Using Nature-Based Solutions to Restore Salt Marshes and Benefit At-Risk Species
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director This past winter, NJDEP and The Wetlands Institute were awarded a two-year planning grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Coastal Resilience Fund through the Department of the Interior. Funds from the grant are being put toward a wetland enhancement project using dredged sediments...
A Program for Change
by Devin Griffiths, Marketing & Communications Specialist The number of challenges facing the natural world today can be overwhelming, and caring for it often seems daunting. Sometimes just deciding where to focus is a Herculean effort. What’s most important, and how do you begin? Since our inception, we at the Institute have been asking...
Selfish Shellfish? Increased Barnacle Infestation Rates of Diamondback Terrapins
by Brian Williamson, Research Scientist Each year at The Wetlands Institute we incorporate new projects designed to investigate emerging and long-standing questions about the organisms we study. While we have been working with terrapins for decades, much remains to be learned about these important members of the saltmarsh community and how the...
Visualizing Resilience
by Sean Burkholder, Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania The Wetlands Institute (TWI) has been collaborating with The Environmental Modeling Lab (EMLab) at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design over the past 5 years to collect data, visualize landscape change, and assist in the development of marsh resilience...
Designing the Future
by Dr. Jonathan Hubler, Assistant Professor, Villanova University The Wetlands Institute (TWI) and the Villanova University (VU) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering have teamed up to offer a Senior Capstone project for students to perform geotechnical evaluation and design for elevating the Salt Marsh Trail. Dr. Jonathan Hubler is...
Evolving Threats, Advancing Solutions
by Elizabeth Hefner, Development Team Today, the threats to the marsh look different than they did in 1965. While development pressures continue to be a danger, now the impacts most acutely felt are from rapidly rising seas. They manifest as the increased frequency and intensity of coastal storms, nuisance sunny-day flooding, and continued...
Gooey Beaches and Backwaters
by Ray Burke, Institute Supporter Raising a family of marsh wanderers meant that my parents, like so many others, were used to welcoming home wet, muddy children with their similarly afflicted pets.On one particular day in August 1965, however, there was a significant departure from the normal pattern of wet and muddy. On that day, everybody was...
Marsh Musings – Winter 2024-25
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director The threats to marsh ecosystems have shifted since The Wetlands Institute was first founded more than 50 years ago. At that time, a primary focus was to address wetland loss to development. Early research at the Institute, done through a partnership with Lehigh University, focused on oil spills and...
Restoring Marshes at the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director The Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary is a truly remarkable place, and an important refuge on 7 Mile Island. This 21-acre site boasts a mature Atlantic Maritime Forest and both fresh and tidal wetlands. These forests were once widespread on barrier islands and mainland coasts, but due to coastal development,...
Partnership & Collaboration: A Cornerstone of Excellence and Innovation in the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab
by Steve Rochette, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers andDr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director, The Wetlands Institute No one organization can solve the most complex or difficult societal and environmental issues. Moving beyond the status quo and taking bold action is not always neat and linear. Thus, it’s no surprise that the...
Notes From a Nest Box: A Successful Swallow Season
by Meghan Kolk, Conservation Scientist, and Devin Griffiths, Marketing & Communications Specialist If you've ever visited us here, you've likely seen the gourd towers on our back lawn and the rectangular wooden boxes spread around the property, and you may have wondered who they're for - and more importantly, whether or not they work. These...
Making Our Mission Happen – Autumn 2024
by Elizabeth Hefner, Development Team The Wetlands Institute is not merely a building, it is a gateway for experiential education that enriches connection, drives community building, and draws generations together. Sandra Mackin Mezzanotte's grandparents and parents met in Ocean City. In the late 1960s, Sandra’s parents purchased a home in Ocean...
Marsh Musings – Autumn 2024
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Tick tock, where did summer go? It happens every year. We wait patiently for its arrival and then wonder where the time went. The interns have come and gone, but once again enriched us with their energy, curiosity, and discoveries. Summer Nature Program participants filled every space of the Institute...
Rehabilitating Drowning Marshes
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Salt marshes are an essential component of coastal ecosystems, performing services that benefit both wildlife and people. They are among the most diverse habitats on Earth, rivaling coral reefs and tropical rain forests. They provide essential food, refuge, and nursery habitat for more than 75% of fish...
To Track a Terrapin: Researching the Movements and Habits of our Reptilian Neighbors
by Brian Williamson, Research Scientist If you frequent shore communities of southern New Jersey in the summer months, you have likely seen a northern diamondback terrapin, either a hatchling scrambling to the nearest vegetation, a female hastily crossing a road to nest, or a smaller-bodied male basking on the bank of a tidal creek. These...
Marsh Musings – Summer 2024
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Ah summer. That magical time when we all embrace the beloved coastal way of life. Seems to take too long to arrive and then end too soon. It’s a great reminder to savor the moments that make it so special. For all of us at The Wetlands Institute, it’s a very busy time of year, but it’s also one we relish...
Mother Knows Best
by Ray Burke, Wetlands Institute Supporter Growing up on a farm bordering Jenkins Sound, my earliest memories included family adventures into the marshes and tidal creeks between the mainland and Seven Mile Beach. There was, however, one particular event that forever directed my attention to Ospreys inhabiting the marsh.In 1963 my parents became...
The Marshketeers Notch Another Victory… for the Birds
by Devin Griffiths, Marketing & Communications Specialist Saturday, May 11, 3:00 AM. It’s deja vu all over again as The Marshketeers – our unstoppable band of birders – set out hours ahead of the sun for the NJ Audubon World Series of Birding, a 24-hour birding marathon in the name of conservation. We catch the first birds of the day along a...
The Shorebird Steward Program: An Essential Component of Shorebird Conservation
by Meghan Kolk, Conservation Scientist Shorebirds face a multitude of threats that are outside of our control, but human disturbance is one factor that we can reduce. With ever-growing demands on our beaches, there are fewer spaces for shorebirds and seabirds that depend on the beaches year-round to feed, rest, and raise their families. Many of...
Raising up Our Marshes to Ensure Their Survival
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Coastal marshes, tidal creeks, and bays are the cradle of life. They host a phenomenal diversity of wildlife; are nursery grounds for fish and shellfish; are home to myriad wildlife that rely on them for food, nesting, and resting; are crucial to coastal resilience, offering protection against damage to...
Supporting the Future of Research
by Elizabeth Hefner, Development Team The Wetlands Institute is pleased to announce it has awarded the first fellowship in the Jeannie Morris Graduate Fellowship Program for Coastal Conservation and Research. Our first fellowship recipient is Garret Maggio, a Ph.D. student in the Biology, Biomedicine, and Chemistry Program at East Carolina...
Three Generations of Connection
by Chip Roach, Institute Supporter and Loyalty Society Member We have been visitors to The Wetlands Institute (TWI) building and donors for decades. It is TWI’s stewardship of the tidal marsh and the architectural beauty of the headquarters building that were the main motivators of our giving. Then, onto the scene came twin boys, named Justin and...
Marsh Musings – Spring 2024
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director As spring arrives in the marsh, I reflect on the passing of another year and how things have evolved. I take stock in the external forces that drive our work, the accomplishments we have achieved so far, and all we have planned for the new year. I have the benefit of seeing the marshes almost every day...
Creating an Ethic of Stewardship Across Generations
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director, & Elizabeth Hefner, Development Team The Wetlands Institute (TWI) is a gateway to connections that inspire stewardship. Our mission is to promote appreciation, understanding, and stewardship of wetlands and coastal ecosystems, and for the past 55 years, we have fervently believed that the most...
Saving Drowning Marshes – It’s in Our Nature
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Tidal marshes are the foundation of a complex web that sustains the coastal way of life. Whether by providing food, shelter, and home to the myriad of life that rely on them; protecting our communities from storms; or connecting us to nature through their calming and majestic presence, our marshes are...
Recent News
- Using Nature-Based Solutions to Restore Salt Marshes and Benefit At-Risk Species
- A Program for Change
- Selfish Shellfish? Increased Barnacle Infestation Rates of Diamondback Terrapins
- Visualizing Resilience
- Designing the Future
- Evolving Threats, Advancing Solutions
- Gooey Beaches and Backwaters
- Marsh Musings – Winter 2024-25
- Restoring Marshes at the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary
- Administrative Coordinator
- Director of Finance
- Partnership & Collaboration: A Cornerstone of Excellence and Innovation in the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab
- Notes From a Nest Box: A Successful Swallow Season
- Making Our Mission Happen – Autumn 2024
- Marsh Musings – Autumn 2024