Stony Brook University announces partnership with Riverhead Foundation, Atlantis Marine World

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Tagging a sea turtle or feeding a bottlenose dolphin are not activities that marine science students can do in a classroom.

But Stony Brook University marine science students will soon get the chance to handle live marine animals due to a new partnership forged between the college’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Atlantis Marine World Aquarium and the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, officials announced on Tuesday, August 25, during a press conference at the aquarium.

“We look forward to our ever-expanding mutual horizons,” said Joe Yaiullo, the Riverhead aquarium’s co-founder and curator.

Undergraduate students will now be able to intern for college credit at the Riverhead Foundation, which is located inside the Atlantis Marine World Aquarium in downtown Riverhead. The foundation is the only New York State Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program and its mission is to “preserve and protect our marine environment through education, rehabilitation and research,” according to its website.

Atlantis Marine World has provided the Riverhead Foundation with rent-free space since the facility opened in 2000. The foundation was founded in 1996, said Robert DiGiovanni, the group’s director.

The Riverhead Foundation has hired about 10 interns a year from Stony Brook, though officials hope that number will increase now that an official partnership has been finalized.

Marine science students will get a semester of hands-on experience, which will include the handling of marine species. They will also be a part of the Riverhead Foundation’s educational and outreach programs, and get to participate in the day-to-day operations in maintaining a rehabilitation facility, Mr. DiGiovanni said.

“It’s a unique experience,” he said. “[Interacting] with seals and sea turtles is often missing in other curriculum.”

Speakers at the conference applauded the benefits of the new partnership.

“It’s a promising and exciting initiative,” said new Stony Brook University President Samuel Stanley.

New York State Assemblyman Marc Alessi, who represents Suffolk County’s 1st legislative district, called the three-way partnership vital in helping preserve eastern Long Island’s environment. “It will help us push forward on our goals of maintaining a natural ecosystem,” he said.

State Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr., who represents the South Fork, also applauded the program, stating that it will benefit the environment. He added that the initiative will promote education and help economic growth.

“It’s critically important to the people of Long Island,” Mr. Thiele said. “It’s critically important to our future.”

Riverhead Town Supervisor Phil Cardinale and Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine were also present at the press conference.

The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences was founded in the 1960s for graduate studies, though Stony Brook University did not start offering undergraduate degrees until 2005, after Long Island University closed and Stony Brook absorbed its undergraduate marine science program. The State University of New York system finished acquiring the former Long Island University campus in 2007, said David Conover, the dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Marine science classes are now offered on both the university’s main campus in Stony Brook and its Southampton campus. There are currently about 400 undergraduate students enrolled in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

“This [partnership] is a very important step in the development of the undergraduate program and the development of the Southampton campus,” Mr. Conover said.