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THE MARSH CONNECTION
News from the Meadowlands Environment Center and the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority
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Early Registration Available!
Book a date for the 2023-2024 school year!
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K-12 Field Trips
The Meadowlands Environment Center is accepting early registration at no cost for field trips for all grades & academic abilities both at our center or at your school.
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.
You can book a date to come to the Environment Center or you can book a date for our Mobile Food Lab to come to your school for programming!
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Grant Supports a “Savor Paterson” Event | |
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A grant from the National Park Service funded the visit of the Mobil Food Lab to the Paterson Community School’s Festival on July 1, 2023. The grant team delivered a program about herbs and spices used by the First Americans and early immigrants as remedies consumed as teas.
Festival visitors were introduced to a variety of herbs and spices, invited to choose their favorites, and learn to make a tea bag folded from a coffee filter to take home and enjoy. They learned about the history of immigration in their community from the 17 hundreds to today from Park Service rangers.
The grant will support a summer program for students to learn about food science and prepare foods enjoyed by Paterson residents over time. Students will prepare several dishes and invite the community to a “Tasting to Savor Paterson” on July 28.
| “Climate Change Day” for Perth Amboy Leadership Academy at the Meadowlands | |
Students in grades 7 -11 from the Perth Amboy Leadership Academy came to the MEC on Saturday June 3, 2023 for hands-on learning experiences on Climate Change. The day was supported by a grant to the Academy from the State of NJ.
Students were engaged in our curriculum modules, learning how greenhouse gasses cause the changes. They conducted a survey on sea level rise and the topography of beaches and marshes, and observed the effects of glacier and iceberg melt. They learned about modifications in buildings like our LEEDS certified science center and played Jeopardy and a “Climate Change Game” to explore all the actions they and their families can do to slow the changes to our planet. The MEC will offer professional development programs to teachers from the Leadership Academy in the fall continue to provide this new programming to all schools.
For more information or to schedule a climate change program, please call 201-390-5583.
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Summer Enrichment Programs | |
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Elementary-aged students at Memorial School in Little Ferry participated in a second year of extended school year programming in June. Daily themes are appropriately modified to address the specific learning needs of smaller, self-contained classes that comprise pre-k through middle school students.
This summer marks the 3rd year in which the MEC delivers cross-curricular enrichment programs to all students in kindergarten through 5th grades in Ridgefield Park. For five consecutive weeks, educators rotate through several topics to ensure students continue to practice skills developed during the regular school year. Weekly themes focus on natural resources, force and motion, wildlife, water, and there is even a surprise week of mini-mysteries! In addition to these daily programs, each week includes two evenings of family science nights for all-ages that offer community engagement in education. Lastly, each week concludes with a hands-on field trip where students become immersed in all that DeKorte Park has to offer.
While some MEC educators are off-site, the rest of our educators are at the Environment Center providing inside and outside activities to groups of children enrolled in their local town recreation camps. Ridgewood, Elmwood Park, Englewood Cliffs, Fort Lee, and NJIT students from Newark are among some of the groups scheduled throughout July and August. In partnership with the Lyndhurst Recreation Department, two weeks of exciting programs are at near capacity for July 31st through August 11th. Individual children entering 1st through 6th grades in the fall can join full or half-day camp activities where each session is an environmental adventure.
Plans are also underway with the Ringwood school district that will bring a week of science-based program activities to students in kindergarten through 8th grades. Offered mid-August, students practice skills developed during the regular school year and are given fun activities to do at home before the next academic year begins.
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Butterfly Day is Sunday, July 23
at DeKorte Park!
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Butterfly Day is almost here! The fun and educational, family friendly event takes place on Sunday, July 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst (rain date is Sunday, July 30). The program features butterfly walks, talks, and presentations, plus information tables and music. There is an array kid’s activities, including a Butterfly Costume Contest, scavenger hunt and crafts. | |
Improving Wetlands Health By Measuring Sediment Movement | |
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Improving the health of the Hackensack River’s environmentally critical wetlands provides the Meadowlands with numerous benefits. Wetlands provide habitat for birds, fish, turtles and other wildlife. They also absorb contaminants and stormwater, helping to contain pollution and mitigate flooding, among other advantages.
The Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute (MRRI) has conducted many studies to help advance wetlands health, including a project in which researchers measured the ability of the marshes to sequester carbon, a harmful greenhouse gas. MRRI is currently measuring the directions in which sediments flow with the River’s tide. Staff are using an Argonaut-ADV, a cylindrical shaped instrument, to measure water velocity and direction. A separate instrument called a “time integrated sediment sampler” collects sediment samples during both the ebb and flood tide cycles.
In the Meadowlands, the type and quantity of contaminants, and their movement with the tides, have implications for the long-term health and sustainability of marsh habitats. The data collected during the Sediment Movement Study will inform the NJSEA how to best manage marshland habitats to reduce the impact of legacy contaminants in the estuary.
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Summary of 2023 Acoustic Monitoring Project | |
Autonomous recording units (ARUs) are devices used by scientists to remotely detect wildlife species. There is no need for the scientist to be on site once the ARU is set up, so the ARU can be out on a site for weeks at a time, collecting vocal data. This greatly reduces disturbances to secretive and often sensitive species, while still allowing for the collection of high quality data. The Meadowlands District has a number of secretive and sensitive species, including frogs, birds and bats, and MRRI scientists are using ARUs to better understand where the animals are and what habitats they are using. | |
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In Spring 2023, ARUs were used to reassess the distribution of the Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog throughout the Meadowlands District. The Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog is a recently discovered species only found in the mid-Atlantic region of the US, and seems to be the only frog species currently inhabiting the Meadowlands. This survey indicated that Leopard Frogs inhabit freshwater wetland sites throughout the District.
MRRI scientists also used ARUs this year to study the Saltmarsh Sparrow, which is a cryptic and declining bird species breeding only on the northern Atlantic Coast of the US. Saltmarsh Sparrows are currently a candidate for Federal listing as Endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service which, if listed, may warrant special protections for high marsh habitats that serve as their critical breeding area.
ARUs were used in the Spring and Summer of 2023 to identify sites with Saltmarsh Sparrow presence. In-person surveys were then conducted at those sites to estimate the number of individuals present and to assess their breeding success. Preliminary results show that Saltmarsh Sparrows are present and successfully raising young in the District.
For the rest of the season, the ARUs will be used to better understand the distribution of bat species across the District to fill this knowledge gap. Specifically, MRRI scientists are looking for the distinct calls of the Tri-colored Bat, another candidate species for Federal listing as an Endangered Species. Although the project is in its earliest stages, there have already been detections of five bat species, including the Tri-colored bat. The results from the ARU surveys will help MRRI scientists work to protect and restore habitat essential for these secretive and sensitive species.
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Meet Rich Keim
Manager of Education Facilities
| As the facilities Manager, Rich is responsible for the efficient operation of all maintenance services and repairs of the MEC building and equipment. His professional background includes experience at the Bergen County Utilities Authority and the NJ Meadowlands Commission. | |
Enjoying S’mores this summer? Thank this beautiful marsh plant! The word "marshmallow" comes from the mallow plant species (Althaea officinalis)), which grows in marshes including the Meadowlands. The Egyptians are said to be the first to use the root of the plant to soothe coughs and sore throats. The first marshmallows were prepared by boiling pieces of root pulp with honey until thick. Then candy makers whipped the sap from the mallow root with sugar and egg whites into a fluffy candy mold, but the process was labor intense. Eventually candy makers modified the recipe and automated the production of marshmallows – the ones we eat consist of four ingredients: sugar, water, air, and a whipping agent.
You can learn more at:
The Unexpected Origin of the Marshmallow: from Ancient Medicines to the Steam Locomotive - True Treats Historic Candy (truetreatscandy.com)
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Dr. Ildikó Csókáné Pechmann, Ph.D
NJSEA Senior Environmental Scientist/GIS Administrator
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Dr. Ildikó C. Pechmann, Ph.D, is the NJSEA Senior Environmental Scientist/GIS Administrator for the Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute (MRRI). She has worked in MRRI in various capacities for the past 18 years.
Dr. Pechmann’s responsibilities include managing MRRI’s GIS (Geographic Information Systems) team. She provides GIS support to all NJSEA departments and the Meadowlands District’s 14 municipalities. The GIS lab is responsible for updating and maintaining spatial databases and mapping services that support the agency’s day-to-day operation. Dr. Pechmann also oversees MRRI’s drone program.
In addition, Dr. Pechmann is heavily involved in MRRI’s scientific research. She has completed several Federal Environment Protection Agency and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection funded studies as co-principal investigator or project manager. A current EPA funded study, Measurements of Marsh Resilience Under Future Sea-Level Rise Conditions in the Meadowlands of New Jersey, focuses on assessing sea level rise risks in the Hackensack River Estuary.
Another aspect of Dr. Pechmann’s research is assessing carbon sequestration in the wetland and upland areas of the lower Hackensack River Estuary. Carbon sequestration prevents the harmful greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere. Part of this work entails creating a District-wide carbon sequestration map.
Dr. Pechmann is an ecologist turned GIS specialist and earned her Ph.D. in Earth Sciences in 2005.
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