e-SML April 2007
Spring is here at last and things are hopping in Ithaca, at Creek Farm in Portsmouth, and on Appledore Island! Here is a sample of April events at SML:We held an Open House in Ithaca to welcome three new members of SML‚s Permanent Staff: Dr. Hal Weeks, Assistant Director for Island and Coastal Programs; Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley, Academic Advisor for SML Students and Interns; Captain Tom Davis, SML Resident Captain. Linda Harrington joined the SML Staff in Ithaca to help us with what has proved to be a very busy application season. In Portsmouth, Pam Boutilier will serve as our new Coastal Coordinator to assist with many shore-base activities.
We also welcomed new SML Seasonal Staff who will be based on Appledore this season. Adriana Veloza is Island Coordinator. Kipp Quinby and Meg Eastwood (who will join us in June) will be Lab Preparators. Chris Charles will arrive soon to serve in the new role of Resident Life Coordinator. Matt Coyle is Head Chef. Our new Head Engineer is Mike Rosen, who is joined by Island Engineers Jeff Mercer and Ben Zaida; Jeff also serves as SML Diving Coordinator. Captain Ed Spinney is already on board, and Captain Aram deKoven will join us later in May. Finally, we upgraded and formalized our commitment to the White/Seavey Island Tern Restoration Project, and are delighted to have Dan and Melissa Hayward back to lead that effort.
Given SML‚s diverse and widely distributed staff, good communication and careful training are essential. We set up a new 15-handset cell phone network to facilitate communication among SML staff regardless of their physical location. Island staff also will carry the latest generation of portable VHF radios to allow instant contact with each other, our vessels, and, in emergencies, the Coast Guard. These small VHF radios are not only more versatile than the units they are replacing: they are also cheaper, have longer ranges, and are waterproof! We worked closely with CALS HR to develop two new staff training sessions in April, and I expect these to become annual traditions. The first of these was a one-day session for SML‚s Permanent Staff combining human resources training and planning to get everyone on the same page for the season ahead. Later in April, we held a two-day Staff Orientation and Training Session for SML Seasonal Staff ! before everyone relocated to Appledore. This event happened at Creek Farm Cottage on the weekend before Island Open Up, and was judged a big success by all who participated. It has helped to get SML Summer 2007 off to a smooth start.
Credit courses applications for SML Summer 2007 continue to arrive. Our most recent tally of 228 applications in hand puts SML on track for very strong overall enrollment this year. We have planned carefully to be sure that we can successfully manage the larger populations of students and instructors who will be on Appledore this summer ˆ our wonderful staff as well as renovated instructional spaces, new AV equipment, and new microscopes are equal to this, but Appledore will feel very busy at times this summer.
Over the last year, Christine Bogdanowicz oversaw a major redesign of SML‚s website, which „went live‰ in April. It improves functionality for services such as boat schedules and calendars and allows guests to make on-line reservations for tours of Celia Thaxter‚s Garden. It looks great, too, so check it out: http://www.sml.cornell.edu/.
Arriving in your mailboxes in April was the first issue of our redesigned newsletter, The Appledore Times . Christine worked closely with Cornell Publications to develop the overall redesign of SML‚s three major printed publications, which are course catalogs, recruiting posters, and the newsletter. To save paper and mailing costs, we trimmed the total number of pages in The Appledore Times ; to conserve trees, we pay a premium to print it on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Please let us know what you think.
The April 16 nor‚easter brought high winds, snow and big waves to Appledore. The roof of Palmer-Kinne was badly damaged. Tarps will help to limit interior water damage until the roof can be repaired, which Ross Hansen expects to happen by mid-May
It is official: work on the first phase of our new HDvideo project, A Gull‚s World , started on Appledore in April. This multimedia collaboration between SML and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (CLO) will yield video and sound recordings that we will use to prepare products for both formal and informal science education. The initial phase of field production, cataloging and demo development will take place in 2007. David Brown, Mark Dantzker and Ian Fein are the production team for A Gull‚s World , and they will be with us on Appledore at various times during the spring and summer to document gull behavior throughout the season. For examples of their prior work, see: <http://www.birds.cornell.edu/MacaulayLibrary/>http://www.birds.cornell.edu/MacaulayLibrary/ and <http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/tml-ah.html>http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/tml-ah.html .
The SML Executive Committee met in April for the fourth time in five months. Our work together helps to maintain the strong partnership between Cornell and UNH in the operation of SML. It is particularly important for Cornell and UNH to work closely together over the next year, for SML will be part of an upcoming PeopleSoft transition at Cornell that will simplify billing and student-registration duties currently performed manually in the SML Office. Jane Paige is already converting portions of our database records into new PeopleSoft records. Stay tuned for developments.
The Creek Farm Planning Committee and its subcommittees met several times during April. We are closing in on a plan for a phased effort to renovate Creek Farm Cottage. Extensive repairs to the gutters and porches are already underway, and we expect this initial phase of our renovation to be completed by June. During April, we finished our low-budget conversion of Carriage House to serve as the SML Coastal Office. Also in April, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests started its project to build new public parking at Creek Farm Reservation. When this is completed later this spring, it will be easy for you to drive into Creek Farm Reservation, park for an hour or so, take a walking tour of this beautiful property, and visit us in the new SML Coastal Office.
As reported last month, Tom Davis has been working hard since January making many much needed improvements to our vessels. During April, Tom Davis, Jeff Mercer, and Ed Spinney repainted and finished the topside of the R/V JOHN M. KINGSBURY. The R/V J.B. HEISER was pulled for its biannual Coast Guard hull inspection and work on the drive system; we also installed a new hatch for the anchor locker and rewired the electrical panel. Our boats are ready to go for SML Summer 2007.
Bob Sebastianelli and I continue to work to refine and simplify SML‚s accounting and financial reporting systems. We are taking advantage of new accounting tools at Cornell and working to meet newly introduced standards at Cornell for the financial performance of units such as SML.
To dispel any misperceptions regarding Jim Morin's role in financial management of SML during his term as Director, I would like it to be broadly known that, shortly after my arrival in 2005, the Cornell Administration imposed new management rules for the operation of SML. The management rules and budgetary guidelines under which Jim operated SML are no longer in place.
Visit us at <http://www.sml.cornell.edu/>www.sml.cornell.edu and plan to come to Appledore next summer!
Willy Bemis,
Kingsbury Director of Shoals Marine Laboratory
