The Center for Coastal Studies’ Marine Debris and Plastics Program will host students, teaching assistants and a professor from Cornell University for a week-long residency March 31 through April 5, 2025. The visit coincides with the program’s ghost gear removal project held annually during the Large Whale Seasonal Trap Gear Closure (February-April) in Massachusetts waters. The Cornell group will assist in sorting, processing and documenting lost and abandoned fishing gear recovered from the ocean floor and brought into MacMillan Pier; participate in beach cleanups and debris documentation; and create multimedia art for public exhibit.
The Cornell group will spend the week at Provincetown’s Somerset Inn, which owner Courtney Paulson opened early for the group in support of their work with the Center for Coastal Studies.
“This exciting collaboration with Cornell has evolved over the past three years,” said Laura Ludwig, CCS Marine Debris & Plastics Program Director. “What began as a way to source retired fishing gear for a multi-media installation has grown into a week-long course explored by students from all academic disciplines. Their residency during our annual ghost gear removal field work makes it possible to increase the efficiency and scale of the removal, data collection and documentation efforts.”
Cornell professor Annie P. Lewandowski instructs the course Music on the Brain. She is collaborating with Ludwig and CCS Artist-Scientist-in-Residence Mark Adams to lead the weeklong field work residency, titled: Whale Conservation: Marine Stewardship in Cape Cod Bay.
“This optional field study offers students enrolled in MUSIC 1212 the opportunity to expand on their critical engagement in course material on acoustic communication in other animals through a deep exploration of marine habitat and anthropogenic environmental impact as part of a community-engaged experience,” said Professor Lewandowski.
In addition to their work with marine debris and ghost gear, students will participate in an art installation that celebrates and examines marine debris, plastics and coastal issues at the Commons Community Room in Provincetown. Curated by Adams, the exhibit includes a makers workshop that invites community members to create their own artwork from debris collected by CCS Beach Brigade volunteers. Regional artists will also be represented including Scott Feen of the Atlantic Workshop in Orleans, Adrienne Shishko and Suzanne Moseley of MOSH Studio (Orleans and Brookline), Alex Buchanan of New Bedford, Nicholas Nobili of Eastham, and Justine Crosby, a studio resident at the Provincetown Commons.
According to Adams, the purpose of the Commons installation is “to further community awareness of life on our coast, addressing issues such as plastics, sea level rise, storms and erosion, threats to whales and other marine life, the necessity of coastal recreation, the future of Provincetown Harbor, and the blue economy of Provincetown.”
There will be a free public reception for the art installation on the afternoon of Friday, April 4.
This project is supported in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program and the Center for Coastal Studies.