This summer, the Long Island Sound Study welcomed Kimarie Yap and Sara Cernadas-Martín to the Long Island Sound Study. Both women bring years of experience, as well as a familiarity with the Sound’s waters, to their positions.
Kimarie Yap began her new position with NEIWPCC as the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) bioextraction coordinator in June. The Queens native, who learned to fish on Long Island as a child, manages bioextraction projects that are funded by LISS to further the program’s Nutrient Bioextraction Initiative, which is part of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan (LINAP).
She is overseeing projects conducted by universities and local organizations, including pilot studies, to determine how effective shellfish and seaweed are in removing excess nitrogen from the Sound. She is also working to determine the economic feasibility of establishing a market for products, such as fertilizer, made from the shellfish and seaweed that are harvested.
Nutrient Bioextraction combines growing and harvesting shellfish and seaweed for the purpose of removing nitrogen and other nutrients from coastal waters. LISS and its partners are committed to reducing nutrients because they help stimulate the growth of algal blooms, which can be toxic and lead to low oxygen conditions that are harmful to aquatic life.
Prior to her new role, Yap had been working at the Interstate Environmental Commission (IEC) as an environmental analyst involved in two Long Island Sound Study programs. She coordinated the Western Long Island Sound ambient water quality monitoring program, where she collected water samples and measured water quality data in the Sound, processed and analyzed samples in IEC’s laboratory, and generated survey summary reports and hypoxia maps. She also organized IEC’s participation in Save the Sound’s Unified Water Study, where she collected data in Little Neck Bay and Manhasset Bay. Yap grew up in College Point and learned how to fish in the Sound with her father and enjoyed visiting lakes in local parks in Queens. Yap’s local lakes later became the focus of her master’s thesis at Fordham University, where she determined the nutrient limitations, or triggers, for harmful algal blooms in urban waterbodies. She chose the lakes because they were understudied yet were confirmed to have annual harmful algal blooms. During her field work she met many Queens residents who expressed their concern about the health of the lakes when she told them about her research.
“These were people who visited these parks daily or every weekend,” said Yap. “And they cared about these waterbodies and were sad to hear that they were affected by these blooms. So, it just goes to show how important these local waterbodies are to people.”
She sees her new position as an opportunity to help solve environmental problems she observed while conducting monitoring at IEC and for her master’s field work.
“For example, I saw many fish kills and fish die-offs, likely due to hypoxia or anoxia, when there’s low or zero oxygen in the water, and I saw algae blooms along the shorelines and in marinas,” said Yap. “And that was really disheartening. So, I am really excited for the opportunity to work in a program where I could be part of a nature based green solution to help curb these issues by removing excess nitrogen in Long Island Sound.”
Also joining the program this summer was Dr. Sara Cernadas-Martín, who started with the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) as a NEIWPCC employee in July. She is the program’s new New York Habitat Restoration and Stewardship Coordinator. Based out of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) office in Kings Park, Cernadas-Martín will be responsible for coordinating habitat restoration and stewardship projects in the Long Island Sound region of the state. She comes from the Peconic Estuary Partnership (PEP) where she was the Water Quality Program Manager and brings over a decade of expertise in marine science and project management to LISS.
Cernadas-Martín, originally from Spain, earned her biology degree from the University of Barcelona before pursuing a master’s and PhD in Marine and Atmospheric Science at Stony Brook University. Her master’s research explored ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea in oxygen-depleted waters off the coast of Venezuela. For her PhD, she shifted from microorganisms to restoration science and fisheries, studying summer flounder in Shinnecock Bay. She has had a passion for marine spaces since childhood, inspired by her proximity to the Mediterranean growing up. A college seminar on shark finning, the act of cutting off a shark’s fins often while the shark is still alive, changed the trajectory of her career. The talk motivated Cernadas-Martín to use her biology degree for marine conservation.
“Spain at the time was the number one finning country in Europe and I was mortified…So I made a vow to be part of the solution and not the problem,” she said.
As a graduate research assistant with the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, she worked under Dr. Ellen Pikitch as part of a team supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal for oceans. Together, they assisted in the creation of marine protected areas to safeguard teleost and shark populations of Pacific countries. Additionally, Cernadas-Martin joined the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program (ShiRP) at Stony Brook University’s Southhampton campus, first as a student, eventually working her way up to fisheries manager. At ShiRP, she managed the fish trawl survey, established new eDNA biodiversity surveys in restoration and protected areas, and engaged in outreach with the Shinnecock Nation. Fluent in Spanish, Catalan, and English (and dabbling in Japanese), she was also an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University, co-chairing the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee. At PEP, Cernadas-Martin partnered with NYSDEC on a series of environmental justice fishing and nature workshops for families in the area. The workshop was offered in English and Spanish, and educated members of the public on general ecology, fishing regulations and environmental stewardship in order to create a sense of belonging.
“It was very rewarding and highly successful,” she said. “Participants loved it, and it helped uproot the sense of mistrust on State organizations.”
In her new role, Cernadas-Martín will focus on enhancing the resiliency of coastal habitats through restoring marshes, dunes, and beaches, eliminating invasive species, and involving community organizations and volunteers. She describes Long Island Sound as an extremely important estuary, sandwiched between highly developed and populated areas making it susceptible to pressures other estuaries are unlikely to face.
“I am inspired by the sense of teamwork among the LISS staff, driven by a shared passion for environmental stewardship and conservation,” she said. “Thanks to the NEP program, we have the means to achieve these goals…This position encompasses the coordination multiple habitat projects with a stewardship component. In addition to my role duties, I bring a passion to merge education and EJ efforts into all the projects I coordinate. Always with the overarching goal of meaningful and significant change.”