MIT Sea Grant College Program
Newsletter: October 2012

In This Issue
MIT Sea Grant high school interns make an important scientific discovery
The 2012 Ocean Engineering Experience
Monitoring eelgrass, water quality, and invasive species in MA
Sea Grant Week 2012
New tool for the study of Didemnum vexillum
Survey results for MIT Sea Grant's Strategic Plan
Staff notes
MIT Sea Grant on Facebook
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FROM THE DIRECTOR
Chrys

 

It has been a busy and eventful summer and fall here at MIT Sea Grant.

 

Of special notoriety and pride to us are the accomplishments and contributions of our summer high school and college interns. These include a major scientific discovery of an invasive species, an innovative marine research iPhone app, and a tool for data analysis of underwater images. 

 

MIT Sea Grant's leadership at the biennial Sea Grant Week conference in Girdwood, Alaska is highlighted in this newsletter, along with survey results that identified stakeholder priorities for our forthcoming strategic plan.

 

On behalf of our excellent team here at MIT Sea Grant, I thank you for your interest in our work, and I hope you enjoy reading some of our latest news.

 

Sincerely,

 

Chrys Chryssostomidis

Director  

 

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MAKE AN IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY AS PART OF MIT SEA GRANT'S OCEAN SCIENCE INTERNSHIP
 CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO!   

A group of four high school students spent the month of July studying intertidal ecosystems as part of MIT Sea Grant's Ocean Science Internship. Led by summer Marine Science Educator Kate Longley, they discovered the non-native European rock shrimp (Palaemon elegans) on one of their transect survey studies on Lovell's Island, marking the first recorded encounter and identification of this species in Boston Harbor. The European rock shrimp was first discovered on the East Coast in 2010 in Salem, MA, and later in 2011 further north in Gloucester and southward in Swampscott. Researchers believe it was first introduced to this side of the Atlantic through ballast water, and are concerned regarding the significance of its spread, since this species is a fierce predator and likely to disrupt native sea life communities.  CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE

HIGH SCHOOLERS GATHER FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE 2012 OCEAN ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO!

MIT Sea Grant's Ocean Engineering Experience (OEX) is an annual, week-long residential ocean engineering program for high schoolers. This year's event took place in August and was conducted by MIT Sea Grant Engineering Educator Kathryn Shroyer. The sixteen students from around the country and around the world were split into teams of four and tasked with an engineering challenge. Following the guidance from Shroyer and three college assistants, the participants role-played as remotely operated vehicle (ROV) design firms contracted by a local power plant to design vehicles and test the water quality of the Charles River. The teams underwent rigorous design reviews, received constant feedback, ideas, and suggestions as they fabricated and tested their ROVs. OEX culminated with a well-attended public presentation of each team's vehicle and data collected at the MIT Museum. 

MONITORING EELGRASS, WATER QUALITY, AND INVASIVE SPECIES IN MASSACHUSETTS 


CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO! 

Chris McIntyre, a summer Environmental Scientist at MIT Sea Grant, monitored eelgrass beds at eleven sites throughout Boston Harbor and along the North and South Shore using underwater cameras, the AUV REX III, a light sensor, secchi disk, and a portable conductivity, temperature, and depth probe.  The data will be used to compare study sites to determine how water quality and light penetration have influenced the success of natural and recently restored eelgrass meadows. McIntyre is also monitoring non-native species in the area to track their distribution and range and to determine whether invasive species have negative impacts on eelgrass meadows.     

 

SEA GRANT WEEK 2012 IN GIRDWOOD, ALASKA
THE HOTEL ALYESKA WHERE SEA GRANT WEEK TOOK PLACE

The biennial Sea Grant Week took place in Girdwood, Alaska from September 17-22, 2012. Hosted and organized by Alaska Sea Grant, representatives from 33 Sea Grant College Programs across the country, and international program partners gathered to share experiences and information for building on the Sea Grant's common mission. Meeting themes included Emerging and Ongoing Issues, Integrating Social Science, and Maximizing Sea Grant's Return on Investment and Overall Impact. Separate network meetings offered an opportunity to meet counterparts and share experiences. MIT Sea Grant's web developer Ben Bray presented eSeaGrant (eSG), an online system for gathering data, proposals, reviews and supporting reporting requirements. MIT Sea Grant's anthropologist Madeleine Hall-Arber served as a focus group facilitator for Integrating Social Science into Sea Grant, to discuss the proposal process, evaluation of research impacts, and ways to apply social science research findings to modern management tools. 

INDEPENDENT INTERNSHIP STUDY ON DIDEMNUM VEXILLUM
PEREIRA AT WORK AT MIT SEA GRANT

Serrano Pereira, a student from Leiden University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands, is half-way through a five-month internship at MIT Sea Grant, where he is working with Dr. Judy Pederson to develop the Marine Species Identification System (MaSIS).  MaSIS is a tool that will make it easier to identify organisms in seafloor imagery in order to calculate the percent coverage of species of interest. The team is looking at Didemnum vexillum, a non-native sea squirt in the Atlantic coast of North America that threatens to disrupt the community structure and native biodiversity. Percent cover data generated with MaSIS will be further analyzed to find correlations between the Didemnum vexillum and other marine species. Pereira will present his work during an upcoming seminar. CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE

SURVEY RESULTS AND MIT SEA GRANT'S STRATEGIC PLAN 
PRESERVING THE COAST IDENTIFIED AS A TOP PRIORITY

MIT Sea Grant collected responses from its joint survey with Woods Hole Sea Grant that was distributed this summer to help identify constituent priorities for the development of the strategic plan 2014-2017. The primary interests identified are: preserving the coast, providing stewardship, and making wise use of resources. Specific areas of interest include: managing hazards associated with coastal flooding and shoreline erosion, protecting and managing fisheries, water quality, contaminants, and addressing issues of alternative energy and working waterfronts. Support for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), programs in biology, biophysical processes, and engineering and technology studies ranked high. Websites, workshops, newsletters, and public events were indicated as the best ways to access coastal information and to foster environmental literacy. 

 STAFF NOTES 

INTRODUCING LILLIE PAQUETTE AS MIT SEA GRANT'S COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

MIT Sea Grant is pleased to welcome Lillie Paquette as the program's new Communications Specialist. Paquette brings her experience as documentary producer and Reuters Video News writer and reporter. She is entrepreneurial in her approach to projects, and offers new and exciting communication dimensions for capturing and disseminating engaging stories and information about MIT Sea Grant's cutting edge research, education and outreach programs. Paquette holds a BA from Northeastern University and an MA from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.  

 

COASTAL ECOLOGIST, JULIE SIMPSON BACK FROM MATERNITY LEAVE 

MIT Sea Grant welcomes Julie Simpson back to work after maternity leave this summer. She was missed during her absence, and Julie is once again tackling pertinent issues related to climate change, sustainable development, and water quality. 

 

INCOMING AUV LAB INTERNS  

Aleks Misic and Eduard Zorita are MIT Sea Grant's current AUV interns working on various projects under the guidance of Research Engineer, Michael Soroka. Misic graduated with a BA in electrical engineering from Northeastern University in May 2012, and is assisting Soroka in adding capabilities to REX III, the Sea Perch, as well as helping to develop a scale model of a destroyer ship. Zorita holds a BS and MS degrees in electrical and communication engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona. He is working at MIT Sea Grant to improve and redesign the communication systems of certain underwater vehicles, as well as designing electronics for the future DDG51 vehicle. 





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