Current and Recent Projects

Investigator

Raymond, P., & M. Smith

Benoit, G.

Chen,T.T. and
B-Y. Yang

Elphick, C. and
M. Rubega

Kremer, J.N.

Varekamp, J.C

Ward, E.

Whitlatch, R.B.

Yale/Sea Grant Coastal Interns (A/E-5)
Principal Investigators: Gaboury Benoit, Martha McCormick-Smith, Yale University CCWS
The Yale/Sea Grant Coastal Interns are graduate students in the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Center for Coastal Watershed Studies (CCWS). Intern selection is competitive; selected projects link students to coastal policy makers, resource managers and citizens, providing opportunities for practical experience in science-based environmental policy. To date, 64 of these internships have been supported by CTSG.

Sediment Dynamics in Connnecticut Estuaries: 7Be, 210Pb, 137Cs, trace metals and modeling to investigate delivery, erosion, and accumulation. (R/ER-19)
Principal Investigator: Gaboury Benoit, Yale University
This investigator and his team are finding and documenting heavy metal pollutants in estuaries and associated rivers in the LIS watershed. The study will show if and how they combine with other compounds in mud to form complexes and how these complexes behave.

Determining the causes of area-sensitivity: a prerequisite for saltmarsh bird conservation

Principal Investigator: Chris Elphick and Margaret Rubega, University of Connecticut
This study examines two highly-endangered salt marsh birds, the sharp-tailed sparrow and the seaside sparrow. Both are highly endangered and live in small patch habitats in salt marshes in Connecticut. The study will examine factors that may influence their habitat selection, impacting their abundance and ecology. Read More about this project and see the birds. Find out how you can help.

Avian scientist Chris Elphick gets national award!

 

Characterization of the biological function of somatolactin-identification of the somatolactin receptor and determination of the somatolactin target issues. (R/A-35)
Principal Investigator: Thomas Chen, University of Connecticut
Somatolactin is a hormone found in some finfish, but exactly what it does and where it is found in various fish has not yet been adequately determined. This study will attempt to do so.

Responses of Eelgrass Habitats to Land-use and Nitrogen Loading (R/ER-23)
Principal Investigator: Jim Kremer, University of Connecticut
Eelgrass is one of very few vascular plants that can grow underwater. It provides important habitat for shellfish such as scallops. But eelgrass beds have greatly declined in recent years. This project is examining the effects of nitrogen on this important plant.

The Connecticut 'Hatting' industry as a Mercury source for Long Island Sound (R/ER-22)
Principal Investigator: Johan Varekamp, Wesleyan University
Connecticut has a proud heritage of hatmaking that goes back more than 200 years. Mercury nitrate was used in the manufacture of felt hats from fur at any factories in Danbury, the hatmaking capitol. The industry is gone now but a legacy of mercury remains in certain locations, and the mercury could be carried to Long Island Sound when storms cause flooding.

Phytoplankton Dynamics in Long Island Sound: Influence of Environmental Factors on Naturally Occurring Assemblages (M/PD-4)
Principal Investigator: Evan Ward, University of Connecticut
This project involves sampling both phyto- and zooplankton in Long Island Sound, identifying and quantifying species of communities within LIS, comparing the data to earlier historical surveys and relating the assemblages (mix of species found) to a number of environmental factors at sampling locations at various times.

Projects FY 2000-2002

Investigator

Project Title

Benoit, G.

Chen, T. T.

French, R.

Thomas, E. and J. Varekamp

Whitlatch, R.B.

Yarish, C.

Yarish, C.

Sulfide Complexation on Heavy Metal Biogeochemistry and Bioavailability in Connecticut Rivers and Estuaries (R/ER-14)
Principal Investigator: Gaboury Benoit, Yale University
Watershed and coastal zone managers would like to know more aobut the ecotoxicological risks posed by heavy metal pollutants in riverine-estuarine ecosystems. Many of these metals are found in complexes with sulfides. It is known that metal sulfides are catalysts in many biological processes, and that complexation can reduce the toxicity of metals as well as their availability to organisms as micronutrients. Benoit's team is sampling 10 Connecticut coastal rivers to learn more about the abundance, distribution, and behavior of these metal sulfide complexes.

Growth Enhancement in Two Economically Important Euryhaline Teleosts, Rainbow Trout and Tilapia (R/A-25)
Principal Investigator: Thomas Chen, University of Connecticut
Researchers led by Dr. Tom Chen, have begun working on a process of stimulating growth hormone production in rainbow trout and tiliapia, using a synthetic protein. The team is testing the synthetic protein to determine if it can effectively mimic a natural growth hormone. This research could benefit aquaculture of these species by reducing the amount of time and feed required to produce marketable fish.

Chemilluminescent Quantitative Multiplex PCR for Dermo, MSX, and SSO in the Eastern Oyster (R/A-29)
Principal Investigator: Richard French, University of Connecticut
Connecticut has historically produced some of the most valued oysters in the world. Followin recent outbreaks of three diseases- Dermo, MSX, and SSO- in the Eastern Oyster, Atlantic coast populations declined and the industry was impacted severly. UCONN pathobiologists have been working with colleagues at Woods Hole and the CT Bureau of Aquaculture to investigate the potential of molecular diagnostic tests which are sensitive, rapid, cost-effective, and convenient for the detection of these oyster disease agents. The tests would aid shellfish managers and aquaculturists.

The Long Island Sound Paleo-Environment Program (R/ER-15)
Principal Investigators: Ellen Thomas and Johan Varekamp
Researchers are examining microscopic fossils of foraminifera, unicellular organisms that liv on the sea floor and in marsh sediments. By collecting fossil foraminifera, determining the species, and examining their evoluntion and changes in species assemblage and biodiversity over time, the team can use the "forams" as indicators of ecosystem dynamics and attempt to relate the changes not only to the physical environment but to human activities as well.

Species and Community Attributes Affecting Invasion Success by Exotic Species (R/ES-15)
Principal Investigator: Robert Whitlatch, University of Connecticut
What makes an invader successful? A team of scientists are studying the causes and consequences of the invasion of the New England rocky subtidal communities by four species of introduced sea squirts: Botrylloides diegensis, Diplosoma macdonaldi, Ascidiella adspersa, and Styela clava.

Sustainable Integrated Finfish/Nori Aquaculture for Bioremediation and Production of Food and Biochemicals (R/A-28)
Principal Investigator: Charles Yarish, University of Connecticut
Balancing the increasing demand for high quality seafood with the negative environmental impacts of high-intensity aquaculture is a challenge being met by the developers of new biotechnology in the form of integrated aquaculture systems. This research team is utilizing a red alga, known as nori, to scrub nitrogen and phosphorus from the waters surrounding salmon pens. The wast from the farmed fish is transformed into nutritious food, while the surrounding waters stay cleaner and healthier.

Development of an integrated recirculating aquaculture system for nutrient bioremediation in an urban setting. (R/A-34)
Principal Investigator: Charles Yarish, University of Connecticut
A collaborative project between UCONN and researchers at the University of New Hampshire, SUNY, and the University of New Brunswick. Investigators are examining and documenting the effects of light, temperature, and nutrients on four species of Porphyra which are native to New England coasts. Porphyra (nori) is a red alga that is economically important for use in food and pharmaceutical products. This alga can be grown in polyculture situations, with finfish or shellfish, The alga aids in maintaining water quality as it "scrubs" out excess nutrients from the waste effluent and converts it into a healthy food product.

Projects FY 1998-2000

Investigator

Chambers, R. and D. Osgood

Kellert, S.

McManus, G. et al.

Laufer, H.

Varekamp, J. and E. Thomas

Hydrologic and Chemical Control of Phragmites Growth in Tidal Marshes (R/ER-12)
Principal Investigators: Randolph Chambers and David Osgood
For thousands of years, Phragmites australis, or common reed grass, was a minor component of the vegetation found in the North American wetland ecosystems. But in recent years, Phragmites, has expanded aggressively and rapidly, and now dominates many marshes along the northern and middle Atlantic coasts, and is expanding further south. Chambers and Osgood have been examining other conditions that encourage or discourage Phragmites from growing.

Connecting Ecological and Social Systems: Watershed Research Relating Ecosystem Structure and Function to Human Values and Socioeconomic Behaviors (R/SL-8)
Principal Investigator: Stephen Kellert
The ways in which humans and natural ecosystems interact are important but complicated and poorly understood. An interdiciplinary study led by Stephen Kellert is attempting to determine how the structure and function of natural ecosystems relates to human values and socioeconomic behavior. The investigators hypothesize that the health and function of natural systems significantly influences human environmental values which eventually becomes manifest in a range of economic, social, and psycological relations among people, which then feed back and affect ecosystem structure and function, and the cycle continues.

Endocrinology of Shrimp Reproduction, Maturation and Spawning (R/A-21)
Principal Investigator: Hans Laufer
Sea Grant research is proceeding to develop ways to understand and enhance the reproductive abilities of crustaceans. Laufer is using the spider crab, Libinia sp., to examine the hormonal controls of growth and reproduction. Laufer's insights have made it possible to control the entire crustacean life cycle, which will greatly facilitate aquaculture.

Trophic Effects of Two Dinoflagellates Upon Representative Pelagic and Benthic Consumers (R/A-20)
Principal Investigator: George McManus et al.
This research team is examining the effects of several harmful algal bloom (HAB) species on consumer organisms, such as tintinnids, copepods, and scallops. The HAB species they are studying are found in Long Island Sound and other locations worldwide. A better knowledge of the effects of these toxic organisms on their consumers is useful in predicting and controlling harmful blooms, and in choosing appropriate sites for aquaculture.

Environmental Changes In and Around Long Island Sound: Natural and Anthropogenic Factors (R/ER-2)
Principal Investigators: Johan Varekamp and Ellen Thomas
Understanding how coastal marshes grow or shrink in response to sea level and climate fluctuations is important for wetlands management. To better understand this variation, a Wesleyan geologist and a paleozoologist have investigated marsh changes in response to sea level rise over the past two thousand years, and how these changes relate to climate.

Development Funds

Connecticut Sea Grant funds a large number of small projects through its Development Grants program. These projects include seed funding for research that will culminate in a full proposal submission to Connecticut Sea Grant, funding to extend or complement existing research projects, and funding for publications associated with ongoing research. Funding has also been granted to co-sponsor workshops and conferences. Examples of development projects include topics such as the detection of paralytic shellfish poisons, support of the CT/RI Regional National Ocean Science Bowl, eelgrass and nitrogen loading, and fisheries economics and management, to name a few. For additional details on recent Development Grants, contact Rob Johnston. To apply for development funds, contact Sylvain De Guise, Director.

Archives

For additional information and archived research projects, contact Rob Johnston, Associate Director.

Connecticut Sea Grant College Program
University of Connecticut - Avery Point
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1080 Shennecossett Road
Groton, Connecticut 06340-6048
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This Page Updated on April 16, 2007