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.
What exactly is storm surge? What causes it and how is it measured? NJSGC’s educators sought to answer these questions and more in their Understanding Storm Surge lesson plan. This Summer, Claire Antonucci, NJSGC executive director, and Diana Burich, K-12 program coordinator, presented their storm surge curriculum module at the National Marine Educators Association Conference. The module was created by Mindy Voss, education specialist, as a response to the findings of the Coastal Storm Awareness Program. View and download Understanding Storm Surge as well as other curriculum developed by New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium here.
Educators follow along and complete activities included in the lesson plan. Photos by Claire Antonucci.
Fall is a wonderful time to visit Sandy Hook and participate in one of New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s education programs. In addition to full day field trip programs, this fall you can book a half-day session or receive reduced rates for our Native American programs (November only).
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s Scout program offers Individual Enrollment programs in the fall. The environmental science program is now fully booked and closed but there are still spaces in the oceanography program. You can register here.
A new infographic created by New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium and Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute visualizes the beliefs of Americans on this key topic.
Using data collected in a December 2015 Monmouth University poll, Dr. Michael Schwebel, community resilience and climate adaptation specialist for New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium and Urban Coast Institute, developed this infographic to bring the data to life.
According to the poll, 7 in 10 Americans believe that the world’s climate is undergoing a change leading to more extreme weather patterns and sea level rise. A majority of participants were convinced that climate change would impact both coastal and inland communities but had differing opinions on the extent of the human impact of climate change.
The infographic also provides information on how New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium is working to better understand and communicate the impacts of climate change in coastal and inland communities. The infographic, which was adapted from a template provided by Delaware Sea Grant, can be viewed and downloaded at njseagrant.org/climateinfograph.
If you are interested in a receiving hard copies of the poster, please contact Dr. Michael Schwebel at mschwebe@monmouth.edu. Click here to download the PDF or the high resolution version here.
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium has partnered with local artist Lisa Bagwell to bring attention to local art, our national parks and environmental science. Bagwell specializes in creating sculptures out of discarded plastics and other trash. See some of her art on her website.
During this summer, Bagwell worked with campers at the Consortium to create art out of recycled materials found around Sandy Hook.
You can see Bagwell in action during the Zero Waste Arts Fest, a festival meant to engage diverse communities through an array of arts, environmental and historical education activities, public art and battery tours, games, arts and food vendors, and free family fun. The festival will take place on September 17 and 18. Bagwell will create a sculpture during the festival created from garbage thrown out during the two day event.
Other organizations partnered with artists for this Monmouth Arts project include Clean Ocean Action, American Littoral Society and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Learn more about the projects and Zero Waste Arts Fest here.
