loser.” The bus system itself, he added, operates at a perpetual loss, requiring considerable subsidization. Hahn supported this assessment.
The Island 360: NY Islander Bowie Horvat, Plandome Manor sued over landfill decision
- Inside the lawsuit application are exhibits featuring saturated dry wells, laboratory testing of dry well water and the surrounding soil, rainfall totals and drainage of silt, groundwater table water level charts and a presentation by Christopher J. Gobler, PhD. Gobler holds the title of chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation, director of New York State Center for Clean Water Technology, and is a professor at Stony Brook University in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
Military & Aerospace Electronics: Ball Aerospace tapped to design NCAR’s next-gen weather radar antennas
- In addition to Ball Aerospace and NCAR, the APAR team includes the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Colorado State University, State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook, University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Oklahoma.
Newsday: What to know about the rare flesh-eating bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, in coastal waters
- “There is a mantra in microbiology: Everything is everywhere, and the environment selects,” said Christopher Gobler, a professor at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and director of the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology. “This microbe is lingering in the background, and coming to prominence when water temperatures rise. The organism also prefers brackish water.”
Daily Mail: Rare ‘cookies and cream’ penguin is spotted in Antarctica
- Despite its unique coloring the melanistic Gentoo penguin likely doesn’t face increased predation risk according to Professor Heather Lynch from Stony Brook University.
- However, Professor Heather Lynch, an ecologist at Stony Brook University in New York, doesn’t think this cookies and cream bird is at more risk of predation because of its genetic condition.
- Although some believe the melanistic penguin could be more vulnerable to predation, Professor Heather Lynch from Stony Brook University disagrees. While penguin coloration assists in predator evasion, she does not believe that this specific penguin faces elevated risks due to its genetic condition.
TDPel Media: Black ‘Cookies and Cream’ Penguin Spotted in Antarctica: A Rare Genetic Trait
- Professor Heather Lynch, an ecologist at Stony Brook University, points out that penguin coloration serves as a long-term evolutionary strategy to evade predators.
Spectrum News 1 (Ohio): Storms and shakes: Can strong tropical systems trigger earthquakes?
- The USGS gives credit research done from Stony Brook University that specifically compared ground changes in expansion and contraction with precipitation patterns in California.
Ledger-Enquirer: Tropical Storm Idalia can spin faster because of climate change. How will it impact Columbus?
- Last year, atmospheric scientist Kevin Reed at Stony Brook University prepared a study immediately after Hurricane Ian and found there was 10% more rain because of climate change. Also ran in Yahoo News.
CNET: Puerto Rico’s Solar Revolution: What We Can Learn From the Island’s Energy Crisis
- Climate change is making hurricanes more extreme and destructive. Scientists at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences found that, from 1850 to 2020, human-generated greenhouse gasses led to an increase of more than 1 degree Celsius in the global average surface temperature. Also ran in MSN, My Droll and Verified News Explorer.
USA News Hub: Hurricane Idalia’s path goes through hot waters in the Gulf of Mexico. That’s concerning.
- For every 1.8 degrees of warming, a 7% increase is expected in hurricane rainfall rates. A study by researchers at Stony Brook University last year concluded that without climate change Hurricane Ian would have produced 10% less rainfall.
USA Today: Hurricane Idalia’s path goes through hot waters in the Gulf of Mexico. That’s concerning.
- For every 1.8 degrees of warming, a 7% increase is expected in hurricane rainfall rates. A study by researchers at Stony Brook University last year concluded that without climate change, Hurricane Ian would have produced 10% less rainfall. Also ran in AOL News, Yahoo News and others.
WSHU-FM/NPR: Shinnecock Nation advocates for voice in wind energy conversations
- A community host agreement was then signed that promises Sunrise Wind will invest $700 million in Suffolk County over a 25-year project life. This includes $10 million for a National Offshore Wind Training Center in Brentwood, $5 million for a research and development partnership with Stony Brook University and hundreds of union construction jobs to build an 18-mile underground transmission cable and facilities.
Reuters: How climate change is fueling hurricanes (syndicated)
- Worldwide surface ocean temperatures have been exceedingly warm this year, leading scientists to project a more dangerous storm season than originally predicted – specifically in the U.S. – where Hurricane Idalia slammed Florida’s Gulf Coast. While scientists have not yet determined how or whether climate change is influencing a storm’s strength or behavior, there is strong evidence that these devastating storms are getting worse. Also ran in Yahoo News.
WENY-TV: Supermoon impacts on tides
- ‘Tides depend on gravitational attraction between the earth and the moon. The closer they are, the stronger the force,” said Professor Kamazima Lwiza from the Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Department at Stony Brook University. ”The supermoon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest to the earth. The distance from the earth to the moon is very close,” said Professor Lwiza. Professor Lwiza noted that the combined effect of Hurricane Idalia pushing water up the coast, combined with the close proximity of the full moon pulling water up the coast, causes a bigger storm surge. He added a similar situation happened with Super Storm Sandy back in 2012.
