The FoodLab’s Sea to Soil Symposium at Southampton: A Call to Heal the Earth

Carl Safina (right), Endowed Research Chair for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University, signs his books and chats with audience members at the Sea to Soil Symposium at Stony Brook Southampton.

From marine scientists studying nitrogen pollution in Long Island waters to environmentalists exploring humanity's relationship with nature, Stony Brook faculty and staff helped shape the conversation at this year's Sea to Soil Symposium.

Hosted May 1 by the FoodLab at Stony Brook Southampton, the fourth annual event brought together researchers, farmers and community leaders to examine how ocean ecosystems, agriculture and public health are connected as "One Living System."

Before the symposium officially began, visitors moved between the FoodLab Farm, the Marine Sciences Center and a marketplace filled with local farms, food producers and environmental organizations.

From left: FoodLab Director Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, Linda Franklin of Shinnecock Nation, and Wendy Pearson, vice president for strategic initiatives and executive director of Stony Brook Southampton.

The afternoon opened with welcome remarks from FoodLab Executive Director Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, Stony Brook Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Executive Director of Stony Brook Southampton Wendy Pearson and a representative of the Shinnecock Nation.

Throughout the afternoon, speakers discussed environmental challenges from different backgrounds, but many emphasized the need for stronger connections between people and nature.

Mike Doall, associate director for bivalve restoration and aquaculture at Stony Brook's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), discussed the growing threat of nitrogen pollution in Long Island waters and the role oysters and seaweed could play in helping restore coastal ecosystems.

"Turning the spigot off does work," Doall said, referencing decades of nitrogen reduction efforts in Long Island Sound that dramatically reduced hypoxic dead zones. But Suffolk County's dependence on cesspools and septic systems makes the problem harder to solve, he explained, with nitrogen entering waterways through groundwater and runoff.

Brian Halweil (second from left), the new farm and greenhouse manager of FoodLab at Stony Brook Southampton, with (from left) Larry Petrovick of Spring Forest in Hillsborough, North Carolina; Christine Tylee of Bridgehampton; Meri Halweil of Sag Harbor; and Janet and Forrest Horton of Virginia.

"We've been asking," Doall said, "'What can be done now to mitigate nitrogen pollution while these land-based solutions roll out?'" One possible answer, he said, is nutrient bioextraction through shellfish and seaweed aquaculture, an "in the water strategy to mop up the nitrogen mess."

Later in the symposium Carl Safina, author and Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University, shared the story of Alfie, a screech owl he rehabilitated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rescue turned into something more personal. "I was seeing the development of trust and the development of a bond," Safina said while describing Alfie and her mate.

As he described the owl raising young in his backyard, Safina questioned assumptions about animals as instinct-driven creatures without emotional depth. "They are relational beings," he said. "They know who they are by where they are and who they are with."

Safina described the experience of watching Alfie interact with him after returning to the wild. "You saw that little owl lean into my touch and close her eyes just like a dog would," he said.

Botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer discussed ecological restoration through both Indigenous knowledge and Western science, urging attendees to think less about what humans can take from the Earth and more about what they can give back.

"When our feet hit the ground in the morning, we should be thinking, what can we give?" Kimmerer said. She described restoration as both ecological and cultural work. "We have to become healers," she said. "We have to put our hands in the earth and clean up this mess."

Kimmerer also spoke about the importance of blending Indigenous knowledge with Western science. "Science alone is not equipped to restore relationships," she said.

Regenerative farming advocate J.M. Fortier focused on the power of small farms to reshape local food systems and communities. "We need to replace mass production by the masses," Fortier said. "We need to decentralize the food system. We need to fix communities through food."

Kaysha Nunez Haile, who lives on the Shinnecock reservation and earned a BS in environmental science from Binghamton University, shared her research as a food sovereignty coordinator at the event's Market Place showcase featuring local organizations.

Fortier spoke candidly about building a farm from the ground up with limited resources, describing his mission as helping "the next generation of young growers get to the level that we got to much faster."

The symposium ended with a discussion featuring Amanda Merrow and Katie Baldwin of Amber Waves Farm, who spoke of the importance of supporting young farmers and strengthening local food networks.

"There is a lot of reciprocity," Baldwin said. "You do have to take some risk." Merrow encouraged attendees to take action. "Just start and just do something," she said. "Something becomes something else."

Carmack-Fayyaz appreciated how the day's conversations connected varied disciplines and experiences.

"Sea to Soil was a reminder that broadening our perspective may be one of the most important acts of environmental stewardship," Carmack-Fayyaz said. "From Mike Doall's work on restoring water quality, to Carl Safina's reflections on the relational intelligence of animals, to Robin Wall Kimmerer's call to engage mind, body, emotion and spirit, not science alone, the symposium challenged us to see that we are part of one interconnected living system."

She added that the work of farmers Jean-Martin Fortier, Katie Baldwin and Amanda Merrow reinforced the importance of caring for the natural world. "We have a responsibility not only to take from the systems that sustain us, but to actively restore and protect them in return."

"When we repair ecosystems and repair ecosystem services, that contributes to cultural revitalization," Kimmerer said. "In healing the land, we are also healing ourselves."