SML Annual Fund: Give in honor of our 50th year!

$27,839 raised so far. That's 11% to our goal!

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April 2016
Dear Friends of Shoals Marine Laboratory,
 
SML's opening day is just around the corner and SML staff members are getting ready to make the annual pilgrimage to Appledore Island, our summer home. Appledore has enabled SML to develop life-changing, immersive learning programs for students and visitors, and in return, we take the stewardship of the island and the entire Isles of Shoals to heart! 
 
Across time and the Isles, there are many signs of SML's commitment to conservation and stewardship: joining the campaign to defend the Shoals against an oil refinery in the 1970's; dedicating the last 10 years to advance our sustainability program and solar energy utilization; the new SML Tern Program to shepherd the fragile seabird breeding colony on nearby Seavey Island; a two-year-old joint environmental education program with our Star Island neighbors; decades of monitoring and measuring intertidal, marine mammal, seabird and landbird resources across the archipelago; and so much more! 
 
These actions and initiatives define our ethics and lay a rich framework for our current efforts and future growth. Students and visitors on Appledore Island can't help but be inspired by the great work happening at Shoals Marine Laboratory - I know I am!   We hope you will join us this summer to discover the wonders of our learning island, and all that we are committed to understanding and protecting!

Giving Day is Coming!
Calling all Shoalers! Please join SML and Cornell on  April 19th  to make a big difference for Shoals Marine Laboratory! We aim to raise $250,000 for the SML Annual Fund, and we needyou to help us reach our goal! This year - during our 50th Anniversary - your contribution will have an even bigger impact thanks to the Saquish Foundation, who will be providing a challenge grant. When SML reaches the $100,000 mark, we will receive  an extra $25,000 for our annual fund. Check out the lobster in the upper left to track our progress toward our goal. 
Cornell Giving Day is April 19th. 
We thank you for your generous gift!
 
How to participate: On April 19th (between 12am and 11:59pm) please visit givingday.cornell.edu. Make sure to indicate 'Shoals Marine Laboratory Fund' when you make your Cornell Giving Day gift! 

SML Faculty and Course Voted #1
We are thrilled to announce that one of our fine SML faculty members - the charismatic and erudite Dr. David Bonter, from Cornell's Lab of Ornithology, has been awarded Professor of Merit by Cornell University for excellence in undergraduate teaching. Dr. Bonter's Field Ornithology course at SML is truly exceptional, don't miss out! There are still a few seats left! Come learn your birds with an ornithologist extraordinaire! 

Sign-up today: SML Adult and Family Programs
SML's Adult and Family Programs are now open for registration. Come experience our innovative educational programming and enjoy the magic of Appledore Island in the Isles of Shoals.
Photo by Jim Coyer
Take a Bite Out of Appledore: an Eco-Culinary Island Retreat
In this unique retreat, we bring together ecologists and award-winning chefs to interpret the many natural gifts the Isles of Shoals have to offer. Come as an individual or as a group to learn about the importance of sense of place, while also protecting a vital resource. Bring your appetite for food and knowledge!

Photo by instructor Jerry Monkman
Seascapes and Landscapes
Calling all artists and artists-to-be! Join us for a week of drawing, painting, printmaking and photography. This workshop is an opportunity for anyone interested in visual art to use the rugged seascapes and landscapes of the Isles of Shoals as their palette. Instructors include Wendy Turner, Hannah Phelps, and Jerry Monkman - all accomplished artists and insightful teachers! 

In Closing
In the spirit of Earth Day this month, and in celebration of 50 years of SML stewardship in the Isles of Shoals, I turn to one of my personal  heroes for inspiration: Rachel Carson. 
 
"To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides... to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years... is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be." 
 
I have uttered these lines to many people over the last couple of summers on Appledore. Any visitor to SML can experience the meaning of these lines by taking a quiet moment on one of Appledore's rocky ledges. These are the kinds of moments and experiences that make lasting, positive impacts on all island visitors - especially students and scientists - when they recognize that the natural resources of this place are bigger than any one of us, and should be respected and sustained. I am grateful that Shoals Marine Laboratory has called Appledore Island home for 50 years, and I hope for 50 more (and beyond!). I think the earthly life of the place benefits from our presence as much as we do from it.
 
With deep appreciation and warm wishes,

Jennifer Seavey, Ph.D.
Kingsbury Director of the Shoals Marine Laboratory
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