60th ANNIVERSARY 1952 – 2012
Seventh in a series of interviews by the Realty Owners Association Trustees
Happy to Have Mud between Her Toes Again:
An Interview with Lenore Tedesco, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Wetlands Institute
by Sherry Tomlinson, ROA Trustee Lenore Tedesco feels like she’s almost coming home in taking the position of director of the Wetlands Institute. She grew up in Long Island on a tidal marsh and “the more my toes were in the mud, the happier I was. We lived and died by the tide clock. ” Here in Stone Harbor she’s again on a tidal marsh, again watching the tides, and following her passion for teaching and researching in a hands-on environment. She says of her new job, “The skill sets matched, and there is so much opportunity here!”Wings and Water in JulyLenore says frequently, “Make no small plans,” and she has ideas and plans not only for programs and for research, but also for helping to make the Wetlands an economic driver for the town and its businesses. You’ll see it in the theme the Wetlands has adopted for this year’s 30th annual Wings and Water Festival: Renewed, Refreshed, and Remarkable! Plans for this year include new dates (July 12 and 13), new venues, new partners, and new interactive exhibits. You’ll find music at all the venues and a benefit concert at the Princeton Grille. You’ll find new food vendors whose offerings will emphasize sustainable growth. There will be an evening cocktail cruise. The well-known benefit auction on July 14 will offer a chance to bid on experiences such as event tickets, a private jet get away, and even a birding walk with the director herself. Throughout it all, there will be jitneys running up and down the island during the days to take you from one venue to another. One more change – you can buy a ticket for the whole event, one day or just one venue.While events such as Wings and Water have a big impact on the Wetlands, Lenore will be increasing the emphasis on grant writing to seek funding for programs so as not to overburden the community with requests. She hopes to find the funds to bring 2700 school kids to the Institute. There will still be the wonderful annual summer camps and programs, which reach about 9000 kids, and there will also be an effort to reach out to underprivileged children so that they too can experience what Lenore calls the “aha moments” of discovery.Career Research Interests Lead to New JerseyLenore herself has had her “aha moments” over a twenty-year career in academia doing classroom teaching, research, and administration at Indiana University in Indianapolis. Her research has covered a wide variety of topics, such as coastal stability and sea level rise in the Everglades, coastal ecosystem response to hurricanes, wetlands restoration, effects of pollution on coastal ecosystems, and the effects of agricultural runoff on streams and lakes. Her primary interest now is super high tides and what better place than Stone Harbor to study these tides and start a new career. The day we talked, the salt marsh trail behind the Institute was underwater and so, probably, were all the terrapin nests found along that path. Possibly too the nests of the laughing gulls and willets out in the marshes had been washed away. The project now is to map the marsh to establish the level and relate that level to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) gauge. Then the researchers can study the data from the last decades to try to ascertain whether or not there are more of these super high tides now than there had been in the past.Lenore is quick to say the researchers do what they do and the educational team does what is does best because there is a cadre of active and passionate volunteers who are critical to the institute. She says, “they are our ambassadors and stewards.” She has calculated the cost per visitor if the visitor has interaction with the staff. Using the volunteers effectively leverages the staff so that –net/net – more people can be served.The Four Bs of Ecotourism“We’re essentially in the eco-tourism business and in this business,” Lenore says, “there are four Bs – birding, boating, bicycling and beachcombing. We want to help Stone Harbor and the area provide that to the day visitors, the summer-long residents, and the year-rounders so that they all have an authentic experience, a learning experience.”It comes back to “make no small plans.” Lenore Tedesco is bringing her ideas, plans, energy and sense of excitement to the Wetlands Institute to help it achieve the greatness she believes it is capable of. She hopes to capture the energy and excitement of the community in this effort to grow the institute and its outreach while making a positive impact in Stone Harbor.
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