Posts by Stephanie Murphy
Built Like a Tank, Lost to the Tide: How one Wellfleet house became a cautionary tale for coastal communities
In 2010, owners of a property on Chequessett Neck Road in Wellfleet were permitted to remove their home and replace it with a 5800 square foot home in the grand Cape Cod style: five bedrooms, five bathrooms, two stone chimneys, a turreted sunroom, and an expansive porch. Sitting on a bluff 20-feet above the beach…
Read MoreFrom Facebook Feed to Shellfish Farm: An intern’s journey
On a rainy December morning, I sat inside a small trailer in a gravel lot in Fairhaven. The trailer belongs to Dale Leavitt, whose oyster farm extends for 47 acres just off shore of the lot. We are on a little spit of an island between Fairhaven proper and a road that extends onto West Island, more than half of which is a state reserve …
Read MoreUtah Unây: Pooling traditional knowledge and modern robotics
How might we supplement the observations Indigenous communities have been making of the environment over generations with robotic tools? What value might sensor systems, which can sample frequently and at very fine scales, contribute to this rich historical record of our changing climate? These questions and more were the focus of a weekend workshop for…
Read MoreCurrents of Curiosity: Students dive into ocean science on Cape Cod
Middle schoolers soak up information like sponges. Introducing them to different subjects and activities feeds their curiosity, helps them discover their interests, and can influence their future career choices. That’s one reason a WHOI Sea Grant-funded research team spent a day in Chatham …
Read MoreKnauss Fellow Profile: James Elekwachi
WHOI Sea Grant recently caught up with 2025 Knauss Fellow James Elekwachi for a short interview. Dive into the Q&A to hear about his life in D.C. and his experience at BOEM.
Read MoreNantucket Hosts Islands Coastal Conference
Did you know that coastal hazards pose risks to three million people in Massachusetts alone, and that the recovery could cost the state $1 billion by the 2050s-2070s? Mass. Office of Coastal Zone Management Director Alison Brizius shared these facts during her keynote at the 2025 Nantucket Coastal …
Read MoreSnap Happy: CoastSnap expands to Brewster & New Bedford
With well-established CoastSnap stations in Sandwich, Oak Bluffs, and Nantucket, this spring WHOI Sea Grant added two more coastal monitoring stations to the CoastSnap family: Brewster and New Bedford. Brewster is known for its wide flats and sandy beaches. In partnership with the Town of Brewster, the CoastSnap at Linnell Landing is helping to keep…
Read MoreWorking Waters Made Clear: New beach signs explain local aquaculture
Visitors to some beaches and town landings around the Cape this fall might encounter a beautiful and informative new sign at their favorite spot. WHOI Sea Grant and Barnstable County’s Cape Cod Cooperative Extension have been working with towns across the Cape to help educate the public about what aquaculture is and how to be…
Read MoreNote from the Director: Support for Sea Grant
Earlier this spring the Massachusetts Sea Grant programs invited residents to add their names to a sign-on letter urging Congress to maintain strong support for Sea Grant. To date, over 600 constituents—from shellfish growers in Wellfleet to science teachers in Worcester—have already answered the call. Their message is clear: our work keeps our coastal towns…
Read MoreSea Grant-funded Research: Sowing seeds of restoration
They’ve been called the nurseries of the coastal waters. Eelgrass meadows are crucial to the health of coastal ecosystems and the planet, providing essential habitat for marine life. In addition, they stabilize shorelines, improve water quality, and even contribute to climate change mitigation by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide. But across the globe, the planet…
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