Making the Water Quality Connection:

Successes and Challenges of the outreach component to the Barnegat Bay Shellfish

Restoration Program

Cara Muscio, Gef Flimlin, and Rick Bushnell

International Conference for Shellfish Restoration

November 18, 2006

Our MissionIntegrating teaching, research, and outreach to anticipate andrespond to issues and challenges in agriculture, food systems,environment and natural resources, and human and communityhealth and development, in order to empower people to improvetheir lives, the lives of others, and the environments on which they depend.

Who We AreA partnership between Rutgers University and NJ Counties

Operating through The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station

Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program

Goals of the BBSRP

To educate citizens about the Barnegat Bay, shellfish, water quality, and people – We’re all in this together!

• To grow up lots of shellfish to help improve water quality and clamming opportunities

• To have lots of fun in the process!

Education Program Goals• To establish meaningful connections between

shellfish, water quality, ecology, local culture, and human needs and actions

• To showcase a working model of environmental stewardship and the benefits to the environment and society

• Materials development, visual aides, fact sheets, fun information

• Clam Camp!

• Fairs & Festivals

• Workshops and field trips

• Speakers Bureau – lectures

• “What the Bay Hinges on” Minigrant Project

Education and Outreach Activities

Successful Training• 2005 class reported an increase in knowledge of 2

scale points (1-4; 4 high)• 86% of participants said information was valuable• 2006 pre and post tests (n=8) indicate a 25%

increase in score, from 7.69 to 10.31 (of 15 points)• 33% more students attempted answering essay

questions on post tests• 50% more students correctly answered: What is a

watershed? What watershed do you live in?

Challenge• Retaining volunteers/participants….

• 79 people signed up in 2005, 70 in 2006

• Less than 50% complete course

• Less than that are actively participating

• Many educators are failing to return….

• Need better communication – volunteers need to feel more involved in planning

Gaining Practical Experience• Volunteers have worked over 2308 hours in

two years

• Volunteers have constructed structures, measured, analyzed, cleaned, and cared for shellfish

• Volunteers have raised 1,200,000 clam seed and 600,000 oyster seed

Challenge• Small percentage of volunteers participating in

education activities– Retired engineers and business people– Lack of confidence in outreach abilities– Perceived lack of adequate expertise– They may be skeptical of an idea– Lack of established program/direction:

• chicken and egg situation

Materials Development

• An article written by members

• Poster Display at Upwellers

• Bumper Stickers

• Model Upweller

Challenge• Need more materials to give

out in outreach applications

• Water quality education is the GOAL…– Volunteers focus on clams– “this takes up a lot of room…

can we take it out?”

Clam Camp• Pilot at St. Francis Center on Long Beach

Island• Six one-hour sessions during summer camp• Over 50 kids educated by seven BBSRP’ers• 5-8 year olds (n=20) learned “a lot” (2.6 on 1-3

scale;3 high)• 96% of 5-8 year olds and 56% of 9-13 year

olds indicated they wanted to learn more

Challenge

• TIME INTENSIVE!

• Little help in development

• Volunteer availability changes

• Difficulty getting volunteers to review or prepare for lessons

• Working with 40 kids and two people

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Across 2. The powerful muscles that keep bivalve shells closed 4. This common shorebird eats shellfish as well as human food 5. An organism that cannot make its own food, and must eat other organisms for energy 6. An organism that is food for other organisms 7. This blunt headed Ray can make a mess of a clam bed 11. Another name for the Hard clam, from "poquauhock" in Native American 14. Word describing a shelled animal that lives in water, especially if edible 16. A feature of an organism that helps it to survive 17. The most important shellfish species in New Jersey 18. This famous local crab eats shellfish, as well as being an important food source itself

Down 1. Shellfish known by its wavy shell 3. So called because it bores tiny holes into shellfish 4. Major crustacean enemy of shellfish and shellfish growers 8. Predator of Shellfish, radially symmetrical 9. Perhaps the biggest predators of shellfish, harvest in large numbers 10. Another name for the Whelk 12. An organism that lives by eating other organisms 13. An organism that makes its own food 15. This whelk is the state shell of NJ

Fairs and Festivals• Dozens of annual festivals focusing on seafood and the

environment• Repeated attempts to gather crews to exhibit at fairs• Less than 5 people signed up for events, several never

returned• Last minute heavy recruitment allowed two displays:

– Chowderfest 2006– Duck and Decoy Show 2006

• Where 4 or 5 volunteers did entire weekends worth of shifts

Other Educational Programs

• No formalized “field trip experience” or site yet developed

• However, some Marine Academy (HS) students are beginning upweller research

• Speakers Bureau not yet developed

• Lack of development or lack of interest?

What the Bay HINGES on…• Printed booklet and CD of lessons, activities, and

visual materials• Target grades 4-8, adaptable to all educational

settings, including volunteer use in outreach• Covers: Shellfish biology, ecology and food webs,

water quality and classifications, local maritime history, economics and food production, seafood advisories and nutrition, and environmental stewardship

Goals of the guide• Students should be able to describe how shellfish fit in to the tree of all organisms• Students should be able to identify the parts of a mollusk, and explain how a clam and

snail are different.• Students should be able to understand what place shellfish have in the food chain, and

how they grow, feed and reproduce•  Students should be able to label all parts of the water cycle, and understand the way

in which water moves over the earth. • Students should be able to define a watershed, and identify what watershed they live

in.• Students should be able to understand the role of shellfish in water, what kind of

water shellfish live in, and their ecological role.• Students should be able to define point and non point pollution and identify sources.• Students should be able to identify actions that impact their watersheds.• Students should understand how shellfish aquaculture works and why it is necessary.

Visual Aides/Activities

Bioaccumulation F

The Big Ass Clam• Public Art AND education

• Tourism map listing all clam locations

• An educational fact on each clam

• How about a Scavenger Hunt!!!

• Log on and take the quiz, sign the guestbook, tell us what you learned!

•Many volunteers were skeptical of this idea and whether it was good use for our funds…but they are coming around

How do we improve?• Do we require education/outreach participation of

each volunteer?– One 2 hour shift at a festival or fair

– Clam Camp/Speakers Bureau/Materials development

• Should we seek out more teachers? – Volunteers VOLUNTEER to do what they enjoy!

• How can we make other volunteers value the outreach component of the program?

Although there are challenges:

• We have the growing pains of any new organization:– Volunteer retention and investment level– Volunteers respond best when its “their” idea– Chicken and Egg situation of development vs.

interest– Need to cultivate interest in education/outreach

aspect of program

The Balance shows…• The BBSRP is a success!!!

– Core group of dedicated volunteers– Great Press– Funding Support– Raising Awareness– People are Learning new ideas and skills

Acknowledgements

Funding provided by:

In the end - we will conserve only what we love,

we will love only what we understand,

and we will understand only what we are taught.

- Baba Dioum, Senegelese Conservationist