The Impact of The Wetlands Institute
The Wetlands Institute in a sea of marsh looking toward Stone Harbor.
The Wetlands Institute is resolutely focused on serving our mission to preserve, protect, and steward our marshes and coastal ecosystems. We have been true to this mission for more than 50 years, but our present and future work has taken on even greater importance.
The threats facing our coastal ecosystems have shifted since the institute was founded to address wetland loss to development. Sea-level rise is now the most direct threat to both our marshes and the coastal communities they shelter. Our applied research programs have made great strides in pioneering efforts to elevate our marshes in their fight against sea-level rise.
Through groundbreaking work conducted right here, we are transforming the health of our marshes and retaining key refugia for wildlife that depends on them, strengthening the East Coast wetlands systems, providing hope for wildlife across the Western Hemisphere, and protecting our coastal communities.
Coastal marshes, tidal creeks, and bays host a phenomenal diversity of wildlife, and their intrinsic beauty is a balm for the soul. Tidal marshes flourish on the brink – daily to intermittent flooding brings life, but the repetitive deep flooding they are now experiencing systematically destroys it. Here at The Wetlands Institute, we witness this every day. The marshes around us are drowning; what were lush meadows only a few years ago are changing to mudflats right before our eyes.
Our scientists and partners from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the University of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Naval Academy are documenting how the marsh adjacent to the institute is failing and how wildlife is using it, and have designed a restoration project to rehabilitate drowning marshes using clean dredged sediments from the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway. Together, we are working as fast as we can to help marshes rapidly add elevation.
This effort stems from the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab, a partnership between The Wetlands Institute, the USACE, NJDEP, and the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center formed in 2019 to address marsh loss due to rising seas. Using tools developed right here, the Innovation Lab’s work has helped make New Jersey a national leader in marsh restoration and has already restored more than 85 acres of marsh. The current project at Scotch Bonnet Island in the marshes next to the institute, along with planned projects in 2025, will bring the total to over 100 acres.
This local work will have global impact, providing the know-how to make these projects commonplace so that thousands of acres can be restored, ensuring critical ecological links remain intact for generations to come. For example, many species of migratory birds, including red knots, whimbrels, and semipalmated sandpipers, rely on these marshes as they journey from South America to the high Arctic to breed. By transforming mudflats back to thriving marshes, these and many other species returning here can be successful.
Our scientists work tirelessly to develop and implement groundbreaking solutions, focusing on sentinel species that are foundational to marsh ecosystems. Using state-of-the art tools and working on multi-disciplinary teams, we advance knowledge to create positive change. Whether we are working to understand how wildlife is utilizing restored or created habitats, discovering important information about the life needs of declining species, or evaluating marsh response to changing conditions, the marsh is our laboratory and classroom.
At The Wetlands Institute, we have intentionally linked our research, conservation, and education programs in real and meaningful ways. This linkage is a distinctive strength that is making all the difference. Applied research informs best conservation practices; engaging conservation programs create positive change for habitats and wildlife; and connecting people to stewardship through education creates lasting change.
We are making great strides, advancing important conservation programs, including banding and tracking of great egrets and black-crowned night herons at dredge material placement sites, studying habitat needs of American oystercatchers on Delaware Bay and their relationships to Atlantic Coast beaches and marshes, and tracking black skimmers through banding and telemetry studies. Working with a diverse array of project partners, our scientists are helping inform conservation practices throughout the state and region.
A core tenet of The Wetlands Institute’s conservation programs is using applied research to create a stewardship ethos through deep experiences for volunteers who make a difference. Addressing the plight of diamondback terrapins has been a foundational effort for researchers and educators at The Wetlands Institute for more than 30 years. Whether it is visiting scientists working with our extensive data sets, undergraduates in the Luing Family Internship Program, volunteers helping to maintain terrapin barriers on our roadways, or concerned citizens stopping to give nesting females a helping hand, our efforts are inspiring communities near and far to develop increased awareness of the plight of terrapins and contribute to efforts to help.
The Delaware Bay is home to the largest concentration of spawning horseshoe crabs in the world, but this population has declined significantly. Wetlands Institute researchers have been conducting horseshoe crab spawning surveys on the Delaware Bay for decades. The reTURN the Favor program, led by The Wetlands Institute in concert with our conservation partners, has saved more than 1 million horseshoe crabs in the past 10 years. This remarkable success is only possible because of dedicated volunteers who give more than 2,000 hours each year to rescuing crabs, improving conditions on spawning beaches, and raising their voices for conservation.
For many, the connection of conservation to action comes through our educational programs – which reached nearly 17,000 children and young adults at the institute last year alone. Our impact extends beyond the institute’s walls as well. Using curriculum created by our education department, teachers and students from more than a dozen schools across New Jersey spent the school year raising diamondback terrapin hatchlings hatched from eggs collected from road-killed females; at the end of the year, they released these little terrapins back into the wild, giving them a second chance at life.
This is critical, challenging work, and we rely on a diverse array of funding sources to carry it out. These range from competitive research contracts and grants, fee-based program services like admissions and Summer Nature Programs, and significant philanthropic activity. Over the past 10 years, except during COVID, our revenues have consistently grown. We are addressing complex environmental challenges, and our recognized impact is attracting more and more support. The exceptional reputation of our educational programs and the importance they have for today’s youth is leading to record enrollments.
At the heart of our growth is support from friends and donors with gifts, large and small, that drive our excellence. During this season, when we celebrate generosity, we say thank you to everyone that has invested in our mission to promote appreciation, understanding, and stewardship of wetlands and coastal ecosystems through our programs in research, conservation, and education.
Thanks to you, the future is bright. Your continued support and commitment to our work is fueling positive change and helping secure a future filled with lush marshes, vibrant coastal ecosystems, abundant wildlife, knowledgeable stewards, and caring and engaged communities.
