Although the floodwaters have long since subsided and the debris cleared, the recovery from Superstorm Sandy is far from over for the Jersey Shore. Much work remains to harden our waterfront areas and revise emergency plans so our communities can withstand and respond more effectively to the next major storm. The UCI is dedicated to providing the scientific expertise for communities to meet these challenges.
The UCI Coastal Community Resilience Initiative (CCRI) takes a collaborative approach to community and ecosystem resilience that:
- brings scientists, local decision-makers, citizens and policy experts together to enable the co-production of coastal climate-related resilience and adaptation solutions and equitable access to and distribution of benefits;
- provides information and resources to develop and implement local resilience projects; and
- conducts applied research to advance knowledge and communication of coastal resilience actions that increase the capacity of communities to identify solutions, withstand and recover from disruptions, and adapt to changing environmental conditions.
The CCRI is led by UCI Associate Director Dr. Thomas Herrington, who also serves as the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium’s resilient communities and economies specialist. The CCRI focuses on providing community resilience and planning support for disadvantaged communities, promoting the development of natural features and green infrastructure to improve the resilience of communities and ecosystems, and working with other Monmouth University partners and outside experts to advance elements of the New Jersey Coastal Resilience Plan.
Resources & Recent Activities
- The New Jersey Coastal Resilience Collaborative (NJCRC) reorganized with a new leadership structure that includes four UCI staff members. (July 2024)
- Research by the UCI, New Jersey City University, NOAA and N.J. Sea Grant Consortium seeks to determine whether oysters lose interest or have trouble attaching to oyster castles that have been fouled by other organisms. (July 2024)
- Environmental justice and social work researcher Rachel Forbes has joined the UCI. (July 2024)
- New Jersey Resources donated $75,000 to the UCI to support the Clam Cove Living Shoreline Pilot Project in Long Beach Township. (May 2024)
- A tide gauge installed for Long Beach Township by the UCI will help determine how climate change is influencing water levels in the vicinity. (April 2024)
- The UCI will collaborate with government, academic and nonprofit entities on coastal resilience projects in Newark, Ventnor, Long Beach Twp., and salt marsh areas around New Jersey with NFWF grant support. (December 2023)
- With $1.5 million in state funding, the UCI has established a team of universities called the New Jersey Coastal Consortium for Resilient Communities (NJCCRC) to identify research needs and fill knowledge gaps that enable the state and communities to make more informed decisions on coastal resilience actions and respond to climate threats. (December 2023)
- UCI Director Tony MacDonald participated as an official observer at the U.N. COP28 climate summit in Dubai in December 2023. He also attended the 2022 COP27 climate conference in Portugal, the COP26 summit in Scotland and co-organized an Oceans Day at the historic 2015 COP21 event in Paris.
- Meredith Comi, an expert in designing, implementing and directing aquaculture, oyster restoration and living shoreline projects, was named the UCI’s coastal resilience and restoration practitioner (August 2023).
- The UCI will lead two federally funded projects that bolster resilience to extreme coastal storm and flooding events in Naval Weapon Station Earle and its surrounding communities and help economically disadvantaged New Jersey municipalities improve their resilience and readiness for climate threats. (April 2022)