by Kristen Egan, Development Manager Barbara and Jim Summers have embraced The Wetlands Institute’s mantra of “we make no small plans”. This mantra and vision for the future has inspired their transformative support over many years to the Institute – support that makes bigger plans possible. While spending many summers together in Avalon and...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director With winter drawing to a close and the promise of spring on the horizon, 2021 is rapidly coming into focus. As an organization, we are faced again with a complex landscape of external factors that will shape day-to-day operations and our future planning. I have come to think of 2020 as a reactive year. It...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director The interface between land and sea is a magical place and the lure of the coast is undeniably strong. There are volumes of research out there seeking to prove that as humans, we have an innate draw to the sea. For so many of us, we don’t need proof. The beach is our happy place. It’s a place of wonderful...

The Coastal Conservation Research Program (CCRP) offers a 10-week summer internship program for undergraduate students hosted at The Wetlands Institute on the Cape May Peninsula of southern New Jersey. Located on 6,000 acres of coastal salt marsh and in close proximity to Atlantic coast barrier island and Delaware Bay beaches, The Wetlands...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director As I think about the final quarter of 2020, I do so with weary eyes. This has been a year of challenges for The Wetlands Institute. I know that most, if not all of you can relate because of the challenges faced by you and your families. The Wetlands Institute faced the stress of closure and remote work...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Last year, The Wetlands Institute celebrated its 50th Anniversary. We looked back and honored all those that came before us and acknowledged their wisdom and leadership to protect these wildlands and lay a foundation for research, conservation, and education that transcends us all. In celebration, The...

by Erin Rawls, Outreach Coordinator For the Education Department, like so many others, this year is all about adaptation. Shifting our field trips into a virtual space has been no exception. Though this process has been demanding, the virtual programs so far have received great feedback. Virtual field trip programming is an exciting new way to be...

by Sue Slotterback, Environmental Educator Dear Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, Aunts and Uncles of the very best kind, and to you who are facing the uncertainties and concerns of our children’s education: Much of the conversation about education these days has been equated to “building the plane while flying it”, which is obviously...

by Dr. Lisa Ferguson, Director of Research and Conservation Each spring, the Delaware Bay plays host to one of nature’s great spectacles as hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs – the largest concentration in the world – come ashore to spawn. They are followed by countless migrating shorebirds that descend on the Bay beaches to feed on the...

by Sam Collins, Research Scientist Spend any time around a marsh and you’ll come across a familiar sight: Elegant, long-legged birds wandering among the grasses or hunting in the shallow water. These birds – herons and egrets – are some of the wetlands’ most iconic species. They belong to a group known as wading birds, which includes cranes,...

PHILADELPHIA (Sept. 15, 2020) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District has issued an advisory regarding ongoing dredging along the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway. The Army Corps’ contractor Barnegat Bay Dredging Company is conducting dredging in the federal channel of the waterway between markers 386 to 397 (west of Avalon and...

Stone Harbor, NJ – On September 17, The Wetlands Institute kicks off the 2020-2021 season of its Nature Education for Homeschool Students and Teachers (NEHST) program. For nearly two decades, The Wetlands Institute has provided homeschoolers with engaging learning experiences that immerse them in science and nature, and encourage exploration and...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director, and Devin Griffiths, Marketing & Communications Specialist This has been quite a year. Coming out of 2019 with all the pomp and celebration of our 50th Anniversary, we were poised to seize the opportunity to create excellence for the next 50 years. Driven by the outpouring of support and passion for...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director It’s hard to believe the “summer that wasn’t” has come to a close. It has certainly been an unusual year thus far, and one I would like to put behind us. The quiet building is certainly something we are not used to during the summer. We finally were able to open to the public on July 1 and welcome you...

by Brooke Knapick, Director of Educational Program Development The Wetlands Institute is a place of education, research and conservation, where people from all walks of life come to learn about the surrounding salt marshes. Over the past few months, The Wetlands Institute has been working to update and enhance weathered signage that was...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director The strangest things happen when you least expect it. As we transitioned our largest fund-raiser, the Summer Celebration, from an in-person to a virtual event, we focused on how best to tell our story. Our story is that “It’s In Our Nature” – to preserve, protect and steward marshes and coastal...

by Brooke Knapick, Director of Educational Program Development As a return to the 2020-2021 academic school year commences, an all, or nearly all, virtual learning environment becomes reality for both formal and non-formal educators alike. At The Wetlands Institute, our early endeavors into remote and virtual learning, including our Summer Nature...

by Dr. Lisa Ferguson, Director of Research & Conservation In our sphere, changing plans is a common practice due to weather, tides, behavior of the animals we work with, and new information learned. It’s the nature of the work we do. This year, our powers of adaption were put to a new test. Lucky for us, we are a group passionate about the...

If you've missed the physical book and gift store here at The Wetlands Institute, we have great news: the Tidepool Shop has reopened! On Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30-4:30, you can browse the shop again for your favorite items, and check out what's new as well – like the new color of our popular Terrapin Conservation Project T-shirt. It's the...

Stone Harbor, NJ – For the summer of 2020, The Wetlands Institute launched an exciting new nature discovery experience – the Summer Nature Program Adventure Chest. An adaptation of its popular and much-loved Summer Nature Program, the once-weekly Adventure Chests provide nature explorers aged 4-13 the Institute’s traditional Summer Nature Program...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Just weeks before the world changed so dramatically, Dr. Lisa Ferguson and I had the privilege of hosting a trip of exploration and discovery to Ecuador, the Galápagos, and Peru. We were joined on our sold-out trip by 19 fellow explorers and friends of the Institute, and all had the experience of a...

by Devin Griffiths, Marketing & Communications Specialist On Saturday, May 9 - the coldest May day in recent memory – TWI’s team of intrepid birders, The Marshketeers, gave up sleep and braved the weather to spend 24 hours birding for conservation during NJ Audubon’s World Series of Birding. COVID-19 presented some significant challenges this...

Never Waste a Good Crisisby Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Boy, what to even say. As I reflect on the past few months, I can say with certainty that this has been an incredibly trying time for The Wetlands Institute. My thoughts about leadership during a crisis of this magnitude have evolved quite rapidly and I can finally say I think I...

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director As we have reported in the past, TWI is part of a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Philadelphia District, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) that has developed the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab...

by Danielle Meeker, Aquarist/Environmental Educator Say hello to Hank, the newest addition to our Secrets of the Salt Marsh Aquarium! Hank was donated to The Wetlands Institute by Jeff Martin, Marine Science teacher at Lower Cape May Regional High School. Octopus are extremely curious and playful and Hank is no exception. Whenever we walk into...