Take a look back at a year of student and faculty partnerships, community engagement, and impactful coastal and ocean research in the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute’s (UCI) 2023 Annual Report. The document offers a concise overview of the UCI staff’s expertise and activities over the last year, including an infographic on pages 6-7 that effectively answers the question, “What does the UCI do?”
The UCI 2023 Annual Report can be read in PDF and digital flipbook formats:
UCI Marine Scientist Jim Nickels lowers equipment to UCI Associate Director Tom Herrington, standing in the water.
A new tide gauge installed for Long Beach Township by the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) is now collecting round-the-clock data for conditions in the southern reaches of Little Egg Harbor.
UCI Associate Director Tom Herrington and Marine Scientist Jim Nickels recently assembled the instrument and mounted it to the bulkhead behind the Long Beach Township Marine Education & Field Research Field Station, located in Holgate. The tide gauge will improve the availability of real-time information for boaters, fishers and others using the waters for recreation, while also collecting data that will help determine how climate change is influencing water levels in the area over the long term. It was purchased with a grant from the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF).
A red star marks the tide gauge location in Holgate. Clam Cove is seen to its south, with a stream bisecting the marsh island.
Herrington has been working with Long Beach Township, the New Jersey Bay Islands Initiative (NJBII) and several other external partners to develop a restoration plan for the region’s marsh islands, which provide critical ecological benefits and protect nearby communities from flooding, coastal storms and climate threats. Much of Herrington’s work has focused on Clam Cove Island, located just south of the tide gauge. Natural restoration strategies piloted there will inform approaches taken at marsh islands throughout Barnegat Bay and other estuaries in New Jersey.
Until about five years ago, Clam Cove Island wasn’t an island at all, but a small hook that visitors could walk across to go fishing. Today a small stream bisects the tract and is causing it to erode.
“I think Hurricane Sandy tipped it over,” Herrington said. “It didn’t create the breach, but it removed a lot of the sand that surrounded it and made it much more vulnerable.”
Herrington (l) and Monmouth students Tyler Barkey and Nicole Cappolina deploying current meter equipment last summer at Clam Cove.
Over the last year, Herrington has worked with Monmouth University marine and environmental biology and policy students Tyler Barkey, Alexis Baumgartner, Nicole Cappolina, and Brooke van de Sande to collect data on waves, tides and currents at the island to determine how sediments move within the system. The findings are informing a plan for the island’s restoration, which will be released in the spring. Herrington said the goal is to repair the breach, make the beach accessible again, and stabilize the hook through methods including replanting marsh grasses and installing oyster reefs off its shore that will help control erosion.
According to the NJBII, 13 bay islands have succumbed to sea level rise since the 1970s and those remaining have lost 7 percent of their acreage from wave action produced by storms, wind and boat wakes. The organization estimates that Long Beach Township alone has lost nearly 40 acres of its bay islands to erosion since 1977.
Herrington said the gauge will fill important knowledge gaps for tide intervals in the Long Beach Island area. Although gauges were already in place at the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve in Tuckerton (5 miles south of the field station) and the Manahawkin Bay Bridge in Ship Bottom (8 miles north), the tides can actually peak and ebb 1.5 to 2 hours apart, respectively, at the two sites.
“We’re learning that the tides in Tuckerton are heavily influenced by waves, but not Ship Bottom,” Herrington said. “But we don’t know yet whether they will be at the new station in Holgate.”
*Note: This post was updated April 8 to reflect extension of deadline*
The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) invites Monmouth University students of all majors to apply for 2024 Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Summer Research Grants. The deadline for submissions is April 30.
Funding is available for projects proposed by undergraduate and graduate students that will be completed under the guidance of a faculty mentor, or projects proposed by a faculty member that will be completed with the support of student researchers. All proposals relevant to the mission of the UCI will be considered. Some specific topics of interest to the UCI include:
Enhancing consideration for social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion as coastal communities adjust to a changing climate
Impacts of sea level rise on coastal environments and communities
Environmental and social issues related to offshore wind development
Social impacts of coastal disasters
Coastal ecosystem adaptation planning
Financing resilience
The blue economy and blue tech
Marine and environmental arts and humanities
Furthering the UN Decade of the Ocean Sustainable Development Goals at the international, national and local levels
Urban ocean issues and opportunities
Sustainable fisheries in a changing climate
Proposal applications, instructions and more information can be found on the Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Summer Research Grants application site (Monmouth student/staff login credentials required). Completed applications should be submitted to UCI Associate Director Tom Herrington at therring@monmouth.edu. Science students should apply for summer research support through the School of Science Summer Research Program. For additional questions, email therring@monmouth.edu.
The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) and the Global Ocean Forum (GOF) will co-host the webinar “Catalyzing Party and Community Action on Ocean, Climate and BBNJ” on April 18 at 11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CET.
The webinar will focus on addressing the ocean-climate nexus across the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Sustainable Development Agenda, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and the Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement. It will also highlight the significance of the BBNJ agreement to ocean and climate action, encourage incorporation of ocean-climate actions in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and foster collaboration and collective engagement on the road to the U.N. Ocean Conference in 2025.
The discussion will be moderated by UCI Director Tony MacDonald and GOF Executive Director Miriam Balgos. Presenters and topics will include:
Independent international expert and former U.N. Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea Director Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli: “The BBNJ Agreement: The Race to Ratification by 2025 and Implications on Climate Targets”
Ocean Conservancy Senior Manager of Climate Policy Whitney Berry: “Tracking Ocean-Based Mitigation and Adaptation in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)”
Ocean and Climate Platform Project Officer Cyrielle Lâm: “Mobilizing Civil Society on the Road to UNOC 2025”
An open Q&A session will follow the presentations. Scroll below for speaker bios.
The 90-minute webinar is free and open to the public. A Zoom link will be provided upon registration.
The webinar is the first installment of an Ocean and Climate Action webinar series that the UCI and GOF are jointly organizing in alignment with the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development Vision 2030. The webinars aim to mobilize civil society around critical ocean and climate action identified in the report on Assessing Progress on Ocean and Climate Action 2022-2023 (“ROCA” report). The ROCA report reviews progress made on climate and ocean initiatives, making it a useful tool for discussion of strategies for achieving climate goals moving forward.
For more information about the webinar, contact Aliya Satku at asatku@monmouth.edu.
Speaker Bios
Miriam Balgos, Ph.D.
Miriam Balgos is executive director of the Global Ocean Forum and concurrent project manager-capacity development specialist of a GEF-funded project on Building and Enhancing Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Capacity to Support Sustainable Resource Use and Biodiversity Conservation in Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Formerly associate scientist at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware and the program coordinator of the Global Ocean Forum, Balgos led the Gerard J. Mangone Center for Marine Policy team in the organization and conduct of multi-stakeholder dialogues in integrated ocean and coastal management. Her research focused on integrated ocean and coastal management, marine protected areas, marine areas beyond national jurisdiction, and climate change adaptation. She co-authored and contributed to various publications including “A Comparative Analysis of Ocean Policies in Fifteen Nations and Four Regions” and co-edited the Routledge “Handbook of National and Regional Ocean Policies.” Miriam received a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and master’s in marine biology from the University of the Philippines, and a master’s in business administration and Ph.D. marine studies at the University of Delaware.
Whitney Berry
Whitney Berry is a senior manager of climate policy at the Ocean Conservancy. Berry helps research, formulate, and advocate ocean-climate policy at the international, federal, and state levels. Her portfolio includes ocean-based mitigation and adaptation solutions to combat climate change. Previously, she worked for the State of California’s Natural Resources Agency as a cabinet-level climate change policy manager within the office of the Ocean Protection Council. Prior to her position with the California Natural Resources Agency, Berry was a California Sea Grant Fellow for the California Ocean Protection Council. She graduated from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies with a master’s degree in international environmental policy and a concentration in Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. She received her bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University in Natural Resource Conservation and Environmental Analysis.
Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli
Gabriele Goettsche-Wanli has been working in the field of ocean affairs and the law of the sea, including on issues relating to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, for most of her career. She was director of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations from 2013-20 and Secretary of the BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference from 2018-20. Before that, she worked in the division for 23 years, including as deputy director and chief of the Treaty Section, Office of Legal Affairs. Goettsche-Wanli is an alumnus of the National University of Ireland, Galway, and of Columbia University, New York.
Cyrielle Lâm
Cyrielle Lâm works as an international mobilization and communication project officer. She also assists the head of mobilization and communication regularly. Lâm holds a master’s degree in international relations with a specialization in international programme management from the University Jean Moulin Lyon 3. Since her studies ended, she has been working for non-governmental organizations in environmental protection.
Tony MacDonald
Tony MacDonald is director of the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI). He was previously the executive director of the Coastal States Organization (CSO) from 1998-2005. CSO, based in Washington, DC, represents the interests of the governors of the nation’s 35 coastal states and territories on coastal and ocean policy matters. Prior to joining CSO, Tony was the special counsel and director of environmental affairs at the American Association of Port Authorities, where he represented the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) at the International Maritime Organization on negotiations on the London Convention. Tony also practiced law with a private firm in Washington, DC, and served as the environmental legislative representative for the Mayor of the City of New York.
From l-r: Dave Golden, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Virginia Rettig, Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge; Tony MacDonald, Urban Coast Institute; and Genevieve Clifton and Scott Douglas, New Jersey Department of Transportation.
The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) recently presented State, Coastal and Ocean Leadership awards to four individuals who have worked for several years to assure both safety and accessibility on state waterways and the protections and restoration of critical coastal habitats, parks and refuges. UCI Director Tony MacDonald honored the recipients at a March 13 ceremony held in conjunction with the New Jersey Coastal and Climate Resilience Conference, co-hosted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the New Jersey Coastal Resilience Collaborative at Monmouth University from March 12-14.
The 2024 honorees included New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Office of Maritime Resources Manager Genevieve Clifton, NJDOT Dredging Program Manager Scott Douglas, NJDEP Assistant Commissioner Dave Golden, and Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge Manager Virginia Rettig.
“Many of the pleasures of living and recreating along the New Jersey coast which people take for granted – including boating, maritime commerce, fishing, birdwatching and the conservation of wetlands and coastal habitats – would not be available without the active management, stewardship and leadership provided by these honorees,” MacDonald said. “It is a great pleasure to express our appreciation and publicly acknowledge their work.”
The State, Coastal and Ocean Leadership Awards are part of the UCI’s Champion of the Ocean Award program, which was established in 2005 to honor national, regional and state individuals who have undertaken actions and demonstrated sustained leadership that ensures coasts and oceans are clean, safe, sustainably managed, and preserved for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations. A list of past recipients can be found here.
Genevieve Clifton
Office of Maritime Resources Manager, New Jersey Department of Transportation
Genevieve Clifton has managed the NJDOT Office of Maritime Resources since 2008 and has been active in marine transportation issues since she was hired as part of the original Maritime Office team in 1997. In 2023, she was asked to lead the Division of Multimodal Services for the Department. Clifton is currently leading the integration of the Department’s maritime program into the Capital Program Management unit, aligning NJDOT construction functions, while continuing to oversee the Federal Highway Administration’s Ferry Boat Program and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Boating Infrastructure Grant Program. In her expanded role, she is actively advancing maritime freight opportunities that benefit New Jersey’s distinctly multimodal transportation system, is leading the effort toward 100 percent beneficial use of dredged material, and is developing partnerships necessary to implement strategic ecological and resilient coastal benefits, while continuing to lead the strongest state channel dredging program in the nation. She has earned master’s degrees from Seton Hall University in public administration and diplomacy and international relations. Among numerous accolades, Clifton is most proud of having been bestowed a Meritorious Public Service Award from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2021.
Scott Douglas
Dredging Program Manager, New Jersey Department of Transportation
Scott Douglas has served as the Dredging Program manager for the NJDOT’s Office of Maritime Resources since 1997. In that time, he has been a staunch advocate for dredging and the beneficial use of dredged materials. He has been a key player on the milestone deepening projects in the NY/NJ Harbor and the Delaware River, and spearheaded the effort to establish Regional Dredging Teams in both ports. Since 2012, he has been a driving force behind the recovery of the New Jersey marine transportation system from the ravages of Superstorm Sandy. To date, the NJDOT has removed over 2 million cubic yards of sediment from the state’s navigation channels, much of which involved utilization of innovative techniques including marsh enhancement and habitat restoration. As the recovery of New Jersey’s coastal navigation system nears completion, Douglas is working with a group of regional stakeholders to craft a framework for managing dredged material in New Jersey’s back bays in a manner that improves coastal resiliency. Douglas holds degrees in zoology and environmental toxicology and has published widely on the topic of dredged material management in books and journals.
Dave Golden
Assistant Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Dave Golden serves as the NJDEP’s assistant commissioner administering New Jersey’s Fish & Wildlife Program. In this role, he oversees various state programs protecting and managing fish and wildlife resources and works to expand public access for wildlife-related recreation. Golden began his career with the NJDEP in 2001 working for the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program. Since that time, he has taken on various leadership roles and served as the head of N.J. Fish & Wildlife since 2019. He has spent the last decade advancing coastal restoration projects on wildlife management areas along the Atlantic Coast and Delaware Bayshore and has long promoted the beneficial reuse of clean dredge material as one method for enhancing coastal habitats. Golden earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Kutztown University and holds a master’s degree in ecology from Miami University.
Virginia Rettig
Refuge Manager, Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
Virginia Rettig began working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Lafayette, Louisiana, Ecological Services Field Office in 1995. She then moved to the refuge division and worked at the Southeast Louisiana Refuges complex, Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Cape May National Wildlife Refuge. She spent two years as an assistant refuge supervisor in the Regional Office in Hadley, Massachusetts, before heading to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in 2010. She enjoys creating habitat for wildlife in her garden and traveling to explore natural areas. She volunteers to support teachers and STEM in South Jersey through the American Association of University Women. She received a bachelor’s degree in environmental and forest biology in 1991 from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse and a master’s degree in wildlife biology in 1994 from Louisiana State University working on use of agricultural fields by shorebirds.
The MPC, originally established in 1970 as the Marine Policy and Ocean Management program, conducts social scientific research that integrates economics, policy analysis, and law with the Institution’s basic research in ocean sciences. The Advisory Committee is undertaking an assessment of the current status, potential future directions, and providing advice and recommendations regarding the Center’s mission and role at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and how it addresses critical marine and ocean policy problems of our time.
WHOI is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930, its mission is to understand the ocean and its interactions with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate an understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment. Click here for more information.
The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) has awarded grants to the Love Blue Monmouth student club to purchase equipment for beach cleanups and to student Brooke van de Sande to conduct research on the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) for monitoring humpback whale abundance in Jersey Shore waters.
The UCI offers Faculty Enrichment Grants and Mini-Grants on a competitive basis through its Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars program to support faculty and student researchers of all disciplines whose work advances the UCI’s mission and core elements of Monmouth’s Strategic Plan. The following proposals were approved for the spring 2024 round.
Love Blue Monmouth Litter Cleanup Kits
Students remove litter from a Long Branch Beach during a Love Blue Monmouth cleanup.
Student Applicant & Major: Katie Marshall (Love Blue Monmouth President), Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy
Love Blue Monmouth received a Mini-Grant to purchase 12 Garbo Grabber litter cleanup kits for use by its volunteer members on area beaches. The tool consists of a wide mouth ring (the Trash Bagger) which holds open a net bag that filters out sand when garbage is dropped in. The reusable net also eliminates the need for plastic trash bags.
The club is the Monmouth chapter of Love Blue Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the ocean through community outreach and beach cleanups. Now in its sixth semester on campus, the group has removed 1,000 pounds of trash from local beaches to date. For more information on upcoming cleanups, visit the club’s Instagram at @lovebluemonmouth.
Identifying Relationships Between Visual Sightings and eDNA Detection of Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) Along the Coast of New Jersey
Student Applicant & Major: Brooke van de Sande, Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy
Faculty Mentors: Endowed Professor Marine Science Jason Adolf and Environmental DNA/Marine Fisheries Senior Scientist Sam Chin
Last summer, van de Sande worked aboard the Jersey Shore Whale Watch tour vessel, based at Belmar Marina. Each time there was a humpback sighting nearby, she collected a water sample and filtered it for eDNA – genetic materials that are shed in the ocean by marine organisms. This Faculty Enrichment grant will now allow van de Sande to sequence and analyze the eDNA she collected.
The project will compare the levels of humpback eDNA detected in samples that were taken both when whales were visible and when none were present to help build a better understanding of the method’s potential as a monitoring tool for marine mammal conservation and management. Watch van de Sande discuss her project at last year’s School of Science Summer Research Symposium below.
Apply Now for Funding
The UCI is currently accepting proposals for Faculty Enrichment Grants and Mini-Grants for the summer and fall 2024 terms, as well as 2024 Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Summer Research grants (due March 29). Click here to learn more (Monmouth University sign-in credentials required).
These opportunities have been made possible through the generous support of many private and corporate donors. If you would like to make a tax-deductible gift to the Urban Coast Institute, please visit our online contribution form.
Nickels looks over a nautical chart while preparing for an early morning research cruise on the Raritan Bay in 2016.
Urban Coast Institute (UCI) Marine Scientist Jim Nickels’ 16-year voyage at Monmouth University has come to a close. Nickels retired effective March 1 and will now turn his focus to spending time with family, travel and the enjoyment of life.
Jim and wife Debbie Nickels unfurl the Monmouth University flag in Antarctica, 2020.
In the summer of of 2007, Nickels became one of Director Tony MacDonald’s first hires at the UCI. When he arrived, the University had one vessel – the 18-foot Little Hawk, which is still a part of the fleet. The UCI would soon acquire federal funding to purchase the 27-foot Seahawk, multibeam SONAR equipment and other marine science technologies. Nickels’ grant and contract work conducting water quality monitoring, mapping the shoreline and other research in those early days helped support the vessels while providing students with real-world field operations experience – a formula that continues successfully at Monmouth today.
Nickels, who grew up a few blocks from campus in Long Branch, is known throughout the region as a skilled mariner and an ideal collaborator. He has been a mentor to scores of students in and out of the classroom and a booster of all things Monmouth.
Nickels will continue to provide periodic assistance to the UCI and Monmouth as it onboards a new vessel captain and winds down various projects. He may also return to the classroom from time to time as a guest speaker or adjunct professor.
We sat down with Nickels for an exit interview to reflect on his time and memories from Monmouth.
Stepping back to the summer of 2007, what were the circumstances of you joining Monmouth?
I was a vice president at Aqua Survey, where I ran marine operations for close to 10 years. I wasn’t looking for a new job. A colleague sent me the help wanted ad and I was curious to learn more. I didn’t know Tony at the time, but I worked with John Tiedemann years earlier at the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium, so I decided to explore it. It was a significant salary cut to come here, but fortunately I was in a position that I could do it.
If you were willing to do that, there must have been something pretty attractive to you about the position.
I’d been in environmental consulting for years, and I enjoyed that. But there’s a lot of travel involved, a lot of work keeping clients happy, keeping your administration happy. And this just seemed like something that would be a nice change and a good idea to pursue. I’d worked with students before and enjoyed it.
Monmouth University School of Science Assistant Dean John Tiedemann (l) and Nickels aboard the Little Hawk in 2007.
What was the state of the UCI at the time?
It was Tony MacDonald (as director) and John Tiedemann was assistant director. Jennifer DiLorenzo was dedicated to community outreach, and around that same time the UCI hired a postdoc. I was funded through a multi-year grant from the Fairleigh Dickinson, Jr. Foundation to do real-time water quality monitoring at sites in estuaries from Keyport down to Manahawkin.
When I got here, John had, through a previous Environmental Protection Agency grant, purchased a pickup truck and an 18-foot center console vessel, the Little Hawk. And that was the fleet.
And now there are three vessels. Did you have a favorite?
I like the 27-foot Maycraft, the Seahawk. It’s easily maneuverable and trailerable. I’ve been all over with it, working in upstate New York, Virginia, all over New Jersey, up in a Long Island Sound on some projects. But I’ve also really enjoyed getting the 49-foot R/V Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe up and running, because that was the one thing I was missing was, you know – my big boat envy.
What’s interesting is, this is the third organization I’ve worked for as a matter of being in the right place at the right time to basically go from almost nothing to building a marine operations program. I did that at the consortium, I did that at Aqua Survey, and then I did that here.
Nickels demonstrates how to use scientific equipment for NOAA INFISH program students aboard Monmouth’s R/V Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe in 2023.
What has changed the most for the UCI from the early days until now?
We have a lot more people and we do a lot more things. We’re involved in a lot more areas, because initially, it was basically Tony, John, Jennifer and myself doing everything. We have three vessels now and a lot more equipment. And since I’ve been here, the Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy (MEBP) program has grown significantly, and we did a lot of great work together.
The first go-round of the Barnegat Bay Zooplankton Study was done as a multi-year project with (former professor) Ursula Howson and students. We had a couple of nice long-term projects for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that used a lot students out on the boats once or twice per week. We even had some students from High Tech High School who came out with us for a couple of years. Those early projects were the kind of things that helped expand the UCI.
What were some of your favorite parts of the job?
Nickels takes a 2017 marine field methods class to play underwater mini-golf using a remotely operated underwater vehicle in the Monmouth pool –a tradition in winter months when it was too cold to work outdoors.
I’ve most enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to work with students, like teaching marine field methods and marine archaeology with Rich Veit (professor of anthropology and interim provost). He already reached out to ask if I’d be willing to come back and teach that with him, so that will be fun.
I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of local community engagement surrounding coastal lakes and post-Superstorm Sandy flood mapping. We provided 14 local towns with support from Monmouth County and FEMA with elevations for the installment of high-water mark signage.
CARP II (New Jersey Department of Transportation [NJDOT] Contamination Assessment and Reduction Project) was a very big project for us, doing sediment collection all over New York Harbor. We did a lot of initial mapping projects funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and then through either consulting firms or NJDOT projects. So I’ve enjoyed being able to do a lot of different things and learn new technologies as they come along, and then pass that on to students.
You’ve made a difference in a lot of students careers over the years. Do you have any parting wisdom to students who may be reading this?
I would say, whenever you have the opportunity to do internships or tag along on field work or research, take advantage of it, because I’ve had good success with former students who have gotten jobs that way. Potential employers, like the government agencies we work with, get to kick the tires a little bit to see who you are. And you get to see whether or not you like that field. The worst thing you can do is go through four years of school, or then even get a master’s degree, and realize all of a sudden, “Oh, I don’t like doing that.” If you get opportunities to go out and do things, definitely go out and do things.
Monmouth University hosted its fifth annual Coastal Lakes Fall Summit on Dec. 12 to reflect on the state of a dozen local water bodies and explore strategies for improving them. A prominent theme in this year’s discussions was the recurring problem of lake flooding and steps that communities can take to make them more resilient.
Attendees at the Coastal Lakes Fall Summit at Monmouth University.
The event gathered dozens of volunteer members of the Coastal Lakes Observing Network (CLONet), a partnership of Monmouth University scientists and students and community volunteers dedicated to monitoring water conditions at Deal Lake, Fletcher Lake, Jackson Woods Pond, Lake Como, Lake Takanassee, Shadow Lake, Silver Lake, Spring Lake, Sunset Lake, Sylvan Lake, Wesley Lake and Wreck Pond. Through CLONet, community members regularly sample their local lakes for temperature, salinity, clarity, dissolved oxygen, and phycocyanin levels (an important indicator of harmful algal blooms) and file their readings to an online database for analysis. Monmouth University Phytoplankton and Harmful Algal Bloom Lab (PHAB Lab) researchers sample the lakes for the same parameters plus measures of nutrient levels and the biomass and genetic makeup of phytoplankton populations in the waters.
Since 2019, the community scientists have recorded over 1,700 samples to pair with the PHAB Lab’s. The wealth of data presents a clear picture of what normal conditions look like in the lakes, so when harmful algal blooms and other sudden changes occur, they can be spotted easily and investigated. Much of this data is available for public viewing on the CLONet Data Explorer web app.
One clear anomaly visible on the Data Explorer for 2023 is the level of rainfall in the lake areas, which is currently well outside the normal range of variability. As the graph above shows, the year started relatively dry until a powerful three-day storm that brought 6 inches of rain in late April. Then on Sept. 29, the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia dumped over 7 inches in a matter of hours, causing severe flooding in several of the lakes. Wesley Lake CLONet member Doug McQueen noted that some businesses in Asbury Park were still closed due to the damages, including a music venue that was forced to permanently shutter.
UCI Associate Tom Herrington discusses planned improvements at Sylvan Lake, between the towns of Bradley Beach and Avon-by-the-Sea.
“Many of these lakes have been used historically as stormwater retention basins,” Urban Coast Institute Associate Director Tom Herrington said. “The more intense coastal storms and increased flooding we’ve been experiencing have shown how climate change will impact them worse in the future.”
School of Science Assistant Dean John Tiedemann said that much of the infrastructure meant to control water and runoff in the lakes is old and inadequate, in many cases predating the institution of impervious coverage regulations. In a presentation on green infrastructure solutions he helped design for Sylvan Lake, Herrington showed images of crumbling bulkheads and areas where so much soil runoff had been deposited from the sewer system that it had piled above water level. With funding through the Department of Defense, the area will be dredged and the silt will be placed around the lake’s perimeter, helping provide some sites with a more natural slope to the water than the bulkheads, better filtering runoff, and serving as a habitat for birds and pollinators that will be attracted to plantings there.
Help could be on the way for the lakes by way of an influx of funding. Clean Waters Consulting, LLC Owner Stephen Souza delivered a presentation on how communities can best position themselves to acquire U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 319 Grant Program funds, which aim to reduce nonpoint source pollution in waterways. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is provided a block of this funding which it awards competitively for proposals that demonstrate they can make a measurable improvement and provide a local match.
Souza encouraged applicants to review successful past 319 proposals and online “success stories” synopses to get a sense of what elements do well and emulate them in their own proposals. He stressed that “2024 is our year,” because the NJDEP was planning to prioritize the Atlantic coastal region for grants.
Tiedemann explained how he and Souza had recommended a regional approach to coastal lake management in a 2009 report on the future of Monmouth County coastal lakes, but that idea never got to the point of implementation. Endowed Professor of Marine Science Jason Adolf said that communities with watershed protection plans in place receive greater consideration in the 319 application process and hold the advantage of having a list of improvement projects ready that could be candidates for funding. He raised the possibility of the CLONet lake communities banding together to create a regional plan, informed by their own data, that could strengthen their hands moving forward.
“If we have a regional protection plan that covers all of the coastal lakes, it will give each lake the leverage needed to apply for future rounds of funding that become available,” Adolf said. “The NJDEP likes the idea of a regional approach because it ends up being cost-saving, effective and efficient.”
Click here to view presentation slides from the event.
Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) Director Tony MacDonald traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the United Nations COP28 climate summit, where the UCI was designated as an official observer. Below he shares details and impressions from the proceedings.
Dec. 12: Elevating the Ocean on the Agenda
The ocean community has been well represented at COP28, as we descended on Dubai to draw attention to the importance of ocean issues to the U.N. Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCC) negotiations. Discussions have covered action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through commitments to green shipping or expansion of renewable energy sources and development of offshore wind, as well as efforts that will reduce climate impacts on the ocean ecosystem, ranging from increased ocean acidification to sea level rise.
For the second time, there was a dedicated Ocean Pavilion in the so-called “Blue Zone,” where national delegates and approved observer organizations like the Urban Coast Institute meet during the two weeks of COP negotiations. It was a beehive of activity hosting numerous panels and attracting ocean leaders including U.S Special Climate Envoy John Kerry, U.N. Special Envoy for Oceans Peter Thomson, and U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island), Ed Markey (Massachusetts) and Ben Cardin (Maryland).
MacDonald (center) speaks during Dec. 8 panel “Investing in Ocean Nature-based Solutions to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate.”
Prior to the conference, the UCI signed on to the COP28 Dubai Ocean Declaration joining partners of the Ocean Pavilion and others to call on world leaders to expand ocean observations worldwide to provide a basis for understanding ongoing natural and anthropic change and for planning climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. I was joined at COP28 by four colleagues from the Global Ocean Forum (GOF) who, along with the UK-based Plymouth Marine Laboratory, organized a Virtual Ocean Pavilion (VOP) so that those who could not travel to Dubai could track activities and participate in high-level panels addressing critical ocean-climate issues.
The UCI also joined with the GOF to organize an official side event in the Blue Zone titled “Investing in Ocean Nature-based Solutions to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Rick Spinrad provided the opening remarks for the event. I delivered a presentation on the panel entitled “Climate Adaptation for Area-Based Conservation: Data Collection and Management,” which covered examples of work we are doing in the Mid-Atlantic. A recording can be viewed here.
While these ocean discussions have been very productive, and I am confident we will be able to report on success in elevating the ocean-climate nexus at COP28, the elephant in the room is that we cannot achieve our goals for the ocean without an unequivocal commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gases, ambitious development for renewable energy alternatives and a rapid phaseout of fossil fuel emissions. Even though the COP negotiations were scheduled to conclude today, the parties have not reached consensus on how they will address this fundamental question and whether the final agreement will provide for the phase down or phase out of fossil fuels. Stay tuned.
Dec. 18: Did the Negotiations Make a Difference?
The negotiations at COP28 in Dubai concluded on Dec. 13. The negotiations brought together almost 200 countries and more than 80,000 registered participants. The meeting went into overtime as parties debated how to address, or whether even to acknowledge, the need to phase out fossil fuels. Like beauty, whether the negotiations were a success is very much in the eye of the beholder.
The final text calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner,” falling short of calls for a commitment for a full phase-out. In addition, more than 120 nations – including the U.S. and China – agreed to triple renewable energy installations by 2030. Despite these commitments, the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that there is a substantial implementation gap between the Parties’ climate strategies and the level of action required to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement struck at COP21 in 2015. Parties will need to show much greater ambition in the next iterations of their national climate plans, referred to as NDCs (National Determined Contributions). It is also important to remember that these, along with promises of critical increased financial contributions, are non-binding commitments that will require ocean community advocates and civil society to redouble their efforts to ensure implementation of ocean- climate action and hold the parties accountable.
From l-r: U.N. Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean Peter Thomson, Global Ocean Forum Board of Directors member Richard Delaney, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Director Margaret Leinen, Stimson Center Senior Fellow and Director of the Environmental Security Sally Yozell, and MacDonald.
There is no doubt, however, that the ocean community was mobilized like never before to carry the message that addressing the ocean-climate nexus is essential to addressing climate change. The UCI worked with colleagues from the Global Ocean Forum and Plymouth Marine Laboratory to host the COP28 Virtual Ocean Pavilion (VOP), providing online panels as well as to links to hundreds of ocean-related side events. At the COP venue, partners of the Ocean Pavilion, led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, provided a buzzing hub of activity and hosted events bringing together ocean-climate leaders, scientists and policy advocates from around the world.
There was also considerable progress in elevating the role of nature and oceans as a solution to the climate crisis. The preamble noted “the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including … the ocean.” Other sections called out the “the importance of conserving, protecting and restoring nature and ecosystems” and invited parties “to preserve and restore oceans and coastal ecosystems.” The final agreement urges increased ambition and enhanced action to reducing climate impacts on ecosystems, including restoration and conservation and the protection of marine and coastal ecosystems.
There was also a call to build greater synergies between the Paris Agreement, U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, and other U.N. biodiversity and ocean action agreed to earlier this year, especially the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine areas in the high seas. I had the privilege of moderating the High-Level Closing Panel of the VOP, “Climate Change and the BBNJ.” Panelists included Singapore Ambassador for International Law Rena Lee, who served as president of the BBNJ negotiations and artfully guided the conference over the finish line; UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Executive Secretary Vladimir Ryabin; and International Union for Conservation of Nature Senior High Seas Advisor Kristina Gjerde. All speakers emphasized not only the importance of oceans and biodiversity, but a call to action to work with countries to secure the prompt ratification by the minimum 60 nations. (To view a recording, login to the VOP and visit the Pavilion Agenda page.)
NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad at COP28.
In addition to the formal COP negotiations there were daily announcements of side agreements by governments, industry, finance and philanthropic organizations to support ocean-climate action. Special Presidential Envoy on Climate John Kerry, U.N. Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean Peter Thomson, and philanthropic partners announced the formation of Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance (ORCA), with an initial pledge of more than $250 million for advancing ocean-based solutions to fight climate change. The U.S. also announced several domestic initiatives including the first-ever Ocean Justice Strategy to provide long-term, sustainable benefits for people, communities, and the environment. At the Ocean Pavilion, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Rick Spinrad, along with the State Department, released a national Ocean Climate Action Plan to comprehensively address the impacts of ocean acidification. The State Department announced it would continue to facilitate Green Shipping Corridors in the U.S. and worldwide, and the Department of the Interior announced a roadmap tool to utilize nature-based solutions in its efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
While Dubai is literally halfway around the world and the COP28 negotiations can seem esoteric and far removed from everyday life at the Jersey Shore, we can literally see the challenges play out in real-time as the increasing frequency and intensity of coastal storms threaten coastal communities, proposals for offshore wind development raise controversy, and oceans are increasing warming and getting more acidic, impacting fisheries and ecosystem health. At the UCI, we are doing our part to take ocean-climate action now, including supporting regional ocean planning and the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal, climate-ready fisheries, and coastal community resilience and adaptation. Monmouth University scientists are conducting cutting-edge research on marine environmental DNA and acoustics, and engaging Monmouth students to conduct research and be part of the solution. I encourage you to browse the UCI’s blog for updates on these important efforts.
