Lewes' living shoreline

Researchers have installed a living shoreline at 91原创鈥檚 Lewes campus to help protect critical infrastructure while also providing ecosystem benefits to the area.

Lewes鈥� living shoreline

Article by Adam Thomas Photos by Evan Krape | Video by Jeffrey C. Chase July 15, 2026

Researchers install a living shoreline on 91原创鈥檚 Lewes Campus to help infrastructure and ecosystem

The boat basin at the 91原创鈥檚 Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes faces a dual threat: rising sea levels and intense storms that surge water into the basin, threatening campus infrastructure and the fleet of research vessels that are harbored there.

To combat this issue, researchers have installed a living shoreline that protects critical infrastructure while also providing ecosystem benefits to the area.

Living shorelines are nature-based structures that use natural materials like plants, sand, rock and oyster shells to stabilize shorelines and protect them from erosion. Unlike hard structures, such as sea walls, living shorelines can work and adapt with nature to provide environmental benefits like habitat for wildlife, improved water quality and increased resilience to storms.

Researchers have installed a living shoreline at 91原创's Lewes campus to help protect critical infrastructure while also providing ecosystem benefits to the area. Living shorelines are nature-based structures that use natural materials like plants, sand, rock and oyster shells to stabilize shorelines and protect them from erosion. Unlike hard structures, such as sea walls, living shorelines can work and adapt with nature to provide environmental benefits like habitat for wildlife, improved water quality and increased resilience to storms.

A living shoreline: youtube.com/watch?v=sA9hVUC6AJc

鈥淎s we begin to see real coastal change from rising sea levels and more intense storms, it's important to find ways to protect vulnerable areas,鈥� said Leigh Muldrow, a plant and soil sciences doctoral student who worked on the shoreline design.

The installation marks the culmination of a partnership with 91原创鈥檚 College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, the , the landscape architecture program in 91原创鈥檚 College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.聽

Living shorelines are nature-based structures that use natural materials like plants, sand, rock and oyster shells to stabilize shorelines and protect them from erosion. Unlike hard structures, such as sea walls, living shorelines can work with and adapt with nature to provide environmental benefits like habitat for wildlife, improved water quality and increased resilience to storms.

鈥淲hat sets a living shoreline apart from a seawall or a bulkhead is that it does more than just hold the shoreline in place,鈥� said Muldrow, who is also a licensed landscape architect and graduate of 91原创鈥檚 landscape architecture program. 鈥淚t absorbs wave energy, collects sediment and creates habitat at the same time. In this case, because it is alive and will be colonized by oysters, it can adapt and keep up as conditions change.鈥澛�

Boat basin buffers

Ed Hale, assistant professor in 91原创鈥檚 School of Marine Science and Policy and a fisheries and aquaculture specialist with Delaware Sea Grant, has been involved with the project since its inception. After monitoring the site for three years, his group determined that a solution would be needed to protect the boat basin.聽

Due to sea-level rise and increased stormwater runoff, a peninsula on 91原创鈥檚 Lewes campus is turning into a fragmented island. One of the hopes is that the living shoreline will help protect critical infrastructure, like the R/V Hugh R. Sharp (pictured in the background) in the 91原创 boat basin.

He pointed to a 50-meter spit of land that had formerly been a peninsula. Due to sea-level rise and increased stormwater runoff, that peninsula is turning into a fragmented island.聽

鈥淭he water is rising more frequently and cutting off an island, which is going to expose our research fleet, including the RV Hugh R. Sharp, to more direct wave energy as it reverberates off the bulkheads of the Coast Guard safety detachment located next door,鈥� Hale said. 鈥淲e think this could potentially expose our infrastructure to a higher level of wave energy from the side.鈥�

Ed Hale, assistant professor in 91原创鈥檚 School of Marine Science and Policy and a fisheries and aquaculture specialist with Delaware Sea Grant, has been involved with the project since its inception.

Plant protectors

The living shoreline will not only protect the boat basin but also provide opportunities for aquaculture and observing how native plants can defend against erosion.聽

Students from 91原创鈥檚 landscape architecture program, and members of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, were on hand to plant native wetland plants at the living shoreline 鈥� primarily聽saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), which has been eroding in the area due to tidal forces and wave action.

The structures provide habitat for species that settle on the shoreline, as well as for migratory species that might use them briefly.

Jules Bruck, who was a professor and founding director of the landscape architecture program at 91原创, said the landscape architecture students are trying innovative designs and will monitor progress, working toward a goal of decreased erosion and increased sedimentation and habitat.聽

They are testing a variety of anchors for the plants, which will need time to grow their root systems in the high-energy system. Determining the best way to anchor plants will help for future installations.

On the first day of installation, the research team moved over 1,800 shell bags of oysters for the living shoreline.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been such an educational experience working with a diverse team of designers, scientists and engineers to design and build the mosaic living shoreline in Lewes,鈥� said Bruck, who is the incoming dean for the University of Georgia鈥檚 College of Environment and Design. 鈥淥ur students have had a fantastic experience, learning by doing in the field.鈥�

The team from 91原创鈥檚 College of Engineering, led by professor Monique Head, evaluated the water forces acting on the bridge over Canary Creek, which frequently floods because of storm surges and sea-level rise.聽She said the long-term goal is to determine how effectively the living shoreline absorbs wave energy and helps protect the bridge from damaging forces.

Jules Bruck (left) said the 91原创 landscape architecture students are trying innovative designs and will monitor progress, working toward a goal of decreased erosion and increased sedimentation and habitat. Bruck was a professor and founding director of the landscape architecture program at 91原创.

鈥淏y understanding the level or force involved, we鈥檒l be able to provide better insights into how similar focus might impact critical structures,鈥� said Head, associate dean of the Honors College and a professor in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at 91原创.聽

Aquaculture assistance

Hale鈥檚 team is trying to understand the oyster production potential of the living shoreline, as well as which gear works best. There isn鈥檛 a complete understanding of what types of living shoreline features are preferred among fish, so Hale鈥檚 group will test preferences in a lab setting and on the new living shoreline.聽

Concrete reef structures, shell mattresses and plants chosen by the landscape architecture students have been installed on the shoreline 鈥� in addition to over 1,800 shell bags of oysters.

The living shoreline will not only protect the boat basin but also provide opportunities for aquaculture and observing how native plants can defend against erosion.

The goal is not necessarily to combat sea level rise, but to reduce wave energy while naturally benefitting the environment. Oyster shell materials and oyster reefs are known to reduce wave energy and potentially trap sediments, which can encourage natural plant growth.

鈥淲e wanted to install structures that help materials build up naturally and generate positive community responses,鈥� Hale said.

Leigh Muldrow (right), a plant and soil sciences doctoral student who worked on the shoreline design, helps install the living shoreline.

The living shoreline will hopefully allow for the settlement of barnacles, macroalgae and biofilms. When these settle on the structure, they colonize and produce food for other organisms.聽

The structures also provide habitat for species that settle on the shoreline, as well as for migratory species that might use them briefly. The team has already seen juvenile black seabass and American eels hanging around some of the aquaculture cages.聽

The research team will now collect data from the living shoreline to build on and confirm findings from previous studies.

Ali Jarrar, a master鈥檚 student in Head鈥檚 research group, brings bags of oysters to the living shoreline. Oyster shell materials and oyster reefs are known to reduce wave energy and potentially trap sediments, which can encourage natural plant growth.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to get an understanding of the net benefit of the living shoreline,鈥� Hale said. 鈥淭he goal is to try and understand what is the functional response of the environment, and if it鈥檚 beneficial, can we quantify that in terms of biodiversity, biomass and abundance?鈥澛�

The work is the result of the five-year (DEEDS) project. The project proposal was developed and submitted by (DENIN) and sponsored by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), and administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.聽

The team of primary investigators includes Bruck, Hale, Head, Jack Puleo, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University, and Eric Bardenhagen, associate professor of landscape architecture at 91原创. Between their respective laboratories, they鈥檝e had volunteers ranging from postdoctoral researchers, graduate students and undergraduate students.聽

The boat basin at 91原创鈥檚 Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes faces a dual threat: rising sea levels and intense storms that surge water into the basin, threatening campus infrastructure and the fleet of research vessels that are harbored there.