PREP is lucky to have so many partners to collaborate with – we're even luckier when they agree to an all-day Science Party! Folks from the University of New Hampshire, Jackson Estuarine Laboratory, NH Department of Environmental Services, Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, NH Fish and Game, and Keene State College all gathered on a cloudy Thursday in January to discuss and strategize the science being conducted in the Piscataqua Region. Some projects were merely updated and clarified (e.g., the protocol for the Tier 2 Eelgrass Monitoring program) while other new projects started to take shape (e.g., a tributary monitoring program in the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary). We’re excited to see the positive impacts that the work completed will have on our ecosystem, from the headwaters of our streams down to the waves on the Atlantic coast.
While we ironed out several of the kinks for the 2023 field season, PREP and partners also spent some time dreaming big! Over the course of the day, we identified over 30 long-term ideas, including drone flights to identify epiphytic algae (algae that grow on plants or other algae), the removal of roadblocks to data analysis and synthesis, restoration of eelgrass beds in Great Bay, expansion of SCUBA diving operations, and many more. While these thoughts range in stature, they all require collaboration, passion, and determination. Thankfully, our Piscataqua Region community is full of these things.
PREP and our partners are not all business; we had a chance to test out our candle pin bowling skills after the event. We’re grateful to all our partners and look forward to another great field season (and maybe another friendly game or too).
