New Haven Harbor Watershed

Environmental Monitoring Program

Meteorological Data Monitoring

C- Overall Context

As previously mentioned, there is a lack of data and continuous monitoring of the living marine resources, water quality, substrate quality and ecological relationships that are present in the estuaries connected to the Long Island Sound. This project is being initiated to fill in that gap in the information coming from the New Haven Harbor watershed.

This project will provide the background information needed by the municipal leaders to educate them and support their efforts in the development of new watershed management plans for the New Haven Harbor watershed, species conservation, critical habitat monitoring, detection and management of invasive species and habitat restoration.

This project will be an extension and expansion of projects that were being carried out by all of the advisors in the early 1990s and early 2000s and then terminated due to cuts in the federal and state funds. The people who are serving as the advisors for each of the components are members of the Sound School’s Advisory/Consulting Committee. The members of this committee represent the interests of marine scientists, fishermen, government agencies and various marine trades. They advise the staff as to what should be included the curriculum, the applications/investigations/field studies that should be taught and what equipment the students should be trained to use. All of the investigations and the need of carrying them out have been provided to us by these advisors.

The Sound School is a regional (18 cooperating districts) vocational aquaculture school that provides educational experiences for the students that will assist them in achieving mastery of the performance standards and competencies promulgated by the National Future Farmers of America organization, the National Occupational Career Training Institute (NOCTI) and the state of Connecticut Vocational and Technical Education Department. These require that the students understand the concepts, strategies and tools needed to contribute personal growth, community leadership, democratic principles and social responsibility. All students ate required to complete 800 hours of Supervised Occupational Experiences (SOE’s) during the four years they are enrolled at the school.

This entails working at a business, agency or university, outside of school hours, where they can participate in planned career related work experiences. In the senior year, the students are also expected to participate in Cooperative Placements for extended periods of time to further improve their knowledge and skills in a specific career field. The participation of the 310 students in most aspects of this project will provide them with many opportunities to get involved in and interact with the community to practice and employ their newly learned skills.