Rutgers University launched the Sustainable Raritan River Initiative (“SRRI”) in 2009 to bring together concerned scientists, environmentalists, engineers, businesses, community leaders and governmental entities to craft an agenda that meets the goals of the U.S. Clean Water Act to restore and preserve New Jersey’s Raritan River, its tributaries and its bay.
The Initiative, a joint program of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, partners with other Rutgers schools, centers and programs to ensure the best contributions from the sciences, planning and policy.
The Initiative conducts conferences and topical workshops, provides technical assistance, and develops anchor projects that raise the profile of the Raritan River. The Initiative also publishes a monthly e-newsletter, sponsors this Website and maintains the Collaborative’s Facebook Page.
Who We Are
Jeanne Herb, Associate Director of the Environmental Analysis and Communications Group at Bloustein, and Richard G. Lathrop, Jr., professor of environmental monitoring at SEBS and the inaugural holder of the Johnson Family Chair in Water Resources and Watershed Ecology, serve as co-leaders to chart the Initiative’s future direction and ensure that issues of critical significance to the Raritan basin are addressed. Sara Malone continues as facilitator for the program.
Jeanne Herb
Co-Lead
e: jherb@ejb.rutgers.edu
p: 848.932.2725
Richard G. Lathrop, Jr.
Co-Lead
e: lathrop@crssa.rutgers.edu
p: 848.932.1580
Sara J. Malone
Facilitator
e: sjmalone@ejb.rutgers.edu
p: 848.932.2720
Steering Committee
The Initiative is guided by a Steering Committee that includes dedicated leaders from key Sustainable Raritan River Collaborative organizations, all of whom have been involved in some way since the inception of the project in 2009. The Steering Committee helps identify and build support for projects of interest across the Collaborative.
We thank the following people for serving on the Steering Committee:
Michael Catania, J.D., Executive Director, Duke Farms
Cindy Ehrenclou, Executive Director, Raritan Headwaters Association
Heather Fenyk, Ph.D., IACP/PP, Executive Director, Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership
Debbie Mans, J.D., Executive Director, NY/NJ Baykeeper
Christopher C. Obropta, Ph.D., PE, Extension Specialist, Water Resources Program, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Beth Gates, Executive Director, New Jersey Water Supply Authority
Beth Ravit, Ph.D, Co-Director, The Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability, School of Environmental and Biological Science, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
James Waltman, MES, Executive Director, Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association