Billion Oyster Project – Launch of National Science Foundation Grant in New York Harbor

Billion Oyster ProjectIAN is part of a successful National Science Foundation project underway in New York Harbor as part of the Billion Oyster Project (BOP), aimed at delivering environmental restoration education to New York City public schools. The three-year, $5 million grant project, entitled "Curriculum and Community Enterprise for New York Harbor Restoration in New York City Public Schools," was officially launched on New York Harbor will be led by Pace University's School of Education and implemented by a consortium of partners including New York Harbor Foundation, New York City Department of Education, Columbia's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, New York Academy of Sciences, University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science, Good Shepherd Services, New York Aquarium, The River Project, SmartStart ECS, and others. The grant will create an accredited math and science teacher training program at Pace University, an interdisciplinary Harbor Literacy and marine STEM-C curriculum for NYC schools, and develop afterschool STEM mentoring through the New York Academy of Sciences, museum and aquarium. IAN's role in the project is to develop a state of the art digital platform that will provide a portal for students and teachers to access and analyze real time water quality data, view progress of restoration efforts via underwater cameras, and access the newly developed curriculum. Team members involved in the project include Simon Costanzo, Adrian Jones, Tracey Saxby, Bill Dennison and Judy O'Neil.