“It was an amazing opportunity to visit a very unique country and discuss some of the great things we’re doing in New York and New Jersey in the field of living shorelines,” he notes.
Dr. Miller, also a research associate professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, delivered a keynote address titled “Living Shorelines in Urban Environments.”
“Equally enlightening from my point of view was learning about Hong Kong’s philosophy on land reclamation and their desire to implement innovative shoreline stabilization approaches that help preserve/restore the marine environment,” Dr. Miller adds.
Dr. Amy Williams was awarded the Rising Star Award at the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association Conference. The Rising Star Award is given periodically to honor an individual ASBPA member who has gone above and beyond for the organization.
Dr. Williams, NJSGC coastal ecosystems extension agent, started participating with ASBPA as she worked on her master’s degree from Texas A&M in 2007. She credits a connection created at an ASBPA networking event in 2014 for her current position at Stevens Institute of Technology.
“Through participation in the ASBPA Coastal Conferences and D.C. Summits, I have gotten to experience so many aspects of coastal work that I would never have received in the classroom,” she notes. “ASBPA has a diverse group of members that have shown me how much collaboration is needed for coastal projects, such as engineers, geologists, biologists and political entities.”
Dr. Williams was awarded for her efforts to engage students and young professionals through social media. She was also recognized for her own time volunteering as well as organizing other volunteers for ASBPA events. She has also worked on the steering committee to for the ASBPA’s 90th Anniversary Coastal Conference in Long Branch, N.J. where she organized an ASBPA field trip to New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium headquarters at Sandy Hook.
“I look forward to continuing my work with ASBPA so I can further interact with professionals in my field and help students and new professionals get more involved,” she adds.
Climate change affects both coastal and inland communities. The National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) is a community of practice that unites informal science educators, climate scientists and social scientists to better communicate this crucial science. Diana Burich, K-12 program coordinator, and Mindy Voss, education specialist, were recently accepted into this network. This growing network of informal science educators and climate and ocean scientists aim to work together to help communicate the facts on climate change and the effects it will have on our daily life — from rising seas to extreme weather events — as well as the effects on marine organisms.
From education to research to extension, this year was full of opportunities and accomplishments. You can check out more of what we’ve been up to in our Coastodian archive, but here are just a few of the highlights:
The NOAA/Sea Grant Coastal Management Fellowship provides two years of on-the-job education and training in coastal resource management and policy for postgraduate students. The program matches postgraduate students with state coastal resource agencies to work on coastal projects proposed by state officials and selected by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management. Deadline to apply is January 19, 2018. For general information on the Coastal Management Fellowship go to: http://coast.noaa.gov/fellowship/.
The NOAA/Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship matches graduate students interested in ocean resources and the national policy decisions affecting them with “hosts” in the Washington, D.C. area for a one-year paid fellowship. Any student, regardless of citizenship, is eligible if enrolled towards a degree in an accredited graduate program. Interested applicants must apply through their local Sea Grant Program. New Jersey applicants are strongly encouraged to reach out to Dr. Peter Rowe or Ms. Claire Antonucci a minimum of one month prior to the state application deadline to provide notification of their intent to apply and request application support. Applicants should also allow sufficient time to schedule an interview at the program’s request. The state application deadline for New Jersey students to submit their final application package to NJSGC is February 23, 2018, 5pm local time. For more information on the Knauss Fellowship go to: http://seagrant.noaa.gov/Knauss.
The NOAA Fisheries/Sea Grant Joint Graduate Fellowship Program in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics and Marine Resource Economics is designed to strengthen the collaboration between Sea Grant and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The Fellowship is available to US citizens who are graduate students enrolled in PhD degree programs in academic institutions in the United States and its territories. Fisheries Fellows will work on thesis problems of public interest and relevance to NMFS at participating NMFS Science Centers or Laboratories under the guidance of NMFS mentors. Deadline to apply is January 26, 2018. For general information on the NOAA Fisheries/Sea Grant Fellowships go to: http://seagrant.noaa.gov/NMFS-SG-Fellowship.
Read more about these fellowships and how to apply here.
We’ve all seen them: big signs on the beach that warn not to step or walk onto the dunes. But why? This Keep Off Dunes sign, available from New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, seeks to go further than just warn the public to keep off the dunes by explaining the many important benefits of dunes.
While they play an important role in stabilizing beaches and protecting our homes and infrastructure, dunes provide an essential habitat for many plants and animals. Walking on dunes can destroy the plants that hold them together. Without these plants, wind would erode the sand off the dune, diminishing its effectiveness as a natural barrier. This is why it is so important to stay off the dunes and always use designated dune walkways.
So now if you tell someone they should keep off the dunes, you’ll be empowered to explain why.
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium also offers a Dune Manual. The Dune Manual answers a variety of questions and provides valuable resources for community groups or towns looking to build or restore the dunes along the beaches in your area.
Municipal officials interested in obtaining these signs can contact the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium at 732-872-1300 ext 10.
From Marine Science Day Camp at Sandy Hook to Pennsylvania Coast Day in Philadelphia, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium staff have been busy across the state and beyond. We hope you enjoy our recap of our action-packed summer and a fall preview in the Autumn 2016 edition of Coastodian.
While the beach is a relatively safe spot for summertime fun, there is often something dangerous lurking in the water — rip currents!
In order to better understand this beach hazard, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium extension specialists and Stevens Coastal Center researchers spent a few days at the beach launching brightly colored drifters into the water, hoping to catch a current. These drifters, equipped with GPS units, can measure speed and direction.
The team used rip current data-logging drifters loaned by North Carolina Sea Grant as part of an ongoing rip current collaboration across the Sea Grant network. Read more about New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s Rip Current Awareness Program.
Researchers study rip currents in Ocean City, N.J. Photos by Amy Williams.
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium staff ventured to Pennsylvania Coast Day. Dr. Michael Schwebel, NJSGC/Urban Coast Institute community resilience and climate adaptation specialist, taught visitors about resilience. Visitors utilized shells and other items to protect models of communities against storms in a wave tank. Dr. Peter Rowe, NJSGC’s director of research and extension, taught visitors about an extremely important species, the horseshoe crab.
Visitors used a wave tank and learned about horseshoe crabs. Photos by Michael Schwebel.
