Members of the Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy (MEBP) Club and Urban Coast Institute staff sailed to New York City aboard the R/V Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Oct. 14 and 15 to take part in the SUBMERGE Marine Science Festival at Hudson River Park’s Pier 84. The group welcomed visitors aboard the vessel for tours, provided demos of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal, and shared what it’s like to be an MEBP student conducting research at Monmouth University.

UCI Associate Director Tom Herrington was the featured speaker on Sept. 26 in a webinar series offered through the Rutgers Cooperative Extension entitled “Weathering the Storm: Increased Resiliency a Decade After Superstorm Sandy.” Herrington delivered the presentation “Beyond Recovery from Sandy: Setting the Stage for Future Community Resilience” (see video above).

In recognition of the 10th anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, the series is reflecting on how New Jersey has become more resilient to environmental impacts, with an emphasis on storms and extreme weather. The six-evening webinar series is free and open to all interested. Click here to register for one or more of the sessions or to learn more about the series.

The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) has received $1 million in state funding to establish the New Jersey Coastal Consortium for Resilient Communities (NJCCRC). The NJCCRC team of universities and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium will work to identify research needs and fill knowledge gaps that enable the state and communities to make more informed decisions on coastal resilience actions and respond to climate threats.  

New Jersey’s fiscal year 2022 and 2023 budgets each included $500,000 to support the NJCCRC and its work. The initial phase of the work, which commenced in September, is being conducted by experts from the Montclair State University Earth and Environmental Studies Department; the New Jersey Institute of Technology Center for Natural Resources; Rutgers University’s Institute of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve; the Stevens Institute of Technology Coastal Engineering Research Lab; the Stockton University Coastal Research Center; the UCI and New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium. Examples of the research to be carried out by the NJCCRC partners include:

• The development of a framework for a real-time observing system that would monitor water conditions throughout the Barnegat Bay with a focus on measuring how the system is changing over time. A hydrographic model will also be developed that could draw on this data to predict how the bay’s circulation will change in the future.
• Modeling how sea level rise is accelerating saltwater intrusion in the groundwater beneath marsh islands and whether steps such as sediment replenishment can protect the freshwater-dependent maritime forests that live in these environments.
• Studies of how climate change is impacting the movements of sediments in coastal bays and along the shore and the effectiveness of beach dunes for improving coastal resilience in densely developed areas.

The funding was sponsored and supported by New Jersey State Sen. Vin Gopal, included as part of Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed budget, and approved by the New Jersey Legislature.

“A decade ago, Superstorm Sandy exposed our coastline’s vulnerability on so many fronts,” Sen. Gopal said. “One of the keys to ensuring we’re in better position to withstand and rebound from future Sandys is to develop the fullest possible picture of the risks we face and what steps we can to take to address them. This funding will help marshal the expertise of six of New Jersey’s top universities for that purpose.”

In identifying the next phase and future work, the NJCCRC collaborators will work with state agencies and coastal stakeholders to determine research needs that should be addressed to inform an update of the 2020 New Jersey Scientific Report on Climate Change and to implement actions detailed in the 2021 New Jersey Climate Change Resilience Strategy and Coastal Resilience Plan. Additional universities and collaborators could join work on future projects as priorities and opportunities continue to be identified. 

The NJCCRC will assemble an advisory panel with representatives from research organizations, nonprofits, local governments, private sector entities and other stakeholders who can provide input on its research priorities and work.

According to UCI Associate Director Thomas Herrington, the NJCCRC’s principal investigator, the collaboration has the added advantage of building closer working relationships among the state’s leading researchers on coastal resilience.

“In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, all of the core NJCCRC partners were called upon by state and federal agencies to work together in support of New Jersey’s response and recovery efforts. That effort has already improved the resilience of our coastal communities and environments,” Herrington said. “Each of the NJCCRC partners has its own strengths that when combined can be amplified to reduce the risk of coastal hazards turning into natural disasters.”

Join Specialist Professor in Public History Melissa Ziobro’s Museums and Archives Management Basics students on Oct. 28 as they unveil a poster exhibit that pairs excerpts from oral history interviews with archival photos in order to document and interpret Superstorm Sandy’s impact on Monmouth County. The 16-panel exhibit will remain on display at Monmouth University’s Murry & Leonie Guggenheim Memorial Library through Dec. 9.

Over the summer, Ziobro completed 21 oral history interviews with homeowners, first responders, government officials, non-profit leaders, social workers, and others impacted by the storm, which made landfall in New Jersey on Oct. 29, 2012. The interviews, conducted in advance of the 10th anniversary of the storm, join 17 others she conducted for the fifth anniversary. Together, the recordings and transcripts create an invaluable record for generations to come, adding to our understanding not just of Sandy as a historic event, but contributing to conversations on themes including coastal resilience, climate change, environmental justice, public/private partnerships, and emergency preparedness.

The event, “Tracking Sandy: Monmouth County Remembers,” will begin at 3 p.m. at the library. Following brief remarks by Urban Coast Institute (UCI) Associate Director Tom Herrington, light refreshments will be served.

The recent oral history work was supported with a faculty enrichment grant through the UCI’s Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Program.

The panel is one of four free events being offered by Monmouth University to examine the disaster from a wide range of historic, economic and environmental perspectives. The others are:

• The hybrid in-person/livestream panel event “To Build or Not to Build: That is the Question – Lessons We Haven’t Learned 10 Years After Superstorm Sandy,” on Oct. 27 at 1:30 p.m.
• The “Documenting and Interpreting Superstorm Sandy” virtual panel on Oct. 28 at noon.
• A screening for the documentary film “The Jersey Storm: Sandy in Monmouth County” on Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m. at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre.

For questions or more information about these events, email uci@monmouth.edu.

ROI-NJ highlighted two UCI-supported programs at Monmouth University in its 2022 list of influencers in higher education. The publication annually profiles leading figures from New Jersey’s 74 higher ed institutions who’ve had the greatest influence and impact at their schools as well as within the business community.

For the first time this year, ROI-NJ included the category “They teach that in college?” which featured unique classes, programs and majors offered around the state. It included the Coastal Lakes Observing Network, led by Endowed Professor in Marine Science Jason Adolf and UCI Community Science Coordinator Erin Conlon, and Monmouth’s maritime archaeology course, taught by Professor of Anthropology Richard Veit and UCI Marine Scientist Jim Nickels.

Through CLONet, Monmouth faculty and students train and equip community volunteers to conduct water sampling at their local lakes and file their results to an online database for analysis. The story notes that CLONet has provided “students hands-on field experience while shedding new light on the causes of harmful algal blooms afflicting New Jersey lakes.”

Maritime archaeology students explore the underwater history of New Jersey through readings, lectures and fieldwork, including the use of side-scan sonar and camera-equipped remote operated vehicle technologies in area waters. “It is one of many offerings that bolster Monmouth University’s highly regarded marine and environmental biology and policy program and the Urban Coast Institute,” the article said. Watch our video below for a glimpse at the course.

ROI-NJ also recognized the following people and programs at Monmouth:

• Top 25 Most Influential Presidents: President Patrick Leahy
• Top 25 Most Influential Deans and Directors: School of Social Work Dean Robin Mama
• Top 25 Most Influential Deans and Directors: Monmouth Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray
• New and Cool: 10 New Buildings: Parton Broadcasting Center

Registration is now open for a free Virtual Ocean Pavilion dedicated to raising the visibility of the ocean in advance of the U.N.’s COP27 climate conference, to be held in Egypt in November. The Pavilion will include virtual booths hosted by numerous exhibitors, including the Urban Coast Institute, and live events beginning today.

Visitors to the Pavilion will find:

• An auditorium featuring live and on-demand events focused on forging unity and helping to raise ambition for ocean-climate action.

• A General Discussion Chatroom where visitors can interact with fellow youth and other attendees.
• Exhibition booths to chat with experts and take away information in your virtual delegate bag.
• A range of live and on-demand content that can be explored on the road to COP27.

The Pavilion’s live events kicked off on Aug. 30 as part of Africa Climate Week. Translation into multiple languages is available through Wordly during live events.

UCI Director Tony MacDonald will participate in COP27 as an official observer. He previously attended COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, (see our COP26 Trip Journal) and COP21, where the famed Paris climate agreement was struck.

Congratulations to all of the Monmouth University School of Science students and faculty members who completed another successful season of its Summer Research Program. Take a peek below at two hands-on projects by Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy (MEBP) Program students and faculty. The UCI supported students working on these projects with grants through its Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Program.

Restoring Jersey Shore Ghost Forests

MEBP senior Emma Gould worked with Professor Pedram Daneshgar to develop strategies for restoring coastal forests following salt flooding events. Utilizing a greenhouse experiment, the team simulated flood and determine which plants will help in restoring a maritime forest ecosystem.

Tracking Eastern Box Turtles in Monmouth County

Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology Sean Sterrett and his students analyzed the population and spatial ecology of local eastern box turtles at Weltz Park in Ocean Township. The team was able to locate and tag a sizable population of turtles, despite the park’s location in the center of a densely developed neighborhood.  

Monmouth University scientists are conducting a first-of-its-kind study that uses genetic materials extracted from the ocean to determine whether the development of turbines and power infrastructure has an impact on fish populations and demographics in the Ocean Wind 1 project area, located off the southern New Jersey coast. Through a $1.3 million agreement with Ørsted, the team will sample the waters before, during and after construction for DNA shed by marine life in the area and compare the findings with data gathered through traditional trawls and fish tagging methods.

The project is the first to monitor potential changes to fisheries in a wind energy area using environmental DNA, or “eDNA.” This crime scene investigation-style approach to marine detection has emerged as a more humane and less expensive means of studying fish populations than traditional methods that require their capture. As fish swim through the waters, they leave behind dandruff-like cells and bodily fluids that can be analyzed and matched to the genetic barcodes of others to determine their species.

“Sampling for eDNA is especially effective for detecting uncommon, endangered or otherwise hard to catch species in the waters,” said Monmouth University Endowed Professor of Marine Science and project co-lead Jason Adolf. “There’s a degree of luck involved in trawling for fish, just as when you cast a line at your local lake. The genetic materials in the water can tell you a lot about what you didn’t catch.”

While eDNA is being increasingly used by scientists to determine the presence or absence of species in water bodies, recent research by Monmouth, Rockefeller University and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection found that the amounts of DNA floating in the water could also be used to estimate the biomass of fish in the area.

Adolf, project co-lead and Associate Professor of Biology Keith Dunton, and Monmouth University scientists will analyze samples collected during quarterly cruises within the wind energy area. The eDNA research is part of a larger fisheries monitoring effort funded by Ørsted that will also include the use of trawls, gillnets and acoustic telemetry (monitoring of tagged fish) by Rutgers University and Delaware State University scientists. The data will offer insights as to what impacts can be expected as offshore wind projects progress in the Mid-Atlantic.

“Currently, eDNA research needs to be done in conjunction with traditional fisheries sampling until we better understand the relationship between the data gathered by these methods,” Dunton said. “In the long run, however, eDNA may become a more common tool that decreases our dependency on capture and extractive methods and allows us to sample fish more broadly than is currently possible through traditional trawl surveys.”

Developed by Ørsted and PSEG, the 1,100 MW Ocean Wind 1 will be located 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey. At 1,100 MW, Ocean Wind 1 will provide clean energy to 500,000 homes in New Jersey, deliver thousands of jobs, and advance supply chain initiatives while helping the state meet its clean energy goals.

“We are thrilled to conduct this environmental monitoring with such a highly qualified research team and their fishing industry partners,” Ørsted Offshore North America Senior Environment and Permitting Specialist Gregory DeCelles said in a press release announcing the research. “This important study will collect a wealth of valuable data on important commercial and recreational species and can serve as a model for accomplishing fisheries monitoring at offshore wind sites on a regional scale.”

The eDNA research team also includes Saint Anselm College Assistant Professor Shannon O’Leary, who will conduct laboratory work to process and analyze the genetic materials captured in the samples. The monitoring work began in December and will continue until two years after construction is complete (currently anticipated to be 2026).

Urban Coast Institute Postdoctoral Researcher Chris Haak provided an update on the Northeast U.S. Regional Marine Fish Habitat Assessment (NRHA) project during the July 13 edition of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Central Library Seminar Series. Launched in 2019, the project evaluated habitat use patterns for marine fish and invertebrate communities on the northeast shelf, relating catch data from the NOAA Fisheries bottom trawl surveys to an array of environmental predictor variables. The team is building a Northeast Regional Habitat Assessment Data Explorer web app to facilitate the analysis, visualization, and exploration of fisheries data and host NRHA products online.