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The Great Bay Reserve’s Coastal Training Program supports community leaders and professionals as they make decisions that impact lands and waters in the Great Bay Watershed. In support of this, we also engage engineers, consultants, realtors, restoration practitioners, scientists, and agency professionals. Our goal is to foster learning and advance action on priority issues, including water quality improvement, habitat protection, and climate adaptation, as outlined in the Reserve’s Management Plan.
Get in touch!
Do you have an idea for a workshop or collaborative project that would advance stewardship in your community, contact us!
Lynn Vaccaro, Great Bay Reserve Coastal Training Program Coordinator
Learning Opportunities
We design and host workshops, trainings, and other learning opportunities that allow participants to discuss a priority issue, deepen skills, and connect with other professionals. These include the following:
- Great Bay Research Symposium: Held every two years, this day-long event explores topics of interest to the Bay’s science and management communities. Learn more.
- Great Bay Changemakers: In partnership with the Great Bay-Piscataqua Waterkeeper, we manage a training program to equip residents to become effective champions for clean water in their communities. Learn more.
- Community Support for Sustainable Stormwater Funding: This eight-part workshop helps municipal leaders become more skilled in the engagement techniques needed to build public support for stormwater utilities and other programs. It was created in partnership with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership and New Hampshire Sea Grant. Learn more.
- New Hampshire Coastal Climate Summit: A founding member of the New Hampshire Coastal Adaptation Workshop (NH CAW), the Great Bay Reserve is active in the workgroup’s outreach committee and co-hosts the state’s Climate Summit. Learn more.
- Great Bay Living Shorelines Project: This practicum-based training aimed to increase the use of nature-based shoreline stabilization techniques among the state’s engineering and consulting communities. It was created in partnership with the University of New Hampshire and the state’s Department of Environmental Services Coastal Program. Learn more.
Community Support
We collaborate with communities to help staff and board members use new conservation tools, share lessons learned across communities, and improve engagement with residents. Some of our recent projects include the following:
- Connect to Protect: The 2021 New Hampshire Coastal Watershed Conservation Plan was created to advance conservation of priority lands across the watershed. To access maps for your community and learn how to request technical assistance visit Connect to Protect.
- Flood Ready Neighborhoods: This program helps neighborhoods experiencing flooding and erosion explore options for increasing resilience. Learn more.
- The New Hampshire Salt Marsh Plan: This suite of mapping products provides a comprehensive look at the resiliency of our tidal marshes. We can provide technical assistance to municipalities, restoration practitioners, and others interested in using the Plan for land use, conservation, restoration, or research planning. Learn more.
- Coastal Conservation Commission Roundtable: To foster learning and connections across conservation commissions, we facilitate a discussion group that meets every other month. Contact Lynn Vaccaro or Jay Diener for more information.
- 7 Rivers to the Coast: This new communications platform aims to foster a culture of stewardship among residents across the Great Bay watershed. Learn more.
- Tools for Stewardship: The Great Bay Reserve’s Habitat Science Program offers mapping and other geospatial tools to help guide land management. Learn more.
Research to Management
We work with partners to advance collaborative science projects that center the needs of communities and coastal resource managers. In support of this, we convene advisory groups, develop science communication tools, and create opportunities for intended users of the research to participate in the process. Some recent projects include the following:
- Eelgrass Resilience: We are facilitating the advisory for a three-year project that is examining the connections between Great Bay’s water quality and the health of eelgrass meadows. Learn more.
- Bridging Human Dimensions: This project aims to help outreach and engagement professionals access and use local social science to help manage and protect the lands and waters of the Great bay watershed. Co-led by the Great Bay Reserve and New Hampshire Sea Grant, this project is building connections between practitioners and scientists and identifying actionable ideas to apply local research. Learn more.
- Collaborative Science: Learn more about other research projects led or supported by the Great Bay Reserve here.
Latest News
National Estuaries Week
A time to celebrate Great Bay!
Strategies for Facilitating Marsh Migration: Workshop Report
On March 11, 2026, Great Bay NERR hosted a virtual workshop on Strategies for Facilitating Marsh Migration Workshop. A summary report and recordings of workshop presentations are now available to share lessons learned from the emerging field and inform local and regional restoration efforts.
Assessing the Interests and Priorities of Coastal Conservation Commissions
During the summer of 2025, Great Bay NERR worked with partners to conduct an assessment of Conservation Commissions to help inform future training and engagement programs. We are happy to share the assessment report, which details the varied interests and priorities of Conservation Commissions in NH’s coastal zone.