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	Meet an Expert

Steve Zeck - Volunteer with the Jacques Cousteau NERR, New Jersey

Volunteer Spotlight

Steve Zeck

	Title: Volunteer
	Reserve: Jacques Cousteau NERR, NJ
	With the NERRS since: 2004

About the Reserve

Jacques Cousteau Reserve, New Jersey

Location: The reserve is located eight miles southeast of exit 58 of the Garden State Parkway, in Tuckerton, N.J.

Total Acreage: 114,665

Name: Steve Zeck

Briefly describe the types of volunteer activities you participate in for the NERRS. If you have a favorite volunteer topic or activity, please describe.
I have been working with students and researchers at the Rutgers University Marine Field Station (RUMFS). I’ve driven boats, tracked fish, caught and tagged fish, assisted in Otter Trawls both on the bay and ocean, surveyed fish on the Hudson River, bridge sample weekly and just help with many other projects at RUMFS. I have also helped Reserve staff scan information into computers, conduct open houses and pick up trash on the road.

What life experiences led you to volunteer with the NERRS?
I’ve lived in the Tuckerton area for 37 years and I just enjoy working with young people and nature.

What is the most unusual or most unexpected thing that has happened to you while volunteering for the NERRS?
Two things stand out in my mind. I worked for two summers with a graduate student who collected dolphin DNA samples using a crossbow. I would drive the boat and help to spot the dolphin. We also had another spotter photographer with us. Another project was using sonar equipment to get video images from a kayak on the Hudson River. We were spotting and identifying fish along and under the piers on the River.

What is your proudest achievement as a volunteer?
Having the students and researchers tell me how much help I was on their projects, and seeing my name listed in the credits of their papers and publications.

Last Updated on: 07-01-2008