Revitalizing Laurel

Delaware Sea Grant helps reinvigorate Sussex County town through affordable housing, downtown shops and nature-based playground

Story time with DESG

Join us this spring for engaging storytelling sessions designed to encourage chidren to learn about the natural world

Learn more

Chesapeake Bay Bowl back to full strength

12 teams representing Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware competed this year

Delaware Sea Grant

OUR MISSION

SCIENCE SERVING DELAWARE

Delaware Sea Grant helps Delaware communities wisely use, manage, and conserve our state's valuable coastal resources by fostering sustainable coastal economies, developing resilience to coastal hazards, and preparing the next generation of coastal leaders.

WHAT WE DO

FOCUS AREAS

A group of researchers from CEOE and COE are working on a project looking at how installing living shorelines--specifically, oyster reef habitat--in the Delaware Bay can protect shoreline against sea level rise and more intense storm surge events. The project is called Developing Engineering practices using Ecosystem Design Solutions for Future Army (Military DEEDS Project): Building Coastal Community Resilience with Nature-based Shoreline Solutions. It is funded through an appropriation and is a collaboration among the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), UD and Louisiana State University. The project is led at UD by Jack Puleo and looks to inform the Army on land-use management designs to enhance the resilience of military missions and operations in present and future terrains by using ecosystem services to address threats posed by climate and coastal hazards. The project is being managed by Ed Hale and graduate students Brendan Campbell, a postdoctoral researcher in Hale’s lab, and Rileigh Huddock, a master’s level student in CEOE. They have installed a living shoreline test site in the Delaware Bay near the Hugh R. Sharp campus. [UDaily]

Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture

Paving the way for a thriving and sustainable ecosystem and maritime economy from ocean to table

Resilient Communities and Economies

Preserving Delaware’s coastal heritage through adaptive community development

Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development

Engaging students and teachers in innovative marine science learning programs

Graduate students, faculty, and staff with the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment and Delaware Sea Grant working in Rehoboth Bay to clean up to clean up "ghost" (derelict and abandoned) crab pots which litter the floor of the Bay. A previous survey found over 300 pots which have been lost or abandoned that can nevertheless still trap and kill wildlife that come across them, as well as pose a risk to boaters and swimmers. Once the pots have been removed from the bottom they are cleaned up and made available for repair and reuse or broken up and recycled.

Healthy Coastal Ecosystems

Leveraging community science to sustain coastal research and support the Delaware coast

DESG Crab Pot Quest: youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=com.synechron.udel.models.functions.SubstrAfter

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

CRAB POT QUEST

Interested in helping to clean up Delaware's Inland Bays? Watch our three-part video tutorial on how use side-scan sonar, safely retrieve gear, and collect important data.

Learn more about derelict crab pots

NEWS & EVENTS

Chesapeake Bay Bowl back to full strength

March 24, 2025 | Written by Adam Thomas

Delaware Sea Grant welcomed competitors to the University of Delaware’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes to participate in the 2025 Chesapeake Bay Bowl (CBB) and for the first time since 2020, the bowl saw a full suite of 12-teams participate in the competition.
Connecting community, education and coastal concerns

March 12, 2025 | Written by Risha Inaganti

Ira Washington spent last summer working with Delaware Sea Grant in Wilmington communities to learn about their environmental concerns and find ways to share information.
Design for resilience

January 06, 2025 | Written by Tabitha Groh

Landscape architecture students work with the Coastal Resilience Design Studio on a plan for Milton
Three Delaware students among 2025 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship finalists

October 03, 2024 | Press release

Congratulations to UD students Elizabeth Whitney, Caitlin Wilson, and Rachel Roday, who have been named finalists for the 2025 class of NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship finalists.