Research & Public Impact
Independent research is at the core of the Williams-Mystic experience, and students conduct research projects in all four disciplines over the course of the 17-week semester. There’s nothing quite like venturing into the field to help you understand how science is made, delving into the archives to understand how history is written, or connecting one-on-one interviews with a stakeholder who works in the policy topic of your choice. With students coming to Williams-Mystic from across many different majors and academic backgrounds, these independent research projects give them the opportunity to draw on their pre-existing interests and expertise or discover new passions that turn into theses or even careers.
Examples of recent student projects:
Literature of the Sea
- Wabanaki Piracy and Indigenous Maritime Knowledge
- Williams-Mystic: A Graphic Novel
American Maritime History
- Fur-midable Predators: The Purr-fect Companion at Sea [shipboard cats]
- Construction of the Christian Cannibal: The Development of Shipwreck Cannibalism in the American Collective Consciousness
- Fashion, Fun, and Friends: Barbie’s California Girl Beach Identity
- The Story of Asian Immigrant Workers in Alaska
Marine Policy
- Right Whales and Wind: Possible Coexistence of North Atlantic Right Whales and Offshore Wind Development
- Towards Sustainable Native Hawaiian Access to Green Sea Turtle Take
- Pollution in Port: Cruise Ship Emissions- Problems and Solutions
- A Fighting Chance: Cancer Alley
- A Coastal Climate Injustice: Chelsea, MA
- The Impact of the National Flood INsurance Program’s Risk Rating 2.0 on Southern Louisiana
Oceanographic Processes
- Expect the Unexpected: "Calculating Marsh Accretion Rates in Barn Island Wildlife Management Area”
- Mapping the Properties and Distribution of Coal on Napatree Point Beach
- Shifting Sands: The hardening of New England Coastlines
- Marsh Mania: Interpreting the Environmental History of Wequetequock Marsh
Marine Ecology
- Impacts of Temperature on the Photosynthetic Rate of Fucus Vesiculous Seaweed
- Microplastics in Marshes around Mystic, CT
- Nutrient levels near wastewater outfalls in coastal CT sites and their implications for local water quality and primary productivity
- Macroalgae Diversity Increased at Weekapaug Point, RI from 2010-2023
Research Facilities
James T. Carlton Marine Science Center
The James T. Carlton Marine Science Center (CMSC) is a 8,000-square-foot research facility situated in close proximity to both student housing and diverse natural environments such as estuaries, marshes, rocky intertidal zones and sandy beaches. The center’s main floor is equipped with an open laboratory, a 320-gallon touch tank aquaria, the Marine Ecology research lab and analytical instruments.
Additionally, it houses environmental chambers, an equipment room for fieldwork (e.g. transects, quadrats, a variety of environmental loggers and surveying equipment), a teaching classroom, a library, a computing facility and an archive of all previous Williams-Mystic student research projects back to 1977.
Downstairs in the CMSC is the Williams-Mystic Wet Lab which has three 400-gallon aquarium racks for scientific investigation that can manipulate a wide range of temperatures and salinities. Also in the downstairs spaces there is the Geosciences lab, as well as a garage that houses a 1650-gallon water maker system for the aquariums, the storage of tools and research vessels and a maker space to construct equipment for research projects. This comprehensive research center serves as the hub for marine science research and education at Williams-Mystic and students have access 24/7 to the space.
Field Sites
From the CMSC, students can easily access many field sites along the Mystic River Estuary and southern Connecticut and Rhode Island coastlines. Williams-Mystic has a fleet of kayaks for student use on the river as well as two power boats, Pelican (a 26-foot center console Eastern) and Sandpiper (a 16-foot aluminum flatboat with a Torqeedo electric engine). Within driving or boating distance are a variety of habitats such as salt marshes, tide pools, sandy beaches, rocky shorelines, salt ponds, nearshore oceanic environments and mudflats. Throughout the semester, students visit field sites both as a class and individually to collect data for their independent research projects.
Mystic Seaport Museum (MSM)
With 17 coastal acres and 60 buildings to explore, Mystic Seaport Museum provides students with a unique and inviting setting for classes and free time. Whether you’re working on a project in your maritime skills class, sailing on the Mystic River, reading a book aboard the Charles W. Morgan or throwing a frisbee on the green, the museum grounds is yours to explore at any time!
Collections Research Center (CRC) at MSM
The Collections Research Center at Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime research facility, home to more than two million examples of maritime artifacts, tools, documents and photographs. Williams-Mystic students use this space and its vast collections to aid their research with the help of the professional CRC staff.
Marine and Coastal Policy Research Group
In the Marine Policy course, each student is a member of the Marine and Coastal Policy Research Group. Each student chooses to study a current unresolved question impacting America’s coastlines and oceans. They then interview a myriad of stakeholders with a vested interest in the outcome of the issue, examine relevant federal and state laws, regulations, and conduct cross-disciplinary research in order to develop credible policy strategies and solutions to their real-world problems.
This problem-based approach empowers students to gain the knowledge, confidence, and skills to address major questions and issues in all fields. It also provides the coastal stakeholder community with an opportunity to benefit from capable research, objective investigations, and collaboration with the only undergraduate college program that examines the ocean from an interdisciplinary lens, while seeking opportunities to empower global problem-solving.
Research Projects
Carolina Andrade F'22: Right Whales and Wind: Possible Coexistence of North Atlantic Right Whales and Offshore Wind Development
David Luongo F'22: The Impact of the National Flood Insurance Program’s Risk Rating 2.0 on Southern Louisiana
Marika Massey-Bierman F'22: The Future of PCB Cleanup in the New Bedford Harbor
Sam Sidders F'22: How should Washington State Sustainably and Effectively Respond to a Persistent and Predatory Invader, the European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas)?
Jenna Stanley F'22: Examining the Proposed Revision of the Critical Habitat Designation for North Pacific Right Whales
Alison Zhang F'22: Managing Salmon Stocks Between Southern Resident Killer Whales and Southeast Alaskan Fishing Communities
Clara Benadon S'22: Sounds Like Trouble: How The IMO Can Incentivize Quiet Ships Across the Arctic
Robin Henrikson S'22: The Lower Snake River Dam Controversy: Balancing Conservation, Agricultural Transportation, Tribal Rights, and Green Energy
Declan Houlihan S'22: CA Ballast Water Regulation and the Future of the State’s Role
Gabrielle Granata, Williams College Fall 2020: A Coastal Climate Injustice: Chelsea, MA
Jinwoo Kang, Williams College Fall 2020: A Fighting Chance: Cancer Alley
Kate Gehl S'20: Wakesurfing in the Newberg Pool on Oregon’s Willamette River: Recreation, Preservation, and Regulation
Stefan Kuklinsky S'20: Pollution in Port: Cruise Ship Emissions - Problems and Solutions
Zach Arfa F'19: The Future of Maine Aquaculture: Growth and Sustainability in Fish Farming
Hazel Atwill F'19: The Future of the Liquified Natural Gas Facility in Tacoma, Washington
Jeff Erazo F'19: Protecting New Jersey’s Meadowlands and Local Communities from Floods and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Colin Goodbred F'19: Towards Sustainable Native Hawaiian Access to Green Sea Turtle Take