Chris Evangelista

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) maintains an oasis of native plants and pollinator gardens along the Hackensack River. One important pollinator plant is milkweed, which plays a crucial role in monarch butterfly reproduction and growth before their great migration to Mexico. The number of Monarch butterflies that arrive in Mexico each year … Read more

Ildiko C. Pechmann, PhD, of MRRI presented a comprehensive assessment of wetlands in the Lower Hackensack Estuary at the Restore America’s Estuaries 2026 Summit in San Francisco on September 24, 2026. The conference convened practitioners, scientists, and representatives from state and federal agencies to discuss strategies to restore and protect coastal wetlands. Sessions highlighted emerging … Read more

At the intertidal zone of Saw Mill Creek, new monitoring equipment has been installed to precisely track changes in carbon sink strength – that is, the balance of carbon sequestration and emissions – over a 4- to 5-year wetland restoration. This robust instrument cluster includes a tower fitted with an open-path CO2/H2O analyzer, a 3D … Read more

On July 22nd, MRRI’s lab staff began their work collecting water samples from the Hackensack River for the 2026 summer season. This is a continuation of our seasonal water quality monitoring efforts which have been ongoing since 1993. Each season, water samples are collected from various points along the Hackensack River & its tributaries as … Read more

On June 18th, MRRI staff completed the final retrieval of a suspended sediment trap deployed in Anderson Creek as part of an ongoing EPA study examining the movement of contaminated sediments within the lower Hackensack River estuary. The bi-directional sediment trap was installed to collect suspended particles transported by flood and ebb tides independently. This … Read more

Credit: NJCCRC Rutgers University, 2026 On June 10th, Rutgers University’s NJ Climate Change Resource Center hosted the 2026 NJ Climate Change Research Symposium in Piscataway, NJ. The day-long event provided scientists with an opportunity to share the latest research in natural and social science, economics, engineering, and policy, all aimed at better understanding the challenges … Read more

MRRI staff installed new pressure transducers to monitor water levels on both the landside and riverside of the manually operated tide gate at the Kingsland Impoundment in Lyndhurst. These new sensors will inform assessments of the tide gate’s performance and send alerts when trails should be closed due to high water levels. These sensors add to the … Read more

Over the past few months the US drone industry has undergone major changes, the most notable of which is the prohibition of the use & procurement of Chinese drone technologies by federal government entities & non-federal organizations working with or for the federal government. As a result, MRRI has been conducting research into acquiring a … Read more

On June 3, 2026, three seniors from Bergen County Academies, Fiona Beauchamp, Alex Kovalenko, and John Kalla, successfully shared their internship experiences at school and concluded their 2026 Senior Experience Internship with the Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute (MRRI). Throughout the school year, the interns worked with MRRI’s professional staff every Wednesday, gaining hands-on experience in environmental … Read more