New London Students Join Coast Guard Cadets For Marine Research Project

A press release from New London School District

On Tuesday, students from the Science and Technology High School of Southeastern Connecticut joined cadets from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy as they collected marine samples to be used with other data previously collected by the cadets' research vessel. 

Juniors and seniors in Chuck Mulligan's science class will present the collected data as part of a research project alongside U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets at a Science Fair-themed presentation in November. This is an exciting opportunity for New London students to participate in advanced level data collection and presentation skills.

Tuesday's data collection, scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon on Eagle Pier, will look to answer questions about the biodiversity and ecology of our coastal environment.

This is the second time New London students have participated in the collaborative environmental and marine conservation research project with cadets.

"Opportunities like this are rare for high school students to conduct higher level research that goes beyond labs in classroom, and to get that opportunity to do this alongside Coast Guard cadets is truly an amazing opportunity. This means the world to them to see how college-level research is conducted. We are extremely fortunate and very grateful that the USCGA has offered their time and resources to give these students this chance," Mulligan said.

On Sept. 10, students worked with Fisheries Biology students at the academy and plan to meet multiple times following Tuesday's data collection, as the projects are two-fold. One set of projects, called 'Imagine the World Without...' aims to better understand the "footprint" of marine habitats and/or species. Student/cadet teams researched what the ecological and/or economic impact of not having the habitat or species would be.