Billion Oyster Project

Billion Oyster Project is a nonprofit working to restore oyster reefs across New York Harbor and to rebuild the conditions for a thriving, resilient city. Restoration is only possible when people understand its value. This project seeks to inspire the next generation of harbor stewards in redefining nature’s role in New York City by restoring one billion oysters and engaging one million students by 2030.

This project will bring exciting new STEM learning opportunities to low-income students, and it will also help improve the quality of New York’s harbors and waterways–US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Billion Oyster Project is creating hands-on work through in-school STEM learning opportunities, community science and research, restaurant shell collection (partners include Grand Central Oyster Bar, Eataly, and dozens more), and well as volunteer programs. Most notably, Billion Oyster Project is currently working with over 70 secondary schools throughout the five boroughs. Thousands of students have participated, and have produced data sets invaluable to the growth and sustainability of New York City’s oyster population for decades to come.

Pace University is proud to be involved in the Billion Oyster Project. Through an ongoing National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that has been awarded in part to a team of educators at Pace ($7.4 million over the past four years, including a recently awarded $2 million grant), we have been able to partner with New York City public school students from underrepresented communities and create practical and exciting learning environments with direct positive impact.

“This two million National Science Foundation investment will help expand Pace University’s innovative Billion Oyster Project work, an effort to restore our harbor’s once thriving oyster ecosystem, which has massive clean water benefits because oysters are extraordinarily efficient natural filters. Congratulations to Pace University on being awarded this grant and thank you to all the schools and organizations involved in this consortium’s effort to clean New York Harbor.”–Chuck Schumer, US Senate Minority Leader

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant NSF EHR DRL-1440869 Principal Investigator Lauren B. Birney lbirney@pace.edu. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.