Hi! My name is Dylan Garrabrant, and I’m excited to be part of the team at the Barnegat Bay Partnership as a Field and Lab Technician. I just joined the team in early March and I’ve already had the chance to get my hands (and boots) dirty with our Paddle 4 The Edge habitat mapping project, the spring migration of glass eels and river herring, and contribute to marsh restoration efforts that support the health and resilience of our coastal ecosystems.
I earned my B.S. in Marine Sciences from Stockton University, where my passion for the environment really took root—though honestly, it started long before college.
As a lifelong angler, I’ve always felt a strong connection to the water and the ecosystems that support it. After my sophomore year, I founded the Stockton University Fishing and Conservation Club. I saw an opportunity to bring together fellow anglers and create a community centered on environmental stewardship. One of the highlights of my time as club president was organizing a catch-and-release striped bass tournament during my senior year. Not only did we bring people together for a great cause, but we were also able to donate all proceeds to a nonprofit focused on promoting responsible catch-and-release practices.
Since graduating from Stockton University, I’ve been lucky to work with some of the coolest fish and amphibian species along the East Coast. I’ve handled wild Atlantic salmon in Maine, studied striped bass and Atlantic sturgeon on the Hudson River, and worked with native frogs, banded sunfish, mud sunfish, and redfin pickerel in New Jersey’s Pinelands.
I’ve always looked for ways to share what I’d learned through field experiences. One particularly memorable morning while working with the NYDEC, I helped lead a seining session for high school students. We used beach seines and dichotomous keys to catch and ID local fish and crabs, and I made sure to highlight each species’ role in the estuary. It was rewarding to see students get excited about the ecosystem—some even said the experience made them less afraid of fish which made me so proud!
I was drawn to the Barnegat Bay Partnership because of my personal connection to the area – especially because of the many hours I’d spent fishing the back bays of southern NJ. Even after living and working in unique places like Maine and the Catskills, I found myself missing the Barnegat Bay. I also wanted to branch out from strictly science-based roles and get more involved in education and outreach. This role gives me the chance to do both—working in the waters I love while helping others connect with and care about them too.
Since joining the Barnegat Bay Partnership, I’ve spent most of my time working on our Paddle 4 the Edge program—a community science effort that relies on volunteers to collect important data about marsh habitats. It’s a great way to promote stewardship by getting people directly involved in the restoration process. As someone who’s passionate about public engagement in conservation, it’s been a perfect fit.
In the future, I hope to keep branching out into outreach and refining my skills in presenting to crowds of different ages and sizes. I grew up dreaming about research, and there’s no doubt it will always be interesting to me. However, I believe that conservation is most effective when the public buys in and everyone is pulling on the same rope. I hope to become someone who can get people interested and involved in protecting and restoring our bays. Even if none of my future audience members become the next Jacques Cousteau, I believe the public simply being aware and educated about the beauty of our natural ecosystems and the threats they face is enough to have a positive effect.
