From the 2016 Annual Report: Chairman Dennis Kearney’s Message

Read the 2016 Annual Report

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa

Standing at the shoreline, it is easy to feel small. Almost three-quarters of our planet is water. There is a temptation to feel helpless against whatever nature has in store for us. Here at NJSGC, we know the temptation all too well. We have to scrape for every dime. We have to squeeze that dime and make it go as far as a dollar. We have to educate our children; we have to inspire our maritime scientists; we have to engage our communities. These tasks are our sworn mission.

We face incredible challenges.

There is a story about Mother Teresa facing impossible odds serving a poor community of thousands. Surveying the chaos, a reporter asked Mother Teresa: “How can you possibly save all of these people?” Mother pointed to one man: “By starting with him.”

That is how our staff and scientists address our core mission of education, research, and outreach. The job is daunting, but we focus on the task at hand. As a result, we have developed a dune manual that teaches coastal communities how to build a dune, how to maintain it, and how to plant it. We have top-flight education programs for our youth, from showing how our Lenape tribes lived as one with the ocean to inspiring them to be marine scientists and coastal stewards. We have assembled a Coastal Storm Awareness Program, working in conjunction with our colleagues in New York and Connecticut, on how to save lives and promote public safety when the next Superstorm arrives. We are all this, and so much more.

Survey these pages. Feel our challenges and celebrate our successes. Honor the staff and scientists who make it possible against impossible odds.

What we are doing may just be a drop in the ocean, but that ocean would be far less without New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, our member institutions, and our staff, I am most proud to offer this Annual Report.