Project Oceanology

🔉 Turn Sound Up 🔊

As we shared earlier this week, Project Oceanology received a grant from the Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF) last fall, a partnership among Restore America's Estuaries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Long Island Sound Partnership.

In addition to creating beautiful flower beds🪻, another remarkable student-led stewardship initiative occurred at both Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School (New London Public Schools) in New London and Thames River Magnet School (Groton Public Schools) in Groton. Fourth-grade students from both schools decorated buckets designated for clean-up stations. While Winthrop students painted 🫟 their buckets 🪣, students from TRMS participated in a drawing contest. Select artwork 🎨 from the three fourth-grade classes was chosen to be featured as stickers on the buckets, alongside their school 🐢 and Project Oceanology 🌊.

In Groton, you can locate a Clean-up Station at TRMS and Birch Plain Creek. In New London, you can find stations at Winthrop, Riverside Park, and Ocean Beach Park. At each Clean-Up Station, you can pick up a bucket and a picker to collect trash. Once you've gathered the trash, simply dispose of it in a garbage can 🗑️, and return the bucket and picker to their designated spot. Let’s join together to keep our communities clean this summer! ☀️

🎉 Partner Spotlight: Restore America's Estuaries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Long Island Sound Partnership 🎉

This past fall, Project Oceanology was awarded a grant from the Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund (LISCIF), in collaboration with Restore America’s Estuaries, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Long Island Sound Partnership.

The Thames River Watershed Resilience Project aimed to partner with coastal communities within the Thames River watershed, offering K-12 students from underserved backgrounds hands-on educational experiences in both classroom settings and outdoor environments. This initiative seeks to engage youth, enhancing their knowledge of the ecological health of the Thames River and Long Island Sound while fostering a greater appreciation for environmental stewardship among teachers and students within these communities.

One notable student-led stewardship project at Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School (New London Public Schools) in New London involved creating flower beds. Fourth-grade students learned essential gardening skills, such as weeding each flowerbed, adding fresh soil, and planting various flowers. Flowerbeds play a crucial role in supporting bees 🐝 and butterflies 🦋, offering essential food and shelter for their survival and reproduction. They serve as vital refueling stations and safe havens in both urban and rural ecosystems. After completing the project, we ensured the students had the necessary tools to maintain their flower beds for years to come. 🌸🪻🌼

As a founding member of Project Oceanology, Ledyard Public Schools has provided students and teachers with immersive, hands-on marine science experiences for 54 years.

This spring, Ledyard High School seniors spent a day conducting a beach cleanup at Pine Island, documenting marine debris and learning about the impacts of pollution on Long Island Sound.

Dave Bednarz, a Science Teacher at Ledyard High School and a Project Oceanology Board Member, states, “Project Oceanology has been an integral part of Ledyard since 1972. We’ve engaged middle school and high school students, including those taking college courses, by actively participating in all the educational programs that Project Oceanology provides for each grade level. For about 20 years, we’ve had an Ocean Bowl team, and Project Oceanology has been an inspiration to our kids who have been immersed in it since a young age, gaining a love for the ocean.” Dave noted that there was a moment in time when Ledyard almost lost Project Oceanology due to budget cuts. However, after securing the trophy at Ocean Bowl, the students had the chance to present the trophy to the board and express their desire to continue attending Project Oceanology.

After the beach cleanup was finished, to recognize the seniors' achievements and the conclusion of the academic year, Mr. Bednarz arranged an end-of-year BBQ to celebrate their success.