Photo above: Scuba divers exploring the ocean in Tropical Marine Ecology.
Eighteen Seawolves headed south to the Discovery Bay Marine Lab in Jamaica for the 2025 edition of Tropical Marine Ecology (MAR 388 / 537), a study abroad course taught by Drs. Joe Warren and Brad Peterson. The students quickly adapted to the non-freezing temperatures, furiously prepared for their exams, and dove into their research projects. You can check out their adventures through the course blog https://you.stonybrook.edu/tropical or by following the class Instagram account: @tropical.stonybrook.
Congratulations to Steve Abrams, the curator of the Flax Pond Marine Lab, on his retirement! SoMAS celebrated Steve at an event on January 23.
Dr. Hendrik Hamann has joined SoMAS as a Professor in our Atmospheric Sciences Division. Hendrik’s current research interests are focused on computing and AI for climate and sustainability. This includes big data technologies, high performance computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), physical modeling, sensor networks, Internet of Things (IoT), geoinformatics and remote sensing.
Dr. Oliver Shipley, and co-PIs Dr. Yong Chen and Dr. Greg Henkes have received an OVPR seed grant, in the amount $80,000, for the project period 1/1/25 – 12/31/26, in support of the project “Assessing ecosystem responses of the Hudson River Estuary, New York, to historical climate change through compound-specific isotope analysis and archival collections accessibility”
Abstract. Over the last century, the Hudson River Estuary (HRE) and waterways surrounding New York City have undergone profound biological, chemical, and physical changes due to the expansion of human land use and global climate change. Historical environmental monitoring has revealed long-term changes to ambient water temperatures, expanding hypoxia, and increased sea level rise. However, historical reconstructions linking bioessential element cycling in the estuary (e.g., carbon and nitrogen “biogeochemistry”), ecosystem structure (i.e., productivity regimes and species interactions), and productivity of key fisheries species have yet to be undertaken. The Hudson River Biological Monitoring Program (HRBMP) remains one of the longest-running fish monitoring programs in the United States (1974 – 2017) and houses a rich archive (> 50 million) of biological samples now curated by Stony Brook University. The biochemical composition of these specimens promises to yield diagnostic data pertaining to past biogeochemical and ecological regimes. When combined with the HRBMP’s wealth of historical environmental water quality surveys, fisheries indices, and biodiversity data, this offers a rare opportunity to reconstruct the historical drivers and consequences of ecosystem change. Using compound-specific isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen preserved within amino acids, the proposed work aims to reconstruct historical biogeochemistry and ecosystem structure of the HRE. Specifically, we aim to optimize sampling and analytical strategies to generate a series of pilot datasets from formalin-fixed specimens and archived fish scales, while also enhancing cyberinfrastructure associated with biological sample records. Data will support two collaborative research proposals to the National Science Foundation’s Organismal Response to Climate Change (NSF-23-622) and Infrastructure Capacity for Biological Collections (NSF-23-580) solicitations. The proposed work directly supports several Climate Change Tiger Teams Initiatives including Community and Ecosystem Resilience and The Warming Oceans, Modeling the Climate, and Effects of Climate Change, unlocking one of New York’s most diverse and valuable biological archives.
SBU News Features
- Stony Brook Places Second in New York Climate Exchange ‘AI Innovation Challenge’
- A team of students from Stony Brook University placed second in the first-ever New York Climate Exchange (NYCE) AI Innovation Challenge, where teams from eight universities presented cutting-edge solutions to stormwater management challenges faced by New York City. The team, composed of graduate students Caroline Fabian, Nathan Hirtle, Ian Maywar and Harmanveer Singh, created an app called eFlood, which leverages artificial intelligence to help residents find safe and efficient routes to their destination during a flood.
- Seven Stony Brook University Faculty Mentor Regeneron STS Scholars
- Eight high school students from across the country who worked with seven Stony Brook University faculty mentors have been named among the top 300 scholars in the 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search (Regeneron STS) competition. Brian Colle, professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, worked with Dean Chen, Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, New York, on “Improving the Precipitation Distribution Around Synthetic Tropical Cyclone Tracks Using Radar, P-CLIPER Precipitation Model and Deep Learning.”
- The New York Climate Exchange Seeks SBU Experts for First Climate Summit
- Stony Brook University faculty, staff, and students are invited to help guide the conversation and present their research and ideas at the inaugural Climate Solutions Summit NYC hosted this spring by The New York Climate Exchange.
- Five SoMAS Research Projects Receive Funding from New York Sea Grant
- New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has awarded approximately $2.15 million to support 10 research projects — five of which are based at Stony Brook University — that will directly address multiple high-priority community, economic and environmental objectives.
- Collaborative for the Earth Releases Second Season of Podcast
- The Collaborative for the Earth (C4E) will release a second season of its podcast, “C4E Presents,” to harness these conversations with Stony Brook researchers and scholars who are working to address changes in the environment locally and globally.
Latest Videos
- Gyuwon Lee, TAOS 2025-01-22 “Two processes of ice generation in different temperature range: Lesson learned from the field experiments.
- Sun-Young Park, TAOS 2025-01-29 “Enhancing Ice-Phase Microphysical Processes in Bulk Cloud Microphysics Schemes for Numerical Weather (NWP) Models“
- Rebecca Todd, OSAC 2025-01-31 “Sturgeon, Sea Lamprey, and E. coli: Citizen Science and the Connecticut River Conservancy“
Latest Publications
Cerrato, R. M., Flood, R. D., Bopp, J., & Bokuniewicz, H. J. (2024). Extent of Benthic Habitat Disturbance by Offshore Infrastructure. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 12(12), 2142.
Haliczer, D. T., Mecikalski, J. R., & Kollias, P. (2025). Use of satellite, surface observations and numerical weather prediction model data to improve cloud base height and cloud base vertical velocity estimation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130(1), e2024JD041853.
Yin, J., Xue, Y., Li, Y., Zhang, C., Xu, B., Ren, Y., & Chen, Y. (2025). Efficacy of fisheries management strategies in mitigating ecological, social, and economic risks of climate warming in China. Journal of Environmental Management, 373, 123859.
Schmidt, C. E., Pröfrock, D., Steinhoefel, G., Stichel, T., Mears, C., Wehrmann, L. M., & Thomas, H. (2025). The contrasting role of marine‐and land‐terminating glaciers on biogeochemical cycles in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 39(1), e2023GB008087.
Oue, M., Ryzhkov, A. V., Matrosov, S. Y., Bukovčić, P., & Kollias, P. (2025). Estimating ice water content for winter storms from millimeter-wavelength radar measurements using a synthesis of polarimetric and dual-frequency radar observations. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 42(1), 75-90.
Yang, X., Wo, J., Keiling, T., & Chen, Y. (2025). Unraveling drivers and patterns of species richness in coastal marine ecosystem under global warming: Insights from ecosystem connectivity. Ecological Indicators, 170, 113093.
Ingram, E. C., Altenritter, M. E., Wilson, K., Frisk, M. G., & McCartin, K. R. (2025). Telemetry-validation of dorsal scute microchemistry: complementary tools reconstruct the migratory life-history of an endangered population of Atlantic Sturgeon. bioRxiv, 2025-01.
Carissimo, A., Comes, V., Heussner, A., Prime, A. H., Price, R. E., ERAUSO, G., … & Pillot, G. Enrichment of electrotrophic microorganisms from contrasting shallow-sea hydrothermal environments in bioelectrochemical reactors. Frontiers in Microbiology, 16, 1539608.
Gonzalez, S. T., Li, Y., Aydlett, M., Bailey, D., Kerr, H., Doall, M., Gobler, C.J., … & Lindell, S. (2025). Evaluation of six sugar kelp crosses selected for high yield at three Northeastern US farms. Aquaculture, 742191.
Wethington, M. J., Şen, B., & Lynch, H. J. (2024). Predicting pack-ice seal occupancy of ice floes along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. PloS one, 19(12), e0311747.
Motlagh, F., & Hamideh, S. (2025). A Decision Framework for Equitable Use of Federal Funds for Voluntary Buyout Programs. Sustainability, 17(3), 966.
Pfitzenmaier, L., Kollias, P., Risse, N., Schirmacher, I., Puigdomenech Treserras, B., & Lamer, K. (2025). Orbital-Radar v1. 0.0: a tool to transform suborbital radar observations to synthetic EarthCARE cloud radar data. Geoscientific Model Development, 18(1), 101-115.
Latest Press Headlines
Newsday: Long Island business groups conduct survey to highlight local issues for developers
- By polling developers, the groups are taking a “builder-centric” approach to addressing housing affordability, an effort that could benefit from other perspectives, said Richard Murdocco, an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University who teaches courses on economic development and planning. However, he acknowledged these groups are stepping in to produce data that local governments have not collected.
Newsday: Islip earmarks more funding to address flooding on Eaton Lane in West Islip
- Ali Farhadzadeh, a Stony Brook University professor and coastal engineer, said he can’t comment on specific projects in Islip, but they may have cost more than expected, he said, due to inflation and increasingly rigorous design criteria for flood mitigation as storms “become more intensified and more frequent.”
Times Beacon Record: 2024 climate data reveals record highs in Suffolk County
- Dr. Elizabeth Watson, an associate professor at Stony Brook University’s Department of Ecology and Evolution, specializes in climate change and its effects on coastal environments. According to Watson, global warming is generally felt more intensely in the winter months. As greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane continue to trap heat within our atmosphere, the Earth isn’t releasing heat as rapidly as it has in the past.
KFDA-TV: ENMU to host public seminar on shark research, conservation this Thursday
- A team of experts will share their research on sharks and conservation efforts during a public seminar this week at Eastern New Mexico University. The university says the following experts will share their findings on shark biology, tagging, and conservation efforts: Dr. Bradley Peterson, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences of Stony Brook University
South Shore Press: Stony Brook University joins inaugural Climate Solutions Summit NYC
- Stony Brook University is preparing to participate in the inaugural Climate Solutions Summit NYC, organized by The New York Climate Exchange. This event, set for April 23-24 on Governors Island, invites university faculty, staff, and students to contribute their research and ideas.
