113 Morse Hall, 8 College Road, Durham, NH 03824 t: 603.862.5346 • f: 603.862.3151 • shoals.lab@unh.edu • shoalsmarinelaboratory.org
SHOALS MARINE LABORATORY SUMMER 2021 OPERATING PLAN Important Updates as of July 7, 2021 •
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Fully vaccinated overnight and day trip visitors (with CDC-approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to arrival at SML) are no longer required to submit a negative PCRbased COVID test result prior to their arrival at SML. o This change does NOT apply to unvaccinated visitors Mask Usage: Masks are still required indoors for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals when 6ft or less from others (with the exception of eating/drinking); however, they may be removed outdoors when 3ft or more from others (see Island Based COVID-19 Mitigation Procedures below for more information). Vaccinated students and faculty may remove their masks after their third negative COVID test.
Overview Shoals Marine Laboratory (SML) is committed to the health and safety of our community. In this document, we outline the procedures and policies SML will implement during our 2021 operating season to maximize well-being in light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The Memorandum of Understanding between Cornell University (Cornell) and University of New Hampshire (UNH) for the operations of SML states that UNH is responsible for the administrative oversight, and thus, this plan engages UNH COVID-19 resources to aid SML’s COVID-19 planning. Throughout this plan, we adhere to the best practices used by our parent institutions and adapt as necessary to meet the needs of our island community and the fluidity of state policies and regulations. Our strategy for the 2021 summer operating season centers around reducing density and potential spread across all in-person academic programming, research, and public programs. We will do this with a strong focus on spatial separation of program pods and operate in a manner that meets or exceeds the protocols for pre-arrival quarantine, housing, testing, food service, social distancing, sanitation, and mask use that have allowed for successful spring and fall semesters on the campuses of Cornell and UNH. We understand that the COVID landscape is changing over time. We will continue to update our operations to match UNH and Cornell practices and adapt as necessary to meet the needs of our island community. We have written this plan based on the assumption that we cannot require vaccines within our island community though we will do our best to encourage it. 1
Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island, Isles of Shoals, Maine: Dedicated to undergraduate education and research in marine science since 1966.