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THE MARSH CONNECTION
News from the Meadowlands Environment Center and the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority
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MEC Has Receive Notification of a Grant to be Awarded from the NJ Department of Education on Climate Change | |
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The MEC and Ramapo College will be awrded a grant from the NJ Department of Education to provide professional development increasing the knowledge of K-12 teachers to integrate standards-aligned climate change learning in all content areas, offering technical assistance, experiential learning, and identifying instructional materials.
The grant starts April 1, 2024 and runs until March 31, 2025.
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We are excited to be chosen to prepare teachers and school districts to increase student understanding of the most critical issues facing the planet. New Jersey is the first state to address this need, requiring the teaching of climate change across multiple content areas, integrating as an interdisciplinary, authentic learning experience. The outcomes of this project will prepare students to understand how and why climate change happens, the impact it has on our local and global communities, and how to act in informed and sustainable ways. New Jersey students in the K-12 educational environments will be equipped to understand climate change and take on roles in their future that will lead to actions locally, nationally and globally. | |
National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) and Robert F. Schumann Foundation | |
Global Warming & Climate Change | |
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The MEC team made a presentation at the Passaic County Association of School Administrators first Vendor Fair at Passaic County Community College. Our presentation highlighting the MEC’s professional development programs on Global Warming and Climate change was very well received. Several school districts in Passaic County are interested in our offerings.
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Mobile Food Lab Visits Perth Amboy | |
The MEC team delivered food science and nutrition programs to students in grades 7-11 at the Academy for Urban Leadership Charter School in March. Middle school students set up an experiment to examine the effects of acid rain on seed germination, learned about medicinal plants and herbs, and created healthy popcorn snacks. High school students extracted DNA from strawberries, examined the Vitamin C content of orange juice and orange soda, and created a healthy fresh salsa dish. | |
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Early Registration Available!
Book a date for the 2024-2025 school year!
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K-12 Field Trips
The Meadowlands Environment Center is accepting early registration for field trips for all grades & academic abilities both at our center or at your school. No deposit necessary. Book before September and take advantage of this years pricing.
If you are a teacher or administrator and would like to book a date for a field trip for your class, grade, or school, please email us with your information.
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Celebrate Spring in the Meadowlands: Native Plant Day Is Sunday, May 19, at DeKorte Park! | | |
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Join the NJSEA and Bergen County Audubon Society (BCAS) for Native Plant Day on Sunday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst. This family-friendly event encourages visitors to explore the significant importance of native plants to parks and natural areas. Local species serve as food sources for many Meadowlands pollinators such as bees and butterflies. In addition, Monarch Butterflies will only lay eggs on milkweed, a native plant that is abundant in DeKorte Park. As the Monarch Butterfly is in decline, the existence of native plants is critically important to their survival.
Throughout Native Plant Day, NJSEA and BCAS experts will lead tours of DeKorte’s diverse flora. There will also be a presentation on attracting hummingbirds to the backyard. Creating a native plant habitat at home allows individuals to do their part in supporting birds and wildlife while fostering a healthy landscape.
For more information email greatauk4@gmail.com or call 201-230-4983.
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Improved Public Access
Coming To Losen Slote Creek
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The Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute (MRRI) has begun the process of building a boardwalk in Losen Slote Creek Park to provide improved access for park users throughout the year while protecting valuable, vernal pool habitat.
Losen Slote Creek Park is located in Little Ferry and is one of the few remaining lowland forests and meadow habitats within the New Jersey Meadowlands. Due to its unique, freshwater habitats, and location at the north extent of the Meadowlands within the Atlantic Flyway, the site is frequented by a wide variety of birds. Over 170 bird species have been identified within the 24-acre park.
However, because the site contains forested wetlands and is important to the surrounding area for holding stormwater on site during rain events, the park can get very muddy, particularly during spring and winter bird migration, when many bird watchers visit the park.
In order to create better access for Losen Slote Creek Park visitors during these times, MRRI scientists developed a boardwalk design that would require little disturbance to the site’s natural areas while allowing visitors to have a softer touch on the land. (Photo: MRRI staff work on new boardwalk path in Losen Slote Creek Park).
The first section of the boardwalk was constructed in March 2024. MRRI staff will continue to add to the boardwalk throughout the year. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the Bergen County Audubon Society provided funding for the project.
By: Terry Doss
MRRI Co-Director and Chief Restoration Scientist, CERP (Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner)
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NJSEA Adds to Water
Level Sensor Inventory
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The NJSEA Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute (MRRI) in March installed new water level sensors on the existing tide gate located between the NJSEA impoundment at DeKorte Park and Saw Mill Creek, a tributary of the Hackensack River. Both locations are in Lyndhurst. (Photo: MRRI installs new tide gate sensors).
The tide gate sensors measure water depth on both the land and river sides to ensure that the gates are functioning properly. These sensors upload real-time data every 15 minutes to the monitoring network. When there are abnormally high measurements on this new sensor, most likely due to storm surges or heavy rain, MRRI alerts NJSEA staff, who make adjustments to control water flow. This is the ninth tide gate sensor system with live monitoring in the Meadowlands District.
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Motus Data Provides New
Information on a Catbird Migration
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This map depicts data collected on a catbird’s migration captured by the Motus network. The shorter line represents the catbird’s southbound migration, which occurs in the fall. The longer line details the birds northbound migration in the spring, and shows that the bird travelled to south Florida the previous fall. The bird heads north throughout the spring, getting to at least Vermont. | |
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The NJSEA Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute (MRRI), in collaboration with Cailin O’Conner of Kean University, has been using the Motus network to study the migration patterns of birds in the Meadowlands. The network uses small transmitters affixed to the birds that can be picked up by a network of receivers worldwide. Generally, MRRI staff has tracked birds on their southbound fall migration, but catbird #43224 provided some very interesting data.
This bird was tagged in the Meadowlands in October 2022 during its southbound migration. It was tracked on a few towers but seemed to disappear around Washington, D.C. In late April 2023, the catbird was identified in South Florida before heading north for its spring migration, traveling at least as far as Vermont. While MRRI scientists previously captured small portions of northbound migrations, this catbird provided what appears to be the first complete northbound migration.
These data provide a few notable facts about this bird. Because MRRI was able to capture its northbound migration, they now have an idea of where it spends its summers and winters. The network of receivers is scarce in Virginia and the Carolinas, but it does appear that the bird is using a different route when headed south compared to when it is headed north.
For this bird, the Meadowlands is a pit stop on its southbound journey down the entire East Coast. These data show that the Meadowlands is providing the resources that this catbird needs to complete its long trip.
All of the data are available to the public on Motus.org. Visitors to the site can explore the migration routes of more than 250 birds that MRRI has tagged in the Meadowlands, or any projects by other environmental research organizations tracking wildlife worldwide.
Drew McQuade
MRRI Senior Biologist
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Meet Elaine McCarthy Environmental Educator | The MEC is delighted to have Elaine as a member of our instructional staff. She is very familiar with the MEC programming and as a local resident, with DeKorte Park. As a middle school science teacher Elaine loved bringing her 7th and 8th grade students for a number of different field trip experiences. As an educator she attended many professional development classes and opportunities at the Center. She not only taught, but was the principal of St. Cecilia School in Kearny. Elaine retired from her teaching career in 2019 and we were thrilled that she agreed to join our staff as a part time science instructor. The students who attend our programs benefit from her compassionate, creative, student-centered, and effective instruction. She is an active member of the Bergen County Audubon Society, loves to learn about history and brings this knowledge into the MEC classes. | |  |
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Meet Joseph Grzyb
Senior Environmental Field Scientist and Researcher
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Joseph Grzyb’s responsibilities at the NJSEA’s Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute (MRRI) include field sampling, ongoing field support, data collection, instrument maintenance
and laboratory analysis.
Joseph plays a key role in MRRI’s Sediment Elevation Tables (SETs) study. SETs are
established for long-term monitoring of the Meadowlands District’s environmentally sensitive wetlands. They provide an annual indication of whether low-lying coastal areas are keeping up with rising sea levels. Joseph also conducts the Institute’s ongoing seasonal water quality sampling of the Hackensack River, which helps to track the River’s health.
He maintains a series of nine tide gate stations throughout the Meadowlands. MRRI uses the data collected to analyze how large rain events and storm surges affect the tide gates. Joseph has also
contributed to MRRI’s peered review papers relating to its studies on the impacts of climate change in the Meadowlands.
Joseph graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science.
Image of: Joseph Grzyb taking sediment elevation measurements in a Meadowlands District marsh.
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The most common crustacean in the Meadowlands impoundment, the grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio used in toxicity testing in studies of the effects of contaminants of concern in estuaries and coastal waters.
These animals are named grass shrimp because they are most often found between marine grasses and algae. When I teach about them I also purposely mispronounce their name as glass shrimp because their beautiful carapace is translucent – you can see right through them! This allows them to hide from predators in the open water and it allows students and scientists to observe their heart beating, internal organs, eggs developing, and food passing through the digestive system. Grass shrimp live in estuaries and salt marshes from Maine to Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico. They are omnivores and even eat decaying organic matter (detritus); and are a very important food for many animals in the saltmarsh/estuarine systems. Because of their ecological importance in estuarine food webs, grass shrimp are relevant sentinel species in studies of effects of organic and inorganic chemicals in the environment; these studies have incorporated biomarker or physiological measures of larval, juvenile, and female shrimp with eggs.
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