living shoreline

Two Sea Grant Programs Support Students’ Unique Summer Job

students standing in front of mesh on the shoreline where they worked on living shoreline projects in Stratford for a summer internship
Sam Koeck, left, worked at the site with Sacred Heart University seniors Jeffrey Young, center, and Adrian Nelson, to lay mesh made of potato starch to secure soil at the site.

For many college students, the summer after freshman year means heading home for jobs waiting tables, working at youth recreation programs or scooping ice cream at the beach snack bar.

But after completing his first year at the University of Delaware, Sam Koeck came home to Connecticut to the kind of paid internship usually afforded only to students further along in college, when they’ve already taken several upper-level courses in their major.  A resident of Fairfield, Koeck is getting the chance to develop skills and real-world experience uniquely relevant to his double major in materials engineering and marine science at nearby Stratford Point, a Long Island Sound site serving as a laboratory for shoreline restoration. At the same time, he is enabling two Sea Grant programs –Delaware and Connecticut – to partner on a project that could benefit both states.

“Sam is just starting his academic career, so I hope this gives him the exposure he needs to help him see a path forward,” said Chris Hauser, associate director of Delaware Sea Grant. “We’re really excited about the skills that Sam will gain and how he can use them.”

Nancy Balcom, associate director of Connecticut Sea Grant, said the chance to work with another Sea Grant to jointly support Koeck – each program is providing half of his $5,000 summer salary – was a great opportunity.

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Article and photo by Judy Benson

Living Shoreline Planted in Stonington

 

group that planted living shoreline in stonington

The tidal marsh migration buffer at Dodge Paddock Beal Preserve in Stonington was planted on Friday May 3, 2019. With a stalwart group of dedicated volunteers, over 100 native plants were put in. This area borders a coastal wetland and the plants need to be able to withstand occasional salt spray as well as possible inundation during extreme storm events. This part of the preserve, owned by Avalonia Land Conservancy, was formally a cultivated garden. Garden plants were removed and the area was covered in black plastic last summer to kill any remaining roots and seeds. The area was seeded with native grasses in the fall of 2018 with a planned spring planting. As sea level rises, areas within the preserve are getting wetter and wetter, so native plants were carefully chosen to withstand wetland migration.

By Juliana Barrett

Living Shoreline Planting

Tom Martella
Tom Martella. Photo: Juliana Barrett.
Juliana
Beth Sullivan. Photo: Juliana Barrett.
living shoreline
Living shoreline in Stonington. Photo: Juliana Barrett.

UConn Extension worked on a living shoreline planting on Friday June 10, 2016 at Dodge Paddock Preserve in Stonington. The area is owned and managed by Avalonia Land Conservancy. Special thanks to Beth Sullivan, volunteer extraordinaire and Avalonia project manager.

Living Shoreline Workshop

living shoreline meeting

Connecticut Sea Grant and Extension’s CLEAR hosted the second Living Shoreline Workshop in June as part of the Climate Adaptation Academy. This workshop brought over 100 participants together to hear experts from Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and other states including Connecticut talk about different aspects of living shorelines including on the ground examples and what has and hasn’t worked.