Professor Discusses Coastline with Senator, Stratford Officials

Jennifer Mattei shares details of shoreline protection roundtable discussion

Sacred Heart University biology professor Jennifer Mattei met with U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and Stratford officials and residents in early April for a roundtable discussion on shoreline protection.

Inside the town’s council chambers, the group discussed potential investments the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can make to protect nature-based shorelines before devastating storms hit. Living shorelines, like the one at Stratford Point, slow erosion from wave action, enabling sediment to build up and foundation species such as marsh grasses and oyster reefs to multiply. Sacred Heart partnered with Corteva Agriscience (an agriculture division of DowDuPont) to plan and install Stratford Point’s nature-based shoreline. Mattei is lead scientist on the project, managing the restoration team in the design of the shoreline protection efforts and monitoring the results at Stratford Point since 2014.

Murphy chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. He wants to use FEMA mitigation funds to protect the coast in advance of storms, making investments now, rather than putting funds toward clean-up after a destructive storm hits.  

“Senator Murphy is concerned that residents who live close to the shore should be more prepared for storm damage before it occurs,” Mattei said. “Ecological restoration of the shore has many benefits, including resiliency and a healthier Long Island Sound. Intact, functional, coastal habitats protect the shore from erosion and provide nursery habitat to many ecologically and economically important species.”

Mattei said the roundtable conversation focused on the need for more planning funds for towns close to the shoreline flood zone. Every plan should address coastal restoration first, she said, since living shorelines will give the towns more protection and more time to raise roads and low lying structures or plan to move back from the rising sea.

These ecological restoration measures also help restore the base of Long Island Sound’s food web, which enables harvestable and economically important natural resources to flourish. These resources include fish, shellfish, horseshoe crabs and wildlife such as shorebirds, waders, ducks and more.

For more information on Mattei’s work, visit Living Shorelines in Connecticut on Sacred Heart’s website.

Photo: Senator Chris Murphy and Professor Jennifer Mattei at Stratford Town Hall