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The Island View
Monthly Newsletter
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Photo taken by David Brown: Green Goddess Tide Pool, Appledore Island, June 2020
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Dear SML Community,
Greetings from the porch of the Kingsbury House where I am watching a July thunderstorm roll along the mainland. The gulls always seem to enjoy these distant storms as much as I do, as evidenced by their increased chatter.
Taking a moment to reflect on the past month, the first thing that comes to mind is a resounding “wow”. We have navigated a lot. I must give a HUGE shout out to the SML staff for working with such purpose and drive during a time when it is challenging to stay focused. As a team, they took an innovative approach to transform our traditional 2020 season plans into a summer of accomplishments that will enhance SML for the years to come.
The equally dedicated SML faculty did the Herculean job of transitioning their island-based agenda online for six well-attended courses that will run through August 14th. In order to bring Appledore to our students, our small team of SML staff and faculty are working diligently to deliver customized lab and field-based videos. We are operating with deep care for the health of each other, our families, and our community.
The past month has brought into focus how much passion there is for the mission of SML. We have also come to realize how much we miss welcoming students, scientists, and the public to the island. We will again, and until then, we will continue to serve education, science, and sustainability as creatively and as thoughtfully as we can. I hope you can join us for one of the upcoming events listed below!
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With deep appreciation and warm wishes,
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Jennifer Seavey, Ph.D.
Kingsbury Executive Director
Shoals Marine Laboratory
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Mark Your Calendars! SML Online Viewing Party
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When: August 20th, 2020 7:00PM - 8:00PM ET, Registration link coming soon
Whether you're alumni, faculty, a visiting researcher from the past, or a Rock Talk audience member - we welcome you to join the SML community for an end of summer viewing party! 2020 has reminded us the value in sharing moments with the ones we care for most (and to wash our hands more often). Having said that, we'd love to come together to share our 2020 summer highlights and offer a space to connect with familiar faces. Between 6 online classes, adaptive student research opportunities, and stunning video content of Appledore Island, we've got plenty of exciting things to discuss. Mark your calendars and keep an eye out for further information!
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SML Art Fundraiser:
Bring Appledore into your home
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When: Tuesday, August 4th at 12:00PM ET - Friday, August 14th at 12:00pm ET
Details:
We are thrilled to announce SML's first art fundraiser featuring work produced by SML Artist in Residence, Alastair Dacey! A portion of the proceeds from the sale will support SML’s mission to provide outstanding experiential, place-based education enhanced through creativity and exposure to an artistic community. We will be sending an email on August 4th at 12:00pm ET with a link to the website where paintings will be available to view and purchase. This event will last for 10 days and ends on August 14th at 12:00pm ET. However, please keep in mind that pieces may sell quickly. The paintings will be unframed and shipping is not included.
About the artist:
Alastair is a professional painter living and working in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Combining his academic training with a taste for the painterly and abstract -whether a portrait, figure, landscape or seascape -his work explores vibrant color, subtle gesture, and bold design. Alastair has joined SML twice as an Artist in Residence, and we deeply appreciate his continued generosity to help promote our mission in the arts and scientific community. Please be sure to follow his social media pages linked below!
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Bringing Celia Thaxter's Island Garden to You
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Although our Garden Tours have been canceled this summer due to COVID-19, you can experience a re-creation of Celia Thaxter's Garden at Prescott Park in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. In collaboration with Rolling Green Nursery, the city of Portsmouth, a generous donor, and a team of dedicated gardeners, this site is open and available to the public. Click the button below to learn more about this project and how it came to be!
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The SML Sustainability Dashboard is LIVE!
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Environmental sustainability is a core value for SML. As stated in our
2018-2028 Strategic Plan
, we aim to be a living laboratory with low-impact infrastructure and behavior that cultivates leaders in sustainability education and research, with a special focus on protecting marine resources. With the help of our dedicated staff and generous donors, we have implemented a green power grid (using solar and wind energy), water conservation program, composting initiatives, and so much more. As scientists, we value long-term data, multiple metrics, and the value in sharing it. This live dashboard allows our community to view SML's power consumption and energy production via solar, wind, and generators. This data will be used by courses, in research programs, and outreach. It will be a real asset to our SEI program as they will save time and have more data to make informed decisions. Check it out!
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Photo taken during 2019 academic season
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SURG Spotlight: Olivia Smith
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Meet Olivia Smith! She is one of several students that are apart of the Shoals Undergraduate Researcher Group (SURG), a program designed to offer research experience to college students from institutes around the country. Olivia is a rising junior at UNH pursuing a B.S. in marine, estuarine, and freshwater biology. While her original plan to study on Appledore Island as a Seabird Ecology and Conservation undergraduate researcher was altered by COVD-19, she is enjoying her time conducting research from home.
Olivia's work focuses on how Atlantic butterfish are impacting the common tern chicks that encounter them as a food source. Specifically, she is interested in whether the effects of butterfish are observable at individual nests (i.e. the impact of butterfish on survival/growth rate of chicks). She is also studying how butterfish populations are shifting in regards to temperature changes in the Gulf of Maine. Rather than conducting field-based observations, Olivia is collecting data from tern provisioning videos filmed over the past few years on Seavey Island, NH. These videos reveal what adult terns are foraging for and if the chicks can successfully swallow what is provisioned to them. Due to the difficulty of swallowing butterfish, which are a deep-bodied species, she predicts tern chicks that are offered more will have lower growth rates than those with fewer butterfish in their diet. So far, variable proportions of prey items have been observed between nests, proving a great difference in the diets of chicks that are growing up on the same island.
Despite being unable to attend Appledore Island this summer, Olivia is grateful for the opportunity to study seabirds and gain valuable skills that she will carry throughout the rest of her academic and scientific career. To learn more about the SURG program and research opportunities available at SML, click the button below!
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Follow us on social media:
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Shoals Marine Laboratory is a joint partnership between
Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire.
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