NOAA Grants $1.1 Million for Coastal Research in NY

Published: Thursday, May 3, 2018

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded just over $1.1 million in grants for five new two-year coastal science research projects. New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, and one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program of NOAA, is sponsoring the projects.

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, has received $647,061 of the NOAA funding for projects focused on Great Lakes coastal flooding and aquatic invasive species detection, and developing ways to help seafood processors fine-tune their Listeriafood safety control strategy.

“New York Sea Grant is pleased to sponsor this new research that is vital to protect and enhancing the quality of New York State’s water resources that are an essential economic driver not only for our coastal communities in the Great Lakes region, but for all of New York State,” said Cornell Cooperative Extension Assistant Director and NYSG Extension Associate Director Katherine Bunting-Howarth.

Tools to Help Coastal Communities Address Flood Risk and Planning
With a $237,431.00 grant, Scott Steinschneider, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Biological and Environmental Engineering Department at Cornell University, is developing models of extreme lake levels, storm surges, and wave heights to help predict flooding events, such as along Lake Ontario in 2017. Social science data will supplement the research team development of decision-support tools for flood risk and planning. Details of flooding-related work in 2017 by Steinschneider is posted at www.nyseagrant.org/waterlevel2017.

Enhancing Aquatic Invasive Species Detection with e-DNA
David M. Lodge, Ph.D, director of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future and a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, has received a $239,630.00 grant to develop an inexpensive environmental DNA-testing method for the earlier detection of aquatic invasive species and co-detection of multiple species to assist coastal resource managers at less cost than current detection methods. Field testing will take place on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

Amplifying Food Safety for Salmon Processors
Martin Wiedmann, the Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety, at Cornell University, has received $170,000 to assess how Listeria grown under different conditions before contamination of salmon differs in susceptibility to the antibacterial compound Nisin. Listeria typically contaminates a wide variety of food at low levels unlikely to cause disease but can grow to dangerous levels. Wiedmann’s research will take into account natural growth conditions that Listeria is exposed to in seafood processing facilities to help optimize application strategies for cold smoked salmon product packaging to benefit processors in both the Great Lakes freshwater and downstate saltwater regions of New York.

Stony Brook University has received $459,341 in NOAA funding to expand research into harmful algal bloom research on Long Island and investigate the ability of seagrass to drawn down carbon dioxide to reduce the effects of ocean acidification.

“These new projects target issues of importance to New Yorkers and to citizens everywhere,” said NYSG Director William Wise, Stony Brook, NY. “The Sea Grant approach of linked research, outreach, and extension raises awareness about coastal resources and enhances the sustainability of coastal communities.”

NYSG maintains Great Lakes offices at SUNY Buffalo, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and at SUNY Oswego. In the State's marine district, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Manhattan, in the Hudson Valley through Cooperative Extension in Kingston, and at Brooklyn College.

MORE INFORMATION:
NYSG, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.