I was honored to receive my STREAM to Sanctuary Certificate two weeks ago at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. It is awarded to high school seniors who demonstrate ocean literacy through two summers of environmental research. I have been researching eelgrass, which is an aquatic plant that is rapidly disappearing in Cohasset Harbor.  

My research on eelgrass focused specifically on restoration and why beds are disappearing. Before CSCR, I had never heard about eelgrass and didn’t know that this plant provided so many benefits to coastal ecology, such as sequestering carbon and preventing erosion! While there isn’t one clear cause, our team’s work emphasized developing restoration methods. Our first approach was to sew reproductive eelgrass shoots into burlap sacks nearby other beds. This way, the plants could reproduce with each other and hopefully expand the bed.  

This didn’t work at first, and our process of developing a successful technique took a lot of trial and error. Our final product consisted of arranging flagstaffs in a grid pattern and fastening reproductive shoots in the squares. This way, the device would stand upright, and the reproductive shoots pointed upwards, altogether acting like a small bed.  

My presentation also focused on the interconnectedness of different watersheds, which is a part of land where water drains into a body of water, throughout Massachusetts. For the STREAM to Sanctuary Certificate, I learned that Cohasset Harbor flows straight into the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. This fact resonated with me because it gave the work we were doing more meaning. Restoring eelgrass wasn’t just helping to keep Cohasset Harbor healthy; it was also ensuring that fewer pollutants were flowing into Stellwagen Bank.  

From this experience, I learned that research takes time but is very necessary. Over the past two summers, we still haven’t nailed down a specific reason why eelgrass beds are declining. However, our work played a vital role in maintaining the health of multiple ecosystems.  

This aspect of interconnectedness made me think deeper about my own actions. The same way pollution can negatively affect places like the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, choosing more sustainable lifestyle choices or simply getting involved in our communities also makes a huge difference in protecting our local ecosystems. Learning about my local ecosystems on a deeper level has helped me to learn that no matter how small the action is, one action for climate justice makes more of a difference than none. 🌷💚 

If you’d like to check out my presentation, here is the link: STREAM to Sanctuary Presentation