Farmingdale, NY, March 1, 2022 — In Summer 2021, New York Sea Grant partnered with SUNY Farmingdale State College on "Community Science through Seining: An Exploration of Aquatic Organismal Diversity and Data", a project that aimed to integrate interests in fisheries, community science, and environmental education. 

This project explored the nature of how seining, a widely used aquatic sampling technique, is utilized to collect aquatic organismal data. Seining is the practice of using a seine net, which is a large rectangular net with sinkers on the lower edge and floats on the upper edge; seine nets are used to catch fish and invertebrates when its ends are drawn together or pulled ashore. 

Through exploration of historical datasets and documentation of common data collection practices employed by community scientists, a survey was constructed with the goal of better understanding the relationship between the types of data collected via seining during aquatic fish and invertebrate surveys and monitoring efforts. 

If you are a past or present environmental educator and/or community scientist with interest and experience in seining, we invite you to participate in our survey.

The research team for this project consists of Dr. Peter J. Park (Assistant Professor of Biology at SUNY Farmingdale College), Antoinette Clemetson (Fisheries Specialist at New York Sea Grant), and Bella Duati (C.E.I. 2021 recipient, New York Sea Grant). Park and Duati are featured in the image below.

For more information, please contact Dr. Park at parkp@farmigndale.edu.