 Heather Robinson Since 1987, March has been designated as Women's History Month, which celebrates the contributions women have made to the United States and recognizes the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields. During Women's History Month the American Littoral Society is profiling women who have made a positive impact on the environment. Heather Robinson, Rumson Environmental Commission What are you most proud of in your work? I’m most proud of the work I’ve done with the Rumson Environmental Commission and the Rumson Garden Club to promote native plants and green infrastructure. We have two rain gardens installed, at Forrestdale School and Victory Park (in Rumson Borough), and our third will be planted this spring at Riverside Park. Is there a story you would like to share about your experience with the environment? I spent my summer before senior year of college working as a research assistant studying tritrophic interactions of plant toxicity on herbivores and their predators. In reality I was pinching caterpillars with tweezers to simulate a wasp sting! Is there a woman who has inspired you the most? My mother fostered my love of nature and the environment. Our family would take long hikes every weekend and we’d identify the animals and plants we found. We always had collections of things: shells and beach glass, pinecones, bird feathers. And my 4 daughters inspire me every day to give back to our community and take care of our natural world.  Emily McGuckin Emily McGuckin, Fish Tagging Program Director for the American Littoral Society Recently, the Hudson River Fisherman's Association (HRFA) recognized Emily McGuckin with the Friend of the Hudson River award. A 2018 graduate of Stockton University, Emily earned a degree in Marine Science, with a minor in Environmental Science. Immediately after graduating, she worked as an intern with Jeff Dement, the Littoral Society's former Fish Tagging Director. After the internship, she continued to volunteer with the Fish Tagging Program over the years and was hired as the Fish Tagging Program Director in September 2021.  Danielle McCulloch Danielle McCulloch, Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service What are you most proud of in your work? I truly have so much pride in the collective work I and my restoration partners (like the Society!) do to achieve coastal resilience. Planning, implementing and studying nature-based solutions to sea-level rise and habitat degradation is incredibly important for our fish, wildlife, and coastal communities. I am proud of our New Jersey Hurricane Sandy projects, which paved the way for nature-based solutions in the state and have informed current projects and policies. Those post-storm projects created a foundation of knowledge for all the exciting coastal resilience work happening in New Jersey right now. Is there a woman who has inspired you the most? I have the privilege to work with many brilliant, creative, and positive women. Women who love to problem-solve and tackle issues head-on with their hard work to ensure our coastal habitats are conserved or protected. These women truly inspire me the most and motivate me every day with their ideas, their expertise, and their leadership. Having so many enthusiastic, female biologists, scientists, and resource managers to collaborate with and learn from makes overcoming challenges easier, and well, more fun. I can’t pick just one, but I will say that New Jerseyans have some exceptional ladies working hard for them!  Wawa Gatheru, Rhodes Scholar and Climate Storyteller Wawa Gatheru grew up in rural Connecticut on Mashantucket Pequot land. As the daughter of Agĩkũyũ Kenyan immigrants, Wawa grew up with a deep connection to the land. At 15, Wawa stumbled into an environmental science class that introduced the environment as a justice issue. She began to recognize that to solve the climate crisis, everyone must be involved. Frustrated by the lack of intersectionality in climate narratives, she decided to harness her passion for climate science and activism towards making the climate movement more relevant and accessible. This led to Wawa founding Black Girl Environmentalist, a national nonprofit committed dedicated to empowering Black girls, women and non-binary people in the climate movement. Most recently, Wawa completed her time as Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, where she read for a MSc in Environmental Governance. She sits on boards and advisory councils for Earth Justice, Environmental Media Association, the National Parks Conservation Association, Climate Power, and Sound Future.  Toni Rose Tablante Toni Rose Tablante, Restoration Technician with the American Littoral Society Toni Rose works on monitoring Littoral Society habitat restoration project sites along the Delaware Bay, which includes biodiversity assessments of our oyster reefs. The reefs are made of shell bags loaded with whelk shells. Those shells provide an ideal substrate for oyster growth, which then provides substrate for various encrusting organisms. The whelk shells also provide habitat for benthic organisms (which include sea anemones, sponges, corals, sea stars, sea urchins, worms, bivalves, and crabs). It is Toni Rose's job to count, measure, and identify what is living on our reefs. "It's always great to refine my field techniques, especially during gorgeous (Delaware) Bay days." -Toni Rose Toni Rose also runs Littoral's Delaware Bay's horseshoe crab tagging program. She helps facilitate close encounters with these living fossils with volunteers from all over the country. She ties in a large and fun outreach effort with collecting data on horseshoe crabs to help support the USFWS Cooperative Tagging Program and help further inform management decisions for the species.
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