If you could capture this moment along New Hampshire’s coast in one image, what might it look like? Maybe a quiet morning on a summer beach day, just before the crowds roll in and the roadwork begins. A farmers’ market in a small New England town, with local seafood being sold to both transplants and generational granite staters. Or it could be an underwater snapshot of species old and new in an eelgrass meadow. One through line through all of these moments is that the Gulf of Maine is experiencing change from many angles. 

Have you ever wondered what research is being done to study these changes along New Hampshire’s coast? 

New Hampshire Sea Grant has recently awarded $1.2 million to fund six coastal research projects over the next two years. These projects, approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will address topics of particular importance to the state and region, including PFAS contamination, coastal flooding, seafood safety and management, salt marsh restoration, and the northward expansion of marine species. 

On today’s episode of Time and Tide, guest host Kylie Marozsan will be breaking down these research projects into bite-sized stories, with a roundtable of our New Hampshire Sea Grant team.  

Guests Erik Chapman, Lindsey Williams, and Steve Jones relate these six research projects to the experiences of anyone who lives, works, or plays along the seacoast. Learn why they are optimistic that these changes might also bring opportunity. 

Full episode transcript is available below.

Guest Speakers:  

Dr. Erik Chapman, Director, New Hampshire Sea Grant and UNH School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering 

Dr. Lindsey Williams, Associate Director and Assistant Director for Workforce Development, New Hampshire Sea Grant 

Dr. Steve Jones, Associate Director and Assistant Director for Research, New Hampshire Sea Grant 

Hosted by: Kylie Marozsan, Science Communication Doyle Fellow, New Hampshire Sea Grant 

Produced by: Brian Yurasits 

Further reading: 

New Hampshire Sea Grant Current Research: https://seagrant.unh.edu/research/current-research

Biennial Request for Proposals: https://seagrant.unh.edu/funding/biennial-request-proposals

New Hampshire Sea Grant works to enhance our relationship with the coastal environment to sustain healthy and resilient ecosystems, economies, and communities through integrated research, extension, education, and communications efforts. Based at the University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Sea Grant is one of 34 programs in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program, a state-federal partnership serving America’s coasts. Learn more by visiting: seagrant.unh.edu 

University of New Hampshire is an equal opportunity employer, learn more: https://extension.unh.edu/civil-rights-statement