Press
SoMAS News from Stony Brook University and other sources
Study Provides First-Time Analysis of Three Distinct Contributions of Forage Fish Worldwide
Study led by scientists from the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University will enable trade-offs to be evaluated in forage fishery and coastal management
STONY BROOK, NY, Sept. 7, 2012– A just-published study provides a first-time analysis of the value of forage fish, which are small, schooling species such as sardines, herring, and anchovies. Three kinds of contributions of forage fish were estimated: as direct catch, as food for other commercially important fish, and as an important link in the food web in marine ecosystems. The analysis showed these small fish contribute a total of $16.9 billion, as both direct catch and food for larger fish, to global fisheries annually, representing 20 percent of the global catch values of all marine fisheries combined. Additionally, the scientists found in 75 percent of the ecosystem models analyzed, at least one of the highly dependent predator species of forage fish, such as seabirds, marine mammals, depended on these fish for half or more of its diet, and in 30 percent of the models analyzed, forage fish made up three-quarters of the diet for at least one predator species.
A team of scientists led by the Institute for Conservation Science at Stony Brook University examined these contributions of forage fish through a compilation and synthesis of 72 published Ecopath models from around the world. Ecopath models are a type of food web model that can be used to estimate the direction and strength of interactions among species within an ecosystem. This analysis identified ecosystems that are likely to have highly to extremely dependent forage fish predators, which may assist in ecosystem-based management efforts that consider both commercial fisheries and effects to threatened or endangered species.
“In addition to their value to commercial fishing and other industries that depend on them for their products, forage fish play valuable roles in global ecosystems while they are still in the water,” said Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch, co-lead author and executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science and professor at Stony Brook University. “By quantifying the overall contributions forage fish make globally to both economies and ecosystems, we can evaluate the trade-offs of various uses of forage fish.”
“The global contribution of forage fish to marine fisheries and ecosystems,” recently published online in the journal FISH and FISHERIES, synthesized data obtained from multiple independent studies of marine ecosystems around the world that include forage fish. This research was supported by a grant from the Lenfest Ocean Program, and the research was conducted under the auspices of the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force.
The analysis showed the value of the direct catch of forage fish is $5.6 billion. The highest forage fish catches were found in the Humboldt Current models where the Peruvian anchoveta fishery operates. The value of fisheries that are supported by forage fish is twice that of the direct catch at $11.3 billion. The dollar amount of the contributions of forage fish to industries such as tourism and recreational fishing were not estimated for this study, and would increase the estimated economic value of the fish as prey species.
“Most previous economic studies of forage fish have focused primarily on their role as a directly harvested commodity,” said Konstantine J. Rountos, co-lead author and Ph.D. student at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. “By including an analysis of the indirect value these fish provide as prey species, this study provides data to policy makers, fishery managers, and others when making decisions about the harvest of these fish.”
“Considering the ecological roles and support services provided by forage fish in addition to their economic value can result in a win-win situation for both fisheries and ecosystems,” said Dr. Pikitch. “This approach can result in sustainable populations of both forage fish and the larger fish that depend on them, as well as oceans teeming with a healthy balance of marine life.”
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Pikitch, E.K., Rountos, K.J., Essington, T.E., Santora, C., Pauly, D., Watson, R., Sumaila, U.R., Boersma, P.D., Boyd, I.L., Conover, D.O., Cury, P., Heppell, S.S., Houde, E.D., Mangel, M., Plagányi, É., Sainsbury, K., Steneck, R.S., Geers, T.M., Gownaris, N. and Munch, S.B. (2012) The global contribution of forage fish to marine fisheries and ecosystems. Fish and Fisheries DOI: 10.1111/faf.12004
For more information on “The global contribution of forage fish to marine fisheries and ecosystems,” please visit: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/faf.12004/abstract.
The Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University is dedicated to advancing ocean conservation through science. The Institute transforms real-world policy while pursuing serious science, both of which are essential for ocean health. For more information, go to: http://www.oceanconservationscience.org/.
With support from the Lenfest Ocean Program, the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University convened the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force, a panel of thirteen preeminent marine and fisheries scientists from around the world, to provide practical, science-based advice for the management of species known as forage fish because of their crucial role in marine ecosystems. For a period of three years, the Task Force conducted the most comprehensive worldwide analysis of the science and management of forage fish populations to date, and in April 2012, released their findings in the report, “Little Fish, Big Impact.” For more information, go to: http://www.oceanconservationscience.org/foragefish/.
Stony Brook University Featured in Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013
Publication reviews more than 300 of the best and most interesting colleges and universities in North America and Great Britain
STONY BROOK, NY, August 28, 2012 – Stony Brook University has been included in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 based on a broad range of subjects including academics, affordability, financial aid, quality of student life on campus, extracurricular activities, food, housing and more. The Fiske Guide to Colleges provides a selective, subjective and systematic look at more than 300 of the best and most interesting colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and Great Britain.
In its profile of Stony Brook University, the editors lauded the institution as one of the “academic leaders in the SUNY system,” one that “aims to be the model of a student-centered research university.” Fiske lists the natural sciences, engineering and the health sciences as the major drawing cards for the University.
Editors also noted that Stony Brook has become known for its highly competitive learning environment and its high-quality professors. Fiskelists anthropology, biology, computer science, engineering science, English, nursing, marine sciences and music as among the strongest program offerings. One Stony Brook student surveyed by Fiskedescribed the University as the “complete package.” Another said it has “competitive academics” with “challenging classes.”
The review also mentions the abundant research opportunities available, vibrant campus life, student diversity, and the top-notch Division I Athletics program. Athletics is coming off its best year in history becoming the only school in America in 2012 to play in a major postseason tournament in football (NCAA), men’s soccer (NCAA), men’s basketball (NIT), men’s lacrosse (NCAA), baseball (CWS) and women’s tennis (NCAA).
This is the latest recognition garnered by Stony Brook University by independent organizations. Stony Brook was named among the 75 best value colleges and universities by The Princeton Review and named the 35th best value in public colleges for in-state students (29th for out-of-state students) by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. The University also received a ranking of 114th in the Times Higher Education 2011-2012 Top 400 World University rankings; received 23 Citations in the U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best Graduate Schools” report for 2012; and ranked 111th out of more than 1,500 of the nation’s four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. News & World Report “National University Rankings” for 2012.
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About Stony Brook University
Part of the State University of New York system, Stony Brook University encompasses 200 buildings on 1,450 acres. In the 50+ years since its founding, the University has grown tremendously, now with nearly 25,000 students and 2,200 faculty members and is recognized as one of the nation’s important centers of learning and scholarship. It is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), and co-manages Brookhaven National Laboratory, joining an elite group of universities, including Berkeley, University of Chicago, Cornell, MIT, and Princeton that run federal research and development laboratories. SBU is a driving force of the Long Island economy, with an annual economic impact of $4.65 billion, generating nearly 60,000 jobs, and accounting for nearly four percent of all economic activity in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and roughly 7.5 percent of total jobs in Suffolk County.
About the Fiske Guide to Colleges
How do you single out the best and most interesting of the more than 2,200 four-year colleges in the United States? You rely on the resource that millions of parents, counselors, and college-bound students have turned to for more than 25 years – Fiske Guide to Colleges. Compiled by former New York Times education editor Edward B. Fiske, a top independent voice in college admissions, the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 provides valuable reviews on the best and most interesting colleges and universities.
Stony Brook University Receives $3 Million For Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program
Five year environmental investment and academic initiative seeks to reverse Bay’s decline,
Officials at the Stony Brook Southampton Marine Sciences Station gather to announce $3 Million in gifts from the Landeau Foundation and Simons Foundation to fund the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program. From left to right: SBU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD; Richard Gelfond, Chair, Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees; Christopher Gobler, Professor, SoMAS; Minghua Zhang, Dean, SoMAS; Ellen K. Pikitch, Professor, SoMAS; and Bob Maze and Laurie Landeau of the Landeau Foundation, LLC.
STONY BROOK, NY, August 27, 2012 – The once rich shellfish beds of Shinnecock Bay may thrive again thanks to an ambitious environmental restoration project funded in part by a philanthropic gift from the Laurie Landeau Foundation matched by a gift from the Simons Foundation for a total impact of $3 million. These targeted funds will be used by Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) over five years to restock shellfish, expand existing eelgrass beds, harvest seaweeds to absorb nutrients and inhibit harmful algal blooms, monitor restoration efforts and share the project’s goals and results with stakeholders and the public.
The Laurie Landeau Foundation is an arm of a larger 501(C)3 which was established from the estates of Ralph and Claire Landau, and is primarily dedicated to philanthropy for scientific institutions and science museums.
The goal of the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program is to use science, outreach and partnerships to restore the water quality and fisheries of Shinnecock Bay. The bay is the eastern-most lagoon along New York’s South Shore Estuary system. Its aquatic environment – 9,000 acres of open water, salt marshes and intertidal flats – forms a regionally significant habitat for fish shellfish, and waterfowl.
Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, at the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program announcement.
“This generous gift from the Landeau Foundation and the matching funds from the Simons Foundation will help restore Shinnecock Bay to the healthy and productive state it once enjoyed and, ultimately, serve as template for similar projects worldwide,” said Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., President, Stony Brook University. “We hope that it will also serve as a catalyst for additional gifts for this project from those who share a vision for the restoration of such vital marine estuaries.”
During more than a decade of research in Shinnecock Bay, SoMAS scientists have documented the decline in the Bay’s water quality, shellfish populations and seagrass habitats. Using information acquired during Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program pilot studies which began in 2010, Stony Brook University scientists identified the reasons for those declines as well as approaches on how to reverse these trends and improve the ecological condition of this system. Through these pilot studies, researchers identified which species or strains of shellfish or eelgrass will be best suited to help restore Shinnecock Bay.
Laurie Landeau of Northport, an aquatic animal veterinarian, and her husband, Bob Maze, a PhD in ecological parasitology, became aware of the restoration project in Shinnecock Bay when they came to Stony Brook Southampton as invited faculty to offer a four-week “AQUAVET®” course (Introduction to Aquatic Veterinary Medicine). It was there that they learned of the unique opportunity to impact the marine estuary environment guided by the research and work of prolific marine scientist Christopher Gobler and his team of Marine Science faculty, post docs, graduate students and undergraduates.
Laurie Landeau and Bob Maze
Landeau and Maze, also operate Marinetics on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, which raises oysters in rafts on the surface of the Choptank River. Over-harvesting and degradation of the Chesapeake’s ecosystem had virtually wiped out the wild oyster population there. Marinetics began as a commercial aquaculture company with a mission to produce a high quality oyster that is healthier for the consumer, while also helping to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Now operating as The Choptank Oyster Company, it has grown into a thriving oyster farm that produces an average of 1 to 2 million oysters per year.
“Bob and I learned firsthand that like Chesapeake Bay, Shinnecock Bay has seen its once rich ecosystem devastated,” said Landeau. “We’re confident that this project will restore the delicate environmental balance needed to sustain a rich diversity of life in Shinnecock Bay. The marine environment was important to my parents, Ralph and Claire Landau, and I am delighted to continue their legacy through guiding their Foundation in support of this comprehensive project.”
Stony Brook University researchers trawl Shinnecock Bay aboard the Research Vessel Peconic.
“If the Shinnecock project is successful, it could restore not only the ecosystems to the bay but also the livelihoods of the baymen who harvested its shellfish for generations,” said Maze. “And if it can happen in Shinnecock, it has potential to be reproduced on a larger scale in parts of the Chesapeake system and in other estuaries worldwide.”
“We applaud the Landeau Foundation’s vision in supporting the Shinnecock Bay restoration project,” said Marilyn Hawrys Simons, Ph.D., President of the Simons Foundation, which in December 2011 announced a $50 million Challenge Grant that accompanied a $100 million personal gift to Stony Brook University from Jim and Marilyn Simons. The Challenge Grant was dedicated to inspire and encourage others to invest in the future of Stony Brook University. “The Simons Foundation is delighted to add its help to this important project.”
Heading the efforts to restore the Bay for SoMAS are Gobler, whose research focuses on aquatic ecosystems and how their functioning can be effected by man or can affect man, and marine biologist Ellen Pikitch, Professor and Executive Director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook, whose research is focused on ocean conservation, fisheries management, ecosystem-based approaches, endangered fishes, sharks and sturgeon.
Stony Brook University Marine Sciences Professor Brad Peterson, a co-investigator in the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program, displays plant life secured during a trawl in Shinnecock Bay.
“Overfishing, decreased water quality and the intensifying algae blooms have all but wiped out the once thriving hard clam fishery in western Shinnecock Bay,” said Gobler. “The pilot studies undertaken by SoMAS during the summers of 2010 and 2011 have provided valuable information to inform future restoration projects. The goal is to eventually reach a ‘tipping point’ where the natural populations of shellfish will begin to recover and eelgrass beds will expand within Shinnecock Bay.”
“The hope is that once the shellfish populations reach sufficient densities, they will become self-sustaining and expand,” said Pikitch. “It is our expectation that long-term and consistent monitoring can be incorporated into existing SoMAS undergraduate courses on the Stony Brook Southampton campus. We are also confident that outreach efforts undertaken throughout this project, including partnerships with other organizations, will lead to sustained advocacy efforts to protect the bay over the long term.”
“We are grateful for the research that these Stony Brook University scientists have conducted to identify the causes of decline in the Shinnecock Bay,” said Congressman Tim Bishop. “Their work has drawn a road map by illustrating what steps need to be taken to restore this waterway to the thriving ecosystem for fish and shellfish that it once was. Healthy waterways are vital to our community’s marine life and our economy, and we deeply appreciate this generous gift from the Landeau and Simons Foundations.”
“This research and restoration initiative will not only rehabilitate this waterway, but will serve as a model for other communities who have seen similar decline in their estuaries. The partnership of community, science and philanthropy will have far-reaching benefits,” said Senator Kenneth P. LaValle. “The health of this waterway is connected to the health of our community. We need a thriving waterway to support a thriving economy, tourism and recreational activity.”
Assemblyman Fred Thiele stated, “Shinnecock Bay is a valuable and unique economic and environmental resource here on the East End. The Marine Science Program is playing an active role in developing a restoration plan to ensure that we will continue to benefit from the Bay and its resources. This tremendous gift will enable the Stony Brook Southampton Campus to play a significant role in addressing local issues. I look forward to seeing the University expand its role in the community.”
Researchers Find Substantial Water Pollution Risks From “Fracking” To Recover Natural Gas
Study recommends consideration of additional regulations to protect drinking water and encourages future research efforts into disposal of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing
STONY BROOK, N.Y., August 6, 2012 – Stony Brook University scientists have found that the disposal of contaminated wastewater from hydraulic fracturing – commonly known as “fracking” – wells producing natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region poses substantial potential risks of river and other water pollution that suggests additional regulation to reduce the potential of drinking water contamination.
In a paper titled “Water Pollution Risk Associated with Natural Gas Extraction from the Marcellus Shale,” which appears in the August 2012 issue of the journal Risk Analysis, published by the Society for Risk Analysis, Stony Brook doctoral student Daniel Rozell, P.E., and Sheldon Reaven, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Technology and Society and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, found that “Even in a best case scenario, an individual well would potentially release at least 200 m3 of contaminated fluids.”
Fracking involves pumping fluids underground into shale formations to release pockets of natural gas, which are then pumped to the surface. The Marcellus Shale region covers approximately 124,000 square kilometers from New York to West Virginia and is being intensely developed.
The researchers found that disposal of the large amounts of fracking well wastewater presents risks from salts and radioactive materials that are “several orders of magnitude larger” than for other potential water pollution pathways examined in the new study. Other water pollution pathways studied include a tanker truck spilling its contents while transporting fluids used in the drilling process going to or from a well site; a well casing failing and leaking fluids to groundwater; fracturing fluids traveling through underground fractures into drinking water; and drilling site spills at the surface caused by improper handling of fluids or leaks from storage tanks and retention ponds.
The disposal of used hydraulic fracturing fluids through industrial wastewater treatment facilities can lead to elevated pollution levels in rivers and streams because many treatment facilities “are not designed to handle hydraulic fracturing wastewater containing high concentrations of salts or radioactivity two or three orders of magnitude in excess of federal drinking water standards,” according to the researchers. The wastewater disposal risks dwarf the other water risks, although the authors say “a rare, but serious retention pond failure could generate a very large contaminated water discharge to local waters.”
In trying to understand the likelihood and consequences of water contamination in the Marcellus Shale region from fracking operations, Rozell and Reaven use an analytical approach called “probability bounds analysis” that is suitable “when data are sparse and parameters highly uncertain.” The analysis delineates best case/worse case scenarios that risk managers can use “to determine if a desirable or undesirable outcome resulting from a decision is even possible,” and to assess “whether the current state of knowledge is appropriate for making a decision,” according to the authors.
The authors found that “Any drilling or fracturing fluid is suspect for the purposes of this study” because “even a benign hydraulic fracturing fluid is contaminated once it comes into contact with the Marcellus Shale.” They suggest that “regulators should explore the option of mandating alternative fracturing methods to reduce the wastewater usage and contamination from shale gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale.” These would include various alternatives such as nitrogen-based or liquefied petroleum gas fracturing methods that would substantially reduce the amount of wastewater generated.
The authors concluded that “future research efforts should be focused primarily on wastewater disposal and specifically on the efficacy of contaminant removal by industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities.”
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Stony Brook Southampton Campus To Get State-Of-The-Art Marine Science Center
SBU Officials and Local Dignitaries celebrate groundbreaking of new 15,000 sq. ft. research and teaching facility
A rendering of the new Marine Sciences Center.
SOUTHAMPTON, NY, June 8, 2012 – The Southampton Campus of Stony Brook University is set to begin construction on a new state-of-the-art Marine Sciences Center for the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), which will replace and expand the current waterfront marine sciences research and teaching facilities.
At a ceremony held at Stony Brook Southampton on Friday June 8, Stony Brook President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, Provost and Sr. Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dennis Assanis, and SoMAS officials were joined by New York State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. and other local dignitaries to commemorate the groundbreaking, unveil the renderings and to discuss the spectacular new research center in detail. The projected expected completion date is fall 2013.
The new 15,000-square-foot Marine Sciences Center, made possible through $6.9 million secured in the NYS budget by Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Thiele, is being developed to support the growth of the SoMAS undergraduate marine science and environmental science programs, and to play a key role in their ability to perform groundbreaking research into a variety of issues facing Long Island and the world today. The total cost of the project is projected at $8.348 million with the remaining funds coming from Stony Brook University.
Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, President of Stony Brook University speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Marine Sciences Center.
At the ceremony, Dr. Stanley expressed gratitude to Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Thiele for their efforts in securing the funds to help make this project a reality.
“The new Marine Sciences Center will play a key role in keeping this school as the premiere marine undergraduate program on the east coast,” said President Stanley. “It will expand opportunities for our students and faculty to conduct waterfront marine research and play a key role in augmenting SoMAS’ ability to perform groundbreaking studies in a variety of issues facing Long Island and the world today.”
“This announcement begins the process to energize the Southampton campus,” said Senator LaValle, during his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony. “It’s a sign that the State and Stony Brook are serious about the Southampton site and investing in the economy of this area. The new Marine Sciences Center will be recognized as a beacon by people from afar.”
“The sun is shining on the Southampton campus today,” said Assemblyman Thiele at the ceremony. “We’ve always had two particular strengths – Marine Sciences and the Writing Program – here at Southampton,” he said. “I choose to look forward to the future of this campus and its great potential – it’s going to be a shining light and a gem for SUNY.”
Officials celebrate the groundbreaking of the Marine Sciences Center. From left to right are: Christopher Gobler, Dennis N. Assanis, Fred W. Thiele Jr., Kenneth P. LaValle, Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, and Minghua Zhang.
“Stony Brook is the center of SUNY’s renowned marine research efforts and this new state-of-the-art facility will give SUNY students and faculty the tools they need to advance our understanding of issues that have global ramifications,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “I want to commend President Stanley and his team for having the vision to bring such an important asset to SUNY, and Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Thiele for their continued support.”
“The construction of the Marine Sciences Center at Southampton will ensure that Stony Brook will continue to be a world leader in marine science education and research – areas of critical importance to the world in the 21st Century, and especially to the people of Long Island,” said Provost Assanis. “I believe that the construction of the Marine Sciences Center and other Stony Brook initiatives, such as the New York Center for Computational Science and the Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Research, make us a great training ground for the world’s future thought leaders – people who will address and conquer the substantial environmental problems we face.”
The new two-story facility will enable SoMAS to offer more classes with rich experiential components such as Marine Biology, Marine Mammals, Ichthyology, Physical Oceanography and more, which will be taught at the new Marine Sciences Center. Currently SoMAS is ranked sixth in the United States among marine and atmospheric sciences graduate programs, according to the National Research Council.
“The new waterfront facility will bring the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences up to par with our peers for marine-related research and education,” said Minghua Zhang, Dean, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook. “We longed for such a building for many years and are very grateful to all who helped make it a reality,” he said. “This is an investment for the future of our students, the university and the people of Southampton and the entire State of New York.” Also present at the ceremony to offer support for the new facility was Dr. David Conover, the former Dean of SoMAS and the current Director of the Division of Ocean Sciences with the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Conover still retains a faculty appointment at SoMAS.
“The new teaching laboratories and classrooms will offer state-of-the-art science to more than 500 undergraduate majors at Stony Brook who come to Southampton specifically to learn marine science via hands-on experience,” said Christopher Gobler, Director of Academic Programs for SoMAS at Stony Brook Southampton. “The significantly more sophisticated seawater lab will facilitate next-generation research on both the causes and solutions for pressing marine environmental issues. I can say with confidence that with this building, SoMAS is poised to offer the best undergraduate marine science degree in the nation.”
A rendering of the new Marine Sciences Center with a view from Old Fort Pond, Shinnecock Bay.
“SoMAS has instilled in me a passion for marine science by facilitating hands-on research,” said Florian Koch, who received his PhD this year at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University while conducting research at the Marine Science Center. “I am excited about the continuation of this rich tradition of academic and research excellence here in Southampton. This facility promises to keep undergraduate and graduate marine science education alive and well here on the east end of Long Island.”
The Marine Sciences Center will replace three small existing buildings and house a high-tech 2,500-square-foot Sea Water Lab with a computerized circulation system including four different temperature lines, as well as recirculation capabilities and quarantine and culture rooms. A titanium heat exchanger will be used to preheat or precool incoming sea water for substantial operational energy savings, as well as to reduce the overall size of the heating and cooling equipment.
The Center will also include two wet labs, an analytical lab, a classroom, conference room and other lab and support spaces, including an outdoor tank area that will expand the lab resources outside of the building. The facility will serve as a hub for public lectures and summer educational programs, with a large lobby/gathering room to support these public outreach programs. An outdoor tank area will expand the lab resources outside of the building.
Construction includes sustainable design features utilizing material that is sensitive both to experiments and the coastal marine environment, including energy recovery of ventilation air, daylighting of all normally occupied spaces, a low-static pressure ductwork system, high-efficiency lighting and a super-insulated exterior wall assembly. A LEED Silver rating is targeted at minimum.
Currently, there are more than 500 undergraduate students, 150 graduate students and 90 faculty and staff from 16 different nations working together at SoMAS to better understand how marine, terrestrial and atmospheric environments function and work in relation to one another. At Stony Brook Southampton, students can take courses that explore the natural flora, fauna and habitats of Long Island’s east end. SoMAS faculty and graduate students are engaged in cutting-edge research with important implications for Long Island’s coastal ecosystems, including studies of harmful algal blooms, shellfish, eelgrass, fisheries, ocean acidification, climate change and aquaculture.
SoMAS locations allow students and faculty the opportunity to explore and study a variety of habitats ranging from the open ocean to the largest metropolitan area in the United States, and to tap into resources at the nearby National Weather Service, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. SoMAS operates research and educational facilities at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Southampton (including the forthcoming Marine Sciences Center with access to the Atlantic Ocean) and the Flax Pond Marine Laboratory on the Long Island Sound.
Pacific Bluefin Tuna Carry Radioactivity from Japanese Power Plants Accident to California Coast
Study marks the first documented instance of the transport of radioactive materials in the sea through a biological migration
STONY BROOK, NY, May 29, 2012 – Bluefin tuna exposed to radioactivity that leaked into the Pacific Ocean after Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi power plants were damaged by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011, carried that radioactivity to the waters off California, a new study by scientists from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) and Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station has revealed.
And while the radioactivity levels in the Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) posed no public health threat, these findings represent the first documented instance of the transport of radioactive materials in the sea through a biological migration. The study, “Pacific Bluefin Tuna Transport Fukushima-Derived Radionuclides from Japan to California” has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US. The research was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
SoMAS professor Nicholas Fisher, Ph.D., and postdoctoral scholar Zofia Baumann and Daniel Madigan of Stanford measured the levels of two radioactive isotopes of cesium in bluefin tuna caught in August 2011 off the coast of San Diego, California. Pacific bluefin tuna spawn in the western Pacific and many migrate in their first or second year to the waters of the eastern Pacific. Analyzing the radionuclide content in top marine predators such as bluefin tuna should provide unequivocal evidence of migratory routes and timing of these animals, the researchers concluded.
Pacific bluefin tuna range
Such information would complement other migratory tracking tools and be useful for management and conservation of key fisheries and possibly other endangered species. The findings also demonstrate the interconnectedness of distant eco-regions, where events in one can be linked to findings in another region, even thousands of miles away.
By the time these fish arrived in California, the artificial radioactivity levels in these fish were more than twenty times lower than the Japanese safety limit and over thirty times lower than the naturally occurringpotassium-40, another gamma-emitting radioisotope which is present in all marine biota.
“While the radioactivity levels in bluefin tuna caught in California in August 2011 were only about 3 percent above the natural background radioactivity, levels in this year’s bluefin may be higher, given that they would have been exposed to radioactive food and water for about one year prior to migration, unlike in 2011 when they were exposed for only about one month,” Dr. Fisher said. “However, radiocesium concentrations have become diluted and dispersed since the disaster occurred, and so the public health aspects will remain unclear until this year’s tuna are analyzed. We are now preparing to do that.”
“We were surprised to find this radioactivity in all bluefin tested, but we were also surprised that, to our knowledge, no other animals far from Japan have been tested,” added Madigan. “From a terrible event, we have found what should prove to be a very useful tool to examine migratory patterns of Pacific bluefin tuna and many other important species in the Pacific Ocean. These also provide a clear example of nature simply being amazing. Radiocesium made it to California not by wind or ocean currents, but packaged in the muscle of a fish species that swims across the biggest ocean on the planet.”
Carl Safina Wins 2012 Orion Book Award
STONY BROOK, NY, May 16, 2012 – Professor Carl Safina, founding President of the Blue Ocean Institute who teaches in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, and is a visiting professor in the Center for Communicating Science there, has been named the winner of the 2012 Orion Book Award for “The View From Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World.” The Orion Book Award is given annually to a writer that addresses the human relationship with the natural world in a fresh, thought provoking and engaging manner.
A MacArthur, Guggenheim and Pew Fellow, Safina is a renowned ocean conservationist, lecturer and author with six published books, each probing the scientific, social and moral dimensions of mankind’s relationship with nature. His writings have won numerous awards, including the Lannan Literary Award, the John Burroughs Medal and “Best Book” from The National Academies. He is a recipient of the Brookfield Zoo Rabb Medal and a 2010 finalist for the Indianapolis Prize.
Is Eating Seafood Good or Bad?
Stony Brook’s SoMAS Lecture Explores Public Health Implications of Seafood Consumption
STONY BROOK, N.Y., May 3, 2012 – Is eating seafood a good or bad thing? The answer could be both from the information that will be presented at a public lectured sponsored by Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences(SoMAS). “Public Health Implications of Seafood Consumption,” presented by Dr. Jaymie R. Meliker, Assistant Professor, Graduate Program in Public Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, on May 4. The lecture is open to all and a reception follows. It will be held at 7:30 PM on SBU’s Southampton Campus in the Duke Lecture Hall-Chancellors Hall.
This lecture will discuss risks, benefits, sustainability, and cost as they relate to different species of seafood; gaps in the scientific literature; and the Long Island Study of Seafood Consumption, an ongoing study at Stony Brook University, to assess risks and benefits among avid fish consumers.
“Choosing which types of seafood to eat is not simple,” says Dr. Meliker. “In addition to balancing cost and quality, as we do for all foods, the educated consumer might also consider sustainability of the fish species, and human health risks and benefits. Seafood provide important nutrients, most notably n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have been shown to confer benefits to brain and visual system development, and reduce risk of heart disease. However, seafood can also be a source of contaminants, perhaps most importantly, methylmercury, a known neurotoxicant.”
Dr. Meliker will also touch upon participant eligibility for ongoing Long Island Study of Seafood Consumption. The study is funded by The Gelfond Fund for Mercury Research & Outreach, which supports research at Stony Brook that aims to improve the understanding of how mercury cycles in our environment and the health effects of methylmercury from fish consumption.
For more about the lecture and Dr. Meliker see the SoMAS Public Lecture link.
FOURTEEN STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS RECEIVE SUNY CHANCELLOR’S AWARD FOR STUDENT EXCELLENCE
Students from various disciplines honored for academic success and extracurricular accomplishments
STONY BROOK, NY, April 18, 2012 – SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher honored 14 Stony Brook University students with the 2012 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence at an awards reception held earlier this month at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence is the highest honor that SUNY bestows upon its students and is given to those who have best demonstrated the integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement or career achievement. Stony Brook had the second most honorees recognized among 257 students from all 64 SUNY campuses.
Each year since 1997, campus presidents establish a selection committee, which reviews exemplary members of their college communities who are graduating. Nominees are then forwarded to the Chancellor’s Office and are subject to a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the Chancellor to become recipients of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. Each recipient receives a framed certificate and medallion, which is traditionally worn at commencement.
“This year’s Chancellor’s Award winners represent some of the best, brightest and most dedicated members of the undergraduate student body at Stony Brook,” said Samuel L. Stanley Jr., President of Stony Brook University. “These are a diverse group of students who have studied a broad range of academic disciplines. They have excelled both in and out of the classroom and are truly deserving of this prestigious award. I thank Chancellor Zimpher for recognizing our distinguished student leaders and honoring them for their dedication and commitment to their school and community.”
“The students honored have taken full advantage of the academic and extracurricular programs that SUNY provides both in the classroom and in the community,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “These proven leaders, athletes, artists, and civic volunteers truly represent the power of SUNY. I congratulate all of the students recognized and thank them for the positive impact each has had on New York State, our university system, and the communities we serve.”
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Kenneth Ascher, Oceanside, NY, Mathematics major: Kenneth is a Stony Brook Presidential Scholarship recipient who served as an Honors College captain and Big Sibling, as secretary of the Math Club, as a trumpet player in the University’s Big Band and the University’s Jazz Combo. He was also recognized for an outstanding presentation on “The Topology of Graphic Hyperplane Arrangements” at the 2011 Joint Math Meetings Poster Session and Young Mathematician’s Conference. He also served as a teaching assistant in the Department of Mathematics.
Denise DeGennaro, Miller Place, NY, English major: Denise served as the founder of the Community of Awesome blog, a community pledge leader, and as a student honoree and student ambassador at the Stars of Stony Brook Gala. She is also the recipient of the Best Student Program Award in the Case Study Competition and was named Best Overall at the National Orientation Director’s Association Regional Conference.
Caroline Dwyer , Quogue, NY, Environmental Design, Policy and Planning major: Caroline is a recipient of the Emerging Leader Award and the Public Discourse Award. She served as co-founder and secretary of the Food for All club, as co-chairperson of the Stony Brook University Greening Committee, and as a teaching assistant in the Sustainability Studies Program.
Yaseen Eldik , Kings Park, NY, Psychology, Sociology majors: Yaseen was the first Truman Scholar from Stony Brook University (2011). He was a Harvard Law School Summer Research fellow, a Stony Brook Foundation and Stony Brook Board of Trustees research presenter and an Academic Judiciary Committee member. He presented an original article “The Establishment Clause and Public Education in an Islamophobic Era” at the Leadership Alliance National Conference, which was published in the Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. He served as president of the Science and Society Council and is the 2012 recipient of the Joseph N. Campolo Award for Legal Studies, presented to students preparing to enter the practice of law who have demonstrated a commitment to public service. He also earned first place in the 2012 Benjamin and David Scharps legal essay competition.
Matthew Graham , Watertown, NY, Chemical and Molecular Engineering major: Matthew served as president of the Undergraduate Student Government, is a member of the men’s rugby team, the wind ensemble and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. He was also instrumental in organizing a petition asking the University for an increase in student recreation field space.
Hayley Green, Auckland, New Zealand, Psychology major: Hailey received the Undergraduate Outstanding Student Award and was selected to the America East All-Academic Team for cross country and outdoor track & field. She also served as captain of the women’s cross country team and as a volunteer for various Student Athletic Advisory Committee events. She is an America East All Cross Country Scholar, a five-time championship title winner and fourth place finisher at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key International Honor Societies and a Howard Zern Track and Field Endowment Scholarship recipient.
Sean Hoffman , Smithtown, NY, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Economics majors: Sean served as a member of the Honors College Advisory Council, the Presidential Athletic Bands Alumni and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. He is a NYS Association of Transportation Engineers Scholarship recipient and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Beta and Golden Key International Honor Societies. He also served as a student ambassador, the president of the Stony Brook University Athletic Bands, a community pledge leader, the Project 50 Forward Focus Group, a teaching assistant in the Department of Economics and a participant in the Student Life Advisory Council.
Henna Kochar , Lake Grove, NY, Biology major: Henna was a participant in the Honors College/Scholars for Medicine combined BA/MD program. She was a member of the National Collegiate Scholars, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Beta, Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health and Golden Key International Honor Societies. She conducted research in the Departments of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Asian and Asian American Studies and Engineering. She also served as a member of the National Residence Hall Honorary program, a liaison for the International Academic Program and a mentor for the Big Sibling Program; and as vice president of the Sikh Student Association and a volunteer in a Gurdwara, a religious place of worship for Sikhs.
Kiran Lorick, Queens Village, NY, Biochemistry major: Kiran received the Excellence in Community Service Learning award and served as coordinator for the Campus Day of Service. He was president of Sigma Beta Honor Society, co-vice president of the Alternative Spring Break Outreach (ASBO), founder and treasurer of the Community Service Board and a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. He served as a University Scholars Peer Mentor, a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and as a teaching assistant in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. He also participated in Study Abroad: Madagascar.
Deborah Machalow , Valley Stream, NY, Political Science, Economics majors: Deborah is a recipient of the Undergraduate Recognition Award for Outstanding Achievement for Leadership. She also served as executive vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government, vice president of the Pre-Law Society, Honors College senior class representative and a voting delegate at the SUNY Student Assembly. She is a member of the Honors College, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Beta and Golden Key International Honor Societies. She received the National Residence Hall Honorary Student of the Month award and was a participant in the NEW Leadership Program at SUNY Albany.
Priya Misra , Shrewsbury, MA, Chemistry major: Priya served as the vice president for planning in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, a participant in the Honors College/Scholars for Medicine combined BA/MD program and as a member of the Sigma Beta and Golden Key International Honor Societies. She served as a tutor for the Writing Center, a teaching assistant in the Department of Chemistry and a mentor in the BRIDGES Program. She also served as secretary and speech coordinator for the Speech and Debate Society and as a member of the Belly Dancing Club.
Hillary Moss , Port Jefferson Station, NY, Biochemistry major: Hillary is a 2011 Goldwater Scholar and the recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Future Alumni Award, given to high-achieving students who have demonstrated excellence in academic performance and community service for valuable contributions to the Stony Brook University community. She served as vice president of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, was a member of the National Residence Hall Honorary program, the arts coordinator for the Toscanini Hall Council, a youth group advisor for the North Shore Jewish Center and a volunteer at Stony Brook Medicine. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Beta and Golden Key International Honor Societies and served as a research assistant in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and was a URECA Summer Research and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Fellow.
Muntazim Mukit , Douglaston, NY, Biochemistry major: Muntazim is a recipient of the Emerging Leadership Award and served as president of the Sigma Beta Honor Society and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key Honor Societies. He was a student ambassador and recognition coordinator of the National Residence Hall Honorary program, a national communications coordinator for the Residence Hall Association and a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. He conducted his research in the Department of Pathology and served as a teaching assistant in the Departments of Chemistry and Physics.
Ioan Alin Tomescu Nicolescu, East Setauket, NY, Computer Science major: Ioan is a recipient of the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award and co-founder and president of the Game Developers Club. He served as a CEAS student ambassador, Computing Society E-board member and reviewer, teaching assistant in the Department of Computer Science, University Scholars member, intramural soccer team member and an intern at Microsoft. He also received the Provost Scholarship, the Academic Program Scholarship, the National Residence Hall Honorary Student of the Month award and a SMART Grant.
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About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 467,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses with more than three million alumni around the globe. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.
Stony Brook Gets Good News On Earth Day
University named to Green College guide and earns accolades for recycling more than three million pounds of material in nationwide recycling competition
STONY BROOK, NY, April 20, 2012 – Stony Brook University has been selected by The Princeton Review and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as one of the nation’s most environmentally friendly or “green” colleges for the third year in a row in “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2012 Edition.”Additionally, Stony Brook put forth a strong showing in the 12th annual RecycleMania Tournament, recycling more than three million pounds of material in the eight-week competition against more than 600 colleges and universities in the nation. As part of its commitment to sustainability, Stony Brook is also celebrating the Earthstock Festival on Friday, April 20 in honor of Earth Day on April 22.
In the RecycleMania Tournament, Stony Brook recycled 144,000 pounds of bottles and cans, 187,000 pounds of corrugated cardboard, 311,000 pounds of paper, 2.3 million pounds of trash, 30,000 pounds of food service organics and 35,000 pounds of e-waste. The cumulative greenhouse gas reductions equal 360 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the removal of 191 cars off the road or the energy consumption of 95 households.
Stony Brook placed 17th out of 296 entries in the competition’s Gorilla category, which ranks universities on the total weight of bottles, cans, cardboard and recycled paper collected. This category’s ranking was the highest of any college or university in New York State. Stony Brook also placed eighth out of 67 entries in the E-Waste category for the total weight of recycled electronic waste.
The Guide to 322 Green Colleges credits Stony Brook for having a long history of green awareness. “The Environmental Defense Fund, an organization dedicated to introducing sustainability science to business leaders, was founded by a Stony Brook professor in 1967,” stated the profile. “Since then, Stony Brook University has signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, created an environmental stewardship department, and established a five-year sustainability plan.”
“The State University of New York takes great pride in the increasing sustainability efforts on our campuses, and contributing to an energy-smart New York is one of six primary focuses of our strategic plan, The Power of SUNY,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “We could not be more pleased that Stony Brook University and nine other SUNY campuses have been recognized on the Princeton Review’s List of Green Colleges. Congratulations on this much-deserved national distinction.”
Sustainability goes beyond traditional recycling at Stony Brook University with initiatives like the bike share program where students can rent a bike for a nominal fee and Campus Dining’s use of all biodegradable packaging and utensils, and an in-vessel composter, which processes food waste and biodegradable packaging into compost for use in maintaining campus grounds. SBU Transit buses operate on a biodiesel blend which keeps emissions low effectively reducing Stony Brook’s carbon footprint.
The Green Guide’s profile also highlights Stony Brook’s efforts to decrease utility costs, “The University participates in a program offered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to implement energy conservation projects and to fund these projects through the savings on utility bills, an effort that will save the university more than $300,000 per month.”
“College-bound students are increasingly interested in sustainability issues,” said Robert Franek, Senior Vice President and Publisher of The Princeton Review. “Among 7,445 college applicants who participated in our 2012 ‘College Hopes & Worries Survey,’ nearly 7 out of 10 told us that having information about a school’s commitment to the environment would influence their decision to apply to or attend the school,” he added. “Together with USGBC, we are pleased to make this free resource available to all students seeking to attend colleges that practice, teach and support environmentally-responsible choices. To that end, we highly recommend the terrific schools in this book.”
Academically, Stony Brook offers degrees in Environmental Studies, Marine Sciences, Environmental Design, Policy and Planning, Ecosystems and Human Impact, Sustainability Studies, Coastal Environmental Studies and Business Management with a specialization in Sustainability, which is instrumental in equipping and training the next generation of green leaders. The Advanced Energy Research & Technology Center (AERTC), one of only 25 buildings with a LEED Platinum building in the nation and the first in New York State, is located at Stony Brook and is a true partnership of academic institutions, research institutions, energy providers and industrial corporations. Its mission is innovative energy research, education and technology deployment with a focus on efficiency, conservation, renewable energy and nanotechnology applications for new and novel sources of energy.
Stony Brook University to Receive Share of $2.4 Million New York Sea Grant
Funding for five of nine New York projects awarded to Stony Brook researchers
STONY BROOK, NY, April 5, 2012 – Stony Brook University researchers in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionare receiving a share of the $2.4 million awarded by the New York Sea Grant (NYSG) program for fiscal years 2012-2013 to fund research and education about issues important to coastal New Yorkers such as seafood safety, flooding due to storm surges, water quality and habitat restoration.
“NYSG has begun a new round of nine funded research projects which address critical coastal concerns from diverse regions of the state: the Lake Ontario shoreline, the Hudson estuary and New York Harbor, and both the north and south shores of Long Island,” said New York Sea Grant director Dr. Jim Ammerman. Funding for five of the projects has been awarded to Stony Brook researchers.
A research team led by Dr. Robert Cerrato, Associate Professor at SoMAS, will focus on how blooms of red tide impact the productivity of commercially-important species of clams. Observed in Long Island’s Northport-Huntington Bay estuary in recent years, the red tide organism, Alexandrium fundyense, produces paralytic shellfish toxin (PST) which has been detected in hard- and soft-shell clams, raising health concerns. Information from this study will aid decision making for coastal managers within the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and among shellfish growers and harvesters.
Improving estimates of mercury concentrations in commercial fish will provide more accurate assessments of potential exposure and will help dispel misperceptions regarding the types and amounts of fish that are safe to eat is another SoMAS project funded by the NYSG program. “The goal of my investigation is to provide the most thorough, up-to-date information on mercury in commercial seafood via the Internet for public use by research scientists and public officials,” said Dr. Nicholas Fisher, Distinguished Professor at SoMAS and Director of the Consortium for the Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research (CIDER) at Stony Brook.
Distinguished Service Professor and SoMAS researcher Dr. Malcolm Bowman is a member of the Stony Brook Storm Surge Research Group which has been funded principally by NYSG since 2002 to work on storm surge science and policy issues related to regional protection of New York City and Long Island. The New York Metropolitan region is vulnerable to coastal flooding and large-scale damage from hurricanes and nor’easters. Much of the region lies less than three meters above mean sea level and contains critical infrastructure such as hospitals, airports, railroad and subway station entrances, highways and water treatment plants. This study examines the combining of storm surge prediction models from the National Weather Service, universities and technical institutes. “Since each storm has its own peculiar characteristics and behavior,” said Dr. Bowman, “no one model is always the most accurate at predicting surge events.” The team believes that a forecast obtained by constructing an ensemble of models will produce the most reliable predictor of storm event scenarios.
Dr. Michael Frisk, an Assistant Professor at SoMAS and Dr. Matthew Sclafani of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County Marine Program are looking at important migratory fish species such as alewife, American eel and brook trout in Long Island’s Carmans River. They will evaluate the success of fish passage restoration efforts in small river systems by determining whether targeted species are effectively utilizing the existing fish passage and if restored habitat increases fish productivity.
Excess nitrate loading has long been widely linked to environmental problems in coastal marine environments. Dr. Stephen B. Baines, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, is investigating how changes in wetland plant communities – from sea level rise, climate change, species invasions and management activities – may affect the ability of wetland ecosystems to remove nitrate from surface and groundwater. A goal of the research is to develop a robust model that can predict the amount of nitrogen that can be removed in a wetland based on the vegetation and community structure.
Another project funded by NYSG is the development of a model to better understand the nutrient and algal dynamics of Sodus Bay, Lake Ontario, which suffers from toxic cyanobacterial blooms caused by the microorganism Microcystis. The research team is led by Dr. Gregory Boyer from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, often a partner with SoMAS researcher Dr. Christopher Gobler, a leading expert in harmful algal bloom.
Other projects include research into the current functioning of brackish water wetlands of the Hudson River that could provide information crucial for future management and restoration plans (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY); research to improve seafood safety employing several scientific methods to predict effective combinations of bactericidal agents and growth inhibitors for Listeria monocytogenes on cold smoked salmon (Cornell University); and genomic analysis of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), an important commercial bivalve species that has been on the decline. This study will contribute to restoration efforts by developing a new strategy for both optimizing restoration design and evaluating restoration success using cutting-edge genomic methods to track larval dispersal patterns (Cornell University).
Funds for these projects come via NYSG’s parent organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP), located in Silver Spring, MD.
In addition to addressing important problems and opportunities, NYSG’s 2010-2013 Omnibus funds will also provide graduate students with financial support through the Sea Grant Scholar Program, and sponsors conferences, seminars and workshops on a variety of coastal issues each year.
New York Sea Grant is a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting the coastal economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources. One of 32 university-based programs under the NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program, NYSG is a cooperative program of the State University of New York and Cornell University. For updates on Sea Grant activities, please visit www.nyseagrant.org.
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Counting Sharks with Cameras: “Chum Cam” Underwater Video Survey Shows that Reef Sharks Thrive in Marine Reserves
Study led by scientists from the Institute for Conservation Science at Stony Brook University uses video cameras to count reef sharks, showing that marine reserves benefit these top predators on the world’s second largest barrier reef
STONY BROOK, NY, March 8, 2012 – A team of scientists, led by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University, used video cameras to count Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) inside and outside marine reserves on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in the Caribbean Sea. Using survey data collected from 200 baited remote underwater video (BRUV) cameras, nicknamed “chum cams,” the scientists compared the relative abundance of these reef sharks in two marine reserves with those in two areas where fishing is allowed, and demonstrated that the sharks were more abundant in the reserves.
The research findings appear in the paper, “Reef sharks exhibit site-fidelity and higher relative abundance in marine reserves on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef,” published online today in the journal PLoS ONE. The purpose of the study, conducted from 2005 through 2010, was to test the hypothesis that carcharhinid shark species, which include requiem and whaler sharks, are more abundant inside no-take marine reserves where fishing for sharks and their prey is prohibited. The authors tested the hypothesis by using BRUV surveys to determine the reef sharks’ numbers, and combined these results with acoustic monitoring to measure their site fidelity (remaining within the same local area) in Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve, Caye Caulker Marine Reserve, and two reefs where fishing is allowed, all located in Belize.
“Although we know that relatively sedentary reef fish and lobsters benefit from marine reserves, this study now presents visual proof that large, active sharks are also dramatically more abundant inside these protected areas, too,” said Mark Bond, lead author and doctoral student at Stony Brook University. “Nearly four times as many chum cam deployments in the marine reserves recorded reef sharks than on similar fished reefs. These areas provide the sharks and other coral reef species a respite from fishing, which means decreased fishing mortality for the sharks and more prey for them to eat.”
The video cameras were enclosed in protective housing, and placed on the sea floor with small bait-filled cages positioned in front of them. Sharks, attracted by the smell of the bait, swam to the cameras, which allowed the research team to record, count, and compare shark populations in the marine reserves to those in the areas where fishing is permitted, at no stress to the sharks. In addition to the BRUV surveys, the scientists fitted 34 reef sharks with acoustic transmitters, and tracked their movements, using moored underwater listening stations. They found that the sharks, both juveniles and adults, live year-round within the reserves.
“Scientists who study tigers or jaguars in the wild use camera traps to count them,” said Dr. Demian Chapman, assistant professor in the School of Marine & Atmospheric Science at Stony Brook, leader of the research team and assistant director of science of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. “It is just as difficult to count sharks in the ocean, so we took a page from the big cat researchers’ playbook and deployed baited video cameras to count the sharks. It’s only fitting since these large apex predators are the ‘big cats’ of the sea, and like their feline counterparts, their continued existence on Earth is threatened.”
Due to intense fishing, Caribbean reef sharks are listed as “Near Threatened” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) but it is possible they will be upgraded to “Vulnerable” by IUCN as more data are collected. They live in the western Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Bermuda to southern Brazil, and are the only Atlantic requiem shark species that undergoes its entire life cycles within coral reef ecosystems.
“Caribbean reef sharks and other shark species around the world are threatened by overfishing,” said Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch, a professor in the Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, who co-authored the paper and is executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. “Our study demonstrates that marine reserves can help protect shark species that live on coral reefs. Moreover, the use of underwater video monitoring provides us with an excellent tool to determine if populations are recovering and thriving inside these reserves.”
“As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words,” said Bond. “As Caribbean nations and other countries consider developing marine reserves, chum cams can virtually transport policy makers and the public beneath the waves and show them the benefits of these protected areas.” This research was funded by the Roe Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and other sponsors of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science.
About the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science
The Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University is dedicated to advancing ocean conservation through science. The Institute transforms real-world policy while pursuing serious science, both of which are essential for ocean health.
2011-2012 Press
2012
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Apr 18, 2012 – SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher honored 14 Stony Brook University students with the 2012 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence at an awards reception held earlier this month at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence is the highest honor that SUNY bestows upon its students and is given to those who have best demonstrated the integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement or career achievement. Stony Brook had the second most honorees recognized among 257 students from all 64 SUNY campuses.
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- Stony Brook Southampton Welcomed Holiday Season with Annual Windmill Lighting (SBU)
More than 150 people attended Stony Brook Southampton’s annual Windmill Lighting on Friday, December 7, to usher in the holiday season.
Dec 13, 2012 – 12:00:00 PM - SoMAS to Participate in Natural Disaster Preparedness Review Ordered by Gov. Cuomo (Stony Brook Happenings)
- Superstorm Sandy Various, 2012-2013
Members of the SoMAS Community are featured in numerous features, clips and articles from a variety of news sources. - Two SBU Researchers Reveal Independent Findings Associated with Climate Change (SBU)
Out of Stony Brook University, two independent studies published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals show the effects of climate change on differing aspects of the earth’s ecosystem. Both researchers, Gordon Taylor, Professor of Oceanography, and John Wiens, Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, had their findings published in two prestigious peer-reviewed journals.
Oct 16, 2012 – 7:00:00 PM - Long-Term Observations in the Tropics Linked to Global Climate Change (SBU)
Reports of declining ice coverage and drowning polar bears in the Arctic illustrate dramatic ecosystem responses to global climate change in Earth’s polar regions. But in this first-ever account of a long-term project in the southern Caribbean, a Stony Brook professor and his colleagues report in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. that tropical ecosystems are also affected by global climatic trends – and with accompanying economic impacts.
Oct 16, 2012 – 5:00:00 PM - Stony Brook University Hospital Rooftop Farm Helps Supplement Nutrition for Patients (SBU)
The official opening and benefit for the Stony Brook Heights Rooftop Farm served up a tantalizing mix of fresh vegetable plates and other delights for attendees at the September 10 event. A collaborative effort of the Nutrition Division, Department of Family Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook University Hospital Food Service, and Stony Brook University’s Sustainability Studies Program, the farm supplements the nutrition and food offerings to hospital patients. This year’s crop has produced more than 400 pounds with 33 varieties of vegetables and herbs harvested.
Sep 19, 2012 – 10:18:24 AM - Study Provides First-Time Analysis of Three Distinct Contributions of Forage Fish Worldwide (SBU)
A just-published study provides a first-time analysis of the value of forage fish, which are small, schooling species such as sardines, herring, and anchovies. Three kinds of contributions of forage fish were estimated: as direct catch, as food for other commercially important fish, and as an important link in the food web in marine ecosystems. The analysis showed these small fish contribute a total of $16.9 billion, as both direct catch and food for larger fish, to global fisheries annually, representing 20 percent of the global catch values of all marine fisheries combined.
Sep 10, 2012 – 11:13:24 AM - Stony Brook University Featured in Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 (SBU)
Stony Brook University has been included in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 based on a broad range of subjects including academics, affordability, financial aid, quality of student life on campus, extracurricular activities, food, housing and more. The Fiske Guide to Colleges provides a selective, subjective and systematic look at more than 300 of the best and most interesting colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and Great Britain.
Aug 28, 2012 – 2:09:47 PM - Stony Brook University Receives $3 Million For Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program (SBU)
The once rich shellfish beds of Shinnecock Bay may thrive again thanks to an ambitious environmental restoration project funded in part by a philanthropic gift from the Laurie Landeau Foundation matched by a gift from the Simons Foundation for a total impact of $3 million. These targeted funds will be used by Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) over five years to restock shellfish, expand existing eelgrass beds, harvest seaweeds to absorb nutrients and inhibit harmful algal blooms, monitor restoration efforts and share the project’s goals and results with stakeholders and the public.
Aug 27, 2012 – 11:00:00 AM - Researchers Find Substantial Water Pollution Risks From “Fracking” To Recover Natural Gas (SBU)
Stony Brook University scientists have found that the disposal of contaminated wastewater from hydraulic fracturing – commonly known as “fracking” – wells producing natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region poses substantial potential risks of river and other water pollution that suggests additional regulation to reduce the potential of drinking water contamination.
Aug 6, 2012 – 9:04:39 AM - Stony Brook Southampton Campus To Get State-Of-The-Art Marine Science Center (SBU)
The Southampton Campus of Stony Brook University is set to begin construction on a new state-of-the-art Marine Sciences Center for the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), which will replace and expand the current waterfront marine sciences research and teaching facilities.
Jun 8, 2012 – 5:00:00 PM - Pacific Bluefin Tuna Carry Radioactivity from Japanese Power Plants Accident to California Coast (SBU)
Bluefin tuna exposed to radioactivity that leaked into the Pacific Ocean after Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi power plants were damaged by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 201l, carried that radioactivity to the waters off California, a new study by scientists from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) and Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station has revealed.
May 28, 2012 – 7:00:00 AM - Carl Safina Wins 2012 Orion Book Award (SBU)
Professor Carl Safina, founding President of the Blue Ocean Institute who teaches in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, and is a visiting professor in the Center for Communicating Science there, has been named the winner of the 2012 Orion Book Award for “The View From Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World.â€Â
May 16, 2012 – 12:00:00 PM - Is Eating Seafood Good or Bad? (SBU)
Is eating seafood a good or bad thing? The answer could be both from the information that will be presented at a public lectured sponsored by Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS). “Public Health Implications of Seafood Consumption,” presented by Dr. Jaymie R. Meliker, Assistant Professor, Graduate Program in Public Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, on May 4. The lecture is open to all and a reception follows. It will be held at 7:30 PM on SBU’s Southampton Campus in the Duke Lecture Hall-Chancellors Hall.
May 3, 2012 – 2:15:58 PM - Stony Brook Gets Good News On Earth Day (SBU)
Stony Brook University has been selected by The Princeton Review and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as one of the nation’s most environmentally friendly or “green” colleges for the third year in a row in “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2012 Edition.” Additionally, Stony Brook put forth a strong showing in the 12th annual RecycleMania Tournament, recycling more than three million pounds of material in the eight-week competition against more than 600 colleges and universities in the nation. As part of its commitment to sustainability, Stony Brook is also celebrating the Earthstock Festival on Friday, April 20 in honor of Earth Day on April 22.
Apr 20, 2012 – 10:17:57 AM - Stony Brook University to Receive Share of $2.4 Million New York Sea Grant (SBU)
Stony Brook University researchers in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) and the Department of Ecology and Evolution are receiving a share of the $2.4 million awarded by the New York Sea Grant (NYSG) program for fiscal years 2012-2013 to fund research and education about issues important to coastal New Yorkers such as seafood safety, flooding due to storm surges, water quality and habitat restoration.
Apr 5, 2012 – 11:15:00 AM - Counting Sharks with Cameras: “Chum Cam” Underwater Video Survey Shows that Reef Sharks Thrive in Marine Reserves (SBU)
A team of scientists, led by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University, used video cameras to count Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) inside and outside marine reserves on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in the Caribbean Sea.
Mar 8, 2012 – 5:00:00 PM - New SBU Study Finds Fish Offspring Grow Best at Same Temperature as Parents (SBU)
Fish parents can pre-condition their offspring to grow fastest at the temperature they experienced, according to research published in the February 2012 edition of Ecology Letters.
Jan 10, 2012 – 5:30:15 PM
2011
- Stony Brook Faculty Named “People of the Year” (SBU)
The Village Times Herald has named four Stony Brook University faculty members as People of the Year for 2011. These include Margaret M. McGovern, M.D., Ph.D., as Woman of the Year; Eckard Wimmer, Ph.D., as Man of the Year in Medicine; Carl Safina, Ph.D., as Man of the Year in Science; and Charlie Backfish, as Man of the Year in the Arts. Stories on their respective impact in their fields and in the community are featured in the newspaper’s December 29, 2011, edition. Also selected as People of the Year in Education is The School of Professional Development’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Dec 30, 2011 – 2:22:36 PM - SBU Marine Science Researchers Release Study Suggesting Ocean Acidification May Directly Harm Fish (SBU)
In a new article published in the December 11, 2011, online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers from Stony Brook University demonstrate that “the fish are okay” belief ignores an important knowledge gap – the possible effects of CO2 during the early development of fish eggs and larvae.
Dec 12, 2011 – 9:52:00 AM - Three SBU Faculty Members Nominated for the 2012 Indianapolis Prize (SBU)
Poachers, disease, civil wars, heat, cold, rain, drought, pollution, ignorance, indifference. Those are just some of the challenges faced by the 29 conservationists, three of whom are Stony Brook University faculty members, who have devoted their lives to saving the Earth’s endangered species and have been nominated to receive the biennial Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation.
Dec 5, 2011 – 11:42:00 PM - Minghua Zhang Named Dean of Stony Brook University SoMAS (SBU)
Stony Brook University has named Dr. Minghua Zhang to the position of Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), announced Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, President of Stony Brook University and Dennis N. Assanis, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Oct 11, 2011 – 12:50:41 PM - Stony Brook Scientists Study Ocean Impacts Of Radioactive Contamination From Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant(SBU)
Scientists from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) are joining colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, several other U.S. academic institutions and laboratories in Japan and Spain on the first international, multidisciplinary assessment of the levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the Pacific Ocean off the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
Jun 8, 2011 – 10:01:23 AM - Stony Brook University Receives National Recognition For Community Service (SBU)
As colleges across the country honor their graduates this commencement season, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) honored Stony Brook University as a leader among institutions of higher education for their support of volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.
May 27, 2011 – 4:35:16 PM - Researchers At Stony Brook University Find That Recycling On Long Island Has Decreased From 29% To 24% From 1998 To 2009 (SBU)
Recycling on Long Island has seen a marked decrease of some 20 percent over the past decade, according to a study conducted by Stony Brook University’s Department of Technology and Society and the Waste Reduction and Management Institute in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook (SoMAS).
Apr 19, 2011 – 10:32:49 AM - Stony Brook University to Expand Existing Programs Currently Offered on the Southampton Campus (SBU)
Stony Brook University today announced that plans are underway to introduce expanded programs in graduate creative arts and undergraduate marine sciences at the Stony Brook University Southampton campus in the fall of 2011. This expansion, which follows several productive Advisory Committee meetings and continuing discussions among University administration and faculty, also includes plans to offer an undergraduate residency program in creative arts to begin in the Fall of 2012.
Feb 28, 2011 – 4:35:59 PM - Stony Brook University Professor Leads Team that Publishes On First Genome of a Harmful Algal Blooms Species (SBU)
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by single-celled plants, or phytoplankton, in coastal waters and have a negative impact on coastal ecosystems worldwide, costing the U.S. economy alone hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The impact of harmful algal blooms have intensified in recent decades and most research has focused on chemical nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus as causative agents of these blooms.
Feb 22, 2011 – 9:00:00 AM - Stony Brook Faculty Mentor 32 Semifinalists in National Intel Science Talent Search Competition (SBU)
Thirty-two (32) high school students who worked with Stony Brook University faculty were named among the 300 semifinalists in the national 2011 Intel Science Talent Search competition. Mentors come from a range of departments and disciplines throughout Stony Brook, including: Anatomical Sciences, Anesthesiology, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Ecology & Evolution, Materials Science & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Medicine, Pharmacological Sciences, Physics & Astronomy, Psychology, and the School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences.
Jan 13, 2011 – 11:01:40 PM - Stony Brook University Receives Highly Selective ‘Community Engagement Classification’ From Carnegie Foundation (SBU)
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has granted Stony Brook University the highly selective 2010 Community Engagement Classification for Curricular Engagement and Community Outreach. This voluntary classification, a designation shared by only 311 institutions of higher education, provides national acknowledgement for Stony Brook’s institutional commitment to, and support of its surrounding community.
Jan 12, 2011 – 9:17:50 AM
New SBU Study Finds Fish Offspring Grow Best at Same Temperature as Parents
Publication appearing in the journal Ecology Letters
STONY BROOK, NY, January 10, 2011 – Fish parents can pre-condition their offspring to grow fastest at the temperature they experienced, according to research published in the February 2012 edition of Ecology Letters. This pre-conditioning, known as transgenerational plasticity (TGP), occurs whenever environmental cues experienced by either parent prior to fertilization changes how their offspring respond to the environment.
Dr. Stephan B. Munch, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University and a member of the Early Life History Team at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), along with Santiago Salinas, a Ph.D. candidate from Stony Brook University, found what they believe to be the first evidence for thermal TGP in a vertebrate.
Munch and Salinas highlight TGP as another potential mechanism for rapid responses to climate shifts. “In light of global climate change, transgenerational effects of temperature may be incredibly important mechanisms for coping with altered thermal regimes,” said Dr. Munch.
In the experiment, the team collected several hundred adult sheepshead minnows from the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and brought them to the fish facility at Stony Brook University in August 2009. To test for thermal TGP in growth, parents were held at several different temperatures and growth of their offspring was subsequently measured. After seven days of parental temperature exposure, offspring growth was the same for all parents. However, after 30-days of temperature exposure, offspring grew best at their parents’ temperature. The experiment was fully replicated and repeated, each time revealing the same result that offspring from high (34° Celsius) and low (24° Celsius) temperature parents grew best at high and low temperatures, respectively. “The differences in growth of the offspring, based on whether the parents had experienced that same temperature, were significant,” noted Salinas.
“There is very little known about transgenerational effects on physiology,” said Dr. Munch. “I think the most exciting part about the research is that, although there has been a lot of work on transgenerational effects on fish, this is the first demonstration of a transgenerational effect of temperature. From a practical point of view, if such effects occur in other species, aquaculture programs could potentially make large gains by manipulating the parental environment before breeding. There are good reasons to believe that these effects will occur in many species, but we’ve only just started looking.”
About the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University
The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) is the State University of New York’s center for marine and atmospheric research, education and public service. With more than 85 faculty and staff and more than 500 students engaged in interdisciplinary research and education, SoMAS is at the forefront of advancing knowledge and discovering and resolving environmental challenges affecting the oceans and atmosphere on both regional and global scales.
Stony Brook Faculty Named “People of the Year”
Careers Committed to Excellence in Fields of Medicine and Science are Recognized
STONY BROOK, N.Y., December 30, 2011 – The Village Times Herald has named four Stony Brook University faculty members as People of the Year for 2011. These include Margaret M. McGovern, M.D., Ph.D., as Woman of the Year; Eckard Wimmer, Ph.D., as Man of the Year in Medicine; Carl Safina, Ph.D., as Man of the Year in Science; and Charlie Backfish, as Man of the Year in the Arts. Stories on their respective impact in their fields and in the community are featured in the newspaper’s December 29, 2011, edition. Also selected as People of the Year in Education is The School of Professional Development’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Chosen as Woman of the Year for her expertise, passion, and insistence on high standards in the care of pediatric patients, Dr. McGovern is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and Physician-in-Chief, Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital. The Village Times article cites her commitment and broad skills as an expert in genetics and pediatrics, and as a medical researcher and educator of the next generation of pediatricians.
Eckard Wimmer, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, is being recognized as Man of the Year in Medicine for his enormous contributions as a scientist investigating the poliovirus and being instrumental in putting the virus on a path to eradication worldwide. The Village Times article points to Dr. Wimmer’s lifelong commitment to eradicating polio, his internationally renowned poliovirus genome research, and his 20-plus year career at Stony Brook.
Selected as Man of the Year in Science for his marine advocacy, Carl Safina, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, and Visiting Professor, Stony Brook University School of Journalism, has devoted his life as an ecologist, marine conservationist and author to the preservation of marine life. The Village Times piece cites Dr. Safina’s work as “a voice for the marine life that cannot speak for itself” in protesting overfishing and pollution of the oceans.
Chosen as Man of the Year in the Arts, Charlie Backfish is Director of Student Teaching and Field Experience, Social Studies Education Program, and lecturer in the Department of History. He is host of a program on WUSB and responsible for bringing a weekly concert series to the campus of Stony Brook University. A former president of the SBU Alumni Association, Backfish volunteers at WUSB and is well known to music promoters on Long Island. The Village Times piece details his passion and knowledge for music and his role in bringing live concerts to the community.
Named as the People of the Year in Education, the faculty and staff of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, part of the School of Professional Development, seeking to educate adults and retirees in the second half of life by conducting dozens of classes and workshops annually. The program has grown to a membership of 955, and The Village Times article highlights the program as innovative in its mission as a center for lifelong learning.
At the end of the calendar year, The Village Times names leaders in areas of science, medicine, education, and the community who live locally as People of the Year. Many are recognized nationally and internationally as experts in their respective fields and professions.
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