New York Sea Grant (NYSG) stands in solidarity with the call-to-action to end systemic racism. NYSG is an organization that is deeply rooted in the diversity and complexity of coastal communities, partners, and constituencies across New York State. We are committed to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through meaningful and intentional reflection and action with our staff and programming. We recognize the importance of historical and current issues relating to environmental justice that include racial and social inequities, and we are working towards infusing this knowledge into our mission, vision, and core values. Our organization and programming are predicated on improving the livelihoods and well-being of New Yorkers by supporting resilient communities and economies, healthy ecosystems, environmental literacy and workforce development, and food and job security through sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, and seafood. 

However, we know that there is still substantial room for improvement and growth for NYSG.  Near-term actions we are taking include to:

- Further empower the NYSG DEI Work Group;

- Foster and maintain honest conversations to encourage self-reflection about racial, social, environmental justice and equity; 

- Acknowledge current gaps in our program in regards to representation of who we are as an organization, and work towards addressing those gaps;

- Continually revisit and refine our processes for staff recruiting, fellowship outreach, as well as for membership for our Board of Governors and our Program Advisory Council to enhance program diversity;

- Increase the diversity of applicant pools for fellowships, increase internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds, and honor and acknowledge stakeholders, staff, and students who promote environmental justice efforts;

- Increase support for researchers from various disciplines and demographic backgrounds through our research and grant competitions;

- And create a DEI-specific strategic plan or road map to clearly define concrete steps NYSG will take to implement programming and outreach required to achieve our vision and advance a more just and equitable landscape.

NYSG cannot do this alone. We want to hear your voices and receive your ideas about how we can effectively use our platform to contribute to positive systemic change and proactively be a part of the solution. Please reach out to us via this form with any recommendations or even just to share your experiences that can help us learn and grow. 

Below are solidarity statements from the cooperative programs of NY Sea Grant:

Cornell University Statements

President Martha Pollack

Immediate Actions

Stony Brook University Statements

President-Elect McInnis and Interim President Bernstein

Chief Diversity Officer, Judith Brown Clarke


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, University at Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly. Our program also produces an occasional e-newsletter,"NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.