The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) is seeking candidates to serve as an environmental justice fellow to support the Building a Climate Ready New Jersey project as part of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Fellowship Program. The fellow will support UCI Associate Director Tom Herrington in coordinating the project’s Resilience Project Design Pipeline work.

The fellow will work to ensure that multiple education, engagement, and training activities are planned and implemented in conjunction with the other core activities of the Climate Ready New Jersey project. The fellow’s primary responsibility will be to work closely with Herrington and Rachel Forbes, the UCI’s Disadvantaged and Overburdened Communities (DOBC) community engagement specialist, to engage DOBC in the development of resilience projects for inclusion in the design pipeline.

Click here for full details on the fellowship and instructions for applying.

Meredith Comi reefs what she sows. Beneath a pier at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Leonardo, five temperature-controlled tanks full of brackish Raritan Bay water serve as nurseries for millions of oyster larvae. Comi, the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute’s (UCI) coastal resilience and restoration practitioner, monitors as they bond to submerged concrete blocks, called oyster castles, and grow strong enough to survive in the wild.

On a brisk November day, 80 castles were removed from the tanks and began a journey to join an artificial reef composed of 500 more off the base’s shoreline. Staff from the UCI, Navy, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Rep. Frank Pallone’s office rapidly loaded them aboard a truck bound for Atlantic Highlands, where they were placed aboard Monmouth’s R/V Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe, steamed to a spot a few hundred yards from shore, and transferred to Monmouth’s R/V Seahawk. The smaller vessel could then safely transport a few dozen castles at a time to the shallow waters surrounding the reef, where they’d be stacked in pyramid formations.

The research being conducted at the reef is restoring the environment while producing valuable data on the power of nature-based solutions for improving coastal resilience. Oysters are famous as nature’s water purifiers, with one adult capable of filtering excess nitrogen and pollutants from 50 gallons per day. But what impresses Comi most is their skill as ecosystem engineers. Like the corals of the Caribbean or Australia, they are a keystone species that builds reefs that provide refuge and breeding grounds for other organisms.

“We live in an area where there’s no substrate on the bottom. We’ve bulkheaded everything,” Comi said. “When you put in an oyster reef, all of the species diversity that comes with it makes the biological community so much more rich.”

It can also help climate-proof a shoreline. The research at Earle began in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which devastated surrounding Bayshore communities. As the reef structures accumulate sediment and become further armored by the oysters and other organisms growing on them, they can serve as “speed bumps” that blunt the force of waves and prevent erosion. The Department of Defense was interested in the reef’s potential as a coastal protection and offered access to roughly 11 acres of its waters, as well as 3,200 feet of its beach as part of connected research on living shorelines defenses.

Earle offers unique advantages as a test site. Because the waters are strictly off limits to civilians, there’s no chance the oysters can be fished or disturbed by boaters. At the same time, the area presents all of the challenges and research questions for growing oysters in the dynamic urban water systems typical of the New Jersey and New York coasts.

Comi has been building and nurturing the reef for about a decade, initially for NY/NJ Baykeeper, which transitioned the project to the UCI in 2023. The research has expanded under the umbrella of the UCI’s Coastal Community Resilience Initiative, with a team consisting of Comi, UCI Marine Biology Technician Amanda Boddy, Associate Director Tom Herrington, and marine and environmental biology and policy student Lexi Baumgartner. The work has been supported over the years by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grants and Congressional investments secured by Pallone, which covered the purchase of reef materials, oyster larvae, equipment, and the aquaculture tanks at Earle.

Trial and Error

Through the years, Comi has tested a variety of structures to see which were effective. There were broken hockey sticks, donated by area teams and repurposed to build reefs; bags and cages of used shells donated by seafood restaurants; porous “reef balls”; various metal cages.

A key lesson from the experiments has been that what has worked in other places is not guaranteed to in the tough waters of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary. Comi recalled that initial oyster restoration projects tried to mimic the success of efforts in the Chesapeake Bay which involved piling shells in mounds on the bottom. Baykeeper and partners attempted to do the same, but after one season, the strong currents and waves of the Raritan dissipated the piles. Even weighty reef balls that were tied together drifted away. Techniques need to be tailored to the specific characteristics of a project site.

The oyster castles offered a stability that other materials didn’t. Their weight (about 30 pounds each) and nubs on the crown of the blocks allow them to lock together like Legos and resist the water’s energy. New technologies in the works offer further promise.

“I’m really excited about the amount of substrates and structures available now,” Comi said. “It’s exploded over the past five years with these new products, which we’re going to be testing at Earle.”

In a literal – or shall we say littoral – case of art imitating life, plans are underway for Monmouth University Associate Professor of Art and Design Kimberly Callas to create structures that emulate oyster reef shapes using a 3-D printer. The success rate of these materials will then be compared with others to determine whether using shapes that are accurate to nature makes a difference.

Are the Reefs Working?

Oysters were once abundant in the Raritan and Sandy Hook bays. When Henry Hudson explored this region’s waters 400 years ago, the crew marveled at the reefs sustaining foot-long oysters, according to Rechnitz Family/UCI Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Law and Policy Peter Jacques. But as people flocked to the New York metro region, overfishing and degraded water quality all but wiped out the natural populations.

Today there are only a few small pockets of reefs surviving throughout the watershed. Most are just far enough upstream in the bay’s tributaries that they’re not exposed to its harshest conditions while still having access to saltwater.

Initially, the only oysters growing on the reef structures were those that were raised in the tank. However, this past summer natural set was observed, indicating oyster larvae has made its way down the Raritan Bayshore to Earle.

“Now that we have natural set, I think it will alleviate some of our issues with there being no oysters in the water, and we won’t have to produce them all ourselves,” Comi said. “Hopefully more will start navigating their way along the Bayshore.”

Success won’t come easy. On top of the difficult water conditions, natural predators, like oyster drills, lower their odds of survival. There is also a competition for space. Video footage captured by Boddy shows the reef is teeming with marine plants and animals.

“There’s a lot of life congregated around these castles,” Boddy said. “We see all sorts of fish, a lot of bryozoans, worms, snails, drills, crabs. We actually have seen tropical fish because the estuary is so productive.”

As part of a separate project at Sandy Hook, the UCI is working with scientists from New Jersey City University, NOAA, and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium to study whether colonization by other organisms is discouraging oysters from living on the castles.

The UCI is also engaged in a third oyster reef project that aims to stabilize an eroding marsh island area at Long Beach Township’s Clam Cove. Funded by New Jersey Resources, the project is studying the oyster recruitment and resilience benefits of an experimental arrangement that will surround bagged shells with oyster castles.

Collectively, Comi is hopeful these projects will improve the Jersey Shore’s marine environments and serve as models for others in the future.

“I would love for these projects to impact policy and decision-making in some way, whether it’s influencing the state’s shellfish rules or understanding the technologies and transferring them to other urban estuaries,” Comi said. “I would love to see what we have put in flourish and of course increase natural larvae in the system – and I think it is. I think that we’re going to see more and more natural oysters in this area.”

The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) has awarded Monmouth University Associate Professor Veronica Davidov a Faculty Enrichment Grant to continue her ongoing research on biomimicry, the practice of emulating processes and forms in nature to address human challenges.

Biomimicry has long been employed by engineers for purposes ranging from aeronautics innovations inspired by birds to offshore wind turbine blades modeled after humpback whale fins. Davidov, of the Department of History and Anthropology, has for several years explored biomimicry in a cultural context, and how it is increasingly being looked to as a natural resource and a pathway to sustainability.

The next phase of Davidov’s research will focus on the role water and water-based chemistry play in biomimicry. The grant will assist Davidov with conducting structured interviews with experts, software needs, involving student researchers, and attending an immersive workshop organized by the Biomimicry Institute in 2025.

The UCI offers Faculty Enrichment Grants on a competitive basis to Monmouth University faculty to support individual or collaborative projects for the enhancement of existing curriculum, new curriculum development, research and scholarship and team-teaching opportunities. Funding is available through the Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars program for faculty and student researchers of all disciplines whose work furthers the mission and goals of the UCI to serve as a forum for research, education and collaboration to further healthy and productive coastal ecosystems and resilient and economically vibrant coastal communities.

For more information on available grants, contact UCI Associate Director Tom Herrington at therring@monmouth.edu or visit the UCI’s funding opportunities page on the MyMU Portal (Monmouth login credentials required).

Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 12 p.m. | Edison Hall 201

Pizza Lunch Served

Join Monmouth University Provost Faculty Fellows Serbay Zambak, Ph.D., and Michelle Schpakow, Ed.D. on Nov. 26 for a lunchtime talk focused on a project that is helping aspiring educators become more confident and better-prepared for teaching STEM and sustainability topics. The talk, titled “Supporting Elementary Preservice Teachers’ and Students’ STEM Thinking and Identities through Model-Eliciting Problems: A Path from Learning to Serving for Sustainable Communities,” will be held in Edison Hall 201 from 12-1 p.m.

Professors Zambak and Schpakow will present their development of model-eliciting activities and an afterschool STEM program designed to support preservice elementary teachers’ and a group of elementary students’ STEM thinking and STEM identities. Through the support of the Urban Coast Institute (UCI), preservice teachers in the Monmouth University School of Education have the opportunity to work with 4^th– and 5th-grade students from an underserved population through this program, building connections and improving STEM-thinking capacities. Preliminary findings and plans for the future will be shared. Free pizza lunch will be served.

In recognition of the Urban Coast Institute’s 20^th anniversary (2005-25), the UCI is organizing a series of talks highlighting the innovative faculty and student research. Watch the UCI website for announcements on upcoming in-person and virtual talks and other activities related to the anniversary.

The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) has awarded endowed scholarships to five outstanding Monmouth University students for the 2024-25 school year. Four received support for the first time beginning this semester: Sage Phelps (Urban Coast Institute Endowed Scholarship), Rebecca Pimentel (Rita Mangan UCI Endowed Scholarship), Christopher Reigel (Ann and Alfred Ferguson ’13HN Scholarship), and Siena Zisa (MacDonald Family UCI Endowed Scholarship). In addition, the UCI renewed an Ann and Alfred Ferguson ’13HN Scholarship for 2023 recipient Brooke van de Sande, a senior marine and environmental biology and policy student. 

The UCI established endowed scholarships at Monmouth to support undergraduate students with a demonstrated interest in coastal, marine, and environmental studies. The scholarships are intended to encourage Monmouth students to become active, global citizens while fostering an understanding of the coastal and marine environment and communities, legal studies, public policy, and research methods.

The Ann and Alfred L. Ferguson ’13HN UCI Endowed Scholarship and MacDonald Family UCI Endowed Scholarship have been available since 2020, the Urban Coast Institute Endowed Scholarship was established by the UCI Advisory Committee in 2021, and the Rita Mangan UCI Endowed Scholarship was made available for the first time in 2023. Click here to learn about other student funding opportunities available through the UCI (Monmouth login credentials required).

Scroll below to meet this year’s new endowed scholarship recipients below. Click here to view profiles of last year’s recipients.

New Recipients

Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute Director Tony MacDonald served on an Oct. 16 expert panel focused on a state-proposed New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threats – Resilient Environments and Landscapes (NJ PACT REAL) rule, which aims to modernize environmental land use regulations to more effectively respond to climate change.

MacDonald presented on the first of a two-part miniseries of Technical Assistance Coffee Chat webinars hosted by the New Jersey Coastal Resilience Collaborative to inform coastal communities and stakeholders about the goals and potential impacts of NJ PACT REAL. With a theme of “Coastal Protection and Natural Enhancements,” the panel also included presentations by American Littoral Society Executive Director Tim Dillingham and Stafford Township Administrator Matt von der Hayden and was moderated by Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve Coastal Training Program Coordinator Amanda Archer. Visit the miniseries web page to view the second webinar and speaker slides.

For information about NJ PACT REAL can be found on the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection website. The agency is seeking public comment on the proposal through Nov. 7, 2024.

Congressman Frank Pallone has secured $750,000 in federal funding for Monmouth University for a research initiative that will bolster environmental protection efforts while addressing public concerns surrounding offshore wind development along the Jersey Shore.

The project, led by Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute in partnership with Rutgers University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s James J. Howard Laboratory, will focus on cutting-edge environmental monitoring and sustainable energy development. One of its key objectives is to establish best practices for monitoring offshore wind sites to minimize conflicts with marine life and preserve critical habitats. This framework will be essential in advancing New Jersey’s leadership in offshore wind energy, while prioritizing ecological sustainability.

Click here to read a press release with additional details.  

Monmouth University marine and environmental biology and policy students Diederik Boonman and Brooke van de Sande delivered presentations at the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Conservation Symposium, held on campus Oct. 1-3. Boonman detailed his work confirming the existence of a new invasive species of anemone on the Jersey Shore during a student lightning talk session, while van de Sande discussed her research on the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) as a tool for monitoring humpback whales on the event’s “Innovative Approaches to Monitoring Ecosystem Health” panel.

The event was hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) with support from the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute. Scroll below to view videos and abstracts from the presentations.

First Record of the Sea Anemone Actinia Equina Linnaeus (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) on the Mid-Atlantic Coast of the United States

PRESENTER: Diederik Boonman

ABSTRACT: Members of the genus Actinia are familiar to the rocky shore communities across much of the world. However, to date, no Actinia have been reported from the North American continent. Here, we report Actinia from an approximately 22 kilometer length of the New Jersey shoreline, where it was first discovered in 2021 on human-made rocky groins within an otherwise sandy shore ecosystem. Morphology and DNA barcoding data (mitochondrial CoI and nuclear ITS) indicate that these populations are A. equina. The presence of these populations close to major ports in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia suggests a probable introduction from shipping activities.

Identifying Relationships Between Visual Sightings and eDNA (Environmental DNA) of Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) Along the Coast of New Jersey

PRESENTER: Brooke van de Sande

ABSTRACT: Over the past decade, there has been an increase in marine mammal visual sightings along the coast of New Jersey. Specifically, juvenile humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are most frequently observed along the New Jersey coastline during the summer months, coinciding with their feeding season. The lack of sufficient research in this area, paired with recent increases in local mortality events, amplifies the need for effective management of cetaceans through continuous monitoring of habitat use and migration patterns. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is an emerging monitoring tool that has successfully detected whales and other marine mammals over large spatial and temporal scales. In this study, we compared detections of humpback whales by eDNA metabarcoding to confirmed visual sightings. To assess how other factors affect eDNA signals, variables such as whale behavior, location, water temperature, and prey presence were recorded for each sample. The development of non-extractive techniques for monitoring whales may improve monitoring capacity and reduce potential observation biases when paired with visual surveys. The information gained from this research will not only allow for a greater understanding of how cetaceans utilize the New Jersey coastline but will also add to ongoing monitoring research that aims for better protection and conservation of these local humpback whales.  

Brooke van de Sande knows the locations of the cetaceans. With a long-lens camera in one hand and a headset mic in the other, the naturalist on the Jersey Shore Whale Watch vessel Jersey Girl calls out “10 o’clock!” to alert passengers to a humpback whale lunging from the sea in the distance. Multitasking, she shares details about the behaviors and feeding habits of humpbacks over the PA, while trying to capture closeup photos of unique markings on the whale’s tail that can ID individual animals like a massive fingerprint.

The images and precise location will be shared with the nonprofit Gotham Whale, which is compiling a catalog of all of the whales spotted along the New York and northern New Jersey coasts. They’ve amassed data on hundreds of individual animals since they started in 2011.

But van de Sande is also determined to learn about the whales she can’t see. The senior marine and environmental biology and policy student at Monmouth University has been conducting research on how effective trace genetic materials floating in the water – called environmental DNA, or “eDNA” – can be for detecting humpbacks in the area.

While interning aboard the Belmar-based vessel in 2023, van de Sande collected a sample of ocean water every time there was a whale spotted within 100 feet. She then filtered out the organic materials from the bottles at a campus lab and tested them for humpback whale DNA. In every case, there was a match.

“Now we know that there is a strong correlation between DNA samples taken in the water and the visual sightings,” van de Sande said. “If we take a sample and see that there were high numbers of humpback whale DNA, then we can assume that there was a whale in the area, even if we didn’t see one. It’s a really non-invasive technique to monitor whales in the area.”

She recently presented her work at the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Marine Mammal Symposium at the Duke University Marine Lab in North Carolina, where she garnered the top prize for undergraduate speed talks. Her work has been guided by faculty mentors Endowed Professor Marine Science Jason Adolf and Environmental DNA/Marine Fisheries Senior Scientist Sam Chin, as well as Gotham Whale Director of Marine Mammal Research Danielle Brown. Her work and conference travel were supported with a grant from the Urban Coast Institute’s Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars program.

Her class studies on coastal zone management and policy issues have given her added perspective on the importance of the research. She said waters that the Jersey Girl tours are busy with human activities such as cargo ship traffic and recreational boating, and it all needs to co-exist safely with the whales.

“Ocean urbanization and ocean planning is a big thing right now, especially in New Jersey, with all of the whales that have been showing up here over the past few decades,” she said. “It’s really important that we’re learning about all of the speed restrictions and laws going into place to protect the whales and we’re planning for the future of the ocean in New Jersey and New York.”

Urban Coast Institute (UCI) Director Tony MacDonald and Associate Director Tom Herrington appeared on a special episode of the “America Adapts” podcast dedicated to the New Jersey Coastal & Climate Resilience Conference, held at Monmouth University in the spring. In the two-hour episode, host Doug Parsons interviewed 13 attendees about the conference proceedings, their work in the field, and observations on how climate change is impacting New Jersey communities.

MacDonald appears at the 25:40 mark and Herrington at the 1:03:05 mark. Visit the episode page for the full lineup of speakers and links to listen on your favorite podcast platform.

The three-day event was hosted jointly by the New Jersey Coastal Resilience Collaborative and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.