October 2025 News and Press from SoMAS

Nov 2, 2025

Photo above: Thank you to everyone who joined us for the SoMAS Open Mike Night at Okubofest! In case you missed it, the video is available on the SoMAS YouTube channel.

The Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences is accepting applications for an Assistant or Associate Professor in Marine Molecular Ecology. Help us spread the word so we can find a great candidate! https://apply.interfolio.com/174869

 

Congratulations to the 2025 Evan R. Liblit Scholarship Award winners, made in memory of Evan Liblit “for their excellence and continued support as graduate/undergraduate students of recycling in New York State”. This year’s awards go to:

  • Sophia Dimont and Akshay Illiparambil, Undergraduate Student Awardees
  • Sameena Manzur, Graduate Student Award:
  • Grace Nelson, Marine Conservation and Policy Student Award

 

 

In case you missed it, a recent big success in SoMAS is the execution of a large airborne field campaign, the Greater New York Oxidant, Trace Gas, Halogen, and Aerosol Airborne Measurements (GOTHAAM) campaign, involving the NSF NCAR C-130 aircraft. Researchers John E. Mak, Daniel Knopf and Paul Shepson from Stony Brook (lead institution), Colorado State University, U. of Washington, U. Michigan, U. Colorado, UC Irvine, NASA, U. Maryland, U. Wisconsin, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research flew over 120 hours in and around New York City, including all five boroughs, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, the Atlantic, and Long Island. The scientists made comprehensive, state-of-the-art measurements of airborne chemical species around the clock, to better understand air quality and how respiratory toxins that negatively impact human health are produced and processed in the air around New York City. The knowledge gleaned from this project will help improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers and will be applicable to other major metropolitan regions around the world. This remarkable mission occurred between July 15 and Aug. 31 and was carried out flawlessly by the scientists and the crew that supports the C-130 research airplane. Said John Mak, the Chief Scientist for the campaign, “Everything lined up: the aircraft, the weather, the instrumentation, and most importantly, the performance of every individual. I couldn’t be more pleased with the dedication, professionalism, and overall success of GOTHAAM. This is field science at its best.” This project was supported by the US National Science Foundation. Check out this highlight video from NCAR and visit the GOTHAAM website to learn more.

 

SBU News Features

Latest Videos

 

Latest Publications

Montello, M., McFarlane, W., Rickard, M., & Warren, J. (2024). Pinnipeds in New York (1996–2021) are stranding less frequently but human interaction cases are increasing. NAMMCO Scientific Publications, 14.

Kanaya, Y., Sommariva, R., Saiz-Lopez, A., Mazzeo, A., Koenig, T. K., Kawana, K., …, Shepson, P. B. … & Schultz, M. G. (2025). Observational ozone datasets over the global oceans and polar regions (version 2024). Earth System Science Data, 17(9), 4901-4932.

Ghanadi, M., Caubrière, L., Kah, M., & Padhye, L. P. (2025). Tire-Wear Particles and Tire-Related Emerging Contaminants: Characteristics, Occurrence, and Toxicity in the Environment. Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health, 100666.

Franklin, E. B., Rossell, R. K., Vermeuel, M. P., De Groodt, A., Richard, K., Yee, L. D., … Mak, J. E. … & Farmer, D. K. (2025). Emerging drivers of urban aerosol increase global change vulnerability in a US megacity. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 8(1), 333.

Coppola, M., Battaglia, A., Tridon, F., & Kollias, P. (2025). Improved hydrometeor detection near the Earth’s surface by a conically scanning spaceborne W-band radar. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 18(19), 5071-5085.

Medina Faull, L. E., Taylor, G. T., & Beaupré, S. R. (2025). Microplastic contaminants potentially distort our understanding of the ocean’s carbon cycle. PLoS One, 20(10), e0334546.

Sun, Y., Fridlind, A. M., Silber, I., Riemer, N., & Knopf, D. A. (2025). Prognostic simulations of mixed-phase clouds with model 1D-AC v1. 0: The impact of freezing parameterizations on ice crystal budgets. EGUsphere, 2025, 1-48.

Calvillo Solís, J. J., Favela Robledo, R. R., Sandoval-Pauker, C., Yin, S., Galicia, M., Padhye, L. P., … & Villagrán, D. (2025). Electrochemical Reduction of PFOA in Organic Media: A Step toward Environmental Remediation. ACS Electrochemistry.

Agrawal, N., & Colle, B. A. (2025). Using a Convolution Neural Network to Improve Ensemble Tropical Cyclone Track Forecasts across the Atlantic Basin. Weather and Forecasting, 40(10), 2137-2146.

Yurk, N. Y., Lebsock, M. D., Socuellamos, J. M., Rodriguez Monje, R., Cooper, K. B., & Kollias, P. (2025). Vertical wind and drop size distribution retrieval with the cloudcube G-band Doppler radar. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 18(19), 5141-5155.

Nicoll, A., Dunton, K., Ingram, E., Zacharias, J., Cerrato, R., & Frisk, M. (2025). Investigating the plasticity of Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus migration timing in a changing climate. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 770, 143-154.

Gallagher, K., Baumgartner, M., Kohut, J., Miles, T., Flagg, C., McSweeney, J., Warren, J., & Thorne, L. (2025). Passive acoustic monitoring of baleen whales using autonomous gliders in relation to offshore wind energy areas in the New York Bight. Endangered Species Research, 58, 257-273.

Clay, T. A., Carroll, G., Cimino, M. A., Miksis-Olds, J. L., Kowarski, K., Lyons, A. P., …, Warren, J. D., & Hazen, E. L. (2025). Environmental drivers of foraging by deep-diving cetaceans: Roles of mesoscale oceanography and light-driven cycles. Progress in Oceanography, 103581.

Ren, J., Wang, S., Chen, Y., Zhang, T., Zhuang, P., & Zhao, F. (2025). Cross‐Scale Anthropogenic Threats Jointly Drive Declines in China’s Estuarine Fish Assemblages Over the Past Half‐Century. Global Change Biology, 31(10), e70566.

Yang, K., Wang, Z., & Deng, M. (2025). Annual Cycle of Tropical Convective Clouds from 20-Year MODIS Observations with an Improved Convective Cloud Detection. Journal of Climate, 38(21), 6351-6381.

Jimenez, C., Ansmann, A., Ohneiser, K., Griesche, H., Engelmann, R., Radenz, M., …, Knopf, D. A., … & Wandinger, U. (2025). MOSAiC studies of long-lasting mixed-phase cloud events and analysis of the liquid-phase properties of Arctic clouds. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 25(20), 12955-12981.

 

Latest Press Headlines

New Hampshire Public Radio: Dolphin sightings off the Fairfield coast signal restoration progress, changing climate, experts say

  • Lesley Thorne is an associate professor and associate dean of research at The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York. Thorne concluded the animals described by Taylor were bottlenose dolphins, based on their snouts and the shape of their fins. Thorne said the dolphins are increasingly showing up to the region as a result of rising water temperatures.

Newsday: Oysters placed into safe harbors in effort to replenish their numbers

  • Adelphi and Stony Brook universities conducted studies examining oyster settlement patterns, water flow and other factors that can affect the success of oyster spawns. “It’s wonderful that as you see this program grow, now there’s other sanctuary spots,” Kulhanek-Pereira said.

Earth.com: This popular product in the U.S. has been recalled due to possible radiation exposure

  • Nicholas S. Fisher from Stony Brook University, is a marine radioecologist whose work on radionuclides in seafood helps put these events in scientific context. His field focuses on how radioactive elements move through ocean food webs and what that means for consumers.

The Indian Express: Wildfire smoke will kill thousands more by 2050, study finds

  • “Where fire happens is kind of a random process,” said Minghao Qiu, an assistant professor of atmospheric science and public health at Stony Brook University who led the study. But he added that “super clear patterns” emerge at the regional level.

Live Science: Wildfire-smoke-related deaths in the US could climb to 70,000 per year by 2050 due to climate change, study finds

  • “What we see, and this is consistent with what others find, is a nationwide increase in wildfire smoke,” study lead author Minghao Qiu, an assistant professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, said in the statement. “There are larger increases on the West Coast, but there’s also long-range transport of wildfire smoke across the country, including massive recent smoke events in the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. from Canadian fires,” said Qiu, who worked on this analysis as a postdoctoral researcher in Burke’s lab. (Also in American Talk, Yahoo)

Memesita: Wildfire Smoke Deaths: Study Projects 70,000 Annual U.S. Deaths by 2050

  • Okay, let’s be blunt: the air we’re breathing is getting a whole lot smokier, and it’s not a pleasant change. A new study out of Harvard and Stony Brook is dropping a serious bombshell – by 2050, wildfire smoke could be responsible for a staggering 70,000 annual deaths in the United States. That’s more than the current death toll from opioids, folks. And the really unsettling part? It’s not just concentrated in California anymore.

World Today News: Wildfire Smoke Deaths Could Cost U.S. Economy Billions by 2050

  • The research, led⁤ by scientists from Harvard University and Stony Brook University, analyzed past ⁢mortality and smoke concentration data to model the impact of increased wildfire smoke​ exposure on human health.‍ The study highlights the ⁢increasing prevalence of long-range transport of wildfire smoke, with recent “massive smoke‍ events” impacting the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. from Canadian fires.

The Independent: Jane Goodall by her friends: ‘She was a much more complex character than most people might give her credit for’

  • Dino J. Martins, evolutionary biologist and professor at Stony Brook University, recalls a rather more unnerving moment when he was trying to find Goodall in the bush, when she was left on a remote airstrip in Kenya. “At the last minute, the airstrip was changed to drop her off, so I had to drive 20km cross country and couldn’t get there in time to meet her. Eventually when I arrived at the airstrip in the middle of nowhere – beautiful, rolling savannah – there was no Jane. Walking along the airstrip wondering how I was going to find her, I suddenly came upon her lying down flat in the long grass with her arms spread out, looking up at the sky, totally at peace, happy and just celebrating being in that landscape. And then off we went immediately to visit five rural schools.”

AP: Rising vessel traffic fuels humpback mortalities in New York waters

  • A 2024 study headed by Lesley Thorne, the dean of research at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, pointed to post-pandemic shifts in trade routes favoring the East to the West Coast and new transits along coastal routes adjacent to PANYNJ as the driving factors behind this surge. (Also in Miles City Star, Culpepper Star-Exponent, and 17 other publications)

Tempo: Annual Death Toll from US Wildfire Smoke Could Climb to 70,000 by 2050, New Study SaysAnnual Death Toll from US Wildfire Smoke Could Climb to 70,000 by 2050, New Study Says

  • Minghao Qiu, an assistant professor at Stony Brook University, said the climate models currently used for policy-making do not account for the impact of wildfire smoke on human deaths, despite its very real threat to healthcare and its effect on mortality rates. “It’s like leaving the main character out of a movie,” Minghao said.

Mongabay: Wildfire smoke could kill 71,000 people per year in the US by 2050, study warns

  • “Wildfire smoke was not really on people’s radar before 2018 or 2020, and it was not on Northeastern people’s radar before 2023 when Canadian wildfire smoke came,” said Minghao Qiu, lead author and assistant professor at Stony Brook University.

ZME Science: Wildfire Smoke Could Kill 71,000 Americans Every Year by 2050 and Most of Them Won’t Live Anywhere Near Fires

  • “Wildfire smoke was not really on people’s radar before 2018 or 2020, and it was not on Northeastern people’s radar before 2023 when Canadian wildfire smoke came,” said Minghao Qiu, lead author and assistant professor at Stony Brook University.

Innovosource: Stony Brook University awards $1.2M in seed grants to boost early-stage research

  • The Office for Research and Innovation at Stony Brook University has announced the recipients of its 2025 OVPR Seed Grant Program. In this 11th cycle, a total of $1.2 million was awarded to 22 faculty-led research projects, marking the highest amount distributed in a single round since the program began.

Times Beacon Record: SBU’s Minghao Qiu forecasts 73 percent increase in wildfire smoke deaths by 2050

  • Wildfire smoke could kill as many as 71,000 people per year in the United States by 2050, according to a new study published in the journal Nature. Leading a team of scientists from several institutions, Minghao Qiu, who is an assistant professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and the Program in Public Health at Stony Brook University, combined historical data from wildfires with statistical models and machine learning to come up with an estimated annual mortality figure that is 73 percent above the number of deaths from wildfires from 2011 to 2020.

National Fisherman: NY fishermen say horseshoe crab management is working

  • Data collected by DEC, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and Stony Brook University show that horseshoe crab abundance in New York waters is stable and improving. Thirty monitoring sites across the New York Marine and Coastal District track spawning activity each year. Virtually all indices are trending in a positive direction, clear evidence that the conservation measures enacted in 2020 and expanded in 2025 are working as intended.

KPBS: Researchers link wildfire smoke to hundreds of excess deaths each year in San Diego County by 2050

  • Gould, Burke and other researchers from Stony Brook University, Stanford University, the University of Washington, Princeton University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration developed the report.

Long Island Press: ‘Shellfish sanctuaries’ now in place to assist clam, oyster populations

  • “These changes represent an important investment in the future of our harbors. By protecting critical habitats today, we are ensuring a healthy, sustainable resource for the community tomorrow,” said Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino. Suter said the groups also worked with scientists from Adelphi University and Stony Brook University, which had researched the best place for sanctuaries in the bay based on factors like water flow.

Yahoo News/TCD: Researchers raise red flags after concerning string of whale deaths off US coast: ‘It is this perfect storm of events’

  • “It is this perfect storm of events,” marine scientist Lesley Thorne of Stony Brook University told the Guardian, pointing to warming waters, shifting food supplies, and recovering whale populations converging in one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors.

Mongabay: Radar study shows when offshore turbines pose greatest risks to migrating birds

  • “We hope in the future, if offshore wind begins to materialize over time — I know there’s a bit of a pause on that right now — but even things like oil and gas and offshore flaring, [we’re] hoping that these numbers can be used to provide some guidance in terms of mitigation,” Shannon Curley, a movement ecologist and lead author of the study, told Mongabay. (Curley is an adjunct lecturer at Stony Brook University but undertook this work as part of a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University; both universities are in New York state in the U.S.)

Mirage: Marine Predators Face Uneven Nutritional Rewards

  • “We were surprised by how much variation there was within a single species,” said Nehasil, now a postdoctoral researcher at Stony Brook University. “You could have two fish side-by-side that are the same size but have a huge range of variation in the amount of energy they provide. In some cases, predators would need to consume tens of thousands of the smaller, lower-quality fish to survive, and that’s just not possible.”

Long Island Life & Politics: Report: Suffolk Hit with Most Severe Weather Events

  • Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences has found that Long Island’s geography makes it particularly vulnerable to storm surges and high winds. Some of the highest elevation areas of the Island are found to be relatively safe, while the low-lying coastal towns face “extreme risk.” This risk analysis is borne out by NOAA Storm Data and data on payments from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The Statesman: Shinnecock Kelp Farmers discuss Indigenous-led climate solutions at SBU

  • Danielle Hopson Begun and Donna Collins-Smith are members of the Shinnecock Kelp Farmers Collective, a multi-generational group of six Indigenous women enrolled in the Shinnecock Indian Nation. They recently hosted a talk at Stony Brook University titled “From Seaweed to Sovereignty: Shinnecock Kelp Farmers and Indigenous-Led Climate Solutions.”

Ocean Elders: Ecologist and Author Carl Safina joins Dive In with Liz and Sylvia

  • Carl Safina is an ecologist and award-winning author of nonfiction books and other writings about the human relationship with the natural world. His books include Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe, Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace; Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel; Song for the Blue Ocean; Eye of the Albatross; The View From Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World; and others. He is the founding president of the Safina Center and is the inaugural holder of the Carl Safina Endowed Chair for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University.

Nature: Wildfire smoke and its harmful effects will worsen with climate change

  • Notably, our projections for smoke and mortality burden were estimated under a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario, in which no further risk-reducing actions are taken. Many such actions exist, including expanded use of fuel management to reduce fire risk, and/or use of improved indoor filtration. Understanding how well these interventions work, and how they can be cost-effectively scaled, is a crucial research priority. — Minghao Qiu is at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA, and Marshall Burke is at Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.

Newsday: $300G earmarked for ‘lake keeper’ at Lake Ronkonkoma

  • Suffolk County officials on Wednesday announced Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences under Christopher Gobler, a coastal ecologist and professor at the university, will lead the project.

Greater Ronkonkoma: A new hope for Lake Ronkonkoma as officials announce lakekeepers

  • Kennedy explained that the “lakekeeper” will actually be a team that works in coordination with Dr. Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University, whose lab specializes in coastal ecosystems and algal bloom research.

Newsday: Steven C. Englebright (Elections)

  • Englebright teaches part-time at Stony Brook University, where he earned a master’s degree in paleontology and sedimentology.

National Center for Atmospheric Research: Taking to the skies to track urban air quality

  • “The air we breathe is one of those very subtle, yet very impactful things that directly affects our quality of life,” said John Mak, a professor at Stony Brook University who is leading the GOTHAAM campaign. “New Yorkers may have noticed, as I have, that you can have a clear morning, but then a couple of hours later, it’s hazy and smoggy. The data from GOTHAAM will help us better understand what is causing that and how the process occurs so quickly.”

 

School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, SoMAS, at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000, USA
Phone: 631-632-8700
somas@stonybrook.edu