The Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve (CT NERR), a center within the University of Connecticut, was designated in January 2022, as the newest of 30 such sites across the country that focus on coastal research, education, and stewardship.Kevin O’Brien, manager of the CT NERR, oversees a staff responsible for a variety of projects that target collaborative, place-based approaches to delivering environmental monitoring, science, education/training, and stewardship that address issues of habitat sustainability, climate impacts, and water quality in southeastern Connecticut.
This presentation will provide attendees with a background of what the National Estuarine Research Reserve System is and brief history of how the CT NERR came to be. It will also provide details on some of the current and future efforts designed to provide locally relevant and nationally significant programs, information, and resources to help create a resilient, healthy Long Island Sound estuary and watershed where human and natural communities thrive.
Kevin has a Bachelor’s Degree from Lafayette College and a Master’s Degree from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. He was a NOAA Coastal Services Center Coastal Management Fellow from 1999-2001, and prior to joining the CT NERR, he spent over 20 years within the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s Land and Water Resource Division, working on state and regional programs focused on coastal resource management. One of the projects he managed was the CT NERR designation.