Message from our Executive Director

Summer is in full swing, and all of us at CCE-Suffolk are either doing research in the field, on the water, or meeting with residents throughout the County for workshops and classes! Youth are enjoying our summer camps from Huntington to Hampton Bays!

We have focused our promotions on all things marine – spotlighting our natural resources and the beautiful region we call home. Meanwhile, our Community Education Team is helping us with tips on staying healthy and hydrated during these hot summer days.

It was our pleasure to join our friends at the LI Farm Bureau this month and welcome Governor Kathy Hochul to Long Island. This was her first stop on a “Farm Tour” to thank our area farmers. We then went straight to a “Farm Bill Listening Tour” with Commissioner Ball.

I also was pleased to spend a day with colleagues from the Cornell Small Farms Team. We toured area farms and even enjoyed a night of ArtSea, one of our Marine events at Borghese Vineyards.

This month, a personal highlight for me was being honored by Suffolk County Legislator Manuel Esteban for my contributions as a Colombian American! This was a touching tribute – Gracias Legislator!

And to wrap up the month, we met with our board members at our marine facility in Southold. We were all treated to a tour and dinner (with delicious recipes from Choose Local Fish!). And, it was our honor to join our friends at the LI Farm Bureau in recognizing Pat Wiles and Jeff Rottkamp at their annual Gala!

Enjoy and learn more about all that CCE-Suffolk did for you in July!

~Vanessa Pino Lockel

CCE-Suffolk on Tik Tok

We have launched our Tik Tok account, bringing a unique view to our educator's work.

The first video features our Horticulture Consultant Sandra Vultaggio performing an insect identification of a suspected Murder Hornet.

Click to follow our account

Small Farms in Suffolk

Our Agriculture team welcomed Nicole Waters and Mildred Alvarado from Cornell Small Farms to Suffolk County. They run a program to help Hispanic Farmers develop business skills to help them start their own farms.

This is part of an overall emphasis by Cornell on making its resources accessible to all residents of NY.

Click here for more information about this program

Program Highlights

Agriculture

Our Agriculture Team has been busy in the field helping local farmers and home gardeners while also researching sustainable practices for Suffolk's agriculture industry. They are getting ready for Long Island Soil Health Field Day at the end of the month and the LIHREC Plant Science day next month. Visit our website for registration information.

Community Education

The Diabetes team continues their work with Sun River Health and the Mobile Diabetes Screening Van. The Family Health and Wellness Team has been working with a Cornell Intern to create new programs for parents and will be ready to present to the Cornell Ecology Lab virtually in September.

The Nutrition team can be seen out in our Farm camps providing delicious and nutritious snacks to our campers. They also visited Sepa Mujer for a special workshop for survivors of domestic violence.

Marine

Our Fisheries team finalized the Summer Trawl, which saw much local fish and even caught a shark. The Create + Sip event at Borghese Vineyard was a great success, where participants tasted the newly crafted Rose for the Bays while painting a watercolor oyster.

Marine staff continues their essential work of maintaining water quality, removing marine debris, and conducting PCB analysis on Striped Bass for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

Suffolk County Farm/ 4-H

The Farm is alive and busy with the camp season in full swing! Farm educators continue their special programming at local libraries and at the state farm. While camp is ongoing, they are preparing for fall events and hosting the Walk to End Alzheimer's in September.

Thank you to all our camp staff for a great first month!

Board Member Spotlight- Andrew Lynch

Andrew Lynch is a transportation executive and current Vice President with Hampton Jitney, where he has worked for over 15 years. A dynamic, family-owned business, Hampton Jitney is one of the most readily identified brands on the East End and its iconic service has been running daily for over 45 years.

Prior to Hampton Jitney, Mr. Lynch held positions in strategy, marketing analytics and finance with E*Trade Financial, Digitas, Folio Investing and Pioneer Mutual Funds. He received an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School in 2000 and a BA from St. Lawrence University in 1994.

Andrew has been involved with Cornell’s SPAT program for over 10 years and is engaged with numerous local water quality improvement and monitoring programs in and around Shinnecock bay. He has served on the Quogue Village Beach Nourishment Advisory Committee and is a Trustee of the Shinnecock Yacht Club.

Our Board of Directors held a meeting at the Marine Center in Southold where they toured the facility and then carried out their summer business meeting.

Ask the Family Educator

Question: Is it harmful if I show favoritism towards one of my children?

There are definitely outcomes, both positive and negative, when a parent favors one child over another. Cornell psychology professor Karl Pillemer has studied this family dynamic and warns that unequal treatment can be damaging for siblings, with those feeling less favored being resentful and showing long-term ill will towards the parent and/or preferred sibling.

On the positive side, the favored child often develops a heightened sense of self-esteem and feelings of confidence and power, leading to a “can do” attitude. Interestingly, every U.S. president since FDR has been a favored child!

Looking at the negatives, the favored child might find it difficult to form intimate relationships in adulthood, as no one might match the parent’s level of devotion and love. Also, they might constantly look for parental approval and may hesitate to try new experiences and develop their own distinct personality. On the other hand, the less favored child is freer to try new experiences and become the person they want to be. The unfavored child might suffer the most, becoming depressed and having low self-esteem. That child might spend a lifetime looking for parental approval, desperate for some special feeling of love from the parent.

The take-away message and challenge for parents is to show individual interest and love for each child, no matter how different they are.

Try not to show favoritism, and spend one-on-one time with each child. This will hopefully lead to better mental and emotional health for all family members.

Huntington-Northport Oyster Project

Our Marine team works throughout the island to help create a sustainable and thriving marine environment. Over 700,000 single-set oysters produced in our Huntington hatchery were raised at our Gold Star Battalion Beach facility. They reached a size of 1.5" and were transported from our FLUPSY docks and seeded in 5 locations within the Huntington-Northport Bay Complex.

Our Marine specialists have masterfully executed this work with the help of local support from volunteers, agencies, organizations, and governmental offices. This specific project was possible due to a great partnership and collaboration with the Town of Huntington for funding this program and Huntington Harbormasters for helping us with deployment.

Our Marine Program has partnered with the Rotary Club of Huntington to restore oyster habitats to the seabeds bordering Long Island.

These partnerships protect our waters from harmful algae blooms and inshore water pollution.

To learn more about this project click here

SUMMER APPEAL

Your support enables us to continue to be a vital and necessary part of our county’s future. Your gift today helps ensure our programs of tomorrow.

Click here to donate

UPCOMING EVENTS

Agriculture/Gardening

Art of Seed Saving
Organic Gardening
Long Island Soil Health Field Day

Click for more events

Suffolk County Farm/ 4-H

Summer Camp
Goat Yoga

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Community Education

Fruit and Veggie Rx Workshops
Virtual Diabetes Support Group
Screening of Chocolate Milk Documentary

Click for more events

Marine

Back to the Bays Lecture Series
Brush Strokes for the Bays
Sea Explorers Camp
Sea Stars Camp
Rams Head Inn
ArtSEA Create + Sip Night

Click for more events

IN THE PRESS

ReNews Biz

Offshore developers help revive US oyster habitats...

Click to Read More

Huntington Now

New Project aims to clean up the local waters and revive oyster harvesting...

Click to Read More

Yahoo!

A revitalization of oyster habitats on LI with Huntinton-Northport Oyster Reef Project...

Click To Read More

Shelter Island Reporter

A Tribute to a protector of the natural world and how CCE-Suffolk has been a support network...

Click To Read More

Riverhead Local

Calverton farmer Jeff Rottkamp and farm finance executive Pat Wiles were honored by L.I. Farm Bureau...

Click To Read More

STAKEHOLDER VISITS

Our Agriculture program participated in the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Clean Sweep (picture 1). This program is geared toward our farmers and helps with safe pesticide disposal.

We joined The Project Vesta Team (picture 2) to launch our new collaborative initiative! The Town of Southampton is implementing a beach nourishment project to replenish sand at North Sea Beach. This Coastal Carbon Capture is a new technique utilizing olivine sand for carbon dioxide removal. CCE-Suffolk’s Marine Team will monitor and evaluate the area for any environmental impact.

Entomologist Dr. Faruque Zaman visited Patty's Berries & Bunches (picture 3) and U-Pick Family Farm to meet owner Patty DiVello and to show support to our local agriculture businesses. It has been an excellent year for blueberries at Patty’s, with a heavy crop and delicious blueberries.

The SC Commissioner of Social Services Frances Pierre (picture 4) met with us to discuss how we serve the Suffolk and Nassau SNAP-Ed population. We spoke about how we can make our shared resources and education widely available.

The Community Education (CE) team met with SC Commissioner of Health Services, Dr. Gregson Pigott (picture 5). The CE team has a long-standing relationship with Dr. Pigott and the Department of Health Services. They met to update Dr. Pigott about our contracts with the county, such as Breastfeeding Peer Counselors, Family Health & Wellness, Diabetes Self-Management & Education.

Suffolk County and the American Planning Association Long Island (picture 6) had a dedication to Dr. Lee E. Koppelman at the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center in Yaphank. CCE-Suffolk is honored to have been selected as the site for this memorial. Lee Koppelman’s life was dedicated to open space and farmland preservation. He worked to protect our coastal wetlands and the underground water supply. These are all critical elements of our mission. The Farm has benefited from preservation and, as such, is ensured to be here for generations of Suffolk families.

OUT IN YOUR DISTRICT

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (picture 1) visited our Diabetes team for their special Diabetes screening event with Sun River Health at the Brookhaven Town Hall. The Supervisor went through the screening process himself and encouraged his staff at Town Hall to do likewise.

The Cornell Team was honored to welcome Governor Kathy Hochul (pictures 2 and 6) as she met with our local farmers. We joined the 2023 Farm Bill Listening Tour launch at Suffolk Community College in Riverhead. The panel was led by Rob Carpenter of LI Farm Bureau, Commissioner Richard Ball from the NYS Department of Ag and Markets, and Deputy Commissioner Eugene Heslin from the NYS Department of Health.

Our Marine Team met with Brookhaven Councilman Daniel Panico (picture 3) to discuss our work with groundwater, nitrogen issues, and permeable reactive barriers. We look forward to continuing this conversation for the benefit of this district!

We joined environmental leaders and public officials throughout Long Island for Governor Hochul's announcement (picture 4) of $255 million in statewide funding for clean water infrastructure. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone spoke about the importance of water quality for everyone in Suffolk. CCE-Suffolk's Marine Team works to improve water quality through numerous programs and initiatives with a significant focus on water quality and stormwater management.

We joined the Rotary Club of Huntington, Legislator Stephanie Bontempi, Senator Mario Mattera, and Huntington Town Councilman Sal Ferro (picture 5) for a press event on Friday morning to announce their partnership with CCE Suffolk, the Town of Huntington, and various other sponsors for the Huntington-Northport Oyster Reef Project. This is part of the Marine Program's Shellfish C.A.R.E. program, another Back to the Bay's Initiative. This project brings community members together to help raise oyster spat on shell that will be planted as oyster reefs on the bay bottom. The project will help improve water quality, promote habitat/species diversity, and support the local shellfish industry.

Fisheries Data Entry Clerk, Kings Park

See all open positions here

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