UConn Marine Sciences

09/03/2026

Please help us congratulate Dr. Pieter Visscher, Professor in UConn Marine Sciences and UConn Department of Earth Sciences, on receiving the Geological Society of America’s 2025 Distinguished Career Award (sponsored by the Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division), which is given to a researcher demonstrating sustained excellence in research, mentoring, service, and leadership. Dr. Visscher is also a fellow of the Geological Society of America.

With this award, Dr. Visscher is celebrated for his career spanning over three decades, where he has made fundamental advances in geomicrobiology over hundreds of research articles, and inspired new directions of research for other scholars. His research pursues the fundamental questions: where are we coming from, where are we going, and what is our future? His tireless curiosity ultimately led to the establishment of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute (NAI) in 1998; the product of a four-decade-long collaboration with scholars, scientists, and engineers from around the country. He has trained many young scientists from the USA and around the world, giving them international research opportunities and helping them to embark upon their own research careers.

Read the full citation here:
https://marinesciences.uconn.edu/2026/02/05/dms-prof-pieter-visscher-honored-with-gsa-career-award/

08/18/2026

Our department is using new technology to study hypoxia in Long Island Sound! Read more here: https://ow.ly/WxFV50ZASGJ

How can a hurricane hundreds of miles offshore affect water quality in Long Island Sound?

Last August, when Hurricane Erin passed offshore, its winds and waves mixed the Sound's waters, bringing oxygen rich surface water deeper into the water column. After the storm, hypoxic conditions we no longed detected at monitoring stations.

The event gave scientists a striking example of how weather and timing can shape hypoxia from year to year, even as long-term reductions in nitrogen pollution have improved conditions in the Sound.

Our latest story takes a closer look at what scientists learned from Hurricane Erin: https://ow.ly/otnq50ZASGZ

05/18/2026

04/21/2026

UConn Gives is underway! Please consider donating to support UConn Marine Sciences. Your generosity directly fuels the work that makes our department thrive.

Donate here: https://giving.uconn.edu/schools/UniversityofConnecticut/uconn-gives-2026/pages/clas/marine-sciences/?a=13117641

At UConn’s Marine Sciences Department, world-class researchers and a passionate student community come together to explore one of Earth’s most vital and complex systems: our oceans. As dedicated stewards of Long Island Sound, we are committed to understanding and protecting the ecosystems that sustain our region and our planet.

Your gift will equip students with the tools and supplies needed for hands-on scientific discovery and support research that advances our understanding of ocean health and environmental change.

Please donate through the link below. Share to help us grow our impact.

04/10/2026

We are hiring a Diving Safety Officer at UConn Marine Sciences to support our research and educational programs at the UConn Avery Point campus. Read the job posting through the link in our bio and please share with your colleagues!

04/10/2026

We are hiring a Diving Safety Officer at UConn Marine Sciences to support our research and educational programs. Read the job posting through the link below and please share with your colleagues!
https://jobs.hr.uconn.edu/en-us/job/499491/academic-assistant-i-diving-safety-officer-marine-sciences

04/09/2026

Join UConn Marine Sciences for our annual Sip 'n Science event on Friday, April 10 from 4-6 pm at Beer'd Brewing at the Velvet Mill (22 Bayview Ave, Stonington, CT).

Graduate students from our department at UConn Avery Point will provide interactive science demonstrations to all ages! All are welcome! Bring your family!

We hope to see you there for this excellent student-run event.

04/09/2026

Join UConn Marine Sciences for our annual Sip 'n Science event on Friday, April 10 from 4-6 pm at Beer'd Brewing (Beerd Brewing Co.) at the Velvet Mill (22 Bayview Ave, Stonington, CT). Graduate students from our department UConn Avery Point will provide interactive science demonstrations to all ages! All are welcome! Bring your family!

We hope to see you there for this excellent student-run event.

03/10/2026

A new study published in Science by Cornell and UConn Marine Sciences researchers dives deep into the genomic secrets of a small, but famous fish. They discovered that the Atlantic silverside has multiple inverted regions in its genome (where part of the chromosome breaks off, flips, and reattaches to the same chromosome) and that these inversions interact to modulate local adaptation across a steep latitudinal temperature gradient. Read the story in UConn Today: https://today.uconn.edu/2026/03/ambitious-experiment-discovers-flipped-genetic-secrets-of-a-small-fish/

Photo courtesy of Jacob Snyder, RedSkiesPhotography.

02/23/2026

UConn Marine Sciences is well-represented at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow! Click through the images to the presentations by our department members each day. Mark your schedule for all the exciting science they will be sharing!