The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) invites Monmouth University students of all majors to apply for 2025 Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Summer Research Grants. The deadline for submissions is March 31.
Funding is available for projects proposed by undergraduate and graduate students that will be completed under the guidance of a faculty mentor, or projects proposed by a faculty member that will be completed with the support of student researchers. All proposals relevant to the mission of the UCI will be considered. Some specific topics of interest to the UCI include:
Enhancing Consideration for comprehensive community wellbeing as Coastal Communities adjust to changing coastal hazards
Impacts of sea level rise on coastal environments and communities
Environmental and social issues related to offshore wind development
Social impacts of coastal disasters
Coastal ecosystem adaptation planning
Financing resilience
The blue economy and blue tech
Marine and environmental arts and humanities
Furthering the UN Decade of the Ocean Sustainable Development Goals at the international, national and local levels
The Global Ocean Forum (GOF) and Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) hosted the third edition of their Ocean and Climate Action webinar series, “Sustainable Blue Economy,” on March 4. The session gathered leading international experts to explore the development of a blue economy that sustainably utilizes ocean and coastal resources while emphasizing economic growth, social inclusion and environmental preservation.
The webinar was moderated by GOF Executive Director Miriam Balgos and UCI Director Tony MacDonald and included the following panelists (scroll down for bios):
Cynthia Barzuna, Ocean Action 2030 Coalition Director, World Resources Institute
Cary Anne Cadman, Regional Environment Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean, World Bank
Jérémie Adlerfligel, Third Secretary, Permanent Mission of Monaco to the United Nations in New York
Nigel Bradly, Chief Executive Officer, EnviroStrat; Policy Advisory Board Member, Global Ocean Forum
James Merchant, Marine Natural Capital Analyst, Marine Conservation Society
The webinar was the final installment of an Ocean and Climate Action series that the UCI and GOF are jointly organizing in alignment with the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development Vision 2030. The webinars aimed to mobilize civil society around critical ocean and climate action identified in the report on Assessing Progress on Ocean and Climate Action 2022-2023 (“ROCA” report). The ROCA report highlights the need for a regenerative blue economy to support healthy ocean and climate systems. This webinar discussed the advancement of blue economy practices, explored the development of a sustainable and regenerative blue economy, and development of plans for sustainable ocean economies.
Click here to watch the first Climate and Ocean Action series webinar, “Catalyzing Party and Community Action on Ocean, Climate and BBNJ,” held on April 18, 2024. Click here to view the second webinar, “Current Status and Future of the Global Plastics Treaty,” held on Feb. 4, 2025.
Panelist Bios
Cynthia Barzuna
Cynthia Barzuna is the director of Ocean Action 2030, a voluntary coalition dedicated to supporting countries in their aim of building a sustainable ocean economy through the development and implementation of Sustainable Ocean Plans. Members of Ocean Action 2030 are leading institutions that can provide the technical and financial assistance that countries may need to develop and implement their Sustainable Ocean Plans, where there is a match between country demand and member capacity. Currently, this coalition works with the countries that are part of The High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (Ocean Panel), a unique global initiative by serving world leaders that is working to build momentum towards a sustainable ocean economy in which effective protection, sustainable production and equitable prosperity go together.
Cary Anne Cadman
Cary Anne Cadman is the blue economy coordinator for the Caribbean Region assisting World Bank clients to identify viable solutions to the myriad challenges faced in ensuring sustainable use of their environmental and natural resource base. Previously, she served as environment sector coordinator for the Pacific Islands and Indonesia providing technical leadership of the region and country’s multi-sectoral ocean economy, inclusive of oceanic and coastal fisheries, coastal ecosystems, nature-based tourism, marine pollution and green growth agendas as well as managing the 20-member Environment and Social Safeguards teams. Prior to that, she was the deputy regional safeguards advisor for Sub-Saharan Africa overseeing environmental and social risk mitigation and due diligence of more than 800 operations in 47 countries, including 17 Fragile States. Ms. Cadman has worked directly in more than 33 countries, including several Fragile States, across three regions (Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean), leading regional, national and sub-national World Bank operations and high-level policy dialogue on forestry, fisheries, biodiversity, green growth, environmental risk mitigation and the blue economy. She has served on several advisory boards as lead strategist on blue economy and environmental risk management.
Nigel Bradly is a natural resources, energy and marine specialist with 22 years experience in both public and private sectors around the world. Strategy development and execution has become a particular focus in the past 15 years and includes leadership roles in multiple acquisitions, mergers, divestments, restructuring, capital raising, execution of a public-private partnership, and creation of new businesses in the energy, primary, environmental, tourism, and financial service sectors.
James Merchant
James Merchant is leading the Marine Conservation Society’s work on natural capital, blue finance and the sustainable blue economy. Advocating for a sustainable blue economy that delivers sustainable growth, resilience and equity by protecting and enhancing our marine ecosystems. Creating socioeconomic analysis to inform decision makers and support ocean advocacy, including the long-term impact on society of a restricting bottom-contact fishing with the UK’s offshore benthic MPA network and the potential for blue job creation through ocean restoration. Co-host of a podcast series exploring various aspects of a sustainable blue economy. Chair of the UK Blue Carbon Forum Policy and Markets working group.
Moderator Bios
Tony MacDonald
Tony MacDonald is director of the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI). He was previously the executive director of the Coastal States Organization (CSO) from 1998-2005. CSO, based in Washington, DC, represents the interests of the governors of the nation’s 35 coastal states and territories on coastal and ocean policy matters. Prior to joining CSO, Tony was the special counsel and director of environmental affairs at the American Association of Port Authorities, where he represented the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) at the International Maritime Organization on negotiations on the London Convention. Tony also practiced law with a private firm in Washington, DC, and served as the environmental legislative representative for the Mayor of the City of New York.
Miriam Balgos, Ph.D.
Miriam Balgos is executive director of the Global Ocean Forum and concurrent project manager-capacity development specialist of a GEF-funded project on Building and Enhancing Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Capacity to Support Sustainable Resource Use and Biodiversity Conservation in Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Formerly associate scientist at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware and the program coordinator of the Global Ocean Forum, Balgos led the Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy team in the organization and conduct of multi-stakeholder dialogues in integrated ocean and coastal management. Her research focused on integrated ocean and coastal management, marine protected areas, marine areas beyond national jurisdiction, and climate change adaptation. She co-authored and contributed to various publications including “A Comparative Analysis of Ocean Policies in Fifteen Nations and Four Regions” and co-edited the Routledge “Handbook of National and Regional Ocean Policies.” Miriam received a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and master’s in marine biology from the University of the Philippines, and a master’s in business administration and Ph.D. marine studies at the University of Delaware.
A beadlet anemone seen in a tank at Monmouth University. (Photo by Diederik Boonman)
Student and faculty researchers at Monmouth University have recorded the first confirmation of the anemone species Actinia equina, also known as the beadlet anemone, on North American shores.
A common inhabitant of the rocky coastlines of the British Isles and Northern Europe, the anemone has found a new home which bears some similarities – the jetties that protrude into the waters of the New Jersey Shore. The team located the anemones on a half-dozen beaches from Long Branch to Manasquan in Monmouth County. Members of the public have reported possible sightings as far north as Long Island and south as Island Beach State Park.
“We don’t really have the kind of rocky ecosystems where they thrive here in the Mid-Atlantic, but they have invaded the human-made groins that were constructed decades ago for sand retention,” said Diederik Boonman, a senior marine and environmental biology and policy student at Monmouth. “The boulders provide the shelter, structure and food that make for a hospitable habitat in an otherwise sandy environment where they wouldn’t survive.”
Boonman first encountered the anemones while cataloging marine life in the intertidal zone at a beach near campus as part of a homework assignment. Neither he nor Endowed Professor of Marine Science Jason Adolf recognized what they were seeing, and a review of existing literature and databases didn’t turn up any likely matches known to live in the region. Around that time, a few other local beachgoers had posted pictures of similar specimens on a crowdsourcing website where nature enthusiasts and scientists can share information about wildlife and plants they’ve encountered. None were sure what they had found.
But Adolf and Boonman continued the search and consulted with anemone experts from around the globe, including James Carlton of Williams College and Craig Wilding of Liverpool John Moores University (U.K.). The group zeroed in on the likelihood that it was Actinia equina, but needed verification. A comparison of DNA samples from one of the New Jersey anemones and a native specimen provided by Wilding in England turned up a match.
“It is a privilege to work with motivated and enthusiastic students like Diederik to document important changes to the marine fauna of our region like this,” Adolf said. “The next step is to expand what we know about this anemone’s distribution and how it fits in with the local ecosystem.”
A cluster of anemones on a jetty in Monmouth County. When the tide is low, they can retract their tentacles and close up to conserve moisture. (Photo by Diederik Boonman)
Although the species can be a variety of colors, the ones located in New Jersey have a blue ring at their bottom, pale green bodies, and matching green tentacles with blue tips. They are known as aggressive predators which use their tentacles to capture small fish, crabs and mollusks, then retract them and close up during low tide to conserve moisture.
While their tentacles do produce a toxin to stun prey, they don’t pose a serious threat to humans and can’t penetrate the skin, Boonman said. They also tend to live in the crevices between the rocks, where bathers are unlikely to come in contact with them.
The researchers believe the anemones most likely arrived as hitchhikers aboard an international ship traveling to the Port of New York/New Jersey. They release clones into the water that can float and survive extreme conditions until they find a surface to cling to, Boonman said. These juvenile organisms may have been discharged in a ship’s ballast water or from an anemone living on a hull, then carried by the currents from the New York Harbor area to Northern Monmouth County.
Boonman and Adolf are working on a GIS map showing the locations of sightings in the area in an effort to track their spread. Anyone who sees one is asked to email jadolf@monmouth.edu with the date and location of the observation.
The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) and Global Ocean Forum (GOF) hosted the webinar “Current Status and Future of the Global Plastics Treaty” on Feb. 4. The webinar assembled an international group of experts to explore the progress, as well as the failures, toward addressing plastic pollution on a global scale while assessing its various implications.
Panelists included: Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution Executive Secretary Jyoti Mathur-Filipp; Monterey Bay Aquarium Chief Conservation and Science Officer Margaret Spring; Ocean Voices Programme Head of Science Policy Research Marjo Vierros; and Center for International Environmental Law Senior Legal Campaigner (Upstream Plastics Treaty) Daniela Durán. The session will be moderated by UCI Director Tony MacDonald and GOF Executive Director Miriam Balgos. Scroll below for speaker bios.
The webinar was the second installment of an Ocean and Climate Action series that the UCI and GOF are jointly organizing in alignment with the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development Vision 2030. The webinars aim to mobilize civil society around critical ocean and climate action identified in the report on Assessing Progress on Ocean and Climate Action 2022-2023 (“ROCA” report). The ROCA report reviews progress made on climate and ocean initiatives, making it a useful tool for discussion of strategies for achieving climate goals moving forward. Click here to watch the first webinar, “Catalyzing Party and Community Action on Ocean, Climate and BBNJ,” held on April 18, 2024.
The ROCA Report identified plastics as a key issue impacting global marine systems. Thus, the second webinar discussed the Global Plastics Treaty and explored its implications for the management of land-based marine pollution.
Panelist Bios
Jyoti Mathur-Filipp
Jyoti Mathur-Filipp is the executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution and head of the secretariat. Prior to this assignment, she served as director at the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. She has held key roles in inter-governmental processes, leading the work on the new global biodiversity framework. With over 25 years of experience in international environmental diplomacy, she possesses extensive knowledge in environment, climate, and sustainable development networks. She began her career with UNDP and managed groundbreaking partnerships. Her diverse roles include consulting for UNFCCC and senior advisory positions at UNDP. Mathur-Filipp holds an MS and MBA and is an alumnus of esteemed educational institutions.
Margaret Spring
Margaret Spring joined the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2013 to oversee its many conservation and science initiatives, including all ocean science policy work, the Seafood Watch sustainable seafood initiative and conservation research programs, including MBARI. From 2009 to 2013, she held leadership roles at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, first as chief of staff and then as principal deputy undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere. Prior to her tenure in the Obama Administration, Margaret led The Nature Conservancy’s California coastal and marine program. From 1999 to 2007, she served on Capitol Hill as senior counsel, then general counsel, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, where she advised members of Congress on ocean and climate issues and helped develop legislation on major science and policy topics. She is a graduate of Duke University Law School and Dartmouth College.
Marjo Vierros
Marjo Vierros is the Ocean Voices Programme’s director of coastal policy and humanities research, which undertakes interdisciplinary research on oceans issues. She is also a senior associate with the Global Oceans Forum and a Research Associate with the University of British Columbia Nereus Program. Previously she coordinated the Global Marine Governance Project at United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability and undertook research with its Traditional Knowledge Initiative. With degrees in biology, oceanography and marine biology, her career has included work with research, conservation and United Nations organizations in countries in the Caribbean, North and Central America, Bermuda and the Pacific. Her research interests include ocean governance and marine biocultural diversity.
Daniela Durán
Daniela Durán is a senior legal campaigner focused on the upstream parts of the plastics treaty for the Center for International Environmental Law’s Environmental Health program. She is a Colombian campaigner, with relevant experience influencing national and international plastic policy. She worked as a public policy specialist for The Nature Conservancy, where she helped enhance the voices of Indigenous Peoples in international climate policy. She also served as a policy advocacy manager for MarViva Foundation, where she co-drafted and advocated for the approval of Colombia’s first law to reduce single-use plastic production. Daniela holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the Rosario University in Colombia, and a master’s degree in environment and development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she was awarded the Chevening Scholarship for global leaders and researched the frames used for plastic pollution in national policies.
Moderator Bios
Tony MacDonald
Tony MacDonald is director of the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI). He was previously the executive director of the Coastal States Organization (CSO) from 1998-2005. CSO, based in Washington, DC, represents the interests of the governors of the nation’s 35 coastal states and territories on coastal and ocean policy matters. Prior to joining CSO, Tony was the special counsel and director of environmental affairs at the American Association of Port Authorities, where he represented the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) at the International Maritime Organization on negotiations on the London Convention. Tony also practiced law with a private firm in Washington, DC, and served as the environmental legislative representative for the Mayor of the City of New York.
Miriam Balgos, Ph.D.
Miriam Balgos is executive director of the Global Ocean Forum and concurrent project manager-capacity development specialist of a GEF-funded project on Building and Enhancing Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Capacity to Support Sustainable Resource Use and Biodiversity Conservation in Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Formerly associate scientist at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware and the program coordinator of the Global Ocean Forum, Balgos led the Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy team in the organization and conduct of multi-stakeholder dialogues in integrated ocean and coastal management. Her research focused on integrated ocean and coastal management, marine protected areas, marine areas beyond national jurisdiction, and climate change adaptation. She co-authored and contributed to various publications including “A Comparative Analysis of Ocean Policies in Fifteen Nations and Four Regions” and co-edited the Routledge “Handbook of National and Regional Ocean Policies.” Miriam received a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and master’s in marine biology from the University of the Philippines, and a master’s in business administration and Ph.D. marine studies at the University of Delaware.
Love Blue Monmouth President Katie Marshall weighs a bag of trash removed from a beach. The club has collected about 1,800 pounds since 2021.
Since its launch in 2021, Love Blue Monmouth has organized two dozen cleanups at local beaches. The student club’s growth on campus was evident in its final event of the fall, when nearly 200 members of Monmouth University fraternities and sororities participated in a cleanup in Deal. We reached out to Love Blue Monmouth’s president, marine and environmental biology and policy student Katie Marshall, to learn more about its work, recent activities, and what’s next for the club. For details on upcoming cleanups, visit Love Blue Monmouth on Instagram at @lovebluemonmouth.
What is Love Blue Monmouth’s mission?
Our mission is to empower the students that live along the coastal communities near Monmouth University to take action against the pollution crisis along our shorelines. As a student organization, we create opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds to unite in the common goal of protecting the environment. We are dedicated to preserving our natural resources and advocating for solutions to combat climate change.
When we last checked in a year ago, Love Blue Monmouth had removed 921 pounds of trash from the beach in 15 events. What’s that count up to today?
Since our last update, Love Blue Monmouth has organized 10 cleanup events, removing a total of 850 pounds of trash from the shorelines with the help of 578 volunteers during the 2024 year.
After recent cleanups, you’ve been sorting the trash to take counts of certain items that were picked up. Can you tell us about the data you’re collecting and what you’ve discovered so far?
We’ve been collecting data on the types and amounts of trash we remove during our cleanups in order to better understand the environmental impact and identify patterns in the waste. By recording specific items, we can also raise awareness about the most common types of pollution along our shorelines. As we analyze this data, we’re noticing that plastics and miscellaneous debris (like broken items or random trash) make up the bulk of what we’re collecting. Everyday items like bottle caps, straws, and cans really highlight the ongoing pollution problem we’re facing. We also come across some unexpected items, like shopping carts and beach chairs, which just shows how unpredictable the types of trash can be on our beaches.
From your conversations with students, what do you think their main takeaways are from participating?
From speaking to students, the main takeaway is that they feel a sense of accomplishment knowing their efforts are having a real impact. They get a better understanding of climate change and why local policies matter when it comes to protecting the environment. We make sure the information we share is accurate and connects to what’s actually going on with the fight against climate change.
What’s next for Love Blue Monmouth? Do you see Love Blue Monmouth holding cleanups that are open to non-students?
Marshall helps a student empty trash collected using Garbo Grabber equipment donated to the club by the Urban Coast Institute.
My main priority right now is making sure our student volunteers stay safe. We also have limited supplies as a club, so we need to ensure we can properly support the students who are already involved. Moving forward, I would like to establish a consistent, regular schedule for cleanups that encourages widespread student participation. Once this is firmly in place, I hope to expand our efforts and invite more community members to join us in future cleanups.
What are the best ways to support and get involved with your work?
The best way to support Love Blue Monmouth right now is by coming out to our cleanup events and helping us make a real impact. Spreading the word about what we’re doing and raising awareness about the importance of keeping our environment clean is also key. Since we live so close to the beach and use it all the time, it’s really important that we take action now to protect it and make sure it stays healthy for future generations.
Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist Rachel Forbes was recognized with the 2025 Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Book Award Honorable Mention for her work on “Ecosocial Work: Environmental Practice and Advocacy.”
Edited by Forbes and Institute for Social Work and Ecological Justice Director Kelly Smith, the book examines the need for social workers to proactively engage with clients and communities and respond to the growing impacts of environmental injustices in the face of the accelerating climate crisis. The book encourages readers to consider how simultaneously protecting the planet while meeting the historical aims of the profession advances the values and ethical mandates social workers abide by. Designed to foster critical thinking, the book offers hope and possibility for a just environmental future.
Forbes was honored during a Jan. 18 ceremony at the 2025 SSWR Conference in Seattle, Washington. The SSWR lauded Forbes and Smith for for “outstanding scholarly contributions that advance social work knowledge.”
The SSWR is the premier organization dedicated to the advancement of social work research. Its membership includes faculty in schools of social work and other professional schools, research staff in public and private agencies, and masters and doctoral students from around the world.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seeking candidates to serve as a community engagement fellow to support the Building a Climate Ready New Jersey project as part of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Fellowship Program. The fellow will support Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (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 community engagement specialist, to engage 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.
A fish hides in wait for prey in a crease in the Naval Weapons Station Earle artificial reef.
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.
From l-r: The UCI’s Amanda Boddy, Meredith Comi and Tom Herrington tend to oyster castle blocks in an aquaculture tank at Naval Weapons Station Earle.
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
A stack of oyster castles being transported to the reef area aboard Monmouth University’s R/V Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe. Brown specks visible on the blocks are oyster larvae.
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.
A mollusk preys on a blue crab at the reef.
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.
UCI Marine Biology Technician Amanda Boddy adds an oyster castle to the array of roughly 600 off Naval Weapons Station Earle in November.
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).
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 4th– 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 20th 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.
