When studying for their master’s degree in oceanography at the University of Delaware, Adrian Ring conducts most of their work indoors, running models on a computer. While they enjoy that indoor scientific modeling work, their summer with UD’s Delaware Sea Grant gave them the opportunity to work in the field, conducting hands-on research on Delaware’s submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).

Ring had never worked with SAV, also known as seagrass, but after spending a few months learning about Delaware’s seagrass beds, they understand how critical it is for the First State.

“Seagrass is important to our coastlines and our coastal areas,” said Ring. “It provides a habitat for macroinvertebrates, it prevents erosion, it helps clear the water, and it is important that our efforts to restore seagrass in Delaware continue going forward.”

Ring worked in South Bethany and the Assawoman Wildlife Area with Brittany Haywood, coastal ecology specialist for Delaware Sea Grant, Ariel Mercurio, another Delaware Sea Grant intern, and members of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to monitor and assess the abundance of current seagrass beds. They also collected seeds from those seagrass beds to transport and plant in future restoration sites.

With Delaware Sea Grant, they worked to identify locations in Delaware that might be conducive to planting new beds. These are areas with clear water so sunlight can reach the submerged aquatic vegetation, and with little human activity that could disturb the seagrass.

Ring also worked with Mercurio to design a program for high schools in the Chesapeake Bay area where students can run their own SAV experiments in their classrooms and try to grow the plants. They participated in surveys looking for marine debris and ran outreach events for middle school and high school students.

Overall, they said the connections they made with staff at Delaware Sea Grant and DNREC, as well as learning information about submerged aquatic vegetation, were two of the most beneficial aspects of the internship.

“I would definitely encourage others who haven't heard about this internship to apply,” said Ring. “It was an awesome experience, and Delaware Sea Grant is doing a lot of amazing work in the State of Delaware.”