Summer 2009 REU Program at Stony Brook University

The Stony Brook Campus and Environs

Stony Brook University on 1,100 acres is located on the north shore of Long Island 60 miles east of New York City and 75 miles west of Montauk Point close to the historic village of Stony Brook, and a few miles from scenic Port Jefferson Village where one can take a ferry across the Sound to Bridgeport, CT. It is only a short distance to Long Island Sound beaches, the beaches at Fire Island, the elegant resorts of the Hamptons, and the vineyards of the East End. There is a wealth of sports and social activities during the summer both on campus, in the neighboring villages, and throughout the east end of the Island. There is access to local beaches on the Sound by bicycle or on foot; there is campus bus service to local shopping areas, and New York City can be reached via the Long Island Rail Road, which has a station at the north edge of campus. Suggestions for things to do on Long Island can be found at: http://www.stonybrook.edu/ugadmissions/visiting/location.shtml

Information about Stony Brook University is available on the University website: http://www.stonybrook.edu/sb/aboutsb.shtml
Campus maps are viewable at http://www.stonybrook.edu/sb/map/

The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) is the State University of New York's center for marine and atmospheric research, education, and public service. More than 200 graduate and undergraduate students from 16 different nations currently work and study at SoMAS. SoMAS occupies 5 buildings on the South Campus of the University.

http://www.somas.stonybrook.edu/about/directions.html

South Bimini, Bahamas (field site)

The Bimini's are the westernmost district of the Bahamas composed of a chain of islands located ~ 81 km due east of Miami, Florida.  Most of the island's population, of ~ 1,600 lives on North Bimini in Bailey Town or Alice Town. A ferry connects North Bimini to South Bimini which is a couple of miles long and a few hundred yards wide and largely covered by mangrove swamps with a maximum elevation of ~ one palm tree high. The mangrove swamps are home to a wide variety of birds, reptiles, and juvenile fish. Bimini is home to several unique, endemic and threatened species including the Bimini Boa (Epicrates striatus fosteri, the Bimini Ameiva (Ameiva auberi richmondi) a very common, fast moving lizard, and the Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) is one of the rarest fish in the world. The nutrient laden deep-ocean waters of the Gulf Stream flowing up onto the Great Bahama Bank off Bimini support its coral reefs and brings great numbers and varieties of marine life including mackerel, marlin, sharks, mantas, dolphin, and sea turtles.