SoMAS Shines at Earthstock

Apr 26, 2018

SoMAS had great, enthusiastic participation at Earthstock this year.  Thank you to everyone at SoMAS who helped with the event in some way:

Interim Dean Larry Swanson kicked the week off with his lecture, “Dredging Stony Brook Harbor,” at the Three Village Historical Society’s Annual Potluck Dinner at the Setauket Neighborhood House on Monday night. The video is available on YouTube.

Kate Aubrecht organized an excellent Alumni Panel on Wednesday.  Hosted by the Stony Brook University Career Center‘s Alfreda James, the Alumni Panel brought back 7 alumni to Javits 109 for a great Q&A session during Campus Lifetime:

Madison Burrus ’17 (Coastal Environmental Studies major, Environmental Engineering Minor)
Carolyn Dwyer ’11 (Environment Design, Policy, and Planning major, Sustainability Studies minor)
Ricky Greening ’11 (Sustainability Studies major, Ecosystems and Human Impact minor)
Rebecca Kusa ’12 (Environmental Humanities major) ’14 (Marine Conservation and Policy)
Kelsey Pottetti ’17 (Environmental Humanities major)
Julie Schipper ‘11 (Environment Design, Policy, and Planning major)
Joseph Sgueglia ’13 (Ecosystems and Human Impact major)

Current students were able to talk to alumni about their career paths as well as what they focused on during their time at Stony Brook University.

On Thursday, April 18th, undergraduate Maria Grima and Marine Conservation and Policy Student Chris Meyer joined Malcolm Bowman for a panel discussion on Forced Mass Migrations:  Can we Blame Climate Change?
Earthstock was happy to honor the efforts of Undergraduate student Mary Bertschi, who, working with Dr. Sharon Pochron, has spearheaded efforts to make SBU a bee sanctuary.  Mary contacted Kevin Tumulty, who manages regulatory compliance for the use of pesticides at Stony Brook University and Kevin determined that Stony Brook University has been protecting pollinators by not using bee-toxic neonicotinoids in 2017 and 2018.  Both were awarded a certificate at the Earthstock kickoff for their efforts.

Many thanks to all of those who braved a chilly day and helped run a table/display at the Earthstock Festival on Friday:

Thank you to Maria Brown, Sharon Pochron, Jeong-A Seong and Nils Volkenborn for their coordination with the poster display before Paul Shepson’s keynote, and thank you to the student posters on display by:

Ian Dwyer, Molly Graffam, Matthew McDermott. Courtney Stuart, Cassidy Bell, Lucy DiBenedetto, Brooke Morrell, Mark Lusty, Amy Su, Taylor Larson, Rian Leung, Karen Miller, Julius Wingate, Ji Won Kim, Justin Colson, Amanda Protopapas, Angelica Apolinaris, Yixuan He, Ji Won Kim, Su-Yi Lai, Ze -You Lin, Casey McConnell, Mia Ramirez, Katina Singh, Nicole Whatley, Jessie Yu, Zhiying Zhao, Luis Ramirez, Bowen Chai, Shenglin Wang, Brooke Arena, Melissa Barbera, Kyle Bentley, Megha Kanabar, Catherine Sander, Diana Saravia, Elyssa Torres, Ashley Landrein, Mozlifa Bobi, Ariel Calle, Karim Hanna, Abby Higgins, Amrit Dhillon, Arman Gerami, Kyra Illuzzi, Jeff Johnson, Brett Keeler, Ashley Landrein, Mateo Mezic, Michael Moawad, Jacqueline Nikakis, Rajwinder Singh, Lauren Spina, Kyra Illuzzi, Jacqueline Nikakis, Agatha Sleboda, Jee Yoon Kang, Sajjad Hussaini, Stephanie Suh, Yuman Xu, Zachary Paiva, Brett Keeler, Samantha Mendoza, Harrison Watters

Courtney Stuart, a junior majoring in Marine Vertebrate Biology, is this year’s winner of the Jeffrey Eng Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is based upon academic excellence and financial need. Courtney’s record in scholarship and independent research is truly outstanding and we are fortunate to have her and so many other excellent students in the broad area of environmental science. Her advisor is Distinguished Professor Nicholas Fisher.
Incoming Dean Paul B. Shepson gave the Earthstock Plenary Lecture to a packed house.  His talk highlighted the glum history of climate change on this planet but showcased a variety of ways in which New York and Stony Brook University can be a leader and “Embrace the Change!”

The lecture is available on YouTube.

And many thanks to the students, faculty and staff from Stony Brook Southampton and the Stony Brook main campus who celebrated Earth Day on Sunday, April 22 at the annual Beach Clean Up at Warner Island in Shinnecock Bay.

Thank you to the SoMAS representation on the Earthstock Committee, which organizes the event each year:

Photos of the event are available on Google Photos and on the Stony Brook University Flickr page.  Thanks to Malcolm Bowman, Jeffrey Levinton, Tara Rider, Sharon Pochron, Kurt Bretsch, Mark Lang, Glenn Jochum and Jacqueline Rowe for photos.

 

Mark the Shark and Maureen Murphy
SoMAS Alum Taylor Bouraad prepares to release the ducks at the Earthstock Duck Race
The Instrument Lab Table featured the Plover Cam and the 51 pound brain coral
Sustainability Studies Alumni answer questions at the Alumni Panel
Chris Meyer, Maria Grima and Malcolm Bowman at the Great Debate
Deans of SoMAS, past and present, at Earthstock
Sharon Pochron (right), who helped coordinate awards to student Mary Bertschi (left) and Kevin Tumulty (center) for their efforts that protect pollinators at Stony Brook University by not using bee-toxic neonicotinoids in 2017 and 2018.
R/V Privateer on display on the Academic Mall at Earthstock
The Worm Lab and the Lobster
Environmental Poster Session before Earthstock Keynote
Courtney Stuart (center), who accepted the Jeffrey Eng Memorial Scholarship from Dr. Jeff Levinton (right) at the Earthstock Keynote lecture with her advisor Nicholas Fisher (left).

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