Following the success and popularity of NJSGC’s quarterly newsletter the COASTodian, we’d like to provide more consistent and timely updates for our supporters to enjoy!
NJSGC ‘Highlights’ offers a weekly roundup of all the exciting things happening at the Consortium. From research and project achievements to staff updates to environmental/coastline concerns to current events involving the science and marine world – get a better inside look into all the hard work that helps shape and progress NJSGC!
Please find NJSGC’s new ‘highlights’ section under the ‘Communications’ tab. For more information or if you’d like to pitch any relevant story ideas, please contact our Communications Specialist Danica Bellini at dbellini@njseagrant.org.
The ‘highlights’ just launched last week (Sept. 11-15), so let us know what you think!
The Education Program at NJSGC is seeking year-round, part-time instructors for their Boy and Girl Scout Programs. These innovative programs pair marine and environmental science education with merit badge requirements to help students grow as scouts, scientists, and stewards. Following a paid training period, you will lead scout groups on hands-on, interactive explorations of Sandy Hook’s salt marsh and barrier beach environments and provide classroom and laboratory instruction. Experience is not necessary, but a background in marine science, scouting, or education is helpful. Scheduling is flexible but the ability to work some weekend and evening (after-school) hours is a must. Interested candidates should email resumes to Rosemary Higgins or mail resume to:
Rosemary Higgins
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium
22 Magruder Road
Fort Hancock, NJ 07732
For those still interested, classes for the Environmental Science and Oceanographymerit badges (individual enrollment) are now confirmed for Fall 2017.
We are delighted to announce that the next Individual Enrollment Oceanography merit badge will be held at NJSGC on Saturday, September 23, 2017 from 10:00 – 2:00 pm. The fee is $35.00/scout and adults are free.
The next Individual Enrollment Environmental Science merit badge will be held at NJSGC on Sunday, October 1,2017 from 10:00 – 3:00 pm. The fee is $45.00/scout and adults are free.
The New Jersey Clean Marina Program is a voluntary, incentive-based initiative that encourages marinas to adopt environment-friendly business practices to reduce pollution in local waterbodies. The NJCMP is managed by the Coastal Management Office of the NJDEP and has entered into a formal agreement with the Extension Program to carry out additional tasks such as outreach to marina owners, yacht clubs and boatyards, coordination of educational workshops and provision of technical assistance.
The following marinas have been certified as New Jersey Clean Marinas by the New Jersey Clean Marina Program
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS MUNICIPAL MARINA MARINE MAX (BRANT BEACH)
BAKERS MARINA ON THE BAY YACHT CLUB MARINE MAX (BRICK)
BAYWOOD MARINA MARINE MAX (LAKE HOPTACONG)
BRENNAN BOAT COMPANY MARINE MAX (SOMERS POINT)
BRIDGE MARINA MORGAN MARINA
BROWN’S BOAT YARD MUNRO’S MARINA
CLARK’S LANDING MARINA NEW LIBERTY LANDING MARINA
CURTIN MARINA OCEAN GATE YACHT BASIN
DEEP WATER LANDING MARINA PERTH AMBOY HARBORSIDE MARINA
DILLON’S CREEK MARINA PIER 47 MARINA
FORKED RIVER STATE MARINA QUEEN CITY MARINA
GARDEN STATE YACHT SALES ROBBIES LOVELADIES MARINA
GOOD LUCK POINT MARINA SCHOONER ISLAND MARINA
GREEN COVE MARINA SHARK RIVER MUNICIPAL MARINA
HAGLER’S MARINA INC SHERMAN’S BOAT BASIN
HARBOR VIEW CLUB AND MARINA SHORE HAVEN YACHT CLUB
HOBBY LOBBY MARINE SHORE POINT MARINA
JERSEY SHORE MARINA BOATS SILVER CLOUD HARBOR MARINA
KAMMERMAN’S ATLANTIC CITY MARINA SOUTHWICKS MARINA
KEY HARBOR MARINA SPENCER’S BAYSIDE MARINA
LEAMINGS MARINA, INC SPRING GARDEN MARINA
LEONARDO STATE MARINA THE MARINA AT TALL OAKS
LIGHTHOUSE MARINA TWIN LIGHTS MARINA
LOCKWOOD BOAT WORKS VIKING YACHTING CENTER
LONG KEY YACHT CLUB AND MARINA WILBERT’S MARINA
For more contact information on each marina listed above, please click here.
Each facility has successfully implemented sufficient best management practices, earning a Clean Marina score of at least 80%, thus demonstrating a commitment to protecting water quality and coastal resources by preventing and reducing nonpoint sources of pollution. Congratulations to all on your effort and success!
You can learn more about the NJCMP by downloading a copy of the brochure, requesting a copy of the NJ Clean Marina Guidebook, or visiting njcleanmarina.org.
As the final week of marine summer day camp draws to a close, we’d like to thank all campers and counselors for a great summer!
NJSGC’s summer camp program is dedicated to educating children about our marine world, with a special focus on creating awareness and appreciation for the marine environments of New Jersey. We hope to provide an exciting, week-long experience that is educational, safe, and most importantly, fun for the campers!
A typical day at camp starts with mornings spent outside observing and exploring the natural marine environments of Sandy Hook. By the afternoon, groups will make their way to the NJSGC headquarters building #22 for lab investigations, games, crafts, and more interactive exercises. Throughout the week, campers will visit a variety of sites on Sandy Hook including the salt marsh, ocean beach, maritime forest, and a few historical sites such as the lighthouse. Many activities are very “hands-on” in hopes of demonstrating to campers, like no classroom lecture can, the connections between living things on land and in the sea.
Here’s what has been happening at NJSGC throughout July and August:
Science of the Sea (3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders)
Oceanography Week (4th, 5th, and 6th graders)
Using Robotics in Ocean Exploration (7th, 8th, and 9th graders)
Science of Sandy Hook (7th and 8th graders)
Registration for 2017 is officially closed, but please visit our website for more information on next year’s program!
Things are definitely heating up at New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium this summer! While most New Jerseyans enjoy lazy, carefree days spent at the Garden State’s vast array of gorgeous beaches, NJSGC’s staff is working hard to advance knowledge and appreciation of New Jersey’s shorelines.
From Ocean Fun Days to our biennial research competition and ongoing rip current awareness campaign, NJSGC strives to inform the public about coastal and environmental concerns in new and exciting ways.
Communicating climate sciences, learning more about the origins of striped bass, and engaging youth in summer camp experiences are just some of the interesting topics covered in this edition of our quarterly newsletter. You’ll also find out which popular shore town snagged top honors in NJSGC’s annual “Favorite Beaches” poll!
Topics covered in the latest edition of the ‘COASTodian’ include:
Where Are They Now? Meet Our Brilliant Staff! NJ’s Favorite Beaches 2017 Announcement State of the Shore Report Ocean Fun Days (recap) Rip Current Awareness National Network for Climate and Ocean Change Interpretation Marine Summer Day Camp FY 2018 Budget (update) NJSGC Broadcasting Live from Asbury Pary Boardwalk (94.3 ‘The Point’) Summer College Course Opportunities Striped Bass Fishery Project (update) Ocean County Pumpout Program Celebrates 20th Anniversary Share your #NJSGC memories
Learn more about all the exciting things happening at NJSGC everyday by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or visit njseagrant.org for any further updates.
Huge congratulations to NJSGC’s Coastal Management Fellowship awardee, Jackie Specht! The Rutgers University graduate student was recently matched with Maryland’s Chesapeake and Coastal Service to continue studying the beneficial reuse of dredge material. We’re so proud! Learn more about Specht’s exciting opportunity here.
According to the NOAA, recipients of the two-year fellowships will “carry out innovative projects addressing living shorelines, ecosystems services, marine spatial planning, oil spill response, and the beneficial reuse of dredge material.”
Specht’s research interests “focus on the ecological impacts and drivers of changing gelatinous zooplankton populations.” The website for the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers includes a full profile on Specht’s educational background. Stay tuned for more exciting news in the upcoming Summer 2017 edition of The COASTodian!
According to their website, NNOCCI (National Network for Climate and Ocean Change Interpretation) is a collaborative effort led by the New England Aquarium along with several other notable environmental organizations and institutions, working to establish a national network of professionals who are skilled in communicating and translating climate and ocean science to a broader public audience. The overall goal is to change the nature of public conversation about issues of climate change to be inviting, empowering and solutions-oriented.
NJSGC’s very own Education Specialist Mindy Voss and K-12 Program Coordinator Diana Burich recently teamed-up to complete this program, involving several weeks of hands-on training and interactive lessons through informative study circles. Voss and Burich hope to use such newfound experience and knowledge to help better communicate the impacts of climate change.
To learn more about Voss and Burich’s exciting involvement with NNOCCI, please continue reading below!
Can you give a brief overview of what NNOCCI is and your involvement?
NNOCCI stands for National Network of Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation. Their goal is to achieve a network of skilled and trained professionals who can effectively communicate ocean and climate science to public audiences to create a more positive conversation about climate change that is engaging, empowering, and solutions oriented. NNOCCI was created through a collaboration between the American Zoological Association (AZA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and FrameWorks Institute. NNOCCI, with the help of FrameWorks Institute, has looked through and done the social science research to find the most effective ways to communicate science and climate change to the public. Through a NSF grant, the research was turned into a training program for informal science educators, to teach them the social science and how to implement these scientifically-proven ways to talk to the public about climate change, and how to create a positive discourse around climate change that is solutions oriented. This training program has been on-going every Fall and Spring since 2014. However, this spring the training was broken down into smaller study circles, and instead of a few intensive weeks of in-person training for educators across the country, the program spread out over 17 weeks and was broken up into 3 regional study circles – a Southeast, Northeast, and West Coast. I was part of the Northeast study circle, which included 18 other informal science educators from Maine to New Jersey. The training included a variety of live and recorded webinars, online reading, interactive activities, and three (two-day long) in-person meetings. We were given an assignment to complete each week, and communicated with each other on climateinterpretor.org.
How did participating in the study circle develop and enhance your knowledge of ocean and climate change?
The biggest enhancement [I received] from the study circle is how to start and properly frame a conversation about climate change with a variety of audiences. I learned how to get others to understand why they should care about climate change [and] how to teach the science so that others can understand it, [including] the root cause of the problem. I learned techniques on how to keep the conversation positive, engaging, and hopeful, and how to steer away from the negativity and falsehoods that often surrounds climate change. I learned to make others realize that if people come together in their communities, schools, or other groups, there are solutions that can make differences to slow (or even stop) climate change.
How do you plan on utilizing these new skills in your own study and teaching environment?
Besides just framing a conversation about climate change in the educational programs that I do, I plan [on] passing on all of the communication skills I learned to all our educators and field instructors at NJ Sea Grant. Next fall and winter I will be holding a few different training days to give staff an opportunity to learn these new skills. It is my goal that all field trips at Sandy Hook will include a properly framed conversation about ocean and climate change with students [starting] in grade three up through college years. I will also pass along many of these skills to formal and informal educators at various professional development workshops that NJSGC participates in every year.
How might the NJSGC community benefit from your ongoing connection and work with the program?
Everyone in the NJSGC community will get a chance to learn the scientifically proven and effective techniques I learned about communicating climate change. I think this will improve many of our programs and interactions with the public, so people better understand why some of the work done (and science research funded) by NJSGC is so important. For the education program, it is my goal that all field trips given by NJSGC at Sandy Hook will include a properly framed conversation about ocean and climate change for all ages. My hope is that all students walk away from a field trip knowing the definition of climate and the ocean’s role in controlling it, understanding what climate change is and its impact on marine environments, why they should care, and what they can do about it.
I also made some great contacts through this program, from scientists at universities to educators at other educational programs in the area,. Hopefully we will be able to collaborate on future projects with them to improve or create new programming at NJSGC. For example, through a contact I made [through NNOCCI], we already have a grant proposal out in collaboration with the Student Conservation Association (SCA) to create a six-week long educational work study program for under-served high school students in Monmouth County. This proposed program will help students learn how park and recreation activities along with protected natural environments enhance and create value in their communities. We just put in the proposal, so the grant has not yet been approved.
In honor of the July 4th holiday weekend, the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium announced the official winners of this year’s ‘Favorite Beaches’ poll during a gorgeous beachside ceremony held at Music Pier in Ocean City on Thursday, June 29. This popular shore town remains defending overall champion, snagging more than half the votes (which totaled 7,200).
The survey was first created in 2008 and initially deemed “New Jersey’s Top Ten Beaches,” to help encourage stewardship and pride in the state’s beaches while promoting a little healthy (and friendly) competition between NJ’s beloved beach towns. The contest has since become a highlight of the Garden State’s summer festivities.
But over the years we’ve come to realize something at NJSGC — New Jerseyans are passionate about visiting ALL different sand and surf hotspots throughout the state! So, in order to better recognize every part of our wonderful coastline, as of 2016 we picked individual victors from all four coastal counties (while still naming a top overall winner).
Voting really started to heat-up in June 2017. So without further delay, here is the official breakdown!
Overall:
Ocean City
Brigantine
Margate
Monmouth:
Asbury Park
Spring Lake
Sandy Hook – Gateway National Park
Belmar
Ocean Grove
Ocean:
Seaside Heights
Beach Haven
Point Pleasant Beach
Island Beach State Park
Ship Bottom
Atlantic:
Brigantine
Margate
Atlantic City
Longport
Ventnor
Cape May:
Ocean City
Sea Isle City
Wildwood Crest
Cape May
Wildwood
Thank you again for your participation, and stay tuned for more details about next year! Please also visit NJSGC’s official Facebook and Instragram.
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s partnership with Wright State University, Dayton, OH spans over two decades of educational growth and development.
Earlier this month, NJSGC’s Executive Director Claire Antonucci and Education Program Coordinator Diana Burich joined Wright State University’s Dr. William Slattery and 18 eager graduate students to observe the Garden State’s ever-changing coastline. The group, who are working towards their Masters of Science in Teaching Earth System Science at Wright State, participated in a program developed by Dr. Slattery and NJSGC known as “Ancient Ocean – Modern Ocean.” The two-day expedition included searching for fossils at Poricy Park, surveying the lengthy shores of Sandy Hook, and investigating water quality and other biological parameters aboard a research vessel in Raritan Bay.
Here’s to another successful trip with Wright State University!
