Steven Silverman (MA, 2021)

Steven Silverman was born on Long Island, NY. Spending his childhood exploring the Nissequogue River, he recalls that growing up on Long Island reinforced his love for the marine environment. He pursued an undergraduate degree from Binghamton University, focusing on Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior. After spending some time at the Marine Biology Lab in Woods Hole, MA, he began his graduate career at SoMAS for the Marine Conservation and Policy (MCP) Program. He enjoyed his time as a Senior Research Assistant with the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program, learning more about and conserving the marine life of the Shinnecock Bay ecosystem. He decided to focus his MCP Capstone project on a case study of the Long Island Aquarium, evaluating the effectiveness of using aquariums to educate the public on marine science and conservation.

Today, Steven is the manager of the Education Department at the Long Island Aquarium. His day-to-day responsibilities include educating guests through hands-on activities, lectures, and classes. He enjoys the environmental exploration tours on the Atlantis Explorer Boat, providing guests an educational trip through the Peconic Estuary, which is an important marine habitat that is home to many ecologically important species. Through this interactive experience, guests not only get to see the estuary, but also learn the issues impacting it and how they can help to solve them. Taking what he learned from his graduate capstone project at SoMAS, Steven notes that this is one of the many reasons aquariums and their education programs are so vital to conservation. 

In his free time, Steven enjoys hiking and fishing, and has been recently interested in learning more about wildlife photography.