Projects
In 2015, the United Nations negotiated and adopted a series of international goals and targets for a more prosperous world, including ending poverty and hunger, improving education and inequality, providing clean water and energy, and implementing solutions for climate and sustainable cities. The set of 17 goals and 169 targets are referred to as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.
In 2019 the paper “Gaps in protection of important ocean areas: a spatial meta-analysis of ten global mapping initiatives” was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, co-authored by Dr. Natasha Gownaris (IOCS alum); Dr. Ellen Pikitch, Christine Santora, and John Davis (Octo). The need for such a study arose during the 2016 Rome Conference on Marine Protected Areas where attending diplomats explicitly called for the scientific community to “Map and describe areas where MPAs are especially needed and prioritize protection of vulnerable species and habitats...giving the highest consideration to both biodiversity distribution and ecosystem functioning.” The Italian Ministry of the Environment recognized the importance of this work and provided financial support for the study.
Dr. Ellen Pikitch (IOCS), and Dr. Guifang “Julia” Xue (Shanghai Jai Tong University) led a multi-year study entitled: An Analysis of Marine Protected Areas with support from the Lenfest Ocean Program. The study was undertaken to better understand and make available to an international audience China’s domestic area-based marine conservation efforts. Some marine protected areas have been in place in China for more than half a century, yet knowledge of the types, location and objectives of these sites was poorly known despite this long history. The research effort involved site visits within the country, as well as compilation of data from multiple sources.
MPAs often fall short of conservation goals because of insufficient or unreliable financial resources to support on-the-ground management and enforcement operations, such as staff salaries, equipment, and fuel. Funding challenges are a common thread and persistent problem for MPAs around the world and undermine the success of many marine conservation efforts. Thus, an important area of research is “MPA sustainable finance” – a field of study that seeks to understand why MPAs lack sufficient, reliable funding and then generate strategies and solutions to remedy the problem. IOCS has embraced MPA finance as a central research focus.
The Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program (ShiRP) was initiated by Dr. Ellen Pikitch and she and Dr. Christopher Gobler have served as co-principal investigators on the effort since 2011. It was clear then that conditions in the bay had been deteriorating over time, evidenced by excessive nitrogen loading, the presence of harmful algal blooms, a lack of shellfish, and decreasing eelgrass habitat.
In early 2022, IOCS along with The Explorers Club nominated Shinnecock Bay as a Mission Blue Hope Spot, the first in the New York State and one of only a few on the U.S. East Coast.
Shinnecock Bay was once severely degraded, facing similar problems as other bays in the region and around the globe: water quality impairments, nitrogen loading, a lack of shellfish, and habitat loss. Now, following a comprehensive restoration and monitoring program begun in 2012 led by Stony Brook University (The Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program (ShiRP), the health of the bay has improved dramatically.
The Shinnecock Bay Hope Spot Indigenous Advisory Council is a newly formed committee that creates a mechanism for Tribal citizen contributions to collaborative scientific research and communication efforts in Shinnecock Bay.
The Shinnecock Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribe that has inhabited the lands and waters around Shinnecock Bay for over 13,000 years. The name “Shinnecock” roughly translates to “people of the stony shore” and the bay itself is an integral part of the Nation’s culture.
In September 2024, the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science conducted a groundbreaking expedition in Shinnecock Bay that expands the use of environmental DNA for biodiversity assessment by using zero-emission autonomous technologies.
The research is the first of its kind: an integration of an all-electric, self-righting solar powered uncrewed surface vehicle, or USV (the DataXplorer™, from Open Ocean Robotics), with a commercially available eDNA sampler that is compact and can take over 24 samples per outing (the RoCSI™, from McLane Research Laboratories). These two technology types have never before been used in tandem. The mission was an official flag expedition of The Explorers Club and carried Flag #132.
Shinnecock Bay was designated as a global Hope Spot in June 2022. On June 9th, 2023, IOCS hosted a celebration commemorating the Hope Spot's first anniversary at the Stony Brook Southampton Marine Science Center. The event recognized Shinnecock Bay's ecological and cultural importance to Long Island and the region, and shows how the bay is a uniting force for many stakeholders. The goal of the event was to raise awareness of the Shinnecock Hope Spot, communicate the importance of marine science, technology, and conservation, and discuss the vision of what the Shinnecock Bay Hope Spot can achieve in the future.
In September 2024, the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science conducted a groundbreaking expedition in Shinnecock Bay that expands the use of environmental DNA for biodiversity assessment by using zero-emission autonomous technologies. The research is the first of its kind: an integration of an all-electric, self-righting solar powered uncrewed surface vehicle, or USV (the DataXplorer™, from Open Ocean Robotics), with a commercially available eDNA sampler that is compact and can take over 24 samples per outing (the RoCSI™, from McLane Research Laboratories). These two technology types have never before been used in tandem. The mission was an official flag expedition of The Explorers Club and carried Flag #132.
There are 222 numbered Explorers Club flags, each with its own history. To carry an Explorers Club flag is an honor and a privilege, because these flags have flown at Earth’s furthest poles, mountain peaks, ocean depths, and even to outer space. A flag expedition must be approved via application and further the cause of exploration and field science. Only a small percentage of expeditions are approved for carrying a flag into the field. Dr. Ellen Pikitch, a fellow of The Explorers Club, successfully submitted an application for the Shinnecock Bay Hope Spot expedition in the summer of 2024. We received Flag #132, and Shinnecock Bay will be listed as the newest field location in a long and storied history!
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Environmental DNA, or eDNA, uses genetic material from the environment – like soil or water—to detect and identify the presence of wildlife. Just as forensic teams look for human DNA to determine who was at the scene of a crime, scientists can use eDNA to see what species are present in a sampled area. Similar to humans shedding hair and skin cells; marine organisms shed DNA into the environment through skin cells, scales, or secretions.
The Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program (ShiRP) was initiated by Dr. Ellen Pikitch and she and Dr. Christopher Gobler have served as co-principal investigators on the effort since 2011. It was clear then that conditions in the bay had been deteriorating over time, evidenced by excessive nitrogen loading, the presence of harmful algal blooms, a lack of shellfish, and decreasing eelgrass habitat.
IOCS, with support from the Lenfest Ocean Program, convened the Lenfest Forage Fish Task Force, a group of distinguished interdisciplinary scientists with collective expertise in marine ecology, fisheries science, oceanography, marine mammals, seabirds, forage fish populations, ecosystem modeling, and fisheries management. This expert panel was the first to comprehensively study the best available science on forage fish and conduct new and cutting-edge modeling to understand how fishing pressure affects both forage fish and predator populations. After rigorous synthesis, modeling, case study examples, and discussion, the Task Force developed a first-of-its-kind set of practical management recommendations that take into account the ecological role of forage fish when setting catch limits.
