AN INSTITUTION AT WETLANDS

Cindy O’Connor Retires After 3 Decades at Helm of Institute

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It was 1981 when Cindy O’Connor, a Philadelphia schoolteacher and seasonal Avalon resident, was invited to join the board of trustees of the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor.

Founded in 1969 by Greenwich, N.J., entrepreneur Herb Mills, in cooperation with Lehigh University, the fledgling institute was driven by Mills’ far-reaching vision borne of a clear recognition of the importance of the wetlands to the southern New Jersey ecosystem – and, by extension, the preservation of the region’s appeal to vacationers as well as the livelihood of its local residents. 

“Herb was chairman of the board of the World Wildlife Fund [now The National Wildlife Foundation] and executive director of the Audubon Society,” O’Connor says. “He was told to get monies donated to purchase up all the wetlands that everyone sees as they travel the Garden State Parkway from Sea Isle to Cape May. These are some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet. Eighty percent of the fish lay their eggs there and larva hatch there, so it’s a critical habitat for the ocean fish. It’s where the fish spawn. Without the wetlands, there would be no fishing industry. ‘No Wetlands, No Seafood,’ goes the expression. And it’s true.”

O’Connor, who in October retired as executive director of the Wetlands Institute, wasn’t at her first meeting for very long when she watched the then-executive director humbly appeal to the board for its permission to spend $40 to rent a Dumpster.

“I was surprised that this organization did not have any money,” she says. “I was always active in Pennsylvania fund-raisers, so I thought of planning a nice cocktail party and getting all the liquor and food donated, and we’d charge everyone to come to the party. Well, we raised about $3,000 on a Sunday afternoon.”

Back in 1981, the institute had two full-time and two part-time staff members. The hard-working staff needed a week or more to produce a newsletter. “I told them I could get a bunch of volunteers to do this,” O’Connor says, “and they were surprised that I could get people to do this for free. That was when my first job became coordinator of special events and volunteers at the Wetlands.”

Soon, O’Connor recognized that the Wetlands Institute had an image problem. More to the point: No one was sure what it was.

“People didn’t know whether it was part of the DEP [Department of Environmental Protection], a branch of the federal government, and they were sure it was run by Lehigh University – none of which was true. It’s a 501(c)(3), and its mission is to promote research, conservation and education of the Wetlands. The same principles of conservation and the important reasons for it that apply to the wetlands behind Stone Harbor, apply globally.”

In its earliest years, the institute was run by Lehigh under a dollar-a-year lease. That relationship continued beyond Mills’ death at the age of 62 in October 1972 but eventually ended. Marion Glaspey, who succeeded Mills as chairman of the board, guided the institute for several difficult years as it struggled to become a self-sustaining, independent entity.

When O’Connor became immersed at the Wetlands full-time in the 1980s, the place was falling apart.

“There were literally parts being held together by rubber bands,” she recalls. “Marion took a door that had been found floating around out on a marsh and put it up on two filing cabinets and used it as a desk. I was good at asking people to donate money and getting people to work for free. I became assistant director of the Wetlands in 1984 and then moved right into the executive-director position that same year. Marion was a talented artist and photographer, teaching classes in both subjects, and – most significantly – she was a passionate gardener. She’s the ‘Marion’ for whom our Marion’s Garden is named. She remained on our board of trustees until her death in 2000.”

Through Glaspey’s leadership and that of her successors, the institute has evolved to become a leader in coastal environmental education, research and conservation. At present, the institute is supported almost entirely by funds from private sources, receiving only an occasional government grant for a special project.

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