The presence of the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat seafood products is a major cause of costly food recalls in the seafood industry. Although typically found in low numbers and infrequently causing illness, during refrigerated storage of many ready-to-eat food, including seafood products like cold smoked salmon, Listeria can multiply to levels that can lead to human disease.

New York Sea Grant has funded several projects led by food safety researcher Dr. Martin Wiedmann at Cornell University spanning over a decade (from 2000 – 2014) examining various aspects of L. monocytogenes growth and control. Based on the results from Dr. Wiedmann’s research, along with research supported by the National Food Safety Initiative by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of USDA, the researchers developed an online manual titled “Control of Listeria in Ready to Eat (RTE) Seafoods: Control Strategies for Listeria monocytogenes in Food Processing Environments.” In addition, three specific training programs were developed to help processing plants establish and implement improved science-based L. monocytogenes control programs, and were designed in collaboration with the University of Delaware and Cornell University, New York Sea Grant, Maryland Sea Grant, Virginia Tech, Louisiana State University, the National Food Processors Association and the National Fisheries Institute.

New York Sea Grant's Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program provided funding for a project that mitigated potential sewer contamination into Lake Ontario, provided ecosystem education and outreach, and demonstrated water quality practices and wildlife and stormwater controls to aid natural living shoreline techniques.

A road connecting the Village and Town of Sodus Bay, under which wastewater infrastructure was buried, was severely eroding due to wave action from Lake Ontario and Sodus Bay. The Wayne County Soil & Water Conservation District, Village of Sodus Point, and Town of Sodus applied to NYSG's NY Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program to obtain funding and extension assistance which allowed them to strengthen wastewater infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to flooding, drought, and other extreme weather events, create sustainable shoreline protection for resiliency and reduction of sediment into open waters and mitigation for future sewer and utility infrastructure compromises. In addition, an estimated 35,000-plus people were reached through outreach and education on resiliency opportunities.

Concern over flooding from severe storms has increased since the Super Storm Sandy struck the New York City region and coastal communities of New Jersey and Connecticut. New York Sea Grant research into the prediction of 21st century coastal storm surges nets the research team a $337,772 NOAA-CSTAR grant and a $80k ORISE Fellowship for a student on the project.

The storm surge regression model developed from the initial project provides real-time ensemble predictions for New York City. This is the only ensemble surge system available for New York City with more than a few members, and it used by the National Weather Service, in conjunction with models from other groups, to help their predictions during storm surges.