New Hampshire Sea Grant is thrilled to host our colleagues for the 2025 Sea Grant Joint Extension Assembly (SGEA) and Communicators Meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire from Sunday, September 21, 2025 through Wednesday, September 24, 2025. We look forward to welcoming you to the Granite State!
This gathering is designed for Sea Grant Extension Program Leaders (or their designees) and Sea Grant Communicators to come together to learn, share, discover, and connect surrounded by the history, culture, and ecosystems of a bustling New England coastal community.
This meeting is adjacent to the fall Sea Grant Association (SGA) meeting to facilitate travel for SGEA/Comms meeting attendees who serve as their SG Director’s SGA Alternate or Functional Network Chairs and are therefore, also SGA meeting attendees.
Venue/Lodging
Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel
250 Market St, Portsmouth, NH 03801
Check-in date: Sunday, September 21, 2025
Check-out date: Wednesday, September 24, 2025*
Room reservation Deadline: August 21, 2025
Room rates: $279 + state and local taxes (8.5%). We have a limited number of rooms at this group rate, so please reserve promptly. This is considered a reduced rate during high season in northern New England.
You can also reserve over the phone. Call 888-627-7138 or 603-431-2300 and identify yourself with “Sea Grant Extension Assembly” to book at the same reduced rate (above) before August 21, 2025.
*For those staying through the SGA Meeting (checking out September 26th), please book using the SGA link. After "Check Availability" when you are at the "Select a Room" page, you can modify your arrival date to Sunday, September 21. The SGEA-Comms meeting booking link does not cover the full week.
Registration
Registration fee for the SGEA-Communicators Joint meeting = $500
Includes two breakfasts, two lunches, one Awards Dinner, and field trips.
Please read the draft agenda below prior to registration. You will have the ability to select from available concurrent sessions during the registration process.
Registration Deadline: September 7, 2025
*Registration for the SGA Meeting (September 24-25th) is separate.
Travel/Transportation
- The closest airports for flights:
- Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) in Boston, MA (~1.5 hrs from Portsmouth)
- Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in Manchester, NH (~45 min from Portsmouth)
- Portland International Jetport (PWM) in Portland, ME (~50 min from Portsmouth)
- A limited number of flights from Florida (primarily Allegient Airlines) fly directly to Portsmouth International Airport (PSM): https://flypsmairport.com/ (~10 min from the hotel)
- From Logan airport:
- C&J is a very comfortable, affordable, and reliable bus service between Boston Logan Airport to Portsmouth, NH. Trips between Logan Airport and Portsmouth are typically available every half hour. The schedule is on the C&J website. Reservations are required and can be made using this link: https://www.ridecj.com/.
- C&J buses pick up directly from BOS airport terminals (right outside baggage claim). Follow the signs for Ground Transportation, then “Scheduled Bus.”
- From the C&J bus stop in Portsmouth, NH, travelers will need to arrange for a taxi/Uber/Lyft or other rideshare to the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel (~10 min drive (4 miles) from the bus station).
- C&J is a very comfortable, affordable, and reliable bus service between Boston Logan Airport to Portsmouth, NH. Trips between Logan Airport and Portsmouth are typically available every half hour. The schedule is on the C&J website. Reservations are required and can be made using this link: https://www.ridecj.com/.
- From all airports:
- Most major rental car companies operate at BOS, MHT, and PWM airports.
- Look for an email with a link to a carpooling platform if you’d like to drive or ride with fellow Sea Grant travelers to/from one of these airports. Coming soon.
- Parking:
- Sheraton - The hotel offers valet parking at a rate of $35.00 per night. Guests not staying overnight but attending events are subject to a daily valet parking rate of $15.00 per vehicle. All parking rates are subject to change.
- Portsmouth Public Garages
- Parrott Parking – FREE…fills early and quickly, up to 72 hour stay
- Foundry - $1.00 per hour; Max Daily Rate $20; allows overnight (7 min walk; 0.3 mi)
- Hanover Garage - $2.00 per hour; Max Daily Rate: $40; allows overnight up to 7 days (6 min walk; 0.2 mi)
Swag
We are hosting a Sea Grant Swag Exchange as an OPTIONAL activity. If you’d like to participate in the Swag Exchange, bring something from your Sea Grant program that you think someone from a different program might like. Please bring it in a paper bag or wrapped so it’s incognito. Drop it off with your name and program at the event registration table. Swag items will be redistributed during the two-day workshop and our planning team will make sure you take home something from another program.
Draft AgendaView Session Descriptions Document Sunday, September 21
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Monday, September 22
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Tuesday, September 23
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Wednesday, September 24
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Local Suggestions Around Portsmouth
- Go Portsmouth, Chamber of Commerce site: https://www.goportsmouthnh.com/what-to-do/
- Portsmouth Harbor Trail Tour: https://www.goportsmouthnh.com/portsmouth-harbor-trail-tours/
- Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH: https://www.strawberybanke.org/
- USS Albacore Submarine, Portsmouth, NH: https://www.ussalbacore.org/
- Prescott Park, Portsmouth, NH: https://www.portsmouthnh.gov/prescottpark
- Black Heritage Trail, Portsmouth, NH: https://blackheritagetrailnh.org/
- 3S Artspace: https://www.3sarts.org/
Local/Nearby Events:
- Portsmouth Fairy House Tour (September 20 & 21, 10am-4pm): https://fairyhousetour.com/
- Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival (September 27-28, 2025): https://pmffest.org/
- Seacoast Science Center, Rye, NH: https://www.seacoastsciencecenter.org/
- Wallis Sands Beach State Park, Rye, NH
- Rye Beach State Park, Rye, NH
- Hampton Beach State Park, Hampton, NH
- Fort Foster, Kittery, ME – easy, seaside walking trails
- Mt. Agamenticus ("Mt. A" or "Mt. Aggie"), York, ME – lots of easy hiking trails; the summit (~700ft elevation) has fantastic panoramic views
- York Harbor Beach, York, ME
- Long Sands Beach, York, ME
- Short Sands Beach, York, ME
- Cape Neddick Beach York, ME
- Nubble Lighthouse, York, ME – quintessential lighthouse view!
- Apple Picking: https://www.applecrest.com/ and https://demeritthillfarm.com/
- Great Bay National Esturarine Research Reserve https://greatbay.org/
Local/Nearby Events:
- Mt. A Trail Challenge, York, ME (Saturday, September 20 at 9am) – fun trail running races (two options: 5K gnarly through the woods and rocks OR a 1-mile easy); small event with lots of raffle prizes. https://runsignup.com/Race/ME/York/MtATrailChallenge
Portsmouth has many restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. Stay tuned for “staff favorites” and NHSG partner establishments.
Staff Favorites:
Portsmouth, NH
- Bao 155
- Barrio tacos + tequila + whiskey
- Ceres Bakery
- Durbar Square
- Elephantine Bakery
- Flatbread Pizza
- Green Elepahnt
- Legends Billiards & Tavern
- Liar's Bench Beer Co
- Moxy
- Row 34
- Shalimar India
- Street
- Surf Seafood
- The Oar House
- The Works
Kittery, ME
Newington, NH
Newmarket, NH
Rye, NH
Many thanks to our Planning Team!
Meeting Lead: Julia Peterson (NH), SGEA Chair
Extension: Pat Charlebois (IL-IN), Jen McCann (RI), Darren Okimoto (HI), Julia Peterson (NH), Amy Schrank (MN)
Communications: Paul Focazio (NY), Jill Jentes (OH), Cindy Knapman (HI), Leah Shore (USC), Marie Thoms (MN)
Additional Support: Alexa Brickett (NH), Brian Yurasits (NH), Michelle Lemos (NH), Jacob Winn (NH)
Land Acknowledgement
This meeting takes place on N’dakinna, which is the traditional ancestral homeland of the Abenaki, Pennacook, and Wabanaki Peoples past and present. We acknowledge and honor with gratitude the land and waterways and the alnobak (people) who have stewarded N’dakinna throughout the generations. New Hampshire Sea Grant embraces the importance of collaborating with local indigenous partners to combine local and indigenous knowledge with scientific approaches to better manage our relationship with the ecosystems on which we depend.
