Research in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System

NERRS Research and Monitoring Plan (2006 - 2011) (PDF)

The National Estuarine Research Reserves serve as living laboratories for on-site staff, visiting scientists and graduate students. Since its inception, a main goal of the program has been to ensure a stable environment for research through long-term protection of reserve system resources. The reserves serve as platforms for long-term research and monitoring, as well as reference sites for comparative studies.

In addition to participating in the System-wide Monitoring Program and the Graduate Research Fellowship program , each reserve works on a variety of research projects. The topics range from non-point source pollution to the control of invasive species.

The reserves also have a partnership with the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Environmental Technology . Many academic researchers conducting research in the reserve system are supported by CICEET. The projects are on subjects ranging from restoring eelgrass habitat to developing technologies to monitor nutrients. In addition, researchers from universities and other institutions are engaged in projects within the reserve system on topics like nutrient loading, invasive species or habitat restoration.

To learn more about a specific reserve's research activities, visit the site-based pages.

List of Reserves Ace Basin, SC Apalachicola, FL Chesapeake Bay, MD Chesapeake Bay, VA Delaware Elkhorn Slough, CA Grand Bay, MS Great Bay, NH GTM, FL Hudson River, NY Jacques Cousteau, NJ Jobos Bay, PR Kachemak Bay, AK Narragansett Bay, RI North Carolina N. Inlet-Winyah, SC Old Woman Crk, OH Padilla Bay, WA Rookery Bay, FL San Francisco, CA Sapelo Island, GA South Slough, OR Texas Tijuana River, CA Waquoit Bay, MA Weeks Bay, AL Wells, ME

For more information about research in the estuarine reserves, contact
Marie Bundy.