Join MIT Sea Grant Visiting Artist Keith Ellenbogen for a lightning talk and Q&A
with an introduction by Director Michael Triantafyllou
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SPACE TO SEA
A Photographic Exploration of New England's Marine Environment
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A Letter from the Director
Dear Colleagues and Friends of the MIT Sea Grant Program,
Despite being already in the eighth month of this unprecedented crisis due to the pandemic, our staff is fully engaged with our stakeholders and collaborators at MIT and our sister Institutions, across the State of Massachusetts and the region, and with our nationwide network of sister Sea Grant programs.
In addition to several news items you can read in this issue, I would like to highlight:
- We just finished reviewing external research proposals and are about to announce this year's funded PIs.
- We have announced the search for this year’s Doherty career development professorship, looking for bright scientists to work on ocean issues.
- We are working with our Advisory Committee and our stakeholders to identify new areas of research.
- We are proud about our COVID-19 rapid response described in this issue of our News Update.
Our offices are not fully opened yet, although the labs are almost fully open for research. We hope to be able to welcome you soon at MIT Sea Grant once the pandemic is over. Until then, please share your comments, inquiries and feedback with us.
With best wishes for health,
Michael Triantafyllou, MITSG Director
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During the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Sea Grant College Program mobilized funding to support program responses to challenges affecting the seafood industry. MIT Sea Grant teamed up with the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance (CCCFA), the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and food banks across the state, to establish Saving Community Fishery, Feeding a Population. So far, 96,000 haddock chowder meals have been distributed.
MORE VIA CCCFA:
MORE VIA SEA GRANT:
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Photo credit: CCCFA
ON-CAMPUS MIT COMMUNITY:
Try the Haddock Chowder! Join MIT Sea Grant, the CCCFA, and MIT Dining in the Stratton Student Center.
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The Doherty Professorship provides a two-year stipend to young MIT faculty pursuing new ideas in ocean technologies. Non-tenured faculty members from all MIT departments are eligible. |
2020 DOHERTY PROFESSOR:
>> Fadel Adib | Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Media Lab
Research focus | Backscatter Positioning for the Subsea Internet of Things
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Photo credit: Reza Ghaffarivardavagh
Our 2020 Doherty Professor Fadel Adib's new approach could spark an era of battery-free ocean exploration, with applications from marine conservation to aquaculture.
MORE VIA MIT NEWS:
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Sea Grant's John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources.
The program matches Fellows with “hosts” in the legislative and executive branches of government for a one-year paid immersive policy experience in the Washington, D.C. area.
ELIGIBILITY:
Any student, regardless of citizenship, who is in a graduate or professional program in a marine or aquatic-related field at a Massachusetts accredited institution of higher education may apply through the MIT Sea Grant program.
Apply by February 2021 to be a 2022 Fellow!
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Photo credit: Meredith Richardson (Knauss Blog)
2021 KNAUSS FELLOWS:
NOAA and Sea Grant announced 72 finalists for the 2021 Knauss Program.
2021 FELLOWS SPONSORED BY MIT SEA GRANT:
>> Lucilia Bloemendaal | Boston U
>> Catherine Tobin | UMass Boston
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The class, led by MIT Sea Grant instructors, combines lectures on the ecology of coastal communities, with a semester-long project. Shifting gears during Covid-19, the instructors chose to focus the fall semester on the ecology of human communities along the coast, by assessing socio-economic impacts on the fishing and aquaculture industry and identifying ways to address those impacts.
With this research, the instructors aim to help delineate a sustainable path forward for these critically important coastal industries.
MIT SEA GRANT INSTRUCTORS:
>> Carolina Bastidas | Research Scientist
>> Juliet Simpson | Coastal Ecologist
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ASSESSING IMPACTS:
Students in 2.982 designed a survey to help understand Covid-19 impacts.
Are you a member of the New England aquaculture industry?
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MIT Sea Grant Contributes to MIT Climate Grand Challenges
Over 300 MIT faculty and research scientists submitted letters outlining climate solutions for MIT's Climate Change Grand Challenges. Now, a series of workshops are underway.
During the October 29 Climate and Earth Science session, Michael Triantafyllou, MIT Sea Grant Director and the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Professor of Ocean Science and Engineering, presented the proposal, Big Data and Machine Learning for Ocean Monitoring: Application to Ocean Acidification through the MIT Sea Grant Program. Also speaking at this session was MIT Sea Grant funded researcher Themistoklis Sapsis, Associate Prof of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering.
MIT SEA GRANT FUNDED PROJECT:
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MORE VIA MIT NEWS & TECHNOLOGY REVIEW:
Learn more about ocean acidification via NOAA:
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MIT Sea Grant Students Seek Robotic Solutions for Aquaculture
Students who took MIT Course 2.017: Design of Electromechanical Robotic Systems with an MIT Sea Grant instructor explored whether robots could replace human workers on the water. Through the class, they created a design for an autonomous surface vessel – the Oystamaran – to facilitate oyster farming.
Now, a team is continuing the project as MIT Sea Grant interns through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, building and testing robots capable of flipping bags of oysters to prevent biofouling.
With full-grown oysters at the end of a season, each bag can weigh over 25 pounds, not a simple task for human or robot workers.
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IN THE FIELD:
The team – Flora Klise (MechE '21), Joshua Padilla (MechE '21), Matthew Tung (EECS, G), and MIT Sea Grant Research Education Assistant and former UROP Michelle Kornberg – visited Ward Aquafarms in East Falmouth in October. Photo: M. Kornberg
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Connect with MIT Sea Grant!
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