Cutting-Edge Marine Science Center, Immersive Outreach Programs Connect the University and Greater New Haven Community to Our Blue Backyard

When Lauren Creary was growing up in Jamaica, her mother, a marine biologist, would often take her and her brother to visit a beach or a river. “She would use the opportunity to educate us on marine life and ecosystems,” said Creary. She was so drawn to it, Creary eventually earned a master’s in Sustainable Development and became the project manager and national coordinator for International Coastal Cleanup Day in Jamaica.

Last year, Creary moved to Connecticut and now coordinates volunteer cleanups of coastal and inland waterways for the nonprofit organization Save the Sound. She wanted to learn as much as she could about the state’s coastline, so she applied to the University of New Haven’s COASTS (Community Opportunities for Accessing Science Training on the Sound) summer program to become a steward of the coastal ecosystem. Participants then share what they’ve learned in their neighborhoods, schools, and communities.

Creary was among 16 “COASTers” – community members, high school students, teachers, engineers, and retirees who took part in weekly Zoom lectures by University marine science faculty and visiting lecturers. “They were experts who were able to break down complex topics,” she said. “I found that to be one of the most valuable parts of the program. They were so willing to answer any questions we had.”

The best part, Creary said, was donning waders and boots and exploring beaches, salt marshes, and a bird sanctuary, dragging nets in low waters and, later, looking under microscopes at their finds. “There were crabs, various types of worms, clams and mussels living within the soil,” she said.

“It made me realize the biodiversity around me,” Creary continued. “Going out into nature and seeing these areas for yourself is priceless.”

That is exactly the intent of the University of New Haven’s Robert M. Lee and Linda M. Wilkins Marine Science Center at Canal Dock in New Haven. It is a living lab where University undergraduate and graduate students taking lab courses can step outside and study the marine life. And it is a center of community outreach that will only continue to grow, said Sarah Novarro, the Lee and Wilkins Marine Science Center’s lab manager and outreach coordinator.

In its first year, the Lee and Wilkins Marine Science Center hosted 27 onsite community events and offered another 10 at various locales.

“COASTS started as a summer stewardship training program for community members,” Novarro explained. “It’s now an umbrella capturing all the outreach efforts we do.”

They include: “What’s in the Harbor?,” a monthly speaker series for the community that focuses on specific marine life, larger ecosystem concepts, and Long Island Sound history. The Lee and Wilkins Center offers field trips for students grades K-12 tailored to the needs of teachers and marine science career days.

“We have faculty members who are a marine botanist, an oceanographer and a fisheries biologist,” Novarro said. “The students rotate through and get a sense of all the different fields and possibilities in marine science.”

The Lee and Wilkins Marine Science Center regularly holds beach cleanups at shoreline locations around Greater New Haven and held a film festival centered on coastal resilience. Local filmmakers from Connecticut Public Television, digital media students from the Metropolitan Business Academy in New Haven, and a New York-based director showed their films and had a panel discussion.

The Lee and Wilkins Marine Science Center at Canal Dock has “evolved into an initiative for environmental education, community outreach, and hands-on science experiences centered around our most valuable local resource: the Long Island Sound – our Blue Backyard,” Novarro said. The Sound is a tidal estuary where saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean meets freshwater from rivers across the Northeast. More than 11 million people live around its shores, Novarro noted.

“Long Island Sound is such a gem,” she said. “Yet many people haven’t had the opportunity to explore it, to look closely, and to see all that it encompasses, which is why connecting people of all ages to it matters so much to the University. We try to offer field trips and opportunities to students who might not otherwise have them, students from underrepresented communities, and teachers would like to include this in their curriculum.”

The marine science faculty have developed a rich array of activities for teachers, students, and community members. “We are always open to new collaborations and encourage people to reach out to us,” Novarro said.

Alexander Kelly, a science teacher at Metropolitan Business Academy high school in New Haven, said University marine science students became mentors to his 11th and 12th grade ecology students, leading them through many activities.

“They collected plankton and other microorganisms from the harbor and looked at samples under a microscope,” he said. “The mentors helped my students identify organisms and connect their findings to a lesson from the previous week. They also looked at examples of other aquatic life and set up various ecosystems with samples, fossils, and pictures of New Haven Harbor life. Students also learned about the history and importance of horseshoe crabs.

“During the microscope activity, one student said, `This is the coolest thing I've done at school!’ after finding living organisms from their plankton tow sample,” Kelly added. “This moment in particular resonated with me because it emphasized the importance of connecting classroom lessons with hands-on experience that is local and impactful.”

This summer, young people from the Solar Youth program in New Haven went to Canal Dock, heard a faculty member talk about marine pollution, and then took part in a beach cleanup at Long Wharf, Novarro said. “They were able to reflect on the debris they found and the impact of our behaviors and choices as humans on the marine life here.”

After beach cleanups, participants often return to the Lee and Wilkins Marine Science Center to create art from the debris they find. “We do printmaking and look at the textures and shapes of the things we find and make something beautiful out of the trash we’ve collected,” she said.

Deesha '26 M.S., worked as a COASTS Program assistant this summer and saw how powerful the University-community link is.

“On one side, you have people who are eager to learn about and protect their environment, and, on the other, University professors and students who are dedicated to teaching and raising awareness,” she said. “Programs like COASTS make people more aware of environmental issues, such as pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. They help participants understand not just the beauty of coastal ecosystems but also the urgent need to protect them from human impacts. The University is ensuring that more people recognize their role as stewards of the environment.”

The experience with COASTS has helped her build skills. “Interacting with diverse groups during outreach events strengthened my ability to explain science in a simple, approachable way,” said Deesha, a Native of India whose graduate thesis will focus on the impact of microplastics on small estuarine fish. After completing her master’s, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in ecotoxicology or a related discipline.

At the opening of the Lee and Wilkins Marine Science Center last year, University President Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D., said, “We frequently talk about being a private university with a public mission. What could be more to the public benefit than environmental sustainability as, in many ways, that's the condition for the possibility of everything else we do.”

Novarro and the Marine Science faculty and students are excited about executing this vision – and all the possibilities ahead.

“There’s research to back up the impact of environmental education,” Novarro said. “When people have a formative hands-on connection, whether it be a memory of going out with parents as a kid and playing in the stream or coming to our outreach events – seeing crabs and other invertebrates up close – it gives them a sense of excitement, wonder or happiness. They are more driven to care about the place and to take care of it.

“The University is very committed to continuing to make the Lee and Wilkins Marine Science Center at Canal Dock a real resource for the community,” continued Novarro.