Protecting and stewarding coastal land is central to our mission. We conduct science to advance land management and protection that will benefit fish and wildlife. We focus on upland and intertidal resource management issues that include development, invasive species, resource use, habitat alteration, and climate change—the major drivers of ecological change in the Great Bay estuary.

Featured Projects

• Designing Salt Marshes: Combining high resolution habitat and elevation datasets indicates elevation ranges of plant species assemblages and ecotone boundaries within the Great Bay Estuary. These data can support restoration and adaptation project design and help verify models of marsh migration and adaptation to climate change. Work was published in a report, “An Ecological Approach to Designing Salt Marshes.” Learn more >
• Picking our Battles: With invasive species that is! We teamed up with more than 120 partners to develop a state-wide map to help manage invasive plant species. Learn more >
• New Hampshire SLAMM:  In 2022, we led an effort to rerun the Sea Level Affecting Marsh Migration Model (SLAMM) for all of New Hampshire. The goal? To understand how habitats will shift in response to sea level rise using updated, high resolution data to refine the model that was first run in 2014.  Learn more >
• New Salt Marsh Plan: Informed by the 2022 SLAMM results, we worked with over twenty partners to develop the NH Salt Marsh Plan, a spatial planning resource that provides a comprehensive look at the resiliency of New Hampshire’s tidal marshes through a geospatial analysis of current conditions, vulnerability, and adaptation potential. It can inform strategic decisions about where to invest in restoration, land protection, and potential land use changes related to salt marsh migration as sea level rises.  Learn more >
• Trails for People and Wildlife: This statewide mapping tool provides guidance to help people locate trails that will allow people to enjoy nature and wildlife to thrive. Learn more >
• Landscape Scale Marsh Resilience: Working with research reserves across the country, we developed a way to assess tidal marsh resilience at the landscape scale through GIS-based metrics of marsh condition, vulnerability to sea level rise, and potential for adaptation. Learn more >