Trevor Mattera
Current Job: Habitat Program Manager, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership
Current Project: Whew, too many! But my current favorites are our 3 tiers of eelgrass monitoring in the Great Bay Estuary, an eelgrass & oyster restoration project in GBE, and a regional habitat restoration workgroup I co-chair with my colleague from the Nature Conservancy.
State(s) working in: New Hampshire, Maine
Where are you from: Nor’shore Massachusetts
What do you think is the main reason we should protect SAV?
Has anyone mentioned the ecosystem services? Because seagrasses provide a ton of them! And in many shallow, estuarine areas, they form the foundational habitats that support the coastal social and ecological systems that we know and love.
How do you feel your research will make a difference in the SAV community?
After years of adult shoot transplants with mixed results, we’re starting to take our first baby steps into seed-based eelgrass restoration in NH. My goal is to develop a sustainable program that both helps to arrest some disturbing trends of eelgrass loss in the Great Bay Estuary and engages volunteers who never would have had the opportunity to be a part of the world of seagrass.
What is one of your best memories working with SAV?
I distinctly remember one of the many days I was out harvesting adult shoots for a nearby restoration: It was a beautiful, sunny day and there was a half-mile of calm water in any direction. I was out with colleagues whom I would call friends – we were telling stories and laughing most of the time. While I worked, I would find myself watching a school of shiners swim through the eelgrass bed or a pair of osprey circling and diving overhead, and I couldn’t help but think “I can’t believe I get paid to do this!”
What keeps you motivated to keep caring about the future of SAV?
The hope that, with enough effort, ingenuity, and collaboration, we can improve the resilience of our estuaries to be able to withstand and adapt to the unprecedented changes we are experiencing daily. We just have to keep fighting the good fight.
More about Trevor’s story
Following a number of years working in medical software after graduating from college (BA in psychology from UMass – Amherst), I needed a change. I wanted to find something I was passionate about… something environmental… something water-related. I lucked out by stumbling upon a position as the technician and assistant to the director of the St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network (www.stkittsturtles.org – check them out, they’re great). That one opportunity opened the door to an incredible career of multiple jobs in science, outreach, and snorkeling.
After a few years working in a range of aquatic ecosystems, I realized that I was walking the path that I was meant to be on, and so went back to get my MS in Natural Resources at the University of New Hampshire. In 2017, as I was finishing up my research focused on the implementation of living shorelines in NH, I heard about an opening for an intern with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership – the local National Estuary Program in NH. I’ve been with them ever since, working on estuarine habitats and eelgrass with awesome coworkers, colleagues, and partners! If you’re interested in collaborating, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
