Liz Duff, Mass Audubon Peter Phippen, Mass Bays Program

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2. Who is Involved?School Groups
• Middle and High School Students
from local Great Marsh Community
Schools (Gloucester, Newbury, Essex,
Newburyport, Ipswich, Rowley,
Salisbury)
• Graduate and Undergraduate interns
• Classroom Teachers
Non Profits & Community Groups
• Mass Audubon
• Gulf of Maine Institute
• Ipswich River Watershed Association
• Trustees
• Greenbelt
• Women Working for Oceans
• Seaside Sustainability
• New England Aquarium
• Plum Island Beautification
• Scouts
• Churches
• Lake and Pond Associations
• Local Businesses/Corporations
• Plum Island Ecosystems Long Term
Ecological Research
• Eight Towns and the Great Marsh
• Merrimack River Beach Alliance
Individuals
• Local Residents
• Property owners
• Professionals and/or retirees
Government Organizations
• MassBays Program
• NOAA
• MA Fish and Game:
– MA Division of Marine
Fisheries
– Department of Ecological
Restoration
• US Fish and Wildlife
• DEM
• MA Coastal Zone Management

3. What Activities are they involved in?
1. Monitoring and Assessment
2. Habitat Restoration and
Stewardship
3. Invasive Species Monitoring
and Control
4. Professional services
5. Community Participation
Great Marsh
Region

4. Monitoring and Assessment
• Marsh Edge Erosion Monitoring
• Salinity, Vegetation, Fish, Marker
Horizons (Mass Audubon’s Salt Marsh
Science Project)
• Water Quality Sampling
• Anadromous Fish Counting
• Hydrological Barriers Assessment
• Assessing Areas Vulnerable to Sea Level
Rise and Coastal Flooding
Salinity

5. Habitat Restoration and Stewardship
• Eelgrass Harvesting and
Planting
• Mapping vegetation
• Dune Planting
• Coastsweep (Beach Clean-up)

6. Invasive Species Monitoring and Control
• Green Crab Monitoring
• Pepperweed mapping and
Control
• Marine Invasive Species
Monitoring
• Marsh Vegetation Surveys
• Water chestnut control
• Weedwatchers Program
Perennial
Pepperweed
Phragmites
australis
Green Crab
Invasive
tunicates
Water Chestnut
Mass Audubon’s Salt Marsh Science
Project

7. Professional Services
• Mapping, GIS
• Drone Flights
• Video Production
• Photography
• Boat Transport

8. Community Participation
• Climate Cafés
• Community Outreach
• Municipal Vulnerability
Planning (MVP)
• Committees, Task Forces,
Working Groups, etc
MVP
Public Presentations Climate Cafés
SLR Outreach

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10. Why do people get involved?
• They care about their own backyard
• To help make a difference
• Fun!
• Enjoy being in the outdoors
• Learning opportunities
• Connecting with others
• Acquire new skills
• Community Service/School Requirements
• To have a voice about things they care about

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12. Great Marsh
Pepperweed
Mapping & Control
Over 3400 volunteers and 14,000
Volunteer hours since 2006!
NBPT Gulf of Maine Institute Team

13. Most Mass Audubon Salt Marsh
Science Project sites are in the
Great Marsh Region.
Up to 21 years of data!
Site Years
Monitored
# of years
Byfield- GA 2008, 2015 2
Danvers 1998-2017 20
Essex 1998-2017 19
Gloucester- MP 1998-2017 20
Gloucester- EP 1999-2017 19
Ipswich JNR 1999-2017 19
Ipswich CPT 1999-2017 18
Ipswich TFR 1996-2017 22
Newburyport:
Joppa
1999-2017 19
Neponset 2004-2009 7
PRNWR Refuge 2001-2017 17
Rockport 1998-2017 18
Rowley 1996-2017 22
Salem 2002-2017 16
Salisbury 1998-2017 20
Thompson Island 2005-2009 4

14. Details about Some Sample
Projects
• Green Crab Monitoring
• Eel Grass Harvesting and Planting
• Dune Planting
• Mass Audubon’s Seeking Relief From Sea Level
Rise Student Mapping and Leadership
Initiative
• Education through Video
• Fresh Water Projects

15. Green Crab Monitoring and Culinary Use
Monitoring
• 24 monitoring locations in Plum Island
Sound and Essex Bay
• Counting, sorting, sexing, and sizing the
green crabs
- sometimes hundreds of crabs/trap
Culinary
• Searching for soft shell green crabs
• Cooking and extracting roe
• Chefs and restaurants
Green Crab Outreach
• East coast network
• Documentary

16. Eelgrass Harvesting and Planting
• Volunteers needed to both
harvest and plant eelgrass
• Restoration site in Essex Bay
• Several pilot sites in Plum
Island Sound
• Seems like it is always early
morning!!

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18. Outreach and Education through Video
• Danger in the Reeds (phragmites)
• Recipe for Disaster (green crabs)
• Ask This Old House (rain gardens)
• Hiking the Bay Circuit Trail (marsh
education)
• Northshore Magazine (eelgrass)
• Other (invasive plants, dune
restoration, SLR)

19. Seeking Relief From Sea Level Rise
Student Mapping and Leadership Initiative
• Roads
– Estimate # houses
– Estimate # businesses
– Investigate what types of
businesses
• Habitats
• Socially and culturally important
areas
• City/town infrastructure
http://sealevel.climatecentral.org/
Interactive maps based on
NOAA, NASA, and USGS
Data
Use Flood Maps and Interactive Maps to assess
areas vulnerable to flooding

20. Ground-Truthing Our Results and Presenting
Concerns to the Community
Investigating Sea Level Rise Students Present to Community
Leaders and local citizens
"We are so lucky to have such energetic
and committed high school students to
help educate all of us," said City Council
President Paul Lundberg, who added that
the city "absolutely" will consider the
students' data and potential solutions as it
tries to address the environmental issue.

21. RiverWatch Monitoring Program
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23. Great Marsh Watershed Projects (continued)
• Water quality testing: dissolved oxygen, E. coli, pH,
temperature, phosphate, nitrate.
• Water chestnut removal in Lower Mill Pond, Rowley.

24. Project Timing Ideal Group
Size
# of
volunteers
each year
Locations
Green Crabs Spring-Fall Up to 10 50 Essex Bay/PI Sound/Annisquam
Eelgrass Spring-Fall Up to 10 75 Essex Bay/PI Sound
Perennial
Pepperweed Pulling
May-July 5-40 Hundreds Great Marsh Towns
Pepperweed
Mapping
Can be year-
round
2-4 A few Great Marsh Towns
RiverWatch Water
Quality
Monthly
March-Dec.
50-60 50 32 sites along the Ipswich river
and tributaries
Water Quality June-
November
10-15 10-15 11 sites across Parker River
Watershed
Water Quality March-Dec. 4-8 3 4 Sites across the Chebacco
Lake, Essex Bay wateshed.
Macro-invertebrate
Sampling
Annually in
the Fall
Up to 10 8-10 9 Sites along rivers
Dune Planting Spring or
Fall
Up to 10 75 Plum Island /Salisbury
Anadromous Fish
count
Spring
(April-May)
2 at a time 40-50 at
Ipswich
Ipswich Mills Dam, Parker River

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26. Thanks For Your Interest and
Support!
Any Questions or Comments?