Michael J. Kennish

email:
phone: 732-932-8959 x. 240

Education: Ph.D., Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Research Interests:  My work at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences (IMCS) has entailed diverse scholarly, teaching, and service activities.  In addition to being a member of the IMCS faculty, I am an associate faculty member in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.  I am also the research coordinator of the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, the technical coordinator of the Bluefish-Striped Bass Research Program, and the co-chair of the Coastal Climate Change Workgroup within the Climate and Environmental Change Initiative at Rutgers. 
As a multidisciplinary scientist, I have conducted a wide range of basic and applied research on the water quality, biotic communities, and habitats of riverine, estuarine, and deep-sea environments.  Much of this research focuses on the investigation of anthropogenic impacts on estuarine and coastal marine environments.  It also involves the development and application of innovative research methods to determine the condition and overall ecosystem health of these critically important environments.  I am particularly interested in assessing the natural and anthropogenic stressors that effect change in coastal ecosystems and delineating the dynamics of environmental forcing factors that generate imbalances in biotic community structure and ecosystem function.  I am employing state-of-the-art sampling techniques and instrumentation to develop metrics and indicators that define coastal environmental trends.  
I have worked extensively on a wide range of coastal problems dealing with the effects of watershed development, habitat loss and alteration in aquatic systems, nutrient enrichment and eutrophication, hypoxia and anoxia, organic pollution, chemical contaminants, climate change, sea-level rise, overfishing, invasive species, watercraft effects, dredging and dredge material disposal, thermal discharges, and entrainment and impingement of electric generating stations.  In addition, I am heavily involved in integrative ecosystem assessment, particularly investigations of impairment and condition of New Jersey’s estuarine and coastal marine environments. Much of my basic research has entailed investigations of benthic communities and habitats, as well as seafloor mapping and characterization. Aside from coastal marine research, I have investigated the biology and geology of mid-ocean ridge and hydrothermal vent systems as a member of the Center for Deep-Sea Ecology and Biotechnology at IMCS.  All of this work has resulted in the publication of 11 books and more than 150 research articles in peer-reviewed science journals and books.

Personal Interests:  My personal mission is to improve the academic excellence of both the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Rutgers University at large. The first priority is to provide first-rate instruction and research support to Rutgers students.  I am also very interested in improving the condition of New Jersey’s coastal environments, especially estuarine and coastal marine systems that are impacted by pollution and other human factors.
When I am not involved in academic pursuits, I enjoy strenuous physical fitness activity, especially running and weightlifting. 

Research Lab: JCNERR Science Research Laboratory

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