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The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) will honor two former New Jersey governors, Thomas Kean and James Florio, and four others who have worked to protect the shore and marine environments at the 14th<\/sup> Annual Coastal and Ocean Champion Awards on Oct. 9. The event, which is open to the public, will also celebrate the 40th<\/sup> anniversary of New Jersey’s Coastal Management Program and recognize several individuals who have made significant contributions to its success over the years.<\/p>\n The UCI will present its highest honor, the National Champion of the Ocean Award, to the New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance, represented by its honorary co-chairs, Govs. Florio and Kean. The Alliance was formed in 2011 as a network of partner organizations dedicated to enhancing New Jersey’s capacity to plan for and respond to a changing climate. The Alliance has focused on climate change preparedness in key impacted sectors, including public health, watersheds, rivers, coastal communities, built infrastructure, agriculture and natural resources.<\/p>\n In addition to his leadership on the Alliance, Kean was known as a strong advocate for New Jersey\u2019s coast while governor from 1982-90. He led an effort to successfully oppose a federal proposal for offshore oil and gas development off the coast of New Jersey, signed legislation curbing overdevelopment in waterfront areas, and crafted a joint plan with then-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo to end ocean dumping.<\/p>\n Florio was an environmental leader as a member of Congress from 1975-90, authoring legislation that launched the Superfund Program and working ensure to the passage of the Medical Waste Tracking Act. As governor from 1990-94, he strengthened penalties for industrial water polluters and permanently ended the practice of dumping sewage sludge in the ocean.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Jersey is lucky to have had two true ocean champions serving during what may have been our beaches\u2019 greatest hour of need,\u201d said UCI Director Tony MacDonald. \u201cGovernors Kean and Florio worked tirelessly to combat pollution problems that posed serious threats to public health and the Jersey Shore\u2019s economy in the 1980s and early 1990s. Today, their leadership of the Alliance will ensure protections for future generations and that New Jersey is prepared to adapt to climate impacts. Their actions have set a standard for all governors to work across party and state lines in support of healthy beaches and marine environments.\u201d<\/p>\n The UCI will also present its Coastal and Ocean Leadership Award to David Kinsey and John Weingart, who were instrumental in the design, 1978 approval and early implementation of the Coastal Management Program; former New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Commissioner Mark Mauriello, who spent his career at the agency as an advocate for coastal conservation and management of coastal hazards; and Rutgers University Professor Emeritus Norbert Psuty, a coastal geomorphologist whose long and distinguished career helped build a greater understanding of the history and evolution of the Jersey coast, and the impact of development on its natural processes.<\/p>\n The Champion of the Ocean Awards were established in 2005 to honor individuals who have helped ensure coasts and oceans are clean, safe, sustainably managed and preserved for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations. Past honorees include former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Leon Panetta, ocean explorer Robert Ballard, marine biologist Sylvia Earle, oceanographer Jean-Michael Cousteau, and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.<\/p>\n The reception will take place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the historic Great Hall. The cost is $100 for individual tickets, with proceeds to benefit the UCI and student research scholarships.\u00a0 Event information is available online<\/a> or you may contact Doris Meyer at dmeyer@monmouth.edu<\/a> or 732-263-5662<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Abate will serve as a tenured professor in the Political Science and Sociology Department<\/a> while also being affiliated with the Urban Coast Institute<\/a> (UCI). He joins the Monmouth faculty with 24 years of full-time teaching experience at six U.S. law schools, most recently from 2009-2018 at Florida A&M University College of Law in Orlando.<\/p>\n He will teach undergraduate level classes which he expects could draw a mix of students from science, social science, humanities, and business backgrounds. That is because climate change has become what he calls \u201cthe ultimate interdisciplinary topic,\u201d impacting people\u2019s lives on so many levels. He is eager to teach and mentor students who are considering law school and careers in environmental and public policy.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially with what I teach, the earlier you get the message out, the better,\u201d Abate said. \u201cWith climate change, you want to train tomorrow\u2019s environmental leaders when they\u2019re 18, not when they\u2019re 24 or 25.\u201d<\/p>\n Calling the opportunity at Monmouth \u201cirresistible,\u201d the Cheshire, Connecticut, native said he was thrilled to return to his roots in the Northeast. Prior to moving to Florida in 2006, he taught at Rutgers University School of Law (Camden), Widener University School of Law (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and Vermont Law School, and handled environmental law matters at two firms in New York City. He obtained his juris doctorate and M.S.E.L. (environmental law and policy) degrees from Vermont Law School and a bachelor\u2019s degree from the University of Rochester.<\/p>\n Professor Abate has published five influential books, including \u201cClimate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law: U.S. and International Perspectives\u201d (Oxford University Press 2015). He has also written more than 30 law journal articles and book chapters on environmental and animal law topics, with a recent emphasis on climate change law and justice. He is currently working as the sole author on his sixth book project, \u201cClimate Change and the Voiceless,\u201d which will be published by Cambridge University Press in the summer of 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThe book will address how the law is starting to consider ways to protect the vulnerable and marginalized who have no legal voice. The three categories I\u2019m focusing on are future generations, or the unborn; animals; and natural resources,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now there\u2019s a movement across all three of those domains to give them legal protections even though they can\u2019t speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Abate noted that animal law is a deep field of study that deals with how people interface with animals from societal and legal perspectives. It can encompass topics as diverse as how pets are treated by the courts in divorce proceedings, protection of marine endangered species, agriculture and food law and policy reform to promote animal protection, and veterinary malpractice.<\/p>\n The chair was endowed by a gift from Joan and Robert Rechnitz. Mr. Rechnitz is a professor emeritus of English and Mrs. Rechnitz a Monmouth graduate. Joan and Robert Rechnitz Hall on campus is also home to the University\u2019s Department of Art and Design. In 2014, the Rechnitzes also made the initial donation that led to a successful $5 million challenge grant fundraising campaign to support the UCI\u2019s Marine Science and Policy Initiative<\/a>. The Initiative has since supported numerous student-faculty research projects, classroom innovation, and science and educational symposia in collaboration with Rockefeller University\u2019s Program for the Human Environment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scroll down to watch some of this year\u2019s participants discuss their projects. A booklet with abstracts for all of this year\u2019s Summer Research Program projects<\/a>\u00a0is available for\u00a0download.<\/p>\n A Comparison of Phytoplankton and Water Quality in Two Estuaries in Neighboring Watersheds of Monmouth County<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Erin Conlon and Sydney Lucas<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>Monmouth U. Appoints Rechnitz Family UCI Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Law and Policy<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Monmouth University has named Randall S. Abate its inaugural Rechnitz Family Urban Coast Institute Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Law and Policy. In this new position, Abate will conduct research and teach courses on environmental, climate change, marine and coastal, animal, and constitutional law and policy.<\/p>\n<\/a>Videos: Students Present Summer Research Projects<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Twenty-one students who completed nine UCI-funded projects shared their work with visitors at the 2018 Monmouth University School of Science Summer Research Program Symposium on Aug. 9. The annual event provides students and their faculty mentors with an opportunity to stage exhibits and discuss their work with members of the public, faculty and their peers.<\/p>\n