The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has awarded Randolph-Macon College Environmental Studies and Geology Professor Michael Fenster a collaborative $250,578.00 grant. The grant will be used to fund the Eastern Shore Barrier Island Stabilization and Marsh Construction Engineering Plans project.

An article about the grant was featured in the Virginian-Pilot.

Restoring and Expanding Marsh Habitat
The project involves developing an innovative science- and nature-based engineering plan to slow the migration of, and potentially stabilize a highly eroded barrier island that fronts the town of Wachapreague on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Randolph-Macon College, George Washington University (GWU), the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission, and Stantec Engineering are collaborating on the project, which will produce a plan designed to slow the island’s migration by building a marsh platform directly behind the island on the bayside.

“This project will enable the island to stabilize and grow vertically and ultimately allow the island ‘speed bump’ to re-form and put back a critical storm barrier for the residents of Wachapreague and the central Eastern Shore,” explains Fenster, the Stephen H. Watts Professor of Science. “The plan will also restore and expand marsh habitat and its associated ecosystem.”

Field Data Collection
The project will require collection of field data to allow for the identification of sediment types that match the design plan and to map the volumes of sediment needed to extract and build the marsh platform. Fenster, along with RMC environmental studies students, will contribute to this fieldwork by collecting seismic profiles that can map layers below the bay bottom using seismic sonar. Next summer, Fenster and his students will also use RMC’s boat, “Miss Jane,” (named after the boat’s donor, Jane Iden) to collect grab samples from the bay.

While the specific outcome of this project is an engineering plan for this restoration effort, it is anticipated that the lessons learned through the collection of field data, mapping, and project design will transfer to undeveloped barrier islands throughout the U.S. East and Gulf coasts.

“This is a win-win for nature and the people who occupy this region,” says Fenster. “It also demonstrates to our environmental studies majors how working in groups with people of various expertise is an industry-standard way to solve complicated environmental problems.”

Michael Fenster
Fenster, who joined the RMC faculty 1998, has served as the director of the Environmental Studies program since 2006. He earned his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Mississippi and his Ph.D. from Boston University.

Fenster’s research specializes in the morphodynamic changes to beaches and tidal inlets along coastal barriers, especially those changes caused by storms and climate change. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Coastal Research, as well as a number of professional societies, including the Geological Society of America, the American Geophysical Union, the Estuarine Research Federation, and the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association.