Learning by Restoring: SHU Helps Transform Manresa Wilds
Through grant funds, the collaboration is creating paid research opportunities, expanding coursework, and preparing students to tackle real-world environmental challenges
Sacred Heart University’s partnership with Manresa Island Corp., a nonprofit organization, is providing students and faculty with hands-on research opportunities. The collaboration is also helping advance the transformation of the former power plant site into Manresa Wilds, a future publicly accessible park along Long Island Sound dedicated to ecological restoration, education, and public access.
Led by philanthropists Austin and Allison McChord, Manresa Island Corp. aims to restore the more than 125-acre Norwalk island that was home to a fossil fuel power plant for more than 60 years, through partnerships and private funding.
As one of the founding partners of the newly announced Research & Education Station at Manresa Wilds (R.E.S.A.), SHU is helping transform the site into a living laboratory for coastal research, environmental stewardship, and hands-on learning alongside the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, Wesleyan University, and Norwalk Public Schools.
About two years ago, the corporation approached Torrie Hanley, a SHU biology professor, about partnering. Hanley knew the project would support student learning through field research, expand opportunities for field trips, enhance curriculum, and advance faculty research.
Since then, the organization has awarded SHU approximately $50,000 to support student and faculty research. The funds provide Hanley and her colleagues in the biology program with supplies, transportation, paid interns, and other resources to support the island’s restoration.
“One of our goals for R.E.S.A. is to create opportunities for students to learn by doing—to connect classroom knowledge with the real work of restoring coastal ecosystems and preparing communities for an ever-changing climate,” said Jess Vonashek, executive director of Manresa Island Corp. “Sacred Heart University's faculty and students are already making meaningful contributions to the site's ecological transformation while helping shape the next generation of environmental scientists and coastal stewards.”
Hanley said that hands-on involvement is what makes the partnership so valuable for students who are contributing to a large-scale restoration effort while gaining firsthand research experience.
“For SHU students to be part of this research process and engage with an educational resource in our backyard is an incredible opportunity,” Hanley said. “They will watch the project’s progress, see the changes, and know they had an impact.”
Currently, about 10 biology students are being paid to conduct research on the island. SHU biology department professors are leading the way—Jo-Marie Kasinak is expanding Project Limulus, SHU’s long-running horseshoe crab research project, to Manresa Island; LaTina Steele is studying the salt marshes, and Emily Levy and Barbara Pierce are studying birds on the island.
Additionally, SHU’s biology program offers courses in restoration ecology, conservation biology, and coastal biology that incorporate Manresa Wilds. Last fall, Hanley took her restoration ecology class to the island. Students toured the site and stood atop the former power plant, where they learned about its industrial history and the plans to transform it into a park.
“We talked about different types of restoration efforts, the people involved, and more,” Hanley said.
Class discussions developed from there as students brainstormed ways to restore the site and prioritize efforts. “It was a chance for students to apply all the concepts they learned in class. They came up with a restoration design and compared their ideas with the actual plans,” Hanley said, noting that it was an engaging exercise that students enjoyed.
The field trip to the island had a huge impact on senior Jamie Gaffney, of Hillsborough, NJ. “It was the coolest trip,” said the biology major.
A lover of the outdoors who enjoys biking, hiking, and fishing, Gaffney said seeing the site and learning about the early stages of the project sparked his interest. He wanted to stay involved and soon began working with Levy on her bird research.
Levy and Pierce, with Gaffney and other students, will soon install acoustic recorders on the island to learn what types of birds use the site. The microphones record birdsong, and machine learning helps researchers identify species from the recordings.
“I feel really passionate about this work,” Gaffney said. “This site could serve as a blueprint for other sites and how they can restore them.”
Gaffney continued, “This has been my most memorable experience in college. That field trip really got me involved. I loved Professor Hanley’s class.”
Junior Carolina Demarco, of Stamford, is a coastal & marine science major with a deep passion for marine biology. She volunteers at Norwalk’s Maritime Aquarium and learned about the Manresa Wilds project while attending the Norwalk Oyster Festival. Back at SHU, she heard about Steele’s research on the island and was excited by the full-circle connection.
She knew she had to get involved. With Steele and a group of students, Demarco is participating in salt marsh surveys. The group is measuring, observing, and testing the grass while also planting additional marsh vegetation.
Salt marshes play a significant role in coastal ecosystems because they stabilize shorelines, reduce erosion, and help protect against flooding. The group is counting and measuring marsh vegetation and collecting leaf samples to measure plant stress.
Demarco said this is her first fieldwork experience, and she’s excited to be a part of it. “It’s just really cool to work hands-on with something that’s so interesting to me,” she said. “I’m really lucky to have this opportunity. I feel really grateful to do this research. It’s unbelievable.”
Besides the educational aspect, Demarco is enjoying her time with the team. Everyone gets along, and it’s rewarding to work alongside people who share the same goals. “We’re all doing something we’re passionate about,” she said.
Top: Emily Levy, Carolina Demarco, Jamie Gaffney, and Project Limulus students at a press event announcing the launch of R.E.S.A., the Research and Education Station at Manresa Wilds.
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