Tag Archives: MERI

Awesome Aerial Photography

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   For incredible aerial photography on a shoestring, it's tough to top the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute,
   This shot and the ones on the "jump" of this post were taken from a digital camera attached to a tethered helium-filled balloon.

  To see a video of how MERI achieves these amazing shots, click here.

   More posts on MERI are here. MERI's home page is here.

   Click "Continue reading…" to view another photo of the NJMC campus at DeKorte, as well as the Saw Mill Creek WMA tidal mudflat.

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MARSH RESEARCH: Innovations

    

   One of the Meadowlands Commission’s missions is to revitalize and diversify the region’s wetlands.

   To replace the invasive species phragmites, a tall inhospitable reed that tends to dominate a marsh, NJMC has been planting all sorts of native marsh grasses in marshes throughout the 14-town district.

   To measure the success of those efforts, the NJMC’s Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute has been using some innovative methods, including the use of helium-balloon photography (see video above).

   On Thursday, MERI is holding a workshop for wetlands professionals on the use of such remote techniques to monitor marsh vegetation.

    More about the workshop here.


ENVIRONMENT CENTER: Fall programming

The Meadowlands Environment Center offers some top-notch family programming, and the new fall lineup posted this week is no exception.
   These include programs about honeybees (Sept. 20, ages 5-10), the moon (Oct. 11, ages 10-16), and  environmental shopping (Nov. 1, ages 10 through adult).
   An annual big draw is Halloween in the Meadowlands (Oct. 30, ages 5-10).
   For a pdf of the schedule, click here. (Note: It may take a little time to load.)
   To register, click here.

Measuring sea-level rise

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    The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission is participating in a federal program to measure sea levels  as part of the commission’s efforts to assess the vitality of its marshes and to prepare for flooding that could result from global warming.
    Measurements using a nifty gizmo Img_0528_2 called a sediment elevation table (pictured to right) are being taken by  NJMC’s scientific arm, the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute (MERI). 
     The Meadowlands Commission’s sea-level monitoring is one of the first of its kind in New Jersey.

   Click "Continue reading" to learn more about sea-level rise and why it is significant to the region’s marshes. 
   

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