The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) will receive federal funding for two projects that bolster resilience to extreme coastal storm and flooding events in Naval Weapon Station (NWS) Earle and its surrounding communities and help economically disadvantaged New Jersey municipalities improve their resilience and readiness for climate threats. The Community Project Funding was included in the $1.5 trillion fiscal year 2022 government appropriations bill signed into law in March.
Rep. Frank Pallone secured $450,000 as part of the Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations for the NWS Earle project, which will be led by UCI Associate Director and New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium Resilient Communities and Economies Specialist Thomas Herrington. The project will build upon a 2019 Raritan/Sandy Hook Bay Coastal Resilience Planning Study conducted by Monmouth County and the DOD that created 11 concept plans for projects that would improve resilience in and around NWS Earle, including steps to address worsening bayfront erosion that could jeopardize the long-term operation and safety of the installation’s pier, facilities, and navigational channels.
The funding will advance one or more of the highest-priority projects through the design and engineering phases needed to make them shovel-ready. The project team is expected to include Monmouth University faculty and students, NWS Earle, and other partners involved in the 2019 study.
“We know the climate crisis is here and that sea level rise threatens the Jersey Shore and coastal communities across the country,” Pallone said. “This is exactly why I fought for federal funding to strengthen coastal resilience along the Shore, including the Bayshore communities, so that we can protect them from major weather events and flooding. This funding will enable cutting-edge research at Monmouth University to help us better understand how we can bolster our state’s defense against the effects of the climate crisis. I’m grateful for the work our scientists and engineers are doing to advance this important cause and look forward to seeing their conclusions.”
The second project, secured by Sen. Cory Booker and supported by Sen. Robert Menendez, will receive $460,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the UCI to partner with local leaders and stakeholders in overburdened communities and planning and resource experts to produce climate adaptation plans that foster equitable community resilience. Herrington will lead a project team that works with selected municipalities from Atlantic, Camden, Cumberland, Essex, Middlesex, and Union counties that express interest in receiving planning assistance.
The project will pilot methods for engaging stakeholders in socially vulnerable communities, who are often difficult to reach in planning processes. To overcome these barriers, the team will use collaborative approaches that aid in engaging all community members, including providing compensation for participants’ time and scheduling meetings at hours favored by residents. The community-centric engagement and planning process will develop resilience and adaption plans that can serve as a model for disadvantaged and environmental justice communities throughout the state.
“Research has shown that communities of color and those with limited economic means have borne a disproportionate share of the brunt of coastal hazards caused by climate change, such as sea level rise and chronic flooding,” Herrington said. “This project will ensure that the participating towns have access to the resources they need to plan for the future and provide residents a greater voice in the process.”
“The fact that climate change disproportionately impacts Black and Brown communities as well as underserved populations must be taken into account as we work to build more resilient infrastructure,” Booker said. “This project from Monmouth University will foster collaboration between researchers and environmental justice communities to develop future plans to mitigate the effects of climate change. I was proud to support the federal funding that made this initiative possible and look forward to seeing the results it produces.”
“At Monmouth, we feel a strong responsibility to be a force for positive economic, cultural, and social development in our communities. Higher education institutions should seek ways to partner with other local enterprises and social service organizations to improve communities, and these two projects exemplify this commitment perfectly,” Monmouth University President Patrick Leahy said. “We are extremely grateful for the confidence in our capacity for delivering science-based solutions to resiliency issues that affect the safety and quality of life of our neighbors.”
The federally funded projects are being managed through the UCI’s Coastal Community Resilience Initiative (CCRI). 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.
Monmouth University students Mia Njad and Evan Rankl are forming a Monmouth chapter of Love Blue, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting oceans through community outreach and beach cleanups. The group, which is currently in the process of obtaining club recognition by the University, has begun its work of planning student-led beach sweeps along the Jersey Shore. Its next will be held at 11 a.m. on April 24 at Seven Presidents Park’s beach in Long Branch.
The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) has been granted special accreditation for the 
Bio: Mark Gold joined the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) in July of 2019. As executive director of OPC and the deputy secretary for ocean and coastal policy for the California Natural Resources Agency, he serves as a key advisor to the governor and the secretary of natural resources and directs policy, scientific research, and critical partnerships to increase protection of coastal and ocean resources in California. Prior to his appointment, he was the associate vice chancellor for environment and sustainability at UCLA, where he led their Sustainable Los Angeles Grand Challenge effort. Prior to UCLA, Gold was the first hire at Heal the Bay, where he served as their president for 18 years. During that time, he worked on ocean and coastal legislation and policy, stormwater, watershed management, and marine conservation and coastal restoration issues, projects and programs. Over the course of his career, his research focused on beach water quality and health risks, as well as sustainable water resources management. Mark received his bachelor’s and master’s in biology as well as his doctorate in environmental science and engineering, all from UCLA.
Bio: As the director of NOAA’s National Marine Protected Areas Center, Lauren Wenzel focuses on connecting and strengthening the nation’s diverse marine and coastal protected area programs through capacity building, information and tools, communication, and collaborative governance. Her focus is on building partnerships among U.S. and international marine and coastal programs and stakeholders to demonstrate the value of protecting the ocean’s most important places. Lauren has been with the MPA Center since 2004.
The American Shoreline Podcast Network’s “Capitol Beach” podcast kicked off a five-part series on the 50th anniversary of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) with an episode featuring National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Rick Spinrad and Urban Coast Institute Director Tony MacDonald. The conversation explored Spinrad and MacDonald’s careers in ocean policy, the landmark legislation’s historic impacts, and its staying power in the face of mounting challenges such as climate change, new and competing ocean uses, and America’s growing economic reliance on coastal resources. The podcast is moderated by Coastal States Organization (CSO) Executive Director Derek Brockbank.
BIOGRAPHY: Monica Patrice Barra, Ph.D., is a cultural anthropologist and assistant professor of race and environment in the School of the Earth, Ocean & Environment and Department of Anthropology at the University of South Carolina. Her research focuses on the ways racial inequalities and geographies are forged in and through scientific knowledge and practices, racial histories, and transformations of coastal environments in the U.S. Gulf South. These topics animate her first book project, “Good Sediment: Race, Science, and the Possibilities of Restoration,” which is an ethnographic examination of the ways Black ecological practices and imaginaires disrupt and re-orient techno-scientific understandings of environmental restoration in the context of coastal Louisiana’s coastal wetland loss crisis. Portions of her research in Louisiana have been published in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers and The Professional Geographer. Her research has been supported by several national grants, including the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the National Academies of Sciences Gulf Research Program, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. She has collaborated with and presented her work to a variety of environmental groups and organizations, including: NOAA, The National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation, and The Water Institute of the Gulf.
BIOGRAPHY: Juliano Calil, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Center for the Blue Economy and adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Calil is the co-founder of Virtual Planet Technologies and a pioneer in science communication. His work and academic research are motivated by the urgent need to reduce climate change impacts by adopting equitable solutions through inclusive community engagement. Calil and his team are developing interactive virtual reality experiences to communicate climate change impacts and solutions to diverse audiences. Virtual Planet is working with communities across the country, from Turner Station, MD to Santa Cruz, Long Beach, and Paradise in California, to address complex issues related to coastal flooding, wildfires, and conservation. Calil has published studies related to the use of immersive solutions to address climate impacts and coastal adaptation studies in California, Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mid-Atlantic region, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Recently, he published two studies: “Using Virtual Reality in Sea Level Rise Planning and Community Engagement” and “
BIOGRAPHY: Sharmini Pitter, Ph.D., is the assistant director of the NOAA Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems. Pitter is a graduate of Stanford University’s Department of Environmental Earth System Science in collaboration with the Stanford Archaeology Center. Her transdisciplinary research background includes geochemical studies of the link between changes in the paleoenvironment, cultural technology, and decision-making during the Neolithic period. Pitter utilizes her research background to assist students in preparing for the future, transdisciplinary workforce.
The Urban Coast Institute has awarded two spring Faculty Enrichment Grants for projects that will expand green teams in New Jersey schools and create art inspired by utopian societies that once existed in Jersey Shore communities.
The Urban Coast Institute (UCI) is seeking proposals from Monmouth University students and faculty members of all disciplines for grants to support summer research through its Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars program. Endowed scholarships for the 2022-23 school year are also available for Monmouth students with a demonstrated financial need and interest in coastal, marine, and environmental studies.
Summer research projects may be proposed by students with the support of a faculty mentor or proposed by a faculty member with the support of students who will work under their supervision. Students will have the opportunity present their work at the 
UCI Faculty Enrichment Grants support full-time faculty of any rank for individual or collaborative projects for the enhancement of existing curriculum, new curriculum development, research and scholarship, and team-teaching opportunities. Although all proposals relevant to the goals and objectives of the UCI will be accepted, the UCI is particularly interested in funding collaborative, multidisciplinary projects that address aspects of the climate crisis and advance diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.