State of the Raritan Conference and Awards Ceremony

State of the Raritan

Status and trends from across the region, where do we go from here?

Friday, June 9, 2017

Douglass Student Center, New Brunswick, NJ

9th Annual Sustainable Raritan Conference and Awards Ceremony

Our 2017 conference showcased a series of status and trends reports by Raritan stakeholders from across the region. Presentations described several decades of change in key indicators of watershed health for the Raritan River, basin and bay. And during lunch, keynote speaker, Andrew Johnson of the William Penn Foundation reflected on the strategic approach developed and applied through the Delaware River Watershed Initiative to address the same types of issues we face in the Raritan. What do these reports say about the health of the Raritan and what are the key concerns that still need to be addressed? How do we best leverage existing resources to tackle them? These are a few of the questions panelists and participants considered during this day long conference.

We also presented the 2017 Sustainable Raritan River Awards to recognize outstanding achievements in efforts to revitalize, restore and protect Raritan River resources and to make the Raritan region a premiere place to live, work and raise a family. Eight recipients were recognized. You can follow the link below to learn more about them and their good works for a more sustainable Raritan.

New at this year’s conference was a Data Blitz. The Data Blitz — a series of eleven five-minute long lightning talks — covered a broad range of topics highlighting current academic research, community actions, policy and planning efforts by stakeholders across the Raritan region. Each talk was supported by a poster, and the conference closed with a poster session and networking reception.

If you missed the conference or want to learn more about the presentations and talks, check out the links below, or contact Sara Malone for more information.

Also, watch for our announcement of next year’s conference — our 10th Annual!

Links to more information:

Conference Presentations

Welcome
- Sara Malone and Dr. Carrie Ferraro, Welcome and Rutgers on the Raritan
Status and Trend Reports
- Dr. Richard Lathrop, State of the Raritan Report, Volume 1 and Updates
- Dr. Jay Kelly, Assessing Forest Health in Central New Jersey: Effects of Deer and Invasive Plant Species
- Jeffrey L. Hoffman, Status of Raritan Groundwater Resources
- Kimberly A. Cenno and Jack Pflaumer, 2016 NJDEP Integrated Water Quality Report
- Elizabeth Schuster, Scoping for a Healthier Raritan Watershed for Nature and People
- Isabelle Stinnette, Habitat Restoration Projects and Opportunities in the Raritan
Keynote Address
- Andrew Johnson, An Overview of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative: Alignment and Collaboration to Accelerate Conservation and Measure Impact
Panel and Audience Discussion, Where do we go from here? (summary comments)
Data Blitz – Eleven Lightning Talks
- Daniel Mayer, Restoring Duke’s Brook: A Story of Collaboration
- Mike Stepowyj, Sediment Survey of the Lower Raritan River
- Meredith Comi, Citizen Science Monitoring for Pathogen Indicators Along the NJ Raritan Bayshore
- Mara Tippett, It’s Time to Test your Well! What Motivates Homeowners to Monitor Their Drinking Water?
- Zoe Linder-Baptie and Alexa Schatzmann, Locally Driven Policies to Help Improve Water Quality in the Raritan River Basin
- Dr. Beth Ravit and Sandra Meola, Microplastic Pollution in the Raritan River
- Dr. Aamani Rupakula, Anaerobic Biodegradability of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Raritan River Sediments
- Dr. Josh Kohut, Introducing Rutgers Students to NJDEP Sampling and Quality Control Standards
- Dr. Margaret Christie and Jennifer Walker, Impacts of Sea-level Change and Human Activities in the Raritan River
- Brittany Musolino, A River-Friendly Vision for the Raritan Basin
- Anthony Vastano, Raritan River Fish Cam
Poster Session
- Daniel Mayer, Duke Farms – Dukes Brook 2017 CREP Restoration
- Mike Stepowyj, Sediment Survey of the Lower Raritan River
- Meredith Comi, Citizen Science Monitoring for Pathogen Indicators Along the NJ Bayshore
- Mara Tippett, It’s Time to Test your Well! What Motivates Homeowners to Monitor Their Drinking Water?
- Zoe Linder-Baptie and Alexa Schatzmann, Locally Driven Policies to Help Improve Water Quality in the Raritan River Basin
- Dr. Beth Ravit and Sandra Meola, Microplastics in Urban Freshwaters: Conduit for Persistent Organic Pollution
- Dr. Josh Kohut, Introducing Rutgers Students to NJDEP Sampling and Quality Control Standards
- Dr. Margaret Christie and Jennifer Walker, Impacts of Sea-level Change and Human Activities in the Raritan River
- Brittany Musolino, A River-Friendly Vision for the Raritan Basin
- Alex Ambrose w/Krasnuk, Walker, Weber and Viera, Mapping the Physical and Historical Features of the Lower Raritan
- Rosy Tucker w/Kapagantula, Gilardi, Schumm, Ray and Hudyha, Flood Inundation Modeling for the Raritan River
- Ian Baker w/Hess, Huang, Kerr, Nausbaum, Purus and Warina, Raritan River Real-Time Hydrological Observatory
- Daryl Krasnuk, Improving Watershed Health Through Habitat Restoration and Storm Water Management in the Raritan River Basin
- Daryl Krasnuk, Urbanization and Groundwater Recharge in the Raritan River Watershed
- Dr. Nicole Fahrenfeld, Microplastics as Emerging Contaminants in New Jersey Surface Water
- Susan Welkovits, Raritan River Park Connector Trail (poster), Raritan River Park Connector Proposed Trail (handout)
- Dr. Kristi MacDonald, Biodiversity Initiatives to Protect Water in the Upper Raritan Region
- Subhasis Giri, Assessing Land Use Intensity on Stream Health Using Macro-Invertebrates
- Anthony Vastano, The Raritan River Fish Cam: A Live View of Fish Passage on the Raritan River
- Angela Gorczyca, Waiting 2 – 3 Days to Swim in a Stream After a Rain Event May Increase Safety: Raritan Headwaters Dips into Bacteria Monitoring
- Dr. Jie Gong, Inundation Risk Information System (IRIS) Viewer: A Convergence of Big Spatial Data and Cloud Computing for Flood Mitigation
- Alex Mossavir, Where the Pipe Ends: The Fate of PPCPs in the Raritan River Watershed
- Samuel Wieczerzak, Characterization of PPCP-degrading Microbes in River Sediments

Thanks to our Sponsors

Multi-year Sponsors

Bald Eagle Level Sponsor

Osprey Level Sponsors

In Memory of

Ann McGovern Suydam

Special Thanks to

Chancellor Richard Edwards, Rutgers University – New Brunswick

Dean James Hughes, Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Dean Robert Goodman, Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences

The Sustainable Raritan River Initiative is independently funded. For information about how to support our efforts, contact Sara Malone at sara.malone@rutgers.edu or by calling 848.932.2720. Thank you!

Photo Credit: “Aerial view of the Raritan River Bridge at left with Old Edison Memorial Bridge paralleling it, in Middlesex County on the Garden State Parkway of New Jersey”, from Tichnor Brothers Collection, Boston Public Library, digitalcommonwealth.org

	June 2019
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
						1 Visual Habitat Assessment with Jon Dugan Visual Habitat Assessment with Jon Dugan Starts: 8:00 am Ends: June 1, 2019 - 5:00 pm Description: June 1 – Visual Habitat Assessment with Jon Dugan! June 1 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Calling all Streamkeepers and Citizen Scientists! Please join us for our June 1 visual habitat assessment training with the LRWP’s Volunteer Monitoring Manager Jon Dugan! (Here’s more on the LRWP’s water quality monitoring programs). This FREE training on Saturday June 1 will run from 9 AM – 1 PM at the Middlesex High School, located at 300 John F Kennedy Dr, Middlesex, NJ 08846 We will start the morning with a lecture indoors, and then get out in the field to test our knowledge of streams and stream habitat. Please wear clothing and footwear that you don’t mind getting wet and dirty. Registration required. Learn more or register at http://lowerraritanwatershed.org/event/save-the-date-visual-habitat-assessment-with-watershed-ambassador-von-scully/ More details... Green Eggs and Sand Workshop Green Eggs and Sand Workshop Starts: 12:00 am Ends: June 2, 2019 - 11:59 pm Description: Educator Workshop June 1-2, 2019 at The Wetlands Institute The Wetlands Institute and NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife are partnering to offer a Green Eggs and Sand workshop. Green Eggs and Sand is a curriculum (developed by Maryland DNR, Delaware Fish & Wildlife and NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife) centered around the horseshoe crab. At the workshop participants learn from experts about the biology of the horseshoe crab, their relationship to shorebirds, their importance to humans, and how the species is managed. Participants also get to run through several of the activities found in the Green Eggs and Sand curriculum, as well as get into the field during peak horseshoe crab spawning. For more information, or to register, please visit NJ Fish and Wildlife: https://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/greeneggs.htm More details... • •
2	3	4 NE Sustainable Communities Workshop NE Sustainable Communities Workshop Starts: 12:00 am Ends: June 4, 2019 - 11:59 pm Description: This year’s theme is “BUILD”ing SUSTAINABLE REDEVELOPMENT: GETTING IN THE OPPORTUNITY ZONE” because new laws invite more investment in brownfields and distressed communities. Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop (NSCW) on June 4, 2019, in Newark, NJ Learn more about NSCW here > https://www.brownfieldcoalitionne.org/nscw-2019 NSCW is the premier metropolitan workshop on identifying sustainable goals and strategies for revitalizing communities and brownfields. NSCW is like no other conference you've attended. PowerPoint presentations are sparse and image-only; speakers are concise, yet informative; and, there is plenty of time in each session for dialogue between attendees, speakers, and moderators. Come be a part of the conversation! More details... •	5	6	7 Sustainable Raritan River Conference - Save the Date! Sustainable Raritan River Conference - Save the Date! Starts: 12:00 am Ends: June 7, 2019 - 11:59 pm Description: 11th Annual Sustainable Raritan River Conference and Awards Ceremony Friday, June 14, 2019 www.raritan.rutgers.edu or raritan@ejb.rutgers.edu for more information More details... •	8 BioBlitz in New/North Brunswick BioBlitz in New/North Brunswick Starts: 6:00 am Ends: June 8, 2019 - 8:00 pm Description: Save the Date! June 8 BioBlitz in New/North Brunswick June 8 @ 6:00 am - 8:00 pm A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to get a snapshot of an area’s biodiversity. On June 8 the LRWP and partners including the Americorps Watershed Ambassadors Program, New Brunswick Environmental Commission, North Brunswick Environmental Commission and Elmwood Cemetery will host a day long BioBlitz of Elmwood Cemetery in North Brunswick. Elmwood Cemetery is a special forested habitat refuge nestled between the urban New and North Brunswick communities. The Cemetery was established in 1868 as a “Victorian Garden Cemetery” during the rural cemetery movement, and to this day all of Elmwood’s lanes and paths are lined with evergreens and flowering native trees. Cemetery managers are building on this legacy of careful planning and land protections to secure Arboretum accreditation, which will allow them to further advance the planting, study, and conservation of woody plants and trees in the area. Our May 12 BioBlitz will include public talks by expert naturalists about local natural history, and a chance for the public to work with these experts in an active survey of mammals, fish, plants, insects, aquatic invertebrates, birds and fungi. Registration will open April 1. Learn more at http://lowerraritanwatershed.org/event/save-the-date-june-8-bioblitz-in-new-north-brunswick/ More details... •
9	10	11	12	13 Bayshore Regional Watershed Council Meeting Bayshore Regional Watershed Council Meeting Starts: 8:00 pm Ends: June 13, 2019 - 10:00 pm Location: Hall Place, Hall Pl, Keyport, NJ 07735, USA Description: Monthly Meeting of the Bayshore Regional Watershed Council The watershed council is an all-volunteer organization. Since 2000, we have been dedicated to improving water quality and restoring wildlife habitat along Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. Please consider joining the watershed council. Membership is always free. We depend on the time and generosity of volunteers for everything we do. Join us for a watershed meeting. Meetings are always informal and a great way to learn about your watershed. We meet the second Thursday of every month at 7:30pm inside Keyport Borough Hall located on Front Street. www.restoreraritanbay.org More details... •	14	15
16	17 Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership Meeting Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership Meeting Starts: 10:00 am Ends: June 17, 2019 - 12:00 pm Description: LRWP June Meeting June 17 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm The LRWP June meeting will be held from 10-noon in the Middlesex County Planning Offices at 75 Bayard Street, New Brunswick, NJ – 5th floor mid-size conference room. We look forward to a special presentation Americorps Watershed Ambassador Von Sully on “Water Quality Monitoring Findings in Watershed Management Area 9.” Parking is validated for those parking on floors 5 and higher in the RWJ Wellness Parking Deck located at 95 Paterson Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. Be sure to bring your ticket to the meeting for validation. Learn more at http://lowerraritanwatershed.org/event/lrwp-june-meeting/ More details... •	18	19	20	21 River Rally by River Network River Rally by River Network Starts: 12:00 am Ends: June 24, 2019 - 11:59 pm Description: River Rally Hosted by River Network June 21 – 24, 2019 \| Cleveland, Ohio River Rally, hosted annually by River Network, is a national conference for river and water champions. Unique in its focus on providing practical education, inspiring courage, and celebrating achievements, River Rally brings together hundreds of people from across the United States and the world who care about rivers and water issues. Join NGO staff and volunteers, academics, agency and foundation representatives, industry innovators, and community leaders for the biggest (and most fun) water-focused event of the year! Visit https://www.rivernetwork.org/events-learning/river-rally/about/ for more information More details... •	22
23	24 Stony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority Meeting Stony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority Meeting Starts: 7:30 pm Ends: June 24, 2019 - 9:30 pm Location: 290 River Road, Princeton, NJ Description: Authority Board Meeting Schedule A RESOLUTION SETTING REGULAR MEETING DATES FOR THE STONY BROOK REGIONAL SEWERAGE AUTHORITY FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2016 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT Resolution No. 2015-78 BE IT RESOLVED by the Stony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority: That the regular meeting day of the Authority be held on the fourth Monday of each month, except in November, when it will be held on the second Monday, and June and December when the meeting will be held on the third Monday of the month. http://www.sbrsa.com/ More details... Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority Starts: 7:30 pm Ends: June 24, 2019 - 9:30 pm Location: 50 Polhemus Ln, Bridgewater, NJ 08807, USA Description: Meetings of the Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority are held the fourth Monday of each month. Meetings are held in the Authority conference room located in the Administrative Office. Open session meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. and there is an opportunity for public participation. Anyone from the public wishing to be heard should arrive promptly for the start of a meeting as the public participation portion is early on the agenda. http://srvsa.org/ More details... • •	25	26	27	28	29
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