LAWRENCEVILLE -- Stacy Aron of Stockton, NJ, who will graduate from Rider University on May 16th with a B.S. degree in marine sciences, recently presented a paper that examined the dune system of Harvey Cedars, NJ, at the recent Northeastern Section Meeting of the Geological Society of America.

Dr. Mary Jo Hall, associate professor of marine sciences at Rider, and Susan D. Halsey of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) were co-authors of the paper.

The study, which is part of a larger NJDEP impact study, focused on the effects of the development on beach/dune structure and the position of the natural dune line of this barrier island community. NJDEP air photos were analyzed for the years 1940, 1951, 1961, 1977, and 1986.

The 1961 photos -- the last taken before the devastating Ash Wednesday storm of 1962 -- were used to map the dune system. Superimposed over this map was the outline of the most seaward houses as seen in the 1986 photos.

The buildings within the dune system were counted to determine the number of structures that have been built in and seaward of the original 1961 dunes. The distance between the high water line, dune vegetation line, and back dune line were measured on the 1961 and 1986 photos.

The results, the paper notes, show that the beach width over 25 years had decreased from 45 to 60 meters to less than 30 meters. Dune width in 1961 was over 60 meters and in 1986 less than 30 meters.

"This decrease may have been related to the construction of the emergency post-1962 storm dune built by the Army Corps of Engineers (the Caldwell dune), which then became the primary dune," according to the paper. In addition, the average number of houses built within the 1961 dune system by 1986 was four houses per block

"This development," the paper concludes, "has artificially contributed to the foreshortening of the beach and dune system in a community where erosion continues to be a serious concern."

Aron, who plans to continue her education so that she can become certified to teach secondary school science, is a member of Beta Beta Beta, the national biology honor society; and Rider's Honor Key Society, liberal arts and science students' highest academic honor. She is also listed in the 1996-97 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

In addition, she also served as a campus tour guide for the Admissions Office, as a student tutor, and as a student representative on the Total Quality Management registration committee.

Rider University is an independent, co-educational, non-sectarian institution with a 353-acre campus in Lawrenceville, NJ, and a 23-acre campus in Princeton, NJ.  The University offers 57 undergraduate programs and 15 graduate programs in business, liberal arts, science, education, and music.  Ninety-five percent of all Rider's faculty members hold doctorate or other appropriate advanced degrees.  U.S. News and World Report has again ranked Rider in the top tier of northern universities based on the quality of its programs.