The Nurture Nature Center-led researchers, which included investigators from Rutgers University Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve and East Carolina University, were one of 10 teams awarded grants through the Coastal Storm Awareness Program, or CSAP, administered by Sea Grant programs in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. And they are one of three teams administered directly by NJSGC.
“This project was needed because so many people failed to heed evacuation mandates and pleas despite the accuracy of the Superstorm Sandy forecast.” said Dr. Peter Rowe, the NJSGC director of research and the principal investigator for New Jersey’s component of CSAP. “These research projects examine different angles of three main questions: how do we improve storm warnings, through what channels do people receive those messages, and how to people make their decisions to act in response to storm warnings. The Nurture Nature Center really dug into the first question by examining how storm warnings are communicated.”
ASBURY PARK — The New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium issued Thursday its annual State of the Shore report
The cold and snow of the past winter had little impact on the state’s beaches. Thanks to realtively few coastal storms, typical waves and minor flooding, the beaches and dunes were not punished by eroision.
Two years of mild winters has lead to most of the more than 14 million cubic yards of sand washed away by Superstorm Sandy to be replaced by natural processes. The natural replacement of sand has been bolstered by Army Corps of Engineers beach renourishment projects.
Commissioner Bob Martin, of the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is a NJSGC-member organization, spoke about the state’s efforts in conjunction with the federal government to rebuild Sandy-damaged beaches throughout the state, the water quality at those beaches and the low number of days in which beaches needed to be closed last summer.
Click here to read an NJDEP statement about commissioner Martin’s remarks.
Who: NJDEP Commissioner Bob Martin; Dr. Jon Miller, NJSGC coastal process specialist; Dr. Stewart Farrell of Stockton University’s Coastal Research Center.
About: The State of the Shore is an annual report examining erosion and other impacts to the Jersey Shore. Particular attention this year will be given to the amount of erosion incurred by Superstorm Sandy, and how the beaches in the state’s four coastal counties are recovering from a loss of 14.24 million cubic yards of sand, which is the equivalent of 7.12 million light duty pick-up truck payloads.
RSVP: Please confirm your attendance by emailingMatthew McGrath, NJSGC communications specialist.
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.
New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium will be reviewed on May 13 and 14, 2015 by a team convened by the National Sea Grant College Program. The review will be conducted at the Consortium’s Sandy Hook Headquarters and will consider all aspects of NJSGC’s programs including management, stakeholder engagement and collaborative activities, including those with various offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This notice invites you to participate in our review by emailing your comments about NJSGC to oar.sg.feedback@noaa.gov.
Kindly send your comments at your earliest convenience–the comment period will end on May 6, 2015. Please put “New Jersey Sea Grant site review” in the subject line.
Thank you for assisting us by letting the review team hear from you!
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 …
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.
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.
The New Jersey Clean Vessel Act Program is now accepting applications from marinas with operational pumpout and dump station facilities for reimbursement of operation and maintenance expenses incurred during 2014. The worksheet must be completed and returned with all the necessary supporting documents before January 15, 2015. Funding is limited and reimbursement based on an availability of funds basis. Therefore, marinas are encouraged to submit their worksheets and supporting documents as early as possible.
A copy of the worksheet can be downloaded by clicking here.
Please note that if you fail to provide all the documents needed to process your request for reimbursement prior to January 15, 2015 you will not be eligible for reimbursement of operation and maintenance expenses incurred during 2014.
If you would like more information or have questions please contact Michael Danko at 732.872.1300 ext. 29 or mdanko@njseagrant.org.
JERSEY CITY — The Hudson County Schools of Technology Foundation and New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium were awarded a $14,552 grant from the PSE&G SPARK Foundation to to continue their underwater exploration summer camp, Aquatic Adventures — Science Enrichment Workshop, for High Technology Middle School Explore 2000 students
This is the second year that Public Service Electric & Gas’s SPARK Foundations has funded the summer camp, which focuses on the development and use of remotely operated vehichles, or ROVs, in deep-sea exploartion.
The program is designed to increase the consortium’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, offerings while continuing to focus on ocean sciences, said Diana Burich, the consortium K-12 program coordinator.
Late last year, the foundation and the consortium were awarded $24,000 in grants from PSE&G and the PADI Foundation to bring underwater robotics programs to afterschool and out-of-school settings.
“We proposed to develop and implement a four-day summer camp program for students from High Technology Middle School’s Explore 2000, in Jersey City, and provide a professional development workshop for their teachers to perpetuate the underwater robotics program in Jersey City in the future,” Burich said. “All of the activities for camp were student-centered and hands-on, and encouraged the children’s natural sense of inquiry.”