CONNECTICUT
STATE UNIVERSTIY PROGRAMS AT OUTER ISLAND
I
currently serve as the SCSU coordinator for Outer Island Programs.
A partnership between the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife
Refuge and the Connecticut State University System has been established
to provide access for educational and research programs using
the island. Clayton
Penniman, (Professor, Biology Department, Central Connecticut
State University) also serves as a coordinator for Outer Island
Programs. My duties as a coordinator for Outer Island include
providing access and guided educational activities to visiting
school groups. In addition, I represent SCSU on the Outer Island
Advisory Committee. I also guide educators in planning activities
and assist in supervising student interns who staff the island
during the summer months. This webpage provides information necessary
to schedule a group visit to the island, a video tour of the island
habitats, and information concerning rocky intertidal environments.
Outer
Island is the outermost island in the Thimble Island chain off
the coast of Branford, Connecticut. Outer Island was privately
owned until October 1995 when Elizabeth Hird donated the island
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in memory of her husband
Basil Rauch. The island is now managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service as part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge.
A partnership between the McKinney NWR and the Connecticut State
University system has been established to provide access for educational
and research programs on the island.
Educational Access to Outer Island
Access to Outer Island is available by prior arrangement with
CSU faculty and staff who accompany groups visiting the island.
Visits to Outer Island can be arranged by contacting the Center
for Education and Research at Outer Island (CEROI) by phone at
(203) 392-6265 or contact Dr.
Vincent Breslin. School groups visiting the island do not
pay a fee for access to the island or for the supervision provided
by faculty and staff of the CSU system. The cost to school groups
is for their own transportation from the school to the Stony Creek
dock in Branford and from the dock to the island by water ferry.
Water ferry access to the island is provided by the Thimble Island
ferry (Sea Mist; 203-488-8905) and ferry reservations are made
by the visiting group. The capacity of the ferry usually limits
the size of visiting groups to a maximum of 25 individuals per
ferry trip.
Outer Island Coastal Habitats Video
The Outer Island video presents a 13 minute 20 second guided tour
of the diverse habitats of Outer Island. The video production
was a collaborative effort between the Connecticut State University
faculty (Tara Casanova, SCSU; James Tait, SCSU; Clayton Penniman,
CCSU; and Vincent Breslin, SCSU), the staff of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (William Kolodnicki and Jennifer Brown) and the
COM 492 Practicum in Video Production course at Southern Connecticut
State University. A student group (Melissa Insalaco, Brendan Long,
Kori Mecham and Sam Gachelin) filmed and produced the video.
The tour begins following a brief boat ride through the Thimble
Islands to the dock at Outer Island. The tour proceeds clockwise
around the island pausing for visits at a tide pool, a rocky intertidal
zone at low tide, a salt marsh and a sandy beach. During the tour,
the predominant organisms and ecology of each environment is presented.
The importance of the island as a nesting area for migrating birds
is also emphasized. Also, the issue of marine debris and the importance
of being good stewards of the environment are discussed. During
the tour, vocabulary words and terms including salinity, marsh,
intertidal zone, beach, and wrack line are highlighted on the
screen for educators to use to prepare students for visits to
the island. Finally, still photos are shown which depict students
conducting field activities while music and text present contact
information for educators who wish to schedule visits to the island.
Additional
photographs and information concerning the habitats of Outer Island
can be accessed here.
