She stood in front of the crisp ocean water.

Staring.

Waiting.

She was warmly wrapped in her fluffy coat and hat as the winter cool breezed past her. Her brother was holding a football while she held her Fisher-Price camera. 

Waiting to snap a picture of the devious creatures that could jump from below the mysterious ocean surface atop the waves.

Dr. Meghan Marrero, professor of secondary science education and co-director of the Mercy University Center for STEM Education at Mercy University, was only a little girl when she started diving deep into her passion for ocean literacy. 

Marrero and CT Sea Grant Education Coordinator Diana Payne are co-leading the Long Island Sound Schools network project dedicated to protecting the waters and increasing ocean literacy amongst professors and students. 

With $200,000 in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Long Island Sound Study, Mercy University and the Connecticut Sea Grant launched the program to engage the elementary, middle, and high school students, teachers, and 10 public schools in New York and Connecticut that make up this project.

Payne grew up in a more urbanized setting. 

“Little things like hearing the wind rustle the leaves and the trees was something I was not hearing at home.”

Marrero and Payne had been kicking around ideas for years as Marrero worked closely with the All Atlantic Blue Schools Network, which works with schools in 18 different countries around the Atlantic Ocean. The two decided to continue the ocean literacy mission more locally into the development of the Long Island Sound Schools Network. 

Payne added, “You want to make sure that more than just the kids who are really interested in ocean science or nature are exposed to this because no matter what career they end up in you want them to have this kind of background.” 

Mercy’s Westchester campus is known for its breathtaking views of the sparkly river that flows across from it. The Hudson River is connected to the Long Island Sound after a saltwater tidal cut created by the glaciers 11,000 years ago. 

Yet, some students don’t even know the river’s name that stares them in the face daily. Marrero hosted a summer program once about the Hudson River that collaborated students from different colleges, including Westchester Community College, Bronx Community College, Rockland Community College, and Mercy students. 

“I said to them, ‘Have you ever seen the Hudson River?’ and some of them said no. And I was like, ‘Okay, we’re going to take a trip across the hallway. You’re going to look outside.’” 

Mercy’s Bronx Campus is also very close to the Long Island Sound. Mercy’s Manhattan campus being on the island of Manhattan is also part of the watershed. A chance for Mercy to connect its professors and students using the precious water life surrounding it. 

Marrero and Payne are still in the early planning stages of the project currently in order to organize logistics, such as budgets for schools. As they expressed their passionate end goals with this project, Payne said, “We’re hoping that experiences like this will really help the teachers in general feel more comfortable doing this and then you know share this love of Long Island Sound with their students.”