Multidisciplinary collaboration involving three schools and multiple departments will combine efforts of environmental and marine scientists as well as engineers A Rutgers research project focused on offshore wind energy is poised to make New Jersey a global leader in the field in a little more than a decade. The effort being launched by Rutgers researchers includes two key components: The design of a so-called Net-Zero Wind Energy Test (WET) Center, a warehouse-size testing facility to be potentially located somewhere close to the Jersey Shore; and the creation of a much smaller WET Lab which will be located on the Rutgers University–New Brunswick campus. Rutgers–New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway says new efforts in wind energy research focus on a “grand challenge of science and society.” The new venture, which aims to address scientific and engineering challenges in testing a floating offshore wind turbine, will position Rutgers at the center of what is expected to be one of the most ambitious wind power research projects in the United States. The project is one of four winning proposals selected for funding in March 2023 by Rutgers–New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway as part of her Chancellor Challenge fostering the development of transformational, campus-wide initiatives to fulfill the goals of Rutgers-New Brunswick’s Academic Master Plan. “This outstanding project was selected through a rigorous, competitive review of proposals to catalyze exploration, collaboration, concept-testing and risk-taking,” Conway said. “Its success will rest on the efforts of cross-disciplinary teams from multiple Rutgers–New Brunswick units. Importantly, it focuses the power of our research on a grand challenge of science and society.” The effort will capitalize on a surge of support for wind energy, including public funds that Gov. Phil Murphy invested into wind power development through the Wind Institute for Innovation and Training. The project will make Rutgers globally known for wind research, says Onur Bilgen, a leader of the project and an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Photo: Rutgers School of Engineering “Our broad vision is that, by 2035, New Jersey will be among the global leaders in offshore wind energy research, technology development and testing, and that Rutgers will be globally known for its multidisciplinary approach to the economics, engineering and the social and environmental science and policy of wind energy,” said Onur Bilgen, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the Rutgers School of Engineering (SOE.) Bilgen is leading the project with Josh Kohut, co-founder of the Center for Ocean Observing Leadership and a professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS.) The effort will receive about $1.1 million from the Rutgers–New Brunswick Chancellor’s Office. The WET Center is one of the first flagship interdisciplinary projects of the newly created Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute (RCEI), announced by Conway in October, and which is another initiative of Rutgers–New Brunswick’s Academic Master Plan. The WET Center is a “signature investment” for the university, says Julie Lockwood, interim director of the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute. Photo: Rutgers Climate and Energy Center “The WET Center is a signature investment into cutting-edge climate change and renewable energy scholarship and education through RCEI,” said Julie Lockwood, RCEI’s interim director and a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources at SEBS. “Its innovative design fosters collaboration among scholars from a variety of academic fields, which enhances the impact of Rutgers on next-generation wind energy production.” Studying offshore wind energy systems – constellations of turbines installed in the ocean as opposed to land – offers a unique opportunity to build bridges across campuses, Bilgen said. Wind energy systems, especially offshore, are more expensive to install and maintain than land-based wind energy and conventional energy sources. But there have been several recent technological advances that may change that, including the development of multidisciplinary design optimization tools; new light and strong composite materials, structures and coatings; and manufacturing and installation methods. Concentrated, collaborative efforts will continue to yield further innovations, Bilgen said. In the organizers’ vision for the larger test facility called WET Center, which will require governmental and industry support to build and operate, researchers will be able to test near-full-scale versions of Eiffel Tower-size wind turbines designed to float in the deep ocean, Bilgen said. Researchers working at the smaller WET Lab will be able to test much smaller versions of the giant machines. That facility also will be the center of efforts to give rise to and foster new interdisciplinary collaborations among faculty and students. Those leading the effort will develop and implement a laboratory course and course modules for integration into existing courses. Josh Kohut, a professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, will co-lead the project. The effort will engage a large cohort of engineering and marine science researchers. Photo: Rutgers Center for Ocean Observing Leadership Kohut, a marine scientist, praised Bilgen for developing the concept of a research facility for offshore wind power and engaging so many faculty members with diverse interests. “Onur had this really great idea of planning for a research facility necessary for advancing offshore wind in the region – and he generously engaged all the groups that were working in that space,” said Kohut. “There’s something like 60 faculty members across the university who are engaged in some aspect of offshore wind. The WET Lab that will be put together through this effort will engage the engineering and marine science researchers of this broader Rutgers offshore wind community at Rutgers.” Faculty from SOE, SEBS, and the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences will be involved in center research. In addition to Bilgen and Kohut, five other faculty members, spanning multiple departments, will play critical roles in the effort. Participating faculty from SOE include: Assistant Professor Laurent Burlion in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Assistant Professor Aziz Ezzat in the Department of Industrial Engineering; and Assistant Professor Roger Wang in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Those participating from SEBS include: Assistant Professor Travis

Q&A on Recent Whale Strandings and Offshore Wind Energy Development   Are whale strandings increasing along the Jersey Shore? Recent whale strandings along New Jersey and New York continue a period of increased humpback whale mortalities along the U.S. East Coast that began in 20161,2. In April of 2017 it was declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) for humpback whales by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act1. Have there been similar strandings in the past and why? Three other UMEs for humpback whales have occurred since 2000. In 2003, there were 16 mortalities; in 2005, 7 occurred; and in 2006, 48 mortalities were recorded. The causes of these UMEs are still undetermined3. This most recent increase that has been occurring since 2016 is similar to that observed between 1985-19924. The similarities include a notable increase in frequency and sightings, an increase in the number of strandings (many in mid-winter when they are believed to be primarily in tropical regions), and the age of the whales at mortality (juveniles)1-11. What are potential causes of whale strandings? Many factors can contribute to the stranding of an individual whale. These include illness, vessel strikes, entanglement in discarded fishing gear, high-intensity, low-frequency acoustic surveys, and contributing factors such as climate variability, long-term climate change, and predator-prey interactions.6,8,10,12 The port of New York and New Jersey is now the busiest port in the U.S, with cargo handling capacity increasing by 5.7% since 2021 and surpassing the Port of Los Angeles last year.13 Vessel density and speed are highest in nearshore waters where it is believed the juvenile humpback whales are foraging at the surface.5,6,8,11,14 The majority (93%) of humpback whale mortalities in the New York Bight caused by vessel strikes were juveniles.11 Furthermore, vessel strikes have been identified as the culprit for half of the necropsied whales that have stranded since 2017 – that’s six times higher than the 16-year average of 1.5 whales3 – while necropsy (a type of autopsy) analyses for the other stranded whales are ongoing. Adult humpback whales, along with fin, minke, and north Atlantic right, forage farther offshore. In addition to changes in human activity across our region, the habitat of the whales and their prey changes rapidly. Characteristics of the ocean off our coast undergo remarkable variability across days and weeks to seasons, years, and decades.15 This intense ocean variability drives an equally variable ecosystem – from the primary producers (planktonic algae) to highly migratory fish and marine mammals. Tight coupling between ocean conditions and the habitat preference of local and migratory species can cause their distributions to vary significantly from season to season and year to year. Furthermore, our coastal waters are situated in one of the most rapidly warming regions in the world. Following the recent increasing trend of carbon dioxide emissions without additional policy changes and action, local ocean temperatures in the mid-Atlantic would increase by 3-4°C over the next 70 years16. Ocean warming has led to vulnerability among approximately half of the U.S. Northeast Shelf species17, and the dominant response of fish species to ocean warming has been to shift their distribution range poleward18-20. A primary food source of humpback whales, Atlantic menhaden have been increasing in biomass in the region since the 1980s21, and anecdotal observations suggest that their distributions have been shifting closer to shore and staying later into winter. We do not know why. Coincidentally, these nearshore areas are where juvenile humpbacks have been observed feeding at the surface5,6,8,11,14, potentially increasing susceptibility to vessel strikes or entanglement. Are the strandings related to the research and monitoring occurring because of New Jersey’s offshore wind energy development project? Ongoing planning and surveying activities conducted by offshore wind developers for the different projects include acoustic surveys for site evaluation. There have been recent claims that these acoustic surveying efforts have caused this recent uptick in whale strandings. At this point, there are no data or evidence linking whale mortalities to any one specific factor, including offshore wind development.10,12,22 Not all acoustic surveys are the same. Unlike the large acoustic arrays for oil and gas surveys or military sonar that use high-intensive low frequency acoustics, the wind acoustic surveys are of high frequency or lower intensity low frequency which are harder for baleen whales – including humpback whales – to hear.12,23 Notably, the recent strandings of humpbacks and other marine mammals have been occurring from Florida through Maine1, covering a large region with very different stressors. To properly assign cause to any stranding, all factors must be considered. Why is it important to determine the cause(s) of whale strandings and what research efforts are needed to address this issue? Most reports are too quick to assign the cause of whale strandings without much concern for data and scientific input. Now more than ever it is critical that we consider the evidence and the complexity of the entire system before drawing conclusions about the causes. Many factors, natural and human-caused, impact ecosystem health. Decisions, particularly those as paramount as calls to shut down the development of a climate-mitigating renewable energy, need to be based on scientific data and solid evidence and consider the entirety of factors contributing to observed or perceived impacts. At this point, there are no such data or evidence linking whale mortalities to any one specific factor including offshore wind development. We encourage the decision makers to consider all the changes occurring in and factors impacting the coastal ocean habitats utilized by these whales. In addition to ongoing baseline monitoring and planned offshore wind impact studies, it is imperative to bring together the marine mammal and broader oceanographic communities now to investigate and identify all potential drivers of this ongoing UME event before any blame can be directed toward a specific entity or activity. What must be considered when planning responsible development of offshore wind?  The need is clear to develop sustainable solutions to combat the single biggest threat to our ocean and the planet

Rutgers has launched the Offshore Wind Collaborative to coordinate and build expertise in offshore wind research across the university community and to support workforce development pathways to employment in this industry. Leading the establishment of the collaborative is Margaret Brennan-Tonetta, director of the Office of Resource and Economic Development at Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, along with Josh Kohut, professor, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, School of Environmental Biological Sciences, and Wade Trappe, professor and Associate Dean for Academics, School of Engineering. More than 40 faculty members from across Rutgers’s campuses in New Brunswick, Camden and Newark have committed to the Offshore Wind Collaborative, bringing a wide range of disciplines and expertise including marine sciences, environmental science, engineering, materials science, supply-chain, and public policy, as well as economics, psychology and other social sciences. Rutgers is well positioned to establish the collaborative environment and knowledge-sharing needed to foster the growth of a wind-based economy in New Jersey. New Jersey is poised to be a strong player in the emerging sector in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. The state’s Offshore Wind Strategic Plan, approved in 2020, guides the establishment of the offshore wind industry to benefit New Jersey residents. It is a core strategy of the state’s Energy Master Plan, which identifies the most ambitious and cost-effective ways of reaching 100 percent clean energy by 2050. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) Wind Institute awarded the Rutgers OffShore Wind Collaborative a one-year, $125,000 grant as part of the University Initiatives to Advance Offshore Wind program. Brennan-Tonetta, Trappe and Kohut serve as co-investigators University Initiatives program, which includes three projects: Offshore Wind Energy Symposium, a free event on Jan. 12 that will bring together industry, government and academic leaders to discuss challenges and opportunities, as well as build community engagement in offshore wind. A summary report based on information from the symposium will be used by NJEDA to develop recommendations on the government’s role in development of the offshore wind sector. Educational Initiatives for a Resilient Offshore Wind Economy in New Jersey, will develop and deliver modular curricula across various technical, business, environmental, engineering and policy topics related to offshore wind. The modules will be designed to be integrated into a wide range of current Rutgers courses and for presentation as standalone programs. Community Events and Shared Learning opportunities via three in-person community-building events at Rutgers-Camden, Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-New Brunswick, with the primary goal of exploring opportunities in the offshore wind sector. NJEDA also provided a $282,000 grant to Rutgers to create the New Jersey Wind Institute Fellowship Program to support student research in topics that further the growth of offshore wind as well as build student and faculty advisor expertise in offshore wind research and innovation in the state. Chelsie Riche, assistant director for student success and experiential education, Office of Academic Affairs, serves as the principal investigator for the Rutgers Fellowship Program. Rutgers is one of four higher education institutions in the state, including Rowan University, Montclair State University and New Jersey Institute of Technology, to offer its undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to conduct paid, independent research related to offshore wind. Open to students across all fields of study, the yearlong fellowship program was launched in Fall 2022 and includes 13 undergraduate and graduate student fellows at Rutgers. Learn more about the Offshore Wind Collaborative and the Wind Institute Fellowship Program. Original article at Rutgers NJAES Newsroom

A deep dive into new initiatives supporting biodiversity – from the coastline to the seafloor In a well-functioning marine ecosystem, everything is connected – from microscopic matter to massive aquatic mammals. If any one element becomes unbalanced, the ripple effects can be devastating. This interconnectedness is one of the reasons why climate change is such a significant – and imminent – threat to the world’s oceans. Katherine Richardson, a researcher of marine biology and biodiversity, notes that we’re already seeing major disruptions in Earth’s marine ecosystems: motile (moving) organisms migrating to new regions to escape warming temperatures, excess nutrient input from pollution affecting marine life, and coral bleaching, among other calamities. Biodiversity is taking a huge hit in the wake of a changing climate – which in turn impacts climate mitigation efforts. “The biodiversity crisis is at least as important as the climate crisis,” explains Richardson. “Biological processes, including both land and ocean photosynthesis, are critical for establishing sinks in the global carbon cycle. The way we change the biosphere’s capacity for carbon storage is an integral part of the climate crisis.” Globally, organizations ranging from renewable energy companies to conservation groups to university research programs are collaborating to tackle the joint crises of plummeting biodiversity and ongoing climate change. Below, take a journey from the coast to the seafloor to learn more about three critical efforts that aim to improve marine ecosystems. The Humber Seascape Restoration Programme is led by partners Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, representing their combined 70,000 members, 800 active conservation volunteers and 218 specialist staff. It builds on an ambitious program of seagrass restoration work already underway between the Hornsea Four Offshore Wind Farm project and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. In the project’s initial phase, seagrass seeds will be planted along four hectares. The plants will provide critical shelter for animals, as well as a nursery for certain fish species. Next, conservationists plan to release 500,000 native oysters to encourage biogenic reef development. Dr. James Wood, the fisheries and research manager of the North Sea Wildlife Trusts, notes that the iconic estuary is one of the most important conservation sites in the UK. “It’s recognized as the single largest freshwater contributor to the North Sea, with tributaries that drain one-fifth of England’s landmass. Nature conservation works here, alongside some of Europe’s busiest transport routes, and there is immense potential for pioneering as well as ongoing restoration for marine wildlife,” he explains. Dr. Wood and his team will be closely monitoring metrics of success of the estuary restoration project, including oyster survivorship rates, reef formation stats and signs of reproduction. They’ll also monitor if the seagrass seedlings are taking root, stabilizing sediments and expanding their footprint into adjacent areas. Ideally, the efforts will lead to enriched coastal habitats, carbon sequestration, improved water quality and an overall increase in marine species. Adoption of renewable energy systems is a key part of addressing climate change – but in an interconnected world, even the most well-intentioned efforts must be implemented carefully, with consideration of potential unintended consequences. When it comes to constructing the infrastructure required for offshore wind farms, the process must be deliberate – and data-driven – in order to cause the least amount of disruption to marine ecosystems as possible. One example of a research effort attempting to quantify the impact of renewable energy infrastructure on marine life is the Ecosystem and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (ECO-PAM) project, which gathers crucial data about the North Atlantic right whale. This magnificent animal is capable of traveling thousands of miles in search of food. Part of its migration habitat lies off the coast of the Eastern United States, including areas off of New Jersey and Massachusetts, where there’s ongoing offshore wind interest and activity. To better understand how wind farm rollout might impact this species, the ECO-PAM initiative collects data about the whale’s songs, migration patterns and general ocean conditions. It does so via acoustic monitoring buoys deployed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), an acoustic vector sensor buoy by University of Rhode Island (URI) and an autonomous underwater glider developed by Rutgers. The endeavor has been a collaborative effort, not only for developing the hardware and technology, but for deploying it effectively in challenging conditions. “Working with advanced electronics in the coastal ocean is always a challenge, as there are ships, storms and biology that occasionally impact our gliders,” explains Josh Kohut, a professor in the department of marine and coastal sciences at Rutgers. That said, the initiative has overcome all obstacles in its way thus far, including Covid-related delays that shifted the project’s original timeline. Over the last two years, Rutgers has successfully deployed autonomous underwater gliders nine times. Each mission has helped collect data about not only the whales, but also about the oceanographic conditions they prefer – as well as more general data about the changing marinescape. The resulting data is publicly available and helps to support student-based research on marine mammal coastal habitats. Full article at The Guardian

CODAR Ocean Sensors is pleased to announce it has been awarded a National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC), Innovation in Offshore Wind grant titled “Oceanographic HF Radar Data Preservation in Wind Turbine Interference Mitigation”.  Led by Dale Trockel and Chad Whelan, the focus of this project will be twofold: 1) to use empirical machine learning methods, aided by the physics of wind turbine interference (WTI), to estimate WTI signals to a high degree of accuracy such that they can be separated and removed from the oceanographic echoes and 2) to use multiple HFR stations operating in multi-static mode to fill in gaps caused by WTI interference and WTI mitigation methods. CODAR, a member of CeNCOOS, will be partnering with SECOORA member ECU Coastal Studies Institute (Mike Muglia) and MARACOOS members Rutgers University (Hugh Roarty) and Old Dominion University (Teresa Updyke) to investigate these methods using the radar echoes from turbines in the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project.  For more information, please contact Chad Whelan. To learn more about NOWRDC, visit their website: https://nationaloffshorewind.org/.

The Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RUCOOL) and Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) issued the final report for the 2021 Partners in Science Workshop, which was hosted virtually on January 28, 2021. This workshop, Identifying Ecological Metrics and Sampling Strategies for Baseline Monitoring During Offshore Wind Development, included both a pre-workshop participant survey and “world café” format workshop discussions. The event was co-hosted by RUCOOL and RCE, sponsored by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, and moderated by the Consensus Building Institute. The survey and workshop aimed to gather community input to define the parameters required to quantify baseline ecological variability that will enable the evaluation of potential impacts from offshore wind development. The report details results from the pre-workshop survey, presentations from several workshop participants, and the multiple breakout sessions held during this half-day workshop. A summary of the main findings includes: The pace of offshore wind development is faster than the pace of fisheries science and it is critical that marine fisheries resources and fishing activity are considered during all phases of an offshore wind farm from pre-construction through operations and decommissioning. Baseline studies should begin at least 2-3 years prior to construction, with these efforts continuing via monitoring studies for at least 5 years post-construction, and less frequent sampling throughout the life of the wind farm. There was a clear consensus that any baseline and/or monitoring study should consider the entire system, from the dynamic oceanographic habitat up through the food web. There is a critical need for engaging the broader stakeholder community in developing techniques and survey design that would prevent disruption to existing survey methods once the wind farms are built; this could include instrumentation on the turbine platforms themselves, and/or new methods to fill any gaps within the wind farm areas. Studies should be designed and implemented through collaboration with all expert areas, including industry, academia, and state and federal government agencies; regional efforts should be made to coordinate, integrate, and consolidate existing and new data. The variability of the ocean makes it difficult to identify clear control areas for studies, particularly around physical and chemical variables; gradient design may be more appropriate. Ocean currents and other ocean variables related to the mixing of seasonal stratification (cold pool processes) are important and should be measured throughout the water column. Fisheries surveys should be hypothesis-driven, address gaps in existing research, and prioritize species within each study based on site-specific vulnerability. Spatial and temporal variability will impact fisheries vulnerability and risks, and the regional scope of development will require coordination in activities between sites. There should be a focus on monitoring specific marine mammals and other high conservation species; regional approaches for migratory species should cover night and day and inform knowledge gaps in species life stages. Use of and participation in community science sampling should be expanded. Cross-cutting each of these priorities was an emphasis placed on baseline and monitoring design that incorporated ecosystem approaches (described below) in a way that leveraged the power of partnerships. The full report can be found here.

ATLANTIC CITY — A company hoping to build a wind power farm off the coast of southern New Jersey is partnering with Rutgers University and the state’s clam industry to study the potential impacts of wind farms on the shellfish. Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, LLC said Thursday it is funding a $500,000 study of how New Jersey’s valuable clam industry might be impacted by offshore wind farms over the next 30 years. The study also will take the possible impacts of climate change into account. It will also examine the economics of the clam industry in the lease area in which Atlantic Shores hopes to build its projects, as well as in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, a coastal region running from Massachusetts to North Carolina. Full article at The Press of Atlantic City