A Message from Dean/VP Mary Pearl

Welcome to Stony Brook Southampton. Here, sustainability is not merely an abstract concept taught from textbooks, it's lived and breathed on our campus, from our new LEED-certified library heated with geothermal energy, to our popular greenhouse and organic garden, where students grow some of the food we serve in our café.

Connecting Southampton's past to its present, behind our historic 18th-century windmill spins a state-of-the-art wind turbine, providing free electricity for two buildings. Grounds staff use electric vehicles. Campus police are often seen on bike patrol. The greenhouse is a hub of student activity, where we use rainwater for irrigation and wood pellets for heat on frostier days. Our café emphasizes local produce.

These are all important steps to reduce our carbon footprint. The Stony Brook Southampton community is a haven for green thinking – and green action. These 82 acres in the beautiful Shinnecock Hills are our own green laboratory. Perhaps you've read about our green campus in our special New York Times feature story or have seen us highlighted on "The NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams."

SBS can be big and small at the same time. We benefit by being a part of Stony Brook University, a major research institution that is ranked among the top one percent of all universities in the world. At the same time, students here experience being members of an intimate community of active learners in which the resources to study important problems and come up with solutions are close at hand. Complemented by small class sizes, students at Stony Brook Southampton learn not only by studying – but by doing. Our seaside location is the home of one of the nation's top marine science programs. Research vessels, with students and professors working together, depart and return several times a week – and sometimes several times a day.

Our home in the Hamptons reflects the larger community's rich cultural history. SBS hosts the Avram Theater and Avram Gallery, which provide concerts, plays, lectures, and world-renowned artists exhibitions. The esteemed MFA in Writing and Literature program's "A Writer’s Summer" attracts top authors and poets working directly with aspiring writers.

In the true spirit of sustainability, Stony Brook Southampton is and always will be a work in progress. We welcome your ideas and invite you to join us as we grow; to hear our distinguished lecturers, to attend our arts events, to take classes with us. At Stony Brook Southampton, we're focused on nourishing our minds and our environment to create a sustainable planet.

Dr. Mary C. Pearl
Dean and Vice President, Stony Brook Southampton