The Monmouth University Institute for Global Understanding (IGU) and Urban Coast Institute (UCI) hosted the virtual panel discussion “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Ocean Justice” on March 9. The event was this year’s first installment of the Global Ocean Governance Lecture Series, which assembles international experts to discuss scientific and policy issues that hold important implications for coastal and marine ecosystems. The discussion was moderated by Professor Randall Abate, director of the IGU, and included the following presentations and speakers:

• “From Accounting for, to Accountability to: Reciprocity and Restitution in Collaborative Climate Change Research” by Monica Barra, assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of the Earth, Ocean & Environment and Department of Anthropology
• “Environmental Justice Impacts of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution” by Juliano Calil, senior fellow at the Center for the Blue Economy and adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies
• “Preparing the Prospective NOAA-Mission Workforce for a More Just Future” by Sharmini Pitter, assistant director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems

Scroll below to read the speakers’ biographies and presentation abstracts. You can also read a recap of the webinar on the IGU blog.

Speaker Bios & Abstracts

Dr. Monica Barra

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.

ABSTRACT: In a time of global health pandemics, widespread uprisings about racial injustice, and persistent reminders about the catastrophic impacts of climate change, in what ways can climate change science align itself with the aspirations of cultivating social justice? To what extent do the environmental sciences, broadly construed, have an obligation and opportunity to mobilize science in the service of wider calls for confronting social and environmental inequalities? What shifts in research practice and individual/collective mentalities of scientists would such goals require? This presentation examines these questions through the lens of Indigenous and Black thinkers and communities grappling with the acute impacts of climate change. It will draw from examples of community based and collaborative research along the U.S. Gulf coast to consider how matters of reciprocity and restitution — matters of working towards reconciliation and justice — can begin to shift the culture of science to more squarely align with the efforts and needs of historically marginalized communities to achieve forms of racial, economic, and climate justice.

Further reading and resources on this topic.

Dr. Juliano Calil

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 “Neglected: Environmental Justice Impacts of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution” for the United Nations Environment Programme. Calil received his Ph.D. in ocean sciences from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2017 and his master of environmental science and management from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2012.

ABSTRACT: Plastic pollution is greatly contributing to the global environmental justice crisis. In this session, Dr. Calil, the lead author of “Neglected: Environmental Justice Impacts of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution” published by UNEP, will share the report’s main findings including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on plastic pollution, a brief outlook of plastic production,  how plastic pollution delays the implementation of nearly all Sustainable Development Goals, and finally, some recommendations to reduce future impacts, including some promising policies being discussed in California.

Dr. Sharmini Pitter

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.

ABSTRACT: In this presentation, Pitter will address the role of education and training in developing awareness of and solutions to climate and ocean justice issues for the future. The NOAA Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems is a NOAA Cooperative Science Center established through a competitive award funded by the NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI). The goal of the NOAA Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems (CCME) cooperative agreement is to educate and train a new generation of scientists, particularly from historically underrepresented communities, in NOAA-relevant STEM disciplines and social sciences, equipped to utilize interdisciplinary approaches to address issues confronting marine and coastal communities. This cooperative agreement reflects a 20-year legacy of partnership with Florida A&M University and the NOAA EPP/MSI. In 2021, the NOAA CCME agreement was renewed to continue five additional years of providing opportunities for students to gain skills for entering the competitive future NOAA-mission aligned workforce, with particular emphasis on the NOAA Science and Technology Focus areas including environmental justice and citizen science.

NOAA CCME will host the Tenth Biennial NOAA EPP/MSI Education and Science Forum on April 6-8 in Tallahassee, Florida, at Florida A&M University with opportunities to network with students, faculty, and NOAA and industry researchers. For more information about the Forum and how to attend please visit https://ccme.famu.edu/eppforum2022/.

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 UCI offers these grants on a competitive basis to Monmouth University faculty to support individual or collaborative projects for the enhancement of existing curriculum, new curriculum development, research and scholarship and team-teaching opportunities. Funding is available through the Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Scholars program for faculty and student researchers of all disciplines whose work advances core elements of Monmouth’s Strategic Plan and supports the UCI’s mission. The following projects were approved for the spring round.

Going Green across the Garden State: Fostering the Formation of Green Teams in New Jersey School Districts

Faculty researchers: Michelle Schpakow, Ed.D., Department of Curriculum and Instruction; School of Education Dean John Henning, Ph.D.; Kyle Seiverd, Ed.D., School of Science

Roughly half of New Jersey school districts have formed green teams comprised of teachers, administrators, students, parents and other community members to promote sustainable practices.  This project will determine factors that promote green team development and share these strategies with the larger New Jersey community through a webinar; facilitate the development of new green teams at three New Jersey schools by establishing mentorships with three established green teams; and pilot discussions in focus group sessions that determine how the process of forming green teams affects participants’ perspectives regarding sustainability.

Ruin/Regeneration: A Sculptural Installation

Faculty researcher: Susan Meyer, MFA, Department of Art & Design

This grant will support the creation of a sculptural installation inspired by the cyclical states of ruin and regeneration in coastal areas along the New Jersey shoreline. Professor Meyer and student assistants will conduct research on coastal ecosystems in Sandy Hook and utopian societies that once existed in Ocean Grove and at the historic North American Phalanx in Colts Neck to inform the project. The artwork will be publicly exhibited at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, through the summer.

Apply Now for Funding

The UCI is currently seeking proposals for student summer research grants, Faculty Enrichment Grants for the summer and fall, and endowed scholarships for the 2022-23 school year. Learn how to apply for the grants and scholarships.

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.

Students in Professor Randall Abate’s Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy class recently delivered final presentations on issues they selected to concentrate on throughout the semester. Among them were Michelle Etienne who focused on whether local beach badge fees were consistent with the public trust doctrine, and Samantha Pawlik, who explored how New Jersey’s offshore wind farms will impact marine life. Learn about their findings in the Q&A and presentation slides below.

Presentation Title: “N.J. Beach Access: Do Beach Badges Violate the Public Trust Doctrine?”

Student Researcher: Michelle Etienne

Year and Major: Senior, Music Industry

View slides (PDF, 1MB)

What is the public trust doctrine and how does it relate to beach badge fees?

The public trust doctrine ​​is the principle that certain natural and cultural resources are preserved for public use, and that the government owns and must protect and maintain these resources for the public’s use. It originates from Roman law, was established in English Common law, and was adopted in the U.S. in state law. In New Jersey, the public trust doctrine applies to tidal waterways and their shores in the state and establishes that citizens have the right to fully utilize these lands and waters for a variety of public activities that must be protected. These public activities include navigation, commerce, fishing, swimming, bathing, sunbathing, and walking along tidal waterways and their shores. At the beach, the land that reaches the mean high waterline (wet sands) is public trust land managed by the state.

The public trust doctrine in New Jersey requires the state and local governments to ensure adequate access to public trust sites (i.e. the wet sands and open water). There must be adequate linear/lateral access, perpendicular access, and visual access to these public trust lands. This is where beach badges play a role. In order to access the dry private sands, and ultimately the public sands, many New Jersey beaches charge a fee. At each vertical and horizontal access point on the beaches, badge checkers await to make sure that beachgoers have paid a fee to access the beach for the day. The question is whether this practice of charging a fee to access private land and ultimately public land is permissible under the public trust doctrine.

Do you believe charging the public to use the beach violates the spirit of the public trust doctrine? Why or why not?

As a Jersey Shore resident, I am accustomed to having to purchase my seasonal beach badge each summer and the concept of beach badges has never seemed odd to me. However, in researching the PTD and the history of beach badges on the Jersey Shore, I believe that this practice violates the PTD.

Beach badges were first introduced by the town of Bradley Beach in 1929 for the sole purpose of limiting beach access to only town residents and visitors in town hotels. But it quickly was recognized as a revenue-generating method and many beach towns followed suit. In 1972, in the landmark case of Borough of Neptune v. Avon-by-the-Sea, Avon-by-the-Sea attempted to charge less for badges for town residents and more for out-of-town residents to access its beaches. The court held that municipalities may not discriminate against nonresidents with badge fees. Although this case established that there may not be any discrimination in pricing, badge fees still restrict some people from being able to go to the beach. These fees also have no limit to how much they can be increased each year. In Avon-by-the-Sea alone, daily badge fees went up by $3 in just two years and a regular adult season badge increased by $10. Although these badge fees are the same for everyone, these fees are becoming more expensive, ultimately making it less affordable for some New Jersians to access the beach. This reality undermines the goals of the public trust doctrine and the duty that state and local governments have to ensure adequate access to public trust lands.

What are some ways that the state or municipalities can better uphold the rights granted in the public trust doctrine?

Many shore towns argue that badge fees are necessary to their town budget. The towns reinvest these revenues to help maintain the beaches for public use. While towns need to have adequate funding for beach maintenance, I have two suggestions that I believe would help towns raise adequate funds for beach maintenance while upholding the rights granted in the PTD.

My first suggestion is for the state to establish a percentage limit on the amount a town can increase its badge fees per season. Towns would need permission from the state to increase fees above these levels. This would ensure that towns aren’t increasing these fees too quickly and that they have legitimate, strong reasoning for these increases that are beneficial to the maintenance of public trust lands. My next suggestion is that all beach towns adopt a “Beach Utility,” which is a committee of town elected officials that dedicates all revenue derived from beach badge sales back into the maintenance of the beach. This would ensure that the money made from badge sales is used exclusively to maintain the private and public beach lands.

Presentation Title: “Implementing Safeguards for New Jersey Offshore Wind Projects to Address Impacts to Marine Life”

Student Researcher: Samantha Pawlik

Year and Major: Senior, Political Science

View Slides (PDF, 1MB)

Your presentation examined the issue of offshore wind energy off the New Jersey coast. Where does progress on wind development stand in New Jersey today and what are the next steps?

New Jersey is currently approved to start construction of the nation’s largest combined offshore wind farm in 2024. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) awarded a combined 2,658 MW of offshore wind capacity to Ørsted’s Ocean Wind II and Shell’s Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, bringing the state’s total planned capacity to over 3,700 MW. Gov. Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 92 in 2020, setting the goal of 7,500 MW of offshore wind by 2035. The federal government, led by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), is responsible for identifying, leasing, and reviewing offshore wind areas and projects located between three and 200 nautical miles from the U.S. coast. BOEM will review and approve the construction and operation phases for the two projects, which includes environmental and technical reviews as well as design and implementation plans.

You discussed some of the risks that offshore wind projects pose to marine life, and cetaceans in particular. Can you describe what you found?

Although there is limited research on this topic, I was able to find enough information to conclude that offshore wind farms do have a significant impact on marine wildlife and their habitat. Excessive noise can affect marine wildlife behavior, particularly those species that are more sensitive to sound, that rely on their use of vocalization for communication, and those that use echolocation for navigation, such as cetaceans. Preconstruction activities of offshore wind farms include use of geosurveys that use high-energy acoustic sources to transmit sound, which creates an image of the seafloor. Construction requires a variety of sound-generating activities, including seismic exploration, excavation with explosives, dredging, ship and/or barge operations, and pile driving. Even during the operations phase of wind turbines, researchers have found that the slight vibrations that travel through the poles cause sound radiation through the seafloor. These activities all result in disturbances to marine habitat and can cause negative impacts to marine wildlife behavior and health.

What are some of the ways those risks could be mitigated on the technology and policy sides?

Mitigating these risks through technology and policy reforms is key to implementing such a large-scale project in a safe manner. Cutting-edge technology has been a crucial component in the construction of offshore wind farms. My project discussed suction bucket and gravity-based foundations, which are new technologies that can be used in place of monopile foundations as a quieter and less disruptive alternative during construction. Collaboration between agencies to provide efficient documentation of progress and findings, transparency of information with shore towns and public education on the projects, and continued research efforts are all key to attenuate the threats posed by offshore wind farms. Duke University recently received a $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to assess the risks that offshore wind energy development along the East Coast may pose to birds, bats, and marine mammals. This type of research will help inform decisions and identify steps that can be taken to reduce harmful impacts on marine wildlife as offshore wind deployment increases.

The Monmouth Urban Coast Institute (UCI) will serve on a team that has received $89,690 through the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) to develop a restoration plan for marsh islands in Barnegat Bay that can improve the system’s ecological health and protect nearby communities from flooding, coastal storms and climate threats.

Grantee Long Beach Township and the New Jersey Bay Islands Initiative (NJBII) will guide a core project team consisting of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Barnegat Bay Partnership, Stockton University, Ducks Unlimited, Mordecai Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy and the UCI. The team will use a GIS decision-support tool to prioritize five islands adjacent to the township that are in greatest need of restoration and best-positioned to reduce flood risk and exposure to residents. Appropriate nature-based strategies will be determined for restoring the islands, such as depositing dredged sediments along their perimeters, growing oyster reefs to curtail wave impacts, and building up plant communities that can stabilize the areas.

UCI Associate Director Thomas Herrington, a coastal engineer, will advise on the project designs and work with the team to develop cost estimates and other documents for evaluation by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies that would handle their eventual construction. Monmouth University students will also assist with research on the project.

The team’s grant proposal noted that the many small marsh islands throughout the bay provide critical protections to nearby communities, citing a study that concluded natural wetlands reduced annual flood risk to properties within 5 feet of mean sea level in the area by up to 70% over a wide range of storm characteristics. It also noted that they were habitats for endangered, threatened and at-risk species including the northern diamondback terrapin, piping plover, least tern, black skimmer, red knot and American oystercatcher.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced funding for this and 48 other coastal resilience projects in 28 states and U.S. territories in a Nov. 18 press release. View a full list of projects funded through the NCRF 2021 grant slate.