Back to the Bays intern, Rachel Kapllani, reflects on the conclusion of her marsh restoration raft research with us this summer!

Back to the Bays intern, Rachel Kaplani, completed her senior thesis work with us this summer 2026. Curious about the interactions soil minerals, nutrients, and microorganisms have with plants and their root systems, Rachel has been developing and experimenting with growing methods for cultivating marsh grass, including floating “Restoration Rafts,” which allow grass roots to take up excess nutrients directly from our bays as they grow.

Kim Manzo and Kate Rossi-Snook give us an up close look at our 2026 Seahorse Hotel deployments in Greenport, Southold, Hampton Bays, and Sag Harbor/North Haven Stewardship Sites!

Kim Manzo, Seahorse + Eelgrass specialist, reflects on the launch of our new Seahorse Hotel initiative, providing stable habitat structure in the absence of the eelgrass seahorses depend on.

2025 marks the 10-Year Anniversary of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Back to the Bays Initiative!

Read our 2024 Back to the Bays Impact Report for a full review of the our 2024 projects and progress.

Our Back to the Bays Team has been busy to say the least this summer! The majority of our fieldwork, and plant and animal care in our shellfish and coastal plant nurseries takes place during these warm weather months. And it takes a lot of hard work to keep everything thriving and growing.

Our summer 2023 College Interns reflect on their summer of learning and stewardship with Back to the Bays.