Frequently Asked Questions

What’s happening at TWI?

We had a phenomenal 2026 season. We saved more than 1,257 terrapins, hosted thousands of eager young minds in our education programs, welcomed thousands of visitors who discovered their own conservation ethic while exploring the marsh, and worked with partners on marsh restoration and wetland health research, all while planning changes to our marsh campus.

We reported on the receipt of a NJDEP RGGI grant that is funding a project to revitalize the Salt Marsh Trail. This project is beginning this fall, so we are pausing our public programs on September 8 so that we have time to move. We will reopen November 7 with our standard fall/winter weekend schedule at a new, transitional location: the New Jersey Coastal Conservation Center (NJCCC), 600 North Delsea Drive (Route 47) in Cape May Court House, the former home of NJ Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory Center for Research and Education. All staff are moving there so we can safely elevate the Salt Marsh Trail, revitalize the surrounding ecosystem, restore more marsh acreage, and create a reimagined marsh campus.

What about my membership?

Our location may be different, but your membership benefits are not. Every membership supports our research, conservation, and education programs that create impact for generations to come. Your membership will continue to provide you with free access to trails and gardens, year-round programs, our quarterly newsletter, and discounts at our Tidepool gift shop. All programs offered at the NJ CCC will be free to members, and admission for non-members will be $10.00 for ages 13 and up and for $8.00 ages 4-12.

Tell us more about the Salt Marsh Trail project.

We will raise the elevation of the Salt Marsh Trail by two to three feet. We’ll also widen the trail. This will help us better accommodate school groups and guided tours, and create new high marsh and transitional upland habitat specifically designed for diamondback terrapin nesting and coastal birds. We will replace the boat house with a modest structure and replant the trail with native plants intentionally designed to maximize the benefit to the marsh ecosystem and the plants and animals that depend on it. When it is completed, we will have restored more than five acres of drowning marsh and created an important barrier to storm waves, conferring additional resilience to the Institute campus.

What is the project timeline for the Salt Marsh Trail?

Construction is expected to begin in October 2026 and continue through spring 2027, with a goal of completing the elevation work before sensitive wildlife return. Trailside areas will be planted in spring; other areas will need a season to settle before additional plantings occur. We will conduct research and monitoring from before construction begins through September 2029 to evaluate the project’s effectiveness.

How will TWI programs continue during this time of transition?

We will continue our research, conservation, and education work in transitional space while we are away from our home. The NJ Coastal Conservation Center is newly renovated and includes office space, education spaces, and our Tidepool Shop. The research and conservation teams will be unaffected in their work. We will continue to provide public programming and education programs from the NJCCC. Our education programs will be modified somewhat, and we will continue to work with partners for school field trips, homeschool and scout programs. The NJCCC has trails and native plant gardens for exploration as well.

Will this impact the work done at Scotch Bonnet?

No. Scotch Bonnet and the Salt Marsh Trail are the first two phases of our three-phase plan to reimagine our marsh campus. We’re continuing work that began three years ago, staying connected to our core mission: research informing best-practice conservation, which inspires thoughtful environmental education. This project is about more than a trail or a building. It is about creating a healthy, resilient marsh and a gateway to discovery through research, conservation, and education.

Why are you reimaging your marsh campus?

Our campus is experiencing more frequent and severe flooding as a result of higher sea levels. This is limiting access for our education programs and visitors, and it is damaging the delicate marsh environment. These higher water events are killing mature trees, and flooding habitat, including terrapin and coastal bird nesting areas. We’ve seen unprecedented growth in our research, education and visitor programs, but the age and size of our original building are holding us back. That led us to reimagine The Wetlands Institute with a state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility to support our work for the next 50 years, and a campus transformed into a living ecosystem.

What are your plans for your building and current marsh campus?

We are beginning with the Salt Marsh Trail Revitalization project this fall while we continue to work on planning and fundraising for our Reimaging Campaign that will create a climate-resilient, sustainable home. We have completed the design phase, have submitted the requisite environmental permits, and have received the requisite state permits. We received zoning board approvals from the Middle Township Zoning Board. We continue to fundraise for the building and are working toward starting this building phase in late fall of 2026.

How will the new building be different?

In addition to incorporating the latest in LEED sustainable and resilient building technologies, the new building will provide the additional space and resources to support our mission into the future:

• Elevating the building and grounds for resillience
• Adding four dedicated classrooms (three outdoor, one indoor) where at present we have none
• A 50% increase in the aquarium with state-of-the-art life-support systems for enhanced animal care and all new exhibits.
• Modernizing and more than doubling the lab space.
• All spaces are ADA accessible.

How do you plan to protect wildlife during the construction phases?

The Institute’s marsh campus is an important place for wildlife and our planning has carefully considered the best ways to minimize impacts to wildlife while ultimately improving habitat and conditions for wildlife. We timed construction for late fall, after most wildlife leaves the area. Over the summer, we relocated terrapin nests from The Wetlands Institute’s property to a series of safe enclosures. This included constructing and installing a series of nest boxes to relocate terrapin nests. Each nest box has space to mimic conditions for eggs from about 50 terrapin nests to develop. This method has been used successfully by our team and other researchers and was carefully planned with other leading researchers.

What will the new building look like?

The new building will pay homage to the original building and will be designed to be a gateway to the marsh more than a destination. It will be a mass-timber structure so that it fits in with the coastal setting. Mass timber buildings are a modern, sustainable approach to construction that has reduced environmental impact while being beautiful and appropriate for the harsh environmental conditions of our marsh campus.

Why do you have to remove the original building? Can’t you renovate or expand it?

We worked with building experts to explore all the options, and it became clear it was not feasible to adapt the old building and that it made more sense to rebuild. The original structure was built to 50-year-old standards, including accessibility, fire safety, energy use, and resilience. To increase our resilience and meet new building requirements, the building must be elevated. The foundational structure of the existing building cannot be raised. Finally, even if we were able to renovate, meeting new code requirements would result in an approximately 40% reduction in usable space.

But the building is special…

The style and design of the new building will pay tribute to architect Malcolm Well’s design for the existing building. Wells was an advocate for environmental responsibility in architecture, and that philosophy is present not only in the design of the new building but also in the way we’re working with nature to restore marshes and protect against the impacts of rising seas. The new building is being designed to LEED standards continuing along the pathway the Wells advocated.

Will the Tidepool Shop still be open?

Yes. The Tidepool Shop will be open in our transitional location, 600 N. Delsea Drive (the former NJ Audubon – Center for Research and Education), and online at https://tidepool-shop.myshopify.com/.

Will the adoption program still continue?

Yes! For 2027 adoptions, the only change will be the release locations for the terrapin adoption program.