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MIT Sea Grant News + Updates

SPRING 2022

Space to Sea Exhibit | Opening June 22 on NEAQ's Central Wharf

MIT Sea Grant Visiting Artist Keith Ellenbogen brings the rich diversity of Massachusetts marine life—including blue sharks, humpback whales, sea turtles, and North Atlantic right whales—up close for visitors to see in an outdoor photographic exhibition, free and open to the public June 22 - Nov 1 on the New England Aquarium (NEAQ) Central Wharf. Space to Sea: A Photographic Journey into Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is a collaboration between MIT Sea Grant, NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and NEAQ. >> More about the Space to Sea exhibit

Pictured: Keith Ellenbogen prepares for a dive. Photo by Lily Keyes. REGISTER: JUNE 22 OPENING TALK- NEAQ Lecture Series -

Seed Funding Supporting Shellfisheries | J-WAFS funding at MIT

MIT Sea Grant was awarded funding from the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) for the project, “Cloud-based data applications for streamlining natural resource management.” The effort explores how we can streamline efforts of natural resource managers and increase transparency of information and decision-making among managers and stakeholders to support productivity of shellfisheries, safe human consumption, and vitality of coastal economies.

>> Read the J-WAFS announcement

Ocean Energy | Sea Grant, DOE + NOAA's NEFSC announce projects

The Northeast Sea Grant Consortium, DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office and Water Power Technologies Office, and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center announced six funded projects for the coexistence of offshore energy with fishing and coastal communities. The selected projects were collectively awarded over $1.1M in federal funds.

>> View the announcement + projects

FY2022 Funded Research| MIT Sea Grant Core Funded Projects

MIT Sea Grant announces two new Massachusetts university-based projects funded through our annual, competitive Core Request for Proposals: >> Implementation of Low-Cost Conductive Yarn Sensors into Aquaculture Enclosures for Strand and Rope Integrity Monitoring (PI: Krish Sharman, UMass Amherst)

>> Explore all Core funded projects

>> Incorporating Image Recognition and Machine Learning into the NE Multispecies Groundfish Electronic Monitoring Programs to Quantify Species and Sizes of Discards (PI: Pingguo He, UMass Dartmouth)

“Chrys Chryssostomidis” | Diane Greene SM '78 donates MIT boat

On May 13 at the MIT Sailing Fleet Commissioning Ceremony, Chair of the MIT Corporation Diane Greene, SM '78 donated a boat in honor of Professor Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis, former MIT Sea Grant director. Green spoke about the impact Prof. Chryssostomidis had on her education and MIT career.

Pictured: MIT Sea Grant Director Michael Triantafyllou, Diane Greene (SM '78), Paul Erb (SM '77) and Professor Chrys Chryssostomidis, former MITSG Director. Photos by Lily Keyes. "Sailing is what got me to MIT, and the namesake of my boat, Professor Chrys, is what got me through MIT." - Diane Greene, SM '78 >> View the MechE post + more photos

Sea Grant StoryMap | Downriver and Out to Sea

Explore stories of sea run fish and Sea Grant researchers in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire working to understand and protect the ecologically vital species. Look below the surface to learn about fish passage restoration and other ongoing initiatives. Photo + StoryMap by Tim Briggs, NHSG. >> View the Sea Grant StoryMap

Floating Wetland | Connecting Cambridge with the Charles River

MIT Sea Grant worked with the Charles River Conservancy and MIT Community Service Fund to develop an educational science kit and curriculum to connect local students with the Charles River Floating Wetland. This month, we assembled and delivered 180 kits for 600 students to grown their own living floating wetland models in Cambridge Public Schools 6th grade classrooms! >> Floating Wetland resource page

July 9: Join MIT Sea Grant, the Charles River Conservancy, and MIT Open Space Programming for hands-on activities and a Charles River Floating Wetland walk! Floating Wetland LEAP Lab Saturday, July 9 11am – 12:30pm Kendall/MIT Open Space @ 292 Main St Cambridge, MA - Free + open to public REGISTER: JULY 9 LEAP LAB

In the Field | Monitoring river herring with Mashpee Wampanoag

It takes a team to track river herring! MIT Sea Grant Assistant Director for Advisory Services Rob Vincent installed a camera setup this spring at Santuit Pond as part of a project with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Town of Mashpee to help monitor herring migration in Massachusetts.

STREAM Grants | A successful launch of a new grants program

This spring, MIT Sea Grant announced a new grants program open to a diversity of Massachusetts applicants. STREAM Grants — Solutions Through Research, Education, and Art in Massachusetts — will support 1-year projects under $10,000. We are currently reviewing our first round of proposals and will accept proposals again for our Nov 15 deadline! >> More about STREAM Grants

>> Watch the STREAM Grants video

Coastal Blue Carbon | Eelgrass and carbon storage research

MIT Sea Grant Coastal Ecologist Julie Simpson is working with the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management and other partners to test various methods of mapping eelgrass, including using drones and sonar. Coastal ecosystems like salt marshes and eelgrass meadows are incredibly efficient at capturing and storing large quantities of carbon. Learn more about coastal blue carbon and why it's important: >> Sea Grant and Coastal Blue Carbon >> NOAA Coastal Blue Carbon Efforts

Pictured: MIT Sea Grant Coastal Ecologist Julie Simpson takes a sample from a sediment core sample to help determine how much carbon is stored in North Atlantic eelgrass beds.

Dean Horn Award | MIT Sea Grant announces 2022 awardee

MIT Sea Grant announces the winner of the 2022 Dean A. Horn Award for Undergraduate Study in Marine Research, Ethan Lietch (MechE '22). Ethan's supervisors Professor Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis and Dr. Julie Chalfant nominated him for his work developing a thermal model for the U.S. Navy’s integrated Power Electronics Building Block (iPEBB).

>> More about awardee Ethan Lietch

Spring Student Projects| Undergraduate Research at MIT Sea Grant

Carbon Sequestration of Eelgrass   Ian Koe (Biology ’25)  Design and Development of a Self-Contained Underwater Housing + User Interface for High-Speed Image Maaya Prasad (Elec Sci + Eng ’22) Floating Wetland Educational Kit        Diego Barros (MechE ‘25) K-12 Education + Soft Robotics Isabel Alvarez (MechE ’23) Audrey Chen (MechE ’24) Ansel Garcia-Langley (MechE ’24) Bradyn Lenning (MechE ’24) Marine Ecological Analysis of Living Biomass Floating Island for Coastal Protection Sophia Green (Urban Studies + Planning ’25) Oystamaran Project (below) Annemarie Dapoz (MechE ’22)      Ita Futran (MechE ’24) Fiona Gillespie (EECS ’22)  Valeria Gutierrez (MechE ’24) Arianna Ilvonen (MechE ’24) Jessica Lam (MechE ’22) Sarah Lam (MechE ’22)   Bradyn Lenning (MechE ’24) Pictured: New hull design (left) and noses (right) for the Oystamaran. Images courtesy of Annemarie Dapoz.

Pictured: Whisker mount for calibration testing to determine downward displacement of a force sensor. Image courtesy of Erin Menenzes. Seal Whisker Sensors (above) Adrienne Lai (MechE ’25) Erin Menezes (MechE ’24)    Simulating Hybrid Navigation for an Autonomous Surface Vehicle Herbert Turner (AeroE + EECS ’22) Space to Sea + Image Processing NASA Satellite Data of Stellwagen Bank Chloe Langley (Comp Sci + Eng ’24) Emma Rutherford (MechE + Physics ’22) Mohamed Samb (EECS ’23) Alice Zhao (EECS ’25) Angela Zhao (EECS ’25) Unmanned Surface Vehicle Autonomy for MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge Irene Terpstra (EECS ’23)

Connect with us! Social: @MITSeaGrant Email: seagrantinfo@mit.edu Web: seagrant.mit.edu

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