Second Update! Coastal Stewardship in New Jersey

July 6, 2023

On June 13, I attended the third session of my coastal stewardship course through the Ocean County Cooperative Extension of Rutgers University. The first presenters were Dr. Jim Merritt and Bruce Beveridge, a charismatic and funny duo who gave the class an introduction to shellfish biology. They presented detailed diagrams on the anatomies of clams, oysters, and scallops, explaining how these organisms eat, filter water and excrete waste. I learned about the life cycles of these mollusks, how they move (or, in the case of oysters, attach to a single spot throughout their lives), how they reproduce, and the typical timeline for each species to reach maturity. Bruce’s website is a great resource that gives even more in-depth information about the many species of mollusks that live in the Barnegat Bay area. As a resident who wants to know how to protect these animals’ health and safety, it was very interesting and helpful to learn more about how they live their lives and the resources they rely on from the bay. The second presentation was given by Gregg Sakowicz, a field researcher and technician from the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve (JCNERR). Gregg spoke about his career in measuring and analyzing important data of the bay’s environment, including temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrate/nitrite, pH, turbidity, atmospheric pressure, and other factors. These data fall in three categories of interest to JCNERR: water quality, meteorology, and nutrients. The data are used to create reserve profiles for the bay. Gregg talked about major hurricanes like Irene and Sandy having clear influences on data trends like salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH. He also mentioned some interesting research projects that JCNERR is conducting; one that really piqued my curiosity was REMUS, an AI-powered underwater vehicle that measures data below the surface and captures its route on video, which can also help to track the presence of various aquatic species. I loved Gregg’s presentation because I am also interested in environmental research, so it was great to gain a taste of what a career in that field might look like. Thank you so much for reading and stay tuned for the next update!