The Coastal Ocean Action Strategies (COAST) Institute was created in 1989 to assist in coastal zone management and coastal marine policy analysis. We do this by exploring future scenarios for Long Island's coastline and coastal environment and by working with policy makers and environmental managers in identifying and analyzing strategies that will conserve and, when necessary, rehabilitate the coastal ocean; by ensuring that not only is the best technical information included in developing the strategies, but economic and other critical information as well; and by forming effective linkages among environmental groups, the scientific community, lawmakers, regulators, and managers to tackle coastal environmental issues.

COAST has been called upon to assist in resolving coastal problems at home on Long Island, throughout the U.S. and in many parts of the world. For example, on Long Island, we are involved with beach monitoring at East Hampton and Shinnecock Inlet; dredging studies in Stony Brook Harbor; assessment of breach potential along Fire Island. We have also been asked to facilitate the search for solutions to environmental threats or degradation in, for example, Jamaica Bay and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; along the Danube delta and the Mediterranean Coast.

COAST also provides a real-world, action learning laboratory for graduate students at MSRC. Each year students who are interested in coastal management and policy take part in gathering and analyzing data, in transforming data into information, and in synthesizing information-all targeted at identifying and evaluating management alternatives to attack the problems that COAST is helping to solve.

Scenario Planning for Long Island's Coast: An Example

COASTal Notes

Our understanding of the coast has been distilled from the experience of many detailed observations at specific sites. In addition to scholarly articles and technical reports, a series of COASTal Notes describes various and sundry observations of the behavior of Long Island's shore.

COAST Institute Laboratory web page

 

Page last modified on Monday, July 2, 2007 by George E. Carroll