The Urban Coast Institute’s (UCI) Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars program will provide funding for eight students and their faculty mentors to conduct five summer research projects on topics ranging from the development of an app that can simulate the risk of hurricane property damage in communities to threats faced by turtle populations in densely populated suburbs.

The Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Program supports students and faculty of all disciplines in pursuing their passions for marine and coastal issues through experiential research. The program provides grant opportunities for student researchers and faculty mentors to conduct projects of their own design that advance the UCI’s mission and Monmouth’s Strategic Plan. Each year, the program funds dozens of hands-on research positions that provide real-world experience to students while helping make a positive impact in coastal communities.

The program also provides support for projects administered through the Monmouth University School of Science Summer Research Program (SRP) that advance the goals and objectives of the UCI. Two SRP projects being conducted by five student researchers will receive UCI grants this summer.

Summaries of this year’s projects are below.

Evaluating the Predation Risk of an Eastern Box Turtle Population Inhabiting a Suburban Island

Student Researcher and Major: Madison Patterson,biology

Faculty Mentor: Sean Sterrett, Ph.D., assistant professor of wildlife ecology, Department of Biology/Marine Environmental Biology and Policy Program

Building on previous research by the Sterrett Lab, the team will study the risk posed by predatory birds and mammals to Eastern box turtles using baited camera traps and artificial turtle nests deployed in Monmouth County’s Weltz Conservation Area, an open space area surrounded by commercial and residential development in Ocean Township.

Flood Designation Relative to Residential Real Estate Pricing

Student Researcher and Major: Julianna Rubinetti, information systems (masters student)

Faculty Mentors: Geoffrey Fouad, Ph.D., associate professor of geography, Department of History and Anthropology; and Tjeerd Boonman, Ph.D., specialist professor, Department of Economics, Finance, and Real Estate

The researchers will investigate the effect of three prominent risk designations (Federal Emergency Management Agency flood zones, First Street Foundation modeling, and National Flood Insurance Program claims) on property pricing in coastal and inland waterfront communities in Monmouth County.

Programming Application Development for Hurricane Risk-Based Assessments of Coastal Residential Communities

Student Researcher and Major: Johnathan Williams,computer science and software engineering

Faculty Mentor: Tom Herrington, Ph.D., UCI associate director

The student will develop a program for evaluating the risk of hurricane-related structural damage to residential building structures within a particular community and assessing the impacts in terms of financial loss estimates. The application will also allow users to enter data to explore how mitigation measures can reduce these risks and ultimately improve the community’s resilience.  

School of Science Summer Research Projects

Field Site Assessments and Sediment Transport Analysis for Tidal Marsh Island Restoration

Student Researcher and Major: Tyler Barkey, Alexis Baumgartner and Nicole Cappolina, marine environmental biology and policy

Faculty Mentor: Tom Herrington, Ph.D., UCI associate director

The researchers will collect data on waves, tides and currents adjacent to a tidal salt marsh in Barnegat Bay to determine how natural sediments move within the system and how effective depositing sediments on marsh islands can be for protecting nearby communities from sea level rise.   

Suburban Turtle Ecology and Conservation

Student Researcher and Major: Adriana Simancas and Richard Robinson, marine environmental biology and policy

Faculty Mentor: Sean Sterrett, Ph.D., assistant professor of wildlife ecology, Department of Biology/Marine Environmental Biology and Policy Program

The researchers will investigate the spatial ecology and density estimation of a suburban box turtle population using radiotelemetry and spatial capture-recapture techniques with the aid of a working scent dog. 

Additional Funding Opportunities

Monmouth University students and faculty are invited to apply now for additional summer and fall Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars funding opportunities. Grants available include:

• Faculty Enrichment Grants for the enhancement of existing curriculum, new curriculum development, research and scholarship, and team-teaching opportunities. Proposals for summer grants will be accepted through May 22 and proposals for fall grants will be accepted through Aug. 18.  
• Mini-Grants are also available to faculty and students for conference fees, symposia, guest speaker honoraria, equipment and supplies, and other needs to be determined on a case-by-case-basis. Applications can be submitted at any time and are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Those interested may apply via the UCI Funding Opportunities page on the MyMU Portal (Monmouth University sign-in credentials required). For more information, contact UCI Associate Director Thomas Herrington at therring@monmouth.edu.

These opportunities have been made possible through the generous support of many corporate and private donors. If you would like to make a tax-deductible gift to the UCI, please use our Give a Gift Now form.

Browse the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute’s 2022 Annual Report for a look back at its research collaborations, student support, campus engagement and other milestones throughout the year. Among the report’s highlights is an interactive “2022 Log Book” timeline feature which allows readers to scan QR codes to view related articles, videos and other multimedia online.

Options are available to read the report in PDF or digital flipbook formats below. To request a printed copy of the publication, email uci@monmouth.edu.

• Read as digital flipbook
• View or download PDF

A full-length recording and a series of short outtakes from the 16^th Annual Future of the Ocean Symposium can now be viewed on the event website. The Urban Coast Institute convened a panel of leading voices in marine science and policy on April 13 for a conversation on where the nation is succeeding and falling short in its efforts to catalyze innovation and action to address climate change’s impacts to our oceans, and how oceans can help to mitigate those impacts.

The symposium was held at Monmouth University’s Great Hall Auditorium and moderated by Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist and PBS host Jack Ford. Panelists included:

• Richard Spinrad, Ph.D., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator
• Margaret Leinen, Ph.D., Scripps Institution of Oceanography director
• Charlotte Hudson, Lenfest Ocean Program director
• Richard Murray, Ph.D., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution deputy director and vice president for science and engineering
• Tashiana Osborne, Ph.D., climate change advisor, U.S. Agency for International Development via an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellowship

Urban Coast Institute Director Tony MacDonald was the featured guest on the March 31 Monmouth Weekly podcast, hosted by Monmouth University President Patrick Leahy and Specialist Professor Matt Harmon.

• Download file
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You can also subscribe to the Monmouth Weekly podcast at:

• Apple Podcasts
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A panel of leading voices in marine science and policy will convene at Monmouth University on April 13 for a conversation on where the nation is succeeding and falling short in its efforts to catalyze innovation and action to address climate change’s impacts to our oceans, and how oceans can help to mitigate those impacts. 

Members of the public are welcome to attend the 16^th Annual Future of the Ocean Symposium, beginning at 4 p.m. at the Great Hall Auditorium. The event, hosted by the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI), is free to attend and no registration is required.

Speakers will include Richard Spinrad, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator; Margaret Leinen, Scripps Institution of Oceanography director; Charlotte Hudson, Lenfest Ocean Program director; Richard Murray, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution deputy director and vice president for science and engineering; and Tashiana Osborne, climate change advisor, U.S. Agency for International Development via an American Association for the Advancement of Science Science & Technology Policy Fellowship. The panel will be moderated by Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist and PBS host Jack Ford.

The world’s oceans are under enormous stress from climate change, having absorbed an estimated 90 percent of all of the excess heat from global warming and nearly one-third of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities. As a result, scientists have observed significant changes taking place in marine environments including warming waters, ocean acidification, shifts in marine life habitats, retreating sea ice extents and an accompanying rise in sea levels. The symposium comes days after the Biden Administration released a first-ever, whole-of-government Ocean Climate Action Plan.

“While the ocean has borne an outsized share of the brunt of climate change, we are only beginning to recognize its potential as part of the solution,” UCI Director Tony MacDonald said. “For example, the greening of ports and shipping, a continued shift to renewable energy sources, and the restoration of submerged vegetation in our estuaries can all play a part in lowering CO2 levels. These actions also hold the promise for propelling new blue economy industries that create jobs, improve coastal resilience, and advance scientific knowledge of our ocean.”

Immediately following the symposium at 6 p.m., the UCI will host its Champion of the Ocean Awards reception, also in the Great Hall. This year’s honorees as National Champion of the Ocean will be Spinrad and Leinen, and State Coastal and Ocean Leadership awards will be presented to New Jersey State Sen. Bob Smith and American Littoral Society Executive Director Tim Dillingham. Tickets are required to attend the reception, with proceeds supporting the UCI.

The awards were established in 2005 to honor 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. Previous honorees include ocean explorer Robert Ballard, marine biologist and explorer Sylvia Earle, ocean scientist and advocate Jean-Michael Cousteau, and former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

This event is made possible thanks to the generosity of the Leslie Hitchner Family. For more information, email uci@monmouth.edu or visit the event website.   

Jay Odell, a marine science and policy expert with over 30 years of experience working to advance sustainable fisheries and ocean health, has joined the Urban Coast Institute (UCI) as a fisheries and ocean conservation fellow. In this role, Odell will conduct policy research on climate change impacts to ocean ecosystems and fisheries management systems and will engage government agencies and ocean-dependent user groups.

Odell previously worked as a collaborator with the UCI to help advance the first-ever Regional Ocean Action Plan in the Mid-Atlantic. He and UCI Director Tony MacDonald also co-led the team that created and launched the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal in 2010. The Portal, which is available to the public, includes over 6,000 interactive maps showing offshore wind areas and infrastructure, shipping vessel traffic patterns, marine life distributions, commercial fishing grounds and more. Today, UCI Communications Director Karl Vilacoba manages the Portal project team on behalf of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO). Odell will join the Portal team to improve data related to commercial and recreational fishing activity and marine life in the region.

Odell most recently worked at The Nature Conservancy, where he served in various positions over the course of 20 years leading large-scale habitat restoration, marine spatial planning, and marine conservation programs at state, regional and national scales. He previously spent 13 years with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife on work including stock assessment, harvest management, and leading co-management activity with Treaty Tribes to develop and implement fishery management plans.

The UCI honored Odell and representatives of the Garden State Seafood Association and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council with Champion of the Ocean awards in 2015 for their roles in the designation of the 38,0000-square-mile Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area. He will be focused on supporting new partnerships to achieve similar ‘win-win’ ocean management solutions in his new role with the UCI.

“We can use the same general problem-solving approach to address several different types of urgent ocean conservation challenges – habitat conservation, bycatch reduction, and accommodation of newer ocean uses like offshore wind power, to name a few,” Odell said. “When we gather ocean users and managers in review and open dialogue around trusted, shared information, good things tend to happen. The UCI is well-positioned to serve as an ocean solutions lab that can examine charged issues in coordination with state and federal agencies, but outside of the official government process, to help deconflict issues and identify consensus paths forward.” 

Odell received a B.S. in biology from The Evergreen State College in 1986 and a M.S. in wildlife and fisheries conservation from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2003. His work will be funded by UCI external grants and contracts.

*Update: Deadline extended to April 7*

The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) invites Monmouth University undergraduate and graduate students of all majors to apply for 2023 Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Summer Research Grants. The deadline for submissions is April 7.

Funding is available for projects proposed by 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

Proposals must be submitted online through the Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars Summer Research Grants application site (Monmouth student/staff login credentials required). Science students should apply for summer research support through the School of Science Summer Research Program.

For more details and guidance, see application page or contact UCI Associate Director Tom Herrington (therring@monmouth.edu).

The Urban Coast Institute’s signature annual event, the Future of the Ocean Symposium and Champion of the Ocean Awards reception, will return on April 13. Visit the event page for full details.

This year’s symposium will have a theme of “Catalyzing Innovation and Action for Oceans and Climate.” The symposium will be held at Monmouth University’s Great Hall Auditorium beginning at 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

The Champion of the Ocean Awards cocktail reception will immediately follow the symposium at the Great Hall Versailles and Pompeii Rooms at 6 p.m. Tickets are required for the reception. Visit the event page for tickets and sponsorship opportunities.

Urban Coast Institute Communications Director Karl Vilacoba worked with members of the Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean’s offshore wind work group to create a miniseries of story maps offering an educational look at the basics of offshore wind energy transmission cable siting.

In one of the “Ocean Stories” features on the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal, Vilacoba interviewed Dominion Energy Environmental Services Environmental Technical Advisor Scott Lawton about some of the major factors involved in the design of the power cable route connecting to the first two offshore wind energy turbines in federal waters. The story and its scrolling data maps detail the need to steer clear of hazards and other ocean uses such as Naval training areas, fishing activity, shipwrecks and telecom cables while planning the cable alignment, which runs from Virginia Beach to the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot turbines 27 miles offshore.

The other piece introduces the planning considerations involved with designing power cables in federal waters. Vilacoba worked with staff from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New York State Department of State, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Department of Energy to create the piece.

A non-mobile device is recommended for best viewing.

Associate Professor Kimberly Callas gave a Feb. 6 talk on artwork she created during her two-year faculty fellowship as the artist-in-residence for the Urban Coast Institute (UCI). The talk was presented in conjunction with Monmouth University’s ArtNOW: Performance, Art, and Technology series and Climate Crisis Teach-In lecture series.

During the fellowship, Callas created a series of large-scale (10′) drawings that connect images of the ocean, ocean archetypes, and the human body. Inspired by historical nautical charts hand-drawn and mounted on muslin, her drawings are made of graphite, dye, and India ink on paper and dyed muslin. They are then mounted on canvas. In the drawings, Callas uses latitude and longitude lines, and depth charts to ‘specifically place’ the work in places that follow the endangered North Atlantic right whale’s annual migration through the Jersey Shore. The drawings include symbols like the whale, fish, boat, net and horizon line, and archetypes like ‘the night sea journey,’ a journey navigated by stars to a new shore.

About Kimberly Callas

Callas is a multimedia artist, sculptor, and the lead artist of the social practice project Discovering the Ecological Self. She uses digital emerging technologies with traditional hand and clay modeling techniques to create life-size figures that combine the human body with symbols and patterns from nature. The figures are drawn or cast in plaster or bronze, 3D printed or routed out of wood with a computer numerical control (CNC). Ground pigments, beeswax, and natural materials such as wasp paper or birch bark are often used to finish the work.

Her work has been exhibited internationally in galleries and museums and has received national and international grants and awards. Recent awards include a Pollination Project Grant and Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars faculty enrichment grants. In 2020, she received the 1st Place Award in Sculpture at the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club’s Annual Exhibit in New York City. Other recent exhibits include the 2019 International New Media Exhibit at the CICA Museum in South Korea, Summer Exhibition at Flowers Gallery in New York City, 9×12 at Dual Galleria in Budapest, Hungary and Crossing Boundaries: Art and the Future of Energy at The Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL. Her work has been published in Post Human, New Media Art 2020 by CICA Press and has appeared in the Huffington Post and Art New England. Callas received her MFA from the New York Academy of Art and her BFA from Stamps School of Art at the University of Michigan. She maintains a studio in both Maine and New Jersey.