User:Chelsei.L/Billion Oyster Project

History
The project was inspired by the success of the Oyster Recovery Project based in Chesapeake Bay, which has to date replanted more than 6.7 billion oysters on 2,200 acres (8.9 km2) of oyster reefs. Oyster reefs are thought to have covered more than 220,000 acres (890 km2) of the Hudson River estuary and filtered water, provided habitat for other marine species and attenuated wave energy but are now functionally extinct in the Harbor due to overharvesting, dredging and pollution.

The project was the brainchild of educators Murray Fisher and Peter Malinowski who are both associated with New York Harbor School and its foundation and was formally established in 2014. A $5 million National Science Foundation grant allowed the program to spread to thousands of public middle school students starting in 2015. Fischer and Malinowski's goal was to educate individuals interested in helping with the Billion Oyster Project. They felt that by spreading knowledge, individuals would continuously restore the harbor. Copied from Billion Oyster Project