Tag Archives: Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute

News, Regional Interest

Making Waves: MU Study Finds Rain-Driven Pollution Plagues Ocean Surf Zones

Surfers at beaches where stormwater drainage pipes discharge into the ocean risk catching more than waves on a rainy day.

Monmouth University researchers studying the influence of weather and ocean conditions on microbial pollution found that within six to 24 hours of moderate rainfall, enterococcus bacteria levels exceeded state health safety standards about half the time at these beaches. While rain is a known driver of illness-causing microbial pollution at New Jersey beaches, this was the first peer-reviewed study to formally investigate the linkage.

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News, Regional Interest

Federal Funding Garnered to Bolster Area Coastal Resilience

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.

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Regional Interest

Monmouth U Begins Pollution Study of Surfing Beaches

Monmouth University scientists and students have begun a yearlong study on the linkage between rainfall and microbial pollution at surfing beaches in New Jersey including Asbury Park, Deal and Long Branch. The work will be conducted through a $30,000 contract with the Surfers’ Environmental Alliance (SEA). 

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Local Life

Scene Around: Marine Research Vessel Dedicated to Memory of Rumson’s Heidi Sculthorpe

Gallery

Rumsonite Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe was known as a woman who loved the water.

She passed away on April 25, 2008; and her love of all things water-centric, family and friends was something that loved ones noted as everlasting. In fact, her obituary cited that in lieu of flowers, donations should be sent to Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute (UCI).

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Regional Interest

Monmouth U Names Urban Coast Institute Chair in Marine & Environmental Law & Policy

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.

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News

Rumson & Monmouth U Forge Partnership to Build Marine Research Facility on River

Monmouth University and the Rumson officials unveiled plans Tuesday to develop a new Monmouth Marine and Environmental Field Station on the swath of borough property located on the banks of the Navesink River behind borough hall.

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News, Regional Interest

Urban Coast Institute: The New Administration and the Ocean’s Future

From Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute … 

The Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) is holding a public forum to set coastal and ocean priorities for the next administration and Congress next week.

The 12th Annual Future of the Ocean Symposium will be held on Dec. 7 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Wilson Hall Auditorium at the West Long Branch university. Admission is free and open to the public.

The panelists, former New Jersey Gov. and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science President Dr. Donald Boesch, will offer their views and recommendations on critical actions that the administration and Congress should take to ensure that our coasts and oceans are healthy, productive and support sustainable economic development.

Among their many other accomplishments and qualifications, Whitman and Boesch serve on the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative (JOCI) Leadership Council, a national organization dedicated to marine policy reform. JOCI soon plans to release a nine-point action plan for the Trump administration and the new Congress. UCI Ocean Policy Fellow and Monmouth University President Emeritus Paul G. Gaffney II also serves as a member of the JOCI Leadership Council.

“The oceans are going through unprecedented changes, including sea level rise, shifting currents and weather patterns, ocean acidification, and ecosystem destruction,” Whitman said. “These changes are a mounting threat not only to marine ecosystems, but to coastal communities and economies. We must confront these issues with a bipartisan approach from policymakers in Washington and at all levels of government.”

“Robust federal investments in science and research can spur innovation, address important national and global challenges, create new economic sectors, and ultimately save lives,” Boesch said. “If our ecosystems and livelihoods are to be sustained for the future, we’ll need to pair such financial commitments to research with concerted action on policies based in science.”

“The Future of the Ocean Symposium provides a unique forum for students, faculty and the public to engage nationally recognized experts in discussions on the pressing ocean issues of our time,” said UCI Director Tony MacDonald, who will moderate the panel. “As a coastal university, we are also pleased to honor a group of Ocean Champions whose work has so directly impacted lives here on the Jersey Shore and beyond.”

News, Regional Interest

Draft Ocean Action Plan to be Unveiled

From the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute …

Monmouth University will serve as New Jersey’s site for the unveiling of a historic draft Ocean Action Plan for the Mid-Atlantic region on July 14.

The draft plan is the product of nearly three years of deliberations and stakeholder outreach by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body (MidA RPB), a group composed of federal agencies, tribal entities, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The plan will recommend strategies and actions for improved coordination among those entities with the goal of safeguarding the region’s coastal ecosystems, cultures and economies.

In 2010, President Obama established a National Ocean Policy (NOP) which called for greater collaboration among states and regional authorities on marine issues and supported the formation of regional planning bodies to develop ocean plans for their respective territories by the end of 2016. The MidA RPB is one of eight such groups nationally to have been formed for this purpose.

“The ocean is getting busier all the time with activities such as beach recreation, fishing, shipping, sand extraction and boating,” Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) Director Tony MacDonald said. “In the coming years we’ll see the introduction of offshore wind farms and much larger cargo vessels as a result of the Panama Canal’s expansion. A regional planning approach of this kind is necessary to avoid conflicts between these activities and keep the ocean safe and clean for all users.”

The open house will provide participants an opportunity to learn about the plan, ask questions and provide feedback that will be considered for a final document that is submitted to the federal government for adoption in the fall.

The event will be hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Council on the Ocean (MARCO), an organization formed by the governors of the five coastal states represented by the MidA RPB. The UCI has partnered closely with MARCO on several projects, most notably the development of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal (portal.midatlanticocean.org), an interactive ocean mapping and information site that will serve as one of the core data sources for the Plan.

The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second floor of Pozycki Hall. Parking is recommended in lots 13, 14 or 15.

The draft plan will be posted online at http://www.boem.gov/MidA-New in early July. Additional public open houses will be held on July 12 in Virginia, July 19 in Maryland, July 20 in Delaware and July 27 in New York. A public webinar for the Plan will be held on July 11. Further details on those events can be found at www.midatlanticocean.org.