Judith Weis

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Judith Weis working in a salt marsh Judith Weis in a salt marsh.jpg
Judith Weis working in a salt marsh

Judith Shulman Weis (born May 29, 1941) [1] is an American marine biologist. Her research and writing focuses on estuarine ecology and ecotoxicology, including the responses of salt marsh and brackish marsh organisms, populations and communities to stresses, particularly heavy metal contaminants, invasive species and parasites. She is also working to reduce the spread of microplastics in the environment and find solutions to protecting coastal marshes from sea level rise.

Contents

Weis is professor emerita of marine biology at Rutgers University, where she taught for five decades. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and chairs the Science Advisory Board of the NJ DEP, among other bodies.

Early life and education

Weis was born and raised in New York City in a secular Jewish family. [1] She graduated Bronx High School of Science in 1958 and earned her B.A. in 1962 from Cornell University, majoring in zoology. She received her M.S. in 1964 and Ph.D. in biology in 1967, both from New York University. [2]

Career

Weis had a summer internship in 1960, while in Cornell, at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Immediately after receiving her Ph.D., Weis joined the faculty of Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, in 1967, where she was promoted to Professor in 1976. [3] In addition to teaching, she has conducted research on the threats faced by organisms in shallow coastal estuary environments, such as contamination from pollution, especially heavy metals, and invasive species. [2] [4] Much of her research has been with marine life in the New York–New Jersey Harbor area and the New Jersey Meadowlands, but she has also done research in Indonesia and Madagascar. [3] [5] In the 1970s, Weis and her children starred in a Tang orange drink commercial because General Foods was promoting the product with ads featuring female scientists with cute kids. [6] [7] During a sabbatical in 1983–1984, she received a Congressional Science Fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) where she worked for the Environment and Public Works Committee of the US Senate. [6] By publishing studies about how products such as pressure-treated wood used in bulkheads and pilings leach toxic metals into waterways, Weis has been able to influence laws and regulations that have led to manufacturers removing toxic metals from the products. Among the legislation that she has worked on were amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. [6]

Weis later served on advisory committees for the US EPA, National Sea Grant College Program of NOAA, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, where she chairs the Science Advisory Board. [6] [8] She co-chairs the Science and Technical Advisory Committee for the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary. [3] She also serves on the Waterfront Management Advisory Board of New York City and the National Marine Team of the Sierra Club and Plastic Free Waters Partnership. [2] [6] Weis has served as president of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and volunteered with the Ecological Society of America, among other scientific bodies, and worked on the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and other United Nations (UN) reports. Since 2020, she has again been coordinating the salt marsh chapter for the next iteration of the World Ocean Assessment for the UN. [6] Earlier in her career, she became interested in the women's movement after an argument with a sexist colleague at Rutgers [6] and soon became active with the National Organization for Women and has served on the board of the Association for Women in Science, among other activist organizations. [1] In 2023, the conservation organization Mission Blue named the NY/NJ harbor estuary a "Hope Spot" and Weis a "Hope Spot Champion" for her "work to connect their community of urbanites with the natural world around them through campaigning for continued improvement in water quality, habitat restoration, and community engagement programs". [9]

Weis is Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences at Rutgers [10] [11] where she taught for over five decades. [12] She has published over 250 scientific papers and written several books about marine biology. [13] She has been married to Peddrick "Pete" Weis since 1962. He is also an academic, and the couple have two children, Jennifer and Eric, and three grandchildren. [2] Weis enjoys choral singing and performing in musical theatre and comic opera, including at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. [3]

Research

In the 1970s, Weis studied mummichogs' response to methylmercury. When exposed to methylmercury, some females produced eggs that were severely deformed, while other females produced eggs that were normal or only mildly affected. In contrast, mummichogs from a polluted estuary, Piles Creek, in Linden, New Jersey, produced embryos that were practically all normal after being exposed to the same amount of methylmercury, showing that they were tolerant to the chemical. [14] This research was the first finding of pollution tolerance in estuarine fish. [15] Tolerance to mercury was also seen in adult grass shrimp and fiddler crabs in the creek. [16] In the 1980s, Weis and her team found that, like the embryos, some sperm and eggs were also tolerant to mercury. [17] Juvenile and adult mummichogs, however, were not mercury-tolerant, and furthermore they did not grow as big or live as long as fish from clean environments. They matures faster and produced (tolerant) embryos sooner. [14] This research led to further studies showing that while various species in estuaries had adapted genetically to the pollutants, many individuals nevertheless developed liver problems and cancer. This in turn has led to efforts to clean up rivers and wetlands. [15]

Later in the 1980s and 1990s, Weis and her team observed that adult mummichogs in the polluted estuary were slow to capture prey (grass shrimp) and were easier to catch by a predator (blue crabs). Most of their diet was detritus in the mud, which is not highly nutritious for them. Weis theorized that poor nutrition may have been partly responsible for their slow growth and reduced life span, and poor predator avoidance may have also been partly responsible for their reduced life span. The shrimp in Piles Creek were larger and more numerous than at clean sites, because their main predator, the mummichogs, were impaired. [18] Other species from polluted estuaries (fiddler crabs, juvenile bluefish and blue crabs) also had altered behavior. [19] Weis's later research in the New Jersey Meadowlands has shown, for example, that levels of mercury and other contaminants in sediment along the Hackensack River are so high that blue crabs, like the mummichogs, are slow at capturing live food (even though they are particularly aggressive), and eat a great deal of detritus, which is abnormal for a carnivorous crab. [19] [20] Juvenile bluefish ("snappers") there exhibit slower swimming speed and reduced prey capture, and grow more slowly than their counterparts in a clean environment. Fish captured in the Hackensack frequently have empty stomachs, which is highly unusual for this voracious species. [19] [5] Weis and her field research team documented, over the decades, the unhealthy effects of pollutants on the coastal species in Piles Creek and the Meadowlands, as compared with similar animals in the cleaner waters of Tuckerton, New Jersey. She concluded that, while the Clean Water Act has helped improve the quality of the environment in industrial areas in northern New Jersey, stronger regulation is needed. [8]

Weis's habitat studies over the decades have included marine animal associations with mangroves [21] and with salt marsh plants, comparing the native Spartina with the invasive reed Phragmites, [22] showing that the invasive plant sequesters more metal pollutants than the native plant, without releasing them back into the environment. [23] This invasive species (which is being removed in restoration projects) performs some services for the environment and should be managed more sensitively. [24]

Weis led a study of the status of New Jersey coastal marshes with respect to sea level rise. It found that most coastal marshes, which protect local communities from flooding and storm surge, are not elevating [25] as rapidly as the sea level is rising and are also losing acreage. The study, published in 2021, discussed four possible remedies: allowing marshes to migrate inland through pathways created by removing developments and structures, changing the management (removal) of the reed Phragmites, adding sediments on top of marshes to increase elevation, and building "living shorelines" that incorporate harder materials, like oyster reefs, at the marsh edge to reduce erosion. [26] [27]

Bibliography

Books

Selected articles

In addition to the papers cited in this entry, the following are selected articles by Weis:

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mummichog</span> Species of fish

The mummichog is a small killifish found along the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada. Also known as Atlantic killifish, mummies, gudgeons, and mud minnows, these fish inhabit brackish and coastal waters including estuaries and salt marshes. The species is noted for its hardiness and ability to tolerate highly variable salinity, temperature fluctuations from 6 to 35 °C, very low oxygen levels, and heavily polluted ecosystems. As a result, the mummichog is a popular research subject in embryological, physiological, and toxicological studies. It is also the first fish ever sent to space, aboard Skylab in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt marsh</span> Coastal ecosystem between land and open saltwater that is regularly flooded

A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated by dense stands of salt-tolerant plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh in trapping and binding sediments. Salt marshes play a large role in the aquatic food web and the delivery of nutrients to coastal waters. They also support terrestrial animals and provide coastal protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newark Bay</span> Estuary in northeastern New Jersey, US

Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, the second busiest in the United States. An estuary, it is periodically dredged to accommodate seafaring ships.

<i>Spartina</i> Genus of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae

Spartina is a genus of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Species in this genus are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Europe, north-western and southern Africa, the Americas and the islands of the southern Atlantic Ocean; one or two species also occur on the western coast of North America and in freshwater habitats inland in the Americas. The highest species diversity is on the east coasts of North and South America, particularly Florida. They form large, often dense colonies, particularly on coastal salt marshes, and grow quickly. The species vary in size from 0.3–2 m tall. Many of the species will produce hybrids if they come into contact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berry's Creek</span> River known for its pollution in northeastern New Jersey, United States

Berry's Creek is a tributary of the Hackensack River in the New Jersey Meadowlands in Bergen County, New Jersey. The creek watershed contains a diverse array of wetlands, marshes, and wildlife. The creek runs through a densely populated region and has been subject to extensive industrial pollution during the 19th and 20th centuries. Several companies discharged toxic chemicals into the creek in the 20th century, and these chemicals have remained in the sediment. The creek has the highest concentrations of methyl mercury of any fresh-water sediment in the world. Portions of the creek watershed are Superfund sites and cleanup projects began in the late 20th century.

<i>Sporobolus alterniflorus</i> Species of aquatic plant

Sporobolus alterniflorus, or synonymously known as Spartina alterniflora, the smooth cordgrass, saltmarsh cordgrass, or salt-water cordgrass, is a perennial deciduous grass which is found in intertidal wetlands, especially estuarine salt marshes. It has been reclassified as Sporobolus alterniflorus after a taxonomic revision in 2014, but it is still common to see Spartina alterniflora and in 2019 an interdisciplinary team of experts coauthored a report published in the journal Ecology supporting Spartina as a genus. It grows 1–1.5 m tall and has smooth, hollow stems that bear leaves up to 20–60 cm long and 1.5 cm wide at their base, which are sharply tapered and bend down at their tips. Like its relative saltmeadow cordgrass S. patens, it produces flowers and seeds on only one side of the stalk. The flowers are a yellowish-green, turning brown by the winter. It has rhizoidal roots, which, when broken off, can result in vegetative asexual growth. The roots are an important food resource for snow geese. It can grow in low marsh as well as high marsh, but it is usually restricted to low marsh because it is outcompeted by salt meadow cordgrass in the high marsh. It grows in a wide range of salinities, from about 5 psu to marine, and has been described as the "single most important marsh plant species in the estuary" of Chesapeake Bay. It is described as intolerant of shade.

<i>Fundulus</i> Genus of fishes

Fundulus is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the superfamily Funduloidea, family Fundulidae. It belongs to the order of toothcarps (Cyprinodontiformes), and therein the large suborder Cyprinodontoidei. Most of its closest living relatives are egg-laying, with the notable exception of the splitfin livebearers (Goodeidae).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltmarsh topminnow</span> Species of fish

The saltmarsh topminnow is a species of killifish for the family Fundulidae. It occurs in the coastal wetlands of the Gulf of Mexico in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation</span> U.S. nonprofit organization

The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1971. At that time, the members of two regionally based organizations, the Atlantic Estuarine Research Society (AERS) and the New England Estuarine Research Society (NEERS) recognized the need for a third estuarine organization that would address national estuarine and coastal issues. Today, CERF is a multidisciplinary federation of members and seven regionally-based Affiliate Societies dedicated to the understanding and wise stewardship of estuaries and coasts worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brackish marsh</span> Marsh with brackish level of salinity

Brackish marshes develop from salt marshes where a significant freshwater influx dilutes the seawater to brackish levels of salinity. This commonly happens upstream from salt marshes by estuaries of coastal rivers or near the mouths of coastal rivers with heavy freshwater discharges in the conditions of low tidal ranges.

<i>Littoraria irrorata</i> Species of gastropod

Littoraria irrorata, also known by the common name the marsh periwinkle, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Littorinidae. The specific epithet irrorata means 'moistened' or 'dewy.'

Low marsh is a tidal marsh zone located below the Mean Highwater Mark (MHM). Based on elevation, frequency of submersion, soil characteristics, vegetation, microbial community, and other metrics, salt marshes can be divided to into three distinct areas: low marsh, middle marsh/high marsh, and the upland zone. Low marsh is characterized as being flooded daily with each high tide, while remaining exposed during low tides.

<i>Geukensia demissa</i> Species of bivalve

Geukensia demissa is a species of mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae, the true mussels. This species is native to the Atlantic coast of North America. The common names for this species include ribbed mussel, Atlantic ribbed marsh mussel and ribbed horsemussel. However, the common name ribbed mussel is also used for the Southern Hemisphere mussel Aulacomya atra. The appearance of the shell is grooved and oval in shape. The interior of this mussel is tinted purple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge</span>

The William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge (WTDWR) is an 814-acre (3.29 km2) wildlife refuge straddling the New Springville and Travis sections of Staten Island. The park was named in honor of Staten Island native William T. Davis, a renowned naturalist and entomologist who along with the Audubon Society started the refuge with an original acquisition of 52 acres (210,000 m2). Additional acreage was acquired in increments and the park is today 814 acres (3.29 km2). Beginning in 2010, the adjacent 223-acre (0.90 km2) North Park section of Freshkills Park has undergone preparation to serve as an expansion of the wildlife refuge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt pannes and pools</span> Water retaining depressions located within salt and brackish marshes

Salt pannes and pools are water retaining depressions located within salt and brackish marshes. Pools tend to retain water during the summer months between high tides, whereas pannes generally do not. Salt pannes generally start when a mat of organic debris is deposited upon existing vegetation, killing it. This creates a slight depression in the surrounding vegetation which retains water for varying periods of time. Upon successive cycles of inundation and evaporation the panne develops an increased salinity greater than that of the larger body of water. This increased salinity dictates the type of flora and fauna able to grow within the panne. Salt pools are also secondary formations, though the exact mechanism(s) of formation are not well understood; some have predicted they will increase in size and abundance in the future due to rising sea levels.

<i>Ecrobia truncata</i> Species of gastropod

Ecrobia truncata, common name the truncated marsh hydrobia or minute hydrobia, is a species of very small aquatic snail, an operculate gastropod mollusk in the family Hydrobiidae.

<i>Juncus roemerianus</i> Species of flowering plant

Juncus roemerianus is a species of flowering plant in the rush family known by the common names black rush, needlerush, and black needlerush. It is native to North America, where its main distribution lies along the coastline of the southeastern United States, including the Gulf Coast. It occurs from New Jersey to Texas, with outlying populations in Connecticut, New York, Mexico, and certain Caribbean islands.

Homalometron pallidum is a species of marine trematodes in the family Apocreadiidae. It is an endoparasite of the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, a small fish found in brackish water along the east coast of the United States and Canada. It has a complex life cycle and lives inside several different host species at different stages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt marsh die-off</span> Ecological disaster in low-elevation salt marshes

Salt marsh die-off is a term that has been used in the US and UK to describe the death of salt marsh cordgrass leading to subsequent degradation of habitat, specifically in the low marsh zones of salt marshes on the coasts of the Western Atlantic. Cordgrass normally anchors sediment in salt marshes; its loss leads to decreased substrate hardness, increased erosion, and collapse of creek banks into the water, ultimately resulting in decreased marsh health and productivity.

<i>Fundulus luciae</i> Species of fish

Fundulus luciae, the spotfin killifish, is a member of the genus Fundulus. This hardy fish is notable for spending its entire life in sporadically flooded salt marsh habitat, sheltering in shallow pools, puddles, and small tidal rivulets. It closely resembles the mummichog in shape and coloration, but the two species can be distinguished by dorsal fin ray count: 8–9 in the spotfin versus 11–12 in the mummichog. Additionally, the dorsal fin of F. luciae originates farther back, and slightly behind the anal fin origin; in the mummichog, the dorsal fin begins anteriorly to the anal fin origin. The spotfin killifish is named for the pronounced ocellus found on the posterior dorsal fin of adult males. It is a small fish, seldom attaining 50 millimetres (2.0 in) in total length. Its distribution extends along the U.S. east coast from Massachusetts to Georgia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dr. Judith S. Weis, Interview by Veteran Feminists of America, July 2018
  2. 1 2 3 4 Swiatkowski, Paula. "Working for a Sea Change", Sierra Club, May 6, 2019
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Judith S. Weis", Rutgers University, accessed October 11, 2020
  4. ↑ Arnold, Carrie. "This Tiny Fish Can Withstand Almost Anything", The Atlantic , March 15, 2021, accessed April 14, 2021
  5. 1 2 O'Neill, James M. "Hackensack advocates now pessimistic river will get Superfund cleanup", NorthJersey.com, March 19, 2017
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Verdier, James. "In Their Own Words: Judith Weis", BioScience , Vol. 70, Issue 6, June 2020, pp. 461–467, Oxford University Press (subscription required)
  7. ↑ Bernhard, Meg. "TV’s Next Big Star: a Female MacGyver", The Chronicle of Higher Education , July 24, 2015
  8. 1 2 Augenstein, Seth. "Piles Creek species remain at risk despite environmental protections", NJ.com, March 31, 2019
  9. ↑ "Researcher Champions NY/NJ Estuary, Winning Designation as 'Hope Spot'", Rutgers University, April 18, 2023; and Barron, James. "Tomorrow Is Earth Day. Let’s Celebrate Our Harbor", The New York Times , April 21, 2023
  10. ↑ "Judith Weis", The Conversation , Retrieved July 6, 2020
  11. ↑ "Judith S. Weis", Rutgers University. Retrieved July 6, 2020
  12. ↑ "Women of Science", Rutgers University, accessed May 19, 2019
  13. ↑ Weis, Judith, Francesca De Falco and Mariacristina Cocca (ed.) "Editors", Polluting Textiles, Routledge, inside front cover (2022) ISBN 9780367760755
  14. 1 2 Weis, Judith S. and Peddrick Weis (1989). "Tolerance and stress in a polluted environment: The case of the mummichog", BioScience , vol. 39, pp. 89–96
  15. 1 2 Arnold, Carrie. "This Tiny Fish Can Withstand Almost Anything", The Atlantic , March 15, 2021
  16. ↑ Kraus, M. and J. S. Weis (1988). "Differences in effects of mercury on telson regeneration in two populations of the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio", Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology , vol. 17, pp. 115–120; Callahan, P. and J. S. Weis (1983). "Methylmercury effects on regeneration and ecdysis in fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator, U. pugnax) after short-term and chronic pre-exposure", Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol. 12, pp. 707–714; and Khan, A. T., J. S. Weis and P. Weis (1988). "Studies of cadmium tolerance in two populations of the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio", Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol. 40, pp. 30–35
  17. ↑ Khan, A. T. and J. S. Weis (1987). "Effects of methylmercury on sperm and egg viability of two populations of killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus", Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol. 16, pp. 499–505
  18. ↑ Weis, Judith S., G. Smith, T. Zhou, C. Bass and P. Weis (2001). "Effects of contaminants on behavior: Biochemical mechanisms and ecological consequences", BioScience, vol. 51, pp. 209–218
  19. 1 2 3 Weis, Judith S., L. Bergey, J. Reichmuth and A. Candelmo (2011). "Living in a contaminated estuary: Behavioral changes and ecological consequences for five species", BioScience, vol. 61, pp. 375–385
  20. ↑ Reichmuth, J., R. Roudez, T. Glover and J. S. Weis (2009). "Differences in prey capture behavior in populations of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) from contaminated and clean estuaries in New Jersey", Estuaries and Coasts , vol. 32, pp. 298–308
  21. ↑ MacDonald, J. and J. S. Weis (2013). "Fish community features correlate with prop-root epibionts in Caribbean mangroves". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology , vol. 441, pp. 90–98
  22. ↑ Weis, Judith S., L. Windham and P. Weis (2002). "Growth, survival and metal content in marsh invertebrates fed diets of detritus from Spartina alterniflora and Phragmites australis from metal-polluted and clean sites", Wetlands Ecology and Management, vol. 10, pp. 71–84; Robertson, T. and J. S. Weis (2005) "A comparison of epifaunal communities associated with the stems of salt marsh grasses Phragmites australis and Spartina alterniflora", Wetlands , vol. 25, pp. 1–7
  23. ↑ Windham, L., J. S. Weis and P. Weis (2001). "Lead uptake, distribution, and effects in two dominant salt marsh macrophytes Spartina alterniflora (cordgrass) and Phragmites australis (common reed)", Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 42, p. 811–816; and Windham, L, J. S. Weis and P. Weis (2001). "Patterns and processes of mercury release from leaves of two dominant salt marsh macrophytes, Phragmites australis and Spartina alterniflora", Estuaries , vol. 24, pp. 787–795
  24. ↑ Kiviat E., J. Weis, et al. (2019) "Evidence does not support the targeting of cryptic invaders at the subspecies level using classical biological control: the example of Phragmites", Biological Invasions, vol. 21, pp. 2529–2541
  25. ↑ Typically, salt and brackish marshes elevate slowly through biomass accumulation and trapping of sediment.
  26. ↑ Judith S. Weis, Elizabeth Burke Watson, Beth Ravit, Charles Harman and Metthea Yepsen. "The status and future of tidal marshes in New Jersey faced with sea level rise", Anthropocene Coasts, October 6, 2021
  27. ↑ Kummer, Frank. "New Jersey’s tidal wetlands could disappear because of sea rise, says Rutgers study", The Philadelphia Inquirer , October 8, 2021
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