SBU Investigators Lead New Long Island Sound Projects in $10.4+M Research Suite

May 5, 2025
5 min read

New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has announced a major investment — $6.8M in research funding, leveraging an additional $3.6M in matched dollars — for 13 projects across five institutions in New York and Connecticut — Stony Brook University (SBU), City University of New York (CUNY), Cornell University, University of Connecticut, and The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk — focusing on key aspects of Long Island Sound ecosystem.

Chris Gobler, distinguished professor and endowed chair of coastal ecology and conservation in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), has been awarded over $325,000 for one of five projects exploring water quality issues.

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Lucas Chen, a lab technician in the Gobler Lab, samples an Alexandrium bloom in Jockey Creek, a tributary of Southold Bay on Long Island’s North Fork. (Zoom in, top left) A microscopic image of Alexandrium cells from the bloom. (Zoom in, bottom right) A closer look at the waters impacted by the bloom. During red tide events, which is when concentrations of the Alexandrium dinoflagellate in the water are dangerously high, the organism produces large quantities of the toxin Saxitoxin — a poisonous molecule 1,000x more potent than cyanide that can be fatal to humans who have eaten contaminated shellfish. Credit: Chris Gobler/SBU SoMAS

The goal of this two-year study is to assess the effects of excess nutrients on the proliferation of phytoplankton and harmful algal blooms (HABs), hypoxia and carbon sinking under different temperature scenarios expected with climate change. Gobler and his lab associates will also identify levels of nutrient reduction needed to reduce these effects, solicit feedback and communicate findings with management agencies in both New York (NY) and Connecticut (CT).

Giovanna McClenachan, assistant professor, SoMAS, is part of a set of five other research projects examining various aspects of salt marshes dynamics and restoration challenges. McClenachan has received over $332,000 for a two-year study at specific NY and CT salt marshes where rates of elevation gain will be calculated, landscape conditions influencing elevation change will be quantified, and plant decay rates measured. Restoration managers will be provided with this data to maximize tidal marsh elevation gain, increasing their resilience to sea level rise.

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Giovanna McClenachan, assistant professor in SoMAS, at Flax Pond, a tidal estuary in Old Field, NY. Credit: Giovanna McClenachan/SBU SoMAS

Dianne I. Greenfield, CUNY associate professor of biology, earth and environmental sciences who received her PhD in coastal oceanography at SBU, has been awarded nearly $600,000 for another of the five projects exploring water quality issues. Greenfield, along with her two co-PIs from University of Connecticut (Craig Tobias and Julie Granger), is evaluating water quality, nutrients and phytoplankton at sites directly downstream and away from wastewater treatment plant outfalls during dry and wet periods.

The goals of this two-year study are to assess the relationship between nitrogen inputs and harmful algal blooms (HABs) as well as identify tipping points that trigger HABs species proliferation. Findings will be shared with shellfish managers, municipal wastewater agencies, advocacy groups and researchers.

Matt Hare, associate professor, natural resources and the environment, and director, environment and sustainability, Cornell University, has received over $242,000 for “Restorative Aquaculture: Measuring the Extent of Ecosystem Services from Aquaculture Farms,” a one-year study. Hare is investigating the contribution of oyster farms to wild oyster populations through migration of larvae from farmed oysters into native populations. He and his colleagues are also assessing positive and negative consequences of genetic mixing of wild and farmed oyster populations.

Along with the other nine projects awarded in this suite, this represents the largest award for Long Island Sound research in the history of the collaboration between the Connecticut and New York Sea Grant (CTSG, NYSG) programs and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Long Island Sound Study (LISS). Overall, the projects selected will improve the understanding of factors impacting several fish species, shellfish, water quality and restoration of the estuary’s salt marshes.

“This research will benefit the Sound community and bring us new information on how best to manage and care for the Sound ecosystem,” said Lane Smith, NYSG research coordinator. “With topics ranging from water quality improvement to salt marsh restoration to fish and shellfish population dynamics, all with explicitly defined societal benefit and actionable outcomes, we are certain this body of work will make a tangible impact on the interlinked ecosystems, communities, and economies of the Long Island Sound,” added Rebecca Shuford, NYSG director.

For more, read the complete NYSG press release.

New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program. Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups — businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public. NYSG historically leverages on average a 3 to 6-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually.