FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Sacred Heart University has received more than $65,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to continue the restoration of 900 linear feet of shoreline and two acres of salt marsh and oyster reef in Stratford. The project will provide habitat for fish and wildlife and create buffers from storms.
The grant supports work that Jennifer Mattei, biology professor, and a team of researchers and engineers began in 2014. This new project, “Planning for a ‘Nature Based’ Living Shoreline at the Mouth of the Housatonic River (CT),” supports the NFWF mission of “sustaining, restoring and enhancing the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats for current and future generations.”
The funding will help Mattei expand the project to aid Stratford Point marshland, which hosts coastal forests, grasslands, bluffs, dunes, intertidal flats, tidal marsh and uplands, and also provides a natural storm buffer for adjacent neighborhoods. In addition, the marshland is a vital link with other ecologically important areas, including the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge.
The marsh is currently degraded and eroding with only 10 percent of the original fringing marsh remaining that once covered nearly a mile of shoreline from Short Beach all the way around Stratford Point to the light house. With the grant, Sacred Heart will produce a permit-ready, engineered design to expand the living shoreline at Stratford Point.
Plans call for the placement of reef makers beyond the low tide line. These artificial reefs, which serve as a habitat for all types of shellfish and marine life, are made of limestone and designed similarly to natural reefs. They can survive category-five hurricane winds and waves and are available in various sizes.
“Our partners on the project include Corteva Agriscience, Audubon Connecticut and the Town of Stratford,” Mattei said. “Their support of our work demonstrates the importance of restored shellfish reefs that protect the marsh providing habitat today for a resilient tomorrow.”
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About Sacred Heart University
As the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, and one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., Sacred Heart University is a national leader in shaping higher education for the 21st century. SHU offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its Fairfield, Conn., campus. Sacred Heart also has satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland and offers online programs. More than 9,000 students attend the University’s nine colleges and schools: Arts & Sciences; Communication, Media & the Arts; Social Work; Computer Science & Engineering; Health Professions; the Isabelle Farrington College of Education; the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology; the Dr. Susan L. Davis, R.N., & Richard J. Henley College of Nursing; and St. Vincent’s College. Sacred Heart stands out from other Catholic institutions as it was established and led by laity. The contemporary Catholic university is rooted in the rich Catholic intellectual tradition and the liberal arts, and at the same time cultivates students to be forward thinkers who enact change—in their own lives, professions and in their communities. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its Best 386 Colleges–2021 Edition, “Best in the Northeast” and Best Business Schools–2020 Edition. Sacred Heart is home to the award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio station, WSHU, a Division I athletics program and an impressive performing arts program that includes choir, band, dance and theater. www.sacredheart.edu