From the 2014 Annual Report: Chairman Dennis Kearney’s Message

April 16th, 2015

Read the 2014 Annual Report.

Sandy Hook houses two beacons. The Lighthouse, erected in 1764, is the nation’s oldest protector of shipping lanes. New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, founded 200 years later, is the State’s staunchest defender of maritime well-being. These twin guardians stand but a few hundred yards apart.

New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium is unique in the United States, comprised of 24 colleges, universities and other entities committed to preserving, protecting and honoring New Jersey’s coastal environment. As you will see in these pages, we excel at maximizing our grant and operating funds to promote research, outreach and education.

Our scientists study what lies beneath the waves and what lies at the water’s edge. We are out in the field in coastal communities, educating residents on coping with climate change. The origins of Superstorm Sandy are less important than the lessons we learn from it. Our educators have eyes on the future, instilling a sense of awe into thousands of children who pass through our doors each year. Your scientists of tomorrow are our pupils today.

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Resilience expert and extension agent hired

February 20th, 2015

FORT HANCOCK — Michael Schwebel has joined New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium and Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute as their community resilience and climate change adaptation specialist.  The position, created by the partners following Superstorm Sandy, aims to increase the resilience of New Jersey’s coastal communities to future storms, flooding and the impacts of climate change.

“I look forward to sharing innovative approaches and unique knowledge and expertise to help communities plan and become better prepared,” he said. Read More …

Flood risk open houses scheduled for flood maps

January 19th, 2015

The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium and its partners — Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute, Stevens Institute of Technology and Leckner Consulting, along with FEMA, N.J. Department of Environmental Protection and several New Jersey county governments — will hold flood risk open houses. The meetings are the next step in the mapping process for the Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps.  The open house meetings will allow residents in their respective counties, who are in flood zones, to speak with representatives from FEMA, NJDEP, and their respective county officials about their risks, updated flood hazard maps, flood insurance, and flood risk mitigation.  To accommodate the residents of Bergen, Monmouth and Ocean counties, there will be an open house on two different days, at different venues. One meeting will be in the in the northern part of the county and one in the south, but residents can attend either event.

These are the meetings scheduled to date:

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Summer course schedule posted

January 15th, 2015

The 2015 NJSGC summer course class schedule for Introduction to Marine Science and Marine Biology — both four-credit, 200-level laboratory courses — is set. A 400/500-level independent study and SCUBA are also available.

There are two sessions for Introduction to Marine Science, and they will be taught at Brookdale Community College’s Northern Monmouth County Higher Education Center in Hazlet.

There is one session for Marine Biology. It will be taught at Brookdale’s main campus in Lincroft.

Courses are recognized for direct credit by most of New Jersey’s colleges and universities.

More information about NJSGC’s summer college program can be found at: https://njseagrant.org/education/college-programs.

Outdoor education programs now have better than pre-Sandy attendance

November 20th, 2014

FORT HANCOCK –Outdoor New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium student programs have more than recovered after attendance dipped in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Field trip and summer camp attendance increased to 19,700 students for the 2013-14 school year from 16,515 students during the 2012-13 school year, said Executive Director Claire Antonucci.

“We lost the fall season,” Antonucci said of the 2012 storm’s impact. “And then we had a slow start because people were hesitant to come back to Sandy Hook.” Read More …

Dr. Rowe to speak at Rising Tide Forum

November 13th, 2014

Dr. Peter Rowe,  director of research and extension for N.J. Sea Grant Consortium, will be one of the speakers at the the Rising Tide Forum hosted by the Bayshore Center at Bivalve.

The forum will be held Nov. 18 from 6 to 9 p.m. and will focus on sea level rise along the Delaware Bayshore.

Dr. Rowe will explain how the NJSGC has emphasized coastal resiliency in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

His 25-minute discussion, “NJSGC Retools for Resilience: Updates on Local and Regional Resiliency Projects” will highlight NJSGC-funded research, extension and education projects that address resilience in a post-Sandy and changing climate world.

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Spat relocated to Delaware Bay conservation area

September 16th, 2014

Hundreds of pounds of spat, or baby oysters were taken Sunday from the Haskin Shellfish Laboratory where they had been growing in mud flats and relocated to artificial reefs along the Delaware Bay shore.

The spat had been growing on the surface of shell-filled mesh bags since the early summer near the Rutgers University Haskin Shellfish Laboratory’s Cape Shore facility in Cape May County as part of Project PORTS: Promoting Oyster Restoration Through Schools, or PORTS.  The bags were relocated by barge to a 5-acre reef located at the Gandy’s Beach Oyster Restoration and Enhancement Area in the Delaware Bay off Cumberland County. Led by Lisa Calvo, Shellfish Aquaculture Coordinator for Rutgers University and the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, Project PORTS has seeded more than 20 million oysters in conservation sites like Gandy’s Beach throughout the Delaware Bay since it began in 2007.

Since 2007, Rutgers has seeded more than 20 million oysters in conservation sites throughout the Delaware Bay through Project: PORTS.

“Scientific assessments indicate these restoration efforts have been successful,” said Jenny Paterno, a Rutgers graduate student examining the fish activity in the restoration areas and nearby parts of the bay. “A viable multi-generational oyster population, approaching natural oyster abundances, has been established in an area that was previously barren.”

Oyster populations have been decimated in many areas due to disease and overfishing. “Advancing Eastern Oyster Aquaculture through Marker-Assisted Selection” is one of New Jersey Sea Grant’s funded research projects for 2014-16. Dr. Ximing Gou, and his team at the Haskin Laboratory, are attempting to breed oysters with specific genetic markers that will assist the species in fighting diseases. Read More …

NJSGC Resilience Research RFP 2014

August 18th, 2014

The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) Resilience Research RFP is now available and can be viewed or downloaded by clicking here.  The NJSGC is one of 34 state Sea Grant Programs within the National Sea Grant College Program. The National Program is housed within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce. Sea Grant addresses marine issues and coastal sustainability in the context of wise resource use and management. In New Jersey, we are interested in balancing economic growth with resource stewardship to sustain the state’s $80+ billion coastal economy. NJSGC fulfills its mission to promote the sustainable use of New Jersey’s coastal and marine resources through relevant research and student training, educational excellence, and rapid dissemination of acquired knowledge. NJSGC is a statewide program bringing together the best talent within the region’s member colleges and universities without regard to academic affiliation.

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Princeton Student Lisa McManus Awarded NMFS / Sea Grant Population and Ecosystem Dynamics Fellowship

August 12th, 2014

The Graduate Fisheries Fellowship Program administered through NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) awards at least two new PhD fellowships each year to students who are interested in careers related to marine ecosystem and population dynamics, with a focus on modeling and managing systems of living marine resources. This year, Princeton University PhD student Lisa McManus has been awarded a NMFS-Sea Grant Population and Ecosystem Dynamics Graduate Fisheries Fellowship to pursue research on her project: Assessing the impacts of connectivity on coral reef metacommunity dynamics in the Coral Triangle. Princeton University is a member institution of the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium who manages Ms. McManus’ fellowship award.

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Dates Announced for Boy Scout Individual Enrollment Classes

August 8th, 2014

You can now register for two Boy Scout Individual Enrollment classes: Oceanography and Environmental Science. We offer these classes once in the fall and once in the spring.  It is for individual scouts (not whole troops) who wish to study Oceanography or Environmental Science.

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