12th Annual Future of the Ocean Symposium & Champion of the Ocean Awards Luncheon

America’s Ocean Future: Priorities for Congress and the Next Administration

December 7, 2016 • 10 AM – 1:30 PMWilson Hall | Monmouth University

Urban Coast Institute

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Event Sponsors

Platinum EventNew Jersey Natural Gas

Silver EventPringle, Quinn, Anzano, P.C.

State and Coastal Leaders AwardsJoint Ocean Commission InitiativeNajarian Associates

In TributeVice Admiral Paul and Linda Gaffney to the memory of Jules L. Plangere, Jr.

Gold ProgramBrinkerhoff EnvironmentalIntegrated Analytical LabsLitwin & Provence, LLCMott MacDonald, LLCVerizon New Jersey

Silver ProgramAmerican Association of Port AuthoritiesMonmouth Conservation Foundation

Bronze ProgramBayshore Recyling CorpLeon S. Avakian, Inc. NRDCPSEG Services Corporation

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Wilson Hall Auditorium

Future of the Ocean SymposiumAmerica’s Ocean Future: Priorities for Congress and the Next Administration

9:30 AM Registration10:00 AM Welcome President Paul R. Brown, Ph.D.10:15 AM Introduction Tony MacDonald, Director, Urban Coast Institute10:30 AM Symposium Speakers The Hon. Christine Todd Whitman, Co-Chair Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Leadership Council Dr. Donald Boesch, President The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Versailles and Pompeii

Champion of the Ocean Awards Luncheon12:00 PM Luncheon12:20 PM Awards Presentation, Tony MacDonald

National Champion of the Ocean: The Hon. Christine Todd WhitmanFor serving as a leading voice for the environment and for her many outstanding contributions to coastal and ocean conservation and sustainable communities during her tenure as Governor of New Jersey, as member of Pew Oceans Commission, Administrator of EPA and, currently, as Co-Chair of Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Leadership Council.

Regional Champion of the Ocean: Dr. Donald BoeschFor his many years of work in advancing knowledge about the coastal and ocean environment at the regional, national and international levels, and his extensive service including as advisor to U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, member of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, and contributor to National Research Council’s report America’s Climate Choices.

State, Coastal, and Ocean Leadership Champions: Mr. David Rosenblatt and Ms. Elizabeth Semple

December 7, 2016

Symposium Free and Open to the Public • Tickets Required for Luncheon

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Christine Todd Whitman is the President of The Whitman Strategy Group (WSG), a consulting firm that specializes in energy and

environmental issues. She was the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, serving as its first woman governor from 1994 until 2001. Gov. Whitman served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from January of 2001 until June of 2003. She is the author of a New York Times bestseller called “It’s My Party Too.” Gov. Whitman serves as a member of several boards, including: Executive Committee of the Eisenhower Fellowships, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, Texas Instruments Inc., United Technologies Corporation, the Northeast Maglev, the Corporate Eco Forum, the Presidential Climate Action Project, and the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. She co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Leadership

Council and is a member of Secretary of State John Kerry’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board. Prior to becoming Governor, she was the President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and served on the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

National Champion of the Ocean

Donald F. Boesch is the President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science in Cambridge, Maryland. He is an

oceanographer who has conducted research on continental shelf and coastal environments around the world, but especially in the Chesapeake Bay and the Mid-Atlantic Bight. He served as chair of the National Academy of Sciences’ Ocean Studies Board and a member of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the Offshore Drilling. He is presently a member of the Leadership Council of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative and the Maryland Commission on Climate Change.

The Hon. Christine Todd Whitman

Regional Ocean Champion

Dr. Donald F. Boesch

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State, Coastal, and Ocean Leadership Champions

These awards recognize David Rosenblatt and Elizabeth Semple for their many years of leadership in New Jersey coastal engineering and coastal and land use planning, particularly in restoring the state’s beaches after Superstorm Sandy and securing funding for comprehensive resilience planning, the honorees have substantially reduced the risk and vulnerability of coastal communities to coastal storms, while preserving community character that is so important to the quality of life at the Jersey Shore.

Mr. David RosenblattAssistant Commissioner of Engineering and Construction, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

David Rosenblatt is the Assistant Commissioner for Engineering and Construction for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Additionally, he serves as Director of Flood Hazard Risk Reduction Measures within the Department, which was established in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Prior to his role as Assistant Commissioner, David

successfully led his coastal engineering and flood control programs and staff through critical events for a dozen of his 38-year career at DEP. Earlier in his career, David managed the State’s coastal recreational water quality monitoring, watershed planning and environmental restoration projects in the Atlantic coastal basin, and implemented a small business and municipal regulatory compliance assistance program.

Ms. Elizabeth SempleAssistant Director, Office of Coastal and Land Use Planning, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Elizabeth Semple is the Assistant Director of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Coastal and Land Use Planning, which reviews and administers the state’s Coastal Management Program, coordinates the Living Shoreline program, and is responsible for a number of planning activities including sustainable and resilient

coastal community planning and ocean resource planning. She joined the NJDEP in 1989 and has served in several capacities in its Office of Policy Planning and Science and Division of Watershed Management. Semple also serves as New Jersey’s representative on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Body, a partnership of six states and several federal agencies that recently drafted the first-ever Ocean Action Plan for the region.

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2016 UCI Student Research Projects

Assessment of Vertebrate and Microbial Diversity in Local Ecosystems Using Environmental DNA (eDNA) Nicole Sivetz, Sara Falotico and Hemangi Patel Faculty Mentor: Dr. Martin J. Hicks

Coastal Identity in Counseling: Implications for Community ResilienceChristine HenniganFaculty Mentor: Dr. Laura Schmuldt

Coastal New Jersey Small Business WebsiteMorissa SchwartzFaculty Mentor: Dr. Deanna Shoemaker

Collection and Analysis of Physico-Chemical Parameters of Water for Assessment of Intertidal Coastal EcosystemsCrystal Diaz, Rebecca Klee, Christina Guarino, Kristen Jezycki, Cayla Sullivan and Kylie JohnsonFaculty Mentors: Dr. Dmytro Kosenkov and Dr. Pedram Daneshgar

Community Succession After Cranberry Bog Abandonment Within the New Jersey PinelandsKylie Johnson and Rebecca KleeFaculty Mentor: Dr. Pedram Daneshgar

The UCI supported more than two dozen students conducting 17 research projects this year through its Marine Science & Policy Initiative and Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe Summer Research Program. The programs emphasize experiential learning and hands-on research activities that support the UCI’s mission and make a difference in the communities where they take place. Thank you to all of the generous corporate and private donors who made these efforts possible.

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Comparing Finfish and Decapod Abundance in New Jersey Coastal EstuariesAlex M. Salamone, Matt C. Francis, Shannon M. Lavelle and Jeffrey WebbFaculty Mentor: Dr. Keith J. Dunton

Determining the Presence of the Endangered Atlantic Sturgeon in Sandy Hook BayJeffrey WebbFaculty Mentor: Dr. Keith J. Dunton

Diet of Atlantic Sturgeon in a Coastal Marine AggregationMarissa C. DeTorreFaculty Mentor: Dr. Keith J. Dunton

Digital Data Mining and Pattern Analysis: Early Hurricane Detection SystemAbid Khan, Sravan Kumar Puvvula and Rajesh VeeraballFaculty Mentor: Dr. Charles Willow

An Examination of Ocean County Municipalities’ Participating in the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating SystemAlbert Shalom and David MoralesFaculty Mentor: Dr. Michael Schwebel

Food Recovery Network at Monmouth UniversitySusan PaganoFaculty Mentor: Dr. Nancy J. Mezey

Impacts of Increased Salinity on Mangrove Carbon Cycling ProcessesKristina M. Guarino and Kristen E. JezyckiFaculty Mentors: Dr. Pedram Daneshgar and School of Science Assistant Dean John A. Tiedemann

Mapping of Plastics in the Coastal Marine EnvironmentMarc Molé and Alexander SalamoneFaculty Mentor: Professor James A. Nickels

Sandy High Water Mark InitiativeMarc Molé and Brian DrewFaculty Mentor: Professor James Nickels

Small-Scale Oyster Restoration in Barnegat BayGabriella A. Gerber, Sydney N. Lucas and Cameron S. McMathFaculty Mentors: Dr. Christine Thompson and Dr. Tiffany Medley

Tracing Nitrogen Deposition Effects on Salt Marshes Using Nitrogen IsotopesCayla SullivanFaculty Mentor: Dr. Pedram Daneshgar

Wreck Pond Aquatic Vertebrate eDNA ProjectTatiana Castro, Chelsea Soriano and Cayla SullivanFaculty Mentors: Dr. Christine Thompson and Dr. Tiffany Medley

UCI ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Kenneth Pringle, ChairDavid ApyRaymond BoganLaura Brinkerhoff Nancy Byrne ReinhartBradley CampbellJay Cosgrove David Ennis

Alfred FergusonRussell FurnariThomas HerringtonFrederick Kaeli Jr.Gordon LitwinTavit NajarianStephen Souza Dennis Suszkowski

Urban Coast Institute400 Cedar Ave. West Long Branch, NJ 07764www.monmouth.edu/uci

Mission: To serve the University and the public interest as a forum for research, education and collaboration that fosters the application of the best available science and policy to support stewardship of healthy, resilient and productive coastal ecosystems and sustainable communities.