2024 Research Project Descriptions

Projects will take place from 2025 to 2028

Water Quality

Reducing Non-Point Source Nitrogen Loads from Residential Septic Systems: Identifying Barriers and Opportunities for Large-Scale Water Quality Improvements

Investigator: Jamie Vaudrey, CT National Estuarine Research Reserve, University of Connecticut
Grant Award: $812,255

Households will be surveyed about alternatives to septic systems, and the results will be used to inform management actions that may include incentives and programs to reduce economic barriers to new systems. The project will also address nitrogen loads from coastal communities and fertilizer use under current and future scenarios and assess costs and impacts of a program to promote alternative treatment systems. Outreach materials will be used to communicate ways to engage residents in efforts to reduce nitrogen inputs.

Improved Mechanistic Understanding of Hypoxia Drivers in Western Long Island Sound Enabled with Data from a Wire-Following Profiler and Coupled Biogeochemical-Hydrodynamic Modeling

Investigator: Cara C.M. Manning, University of Connecticut
Grant Award: $499,570

Oxygen depletion, wave action, gas exchange and other variables will be measured in the western Sound using an electronic profiler and modeling over a four-month period. The data will be used to improve understanding of the factors that lead to hypoxia, and the duration and severity of hypoxic conditions.

Testing Dissolved Oxygen Models in Long Island Sound

Investigator: James O’Donnell, University of Connecticut
Grant Award: $750,000

Three hypothesis about the mechanisms controlling hypoxia in western Long Island Sound will be tested. The testing will be done with new but demonstrated equipment to create a dataset describing oxygen exchanges and mixing. An advisory committee will guide the project and ensure that its outputs are useful to people involved in management of the Sound.

Nutrients, Algal Blooms and Hypoxia: Retrospective and Prescient Approaches for the Future Management of Long Island Sound

Investigator: Christopher J. Gobler, Stony Brook University
EPA Grant Award: $325,658

Summary: This project will assess effects of excess nutrients on the proliferation of phytoplankton and harmful algal blooms (HABs), hypoxia and carbon sinking under different scenarios expected with rising temperatures. It will also identify levels of nutrient reduction needed to reduce these effects, solicit feedback and communicate findings with CT and NY management agencies.

Assessing the Role of Nitrogen Form and Inputs on Long Island Sound Harmful Algal Bloom Development for Actionable Water Quality Management

Investigator: Dianne I. Greenfield, City University of New York
EPA Grant Award: $597,845

Researchers will evaluate water quality, nutrients and phytoplankton at sites directly downstream and away from wastewater treatment plant outfalls during dry and wet periods, assess the relationship between nitrogen inputs and HABs, and identify tipping points that trigger HABs species proliferation. Findings will be shared with shellfish managers, municipal wastewater agencies, advocacy groups and researchers.

Salt Marsh Dynamics and Habitat Restoration

Tidal Marsh Mediation of Long Island Sound Embayment Nutrient Dynamics

Investigator: Craig Tobias, CT National Estuarine Research Reserve, University of Connecticut
EPA Grant Award: $498,074

Researchers will quantify the impact of salt marshes on nitrogen levels in Long Island Sound embayments, an important factor in water quality and overall ecosystem health. Isotope tracers and other techniques will be used to model how nitrogen is buried in marshes and then reintroduced to embayment waters via drainage of marsh waters.

Quantifying Patterns and Drivers of Marsh Elevation Change Across Long Island Sound: Using an Existing Data Network to Inform Restoration Planning and Implementation

Investigator: Giovanna McClenachan, Stony Brook University
EPA Grant Award: $332,282

At specific salt marshes in CT and NY, rates of elevation gain will be calculated, landscape conditions influencing elevation change will be quantified, and plant decay rates measured. Restoration managers will be provided with data to maximize tidal marsh elevation gain, increasing their resilience to sea level rise.

Advancing Coastal Wetland Restoration Outcomes: Examining Temporal Trajectories and Spatial Variation of Past Management Interventions Across the Long Island Sound

Investigator: Beth A. Lawrence, University of Connecticut
EPA Grant Award: $838,517

Researchers will evaluate salt marsh restoration recovery progress and resilience over time, using field date from restoration sites across the Sound. The results will be used to inform diverse audiences about the challenges and opportunities of coastal restoration.

Impact of Adaptive Management and Assisted Migration on Salt Marsh Restoration Health and Resilience

Investigator: Sarah C. Crosby, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk
EPA Grant Award: $431,535

Characteristics of soils and grasses planted at successful and unsuccessful restoration sites in Great Meadows Marsh in Stratford will be assessed to provide guidance to improve restoration outcomes. Salt marsh grass species from local and southern sources will be planted within and outside of structures that mimic warming climate conditions to inform future restoration work.

Deciding When, Where and How to Use and Amend Sediment Additions to Increase Salt Marsh Resilience

Investigator: Ashley Helton, University of Connecticut
EPA Grant Award: $550,000

The practice of using soils from dredging projects to raise salt marsh elevation and enhance marsh resilience will be assessed to determine when and where these soils become acidic and inhibit plant growth, decreasing value for wildlife and reducing carbon storage. Researchers will quantify the effects of flooding and amendments to dredged soils to act as a buffer.

Fish and Shellfish Populations

Bottoming Out? Testing Hypothesis on Why Long Island Sound Flatfishes Are Disappearing

Investigator: Eric T. Schultz, University of Connecticut
EPA Grant Award: $283,128

Research will seek to determine the role of increasing competition for food in declines in four flatfish species (summer flounder, windowpane flounder, winter flounder and fourspot flounder). Stomach contents of these flatfish species along with those of recently abundant competitor species (black sea bass, scup and dusky smoothhound) will be analyzed.

Forecasting How Future Droughts and Land Development Will Impact River Herring Populations with Hydrologic- and Population-Dynamic Modeling

Investigator: James O. Knighton, University of Connecticut
EPA Grant Award: $496,219

Researchers will create a dataset of the age and size of in-migrating adult river herring and out-migrating juveniles over two seasons and compare with historical samples to determine the impacts of streamflow and diminished connectivity among spawning ponds on population health. Forecasts of how future climate and land cover change will impact river hearing populations will be developed to inform management decisions.

Restorative Aquaculture: Measuring the Extent of Ecosystem Services from Aquaculture Farms

Investigator: Matthew P. Hare, Cornell University
EPA Grant Award: $242,754

Research will investigate the contribution of oyster farms to wild oyster populations through migration of larvae from farmed oysters into native populations. Positive and negative consequences of genetic mixing of wild and farmed oyster populations will also be assessed.