We believe that scientific research and education are essential to the formation of effective policies and practices that protect natural resources, promote human welfare and foster successful communities within the diverse habitats of the Pinelands.
The Pinelands Research Institute is a science-based field station in the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey. Launched in early 2025, the Institute is an initiative of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. The Institute’s mission is to be a center for scientists, educators, naturalists, and the public to generate knowledge and understanding of the unique forested ecosystem that is the New Jersey Pine Barrens and the forest conservation area of the New Jersey Pinelands regional land use planning system.
In March 2025, PPA acquired the Pine Tree Center in Tabernacle, New Jersey, to be the home of the Institute and a center for nature-based recreation and environmental education. The Pine Tree Center consists of 162 acres of upland and wetlands forests, buildings for classes, gatherings and overnight accommodation, and campsites. The Center adjoins the 122,000-acre Wharton State Forest and connects to a network of several hundred thousand acres of preserved lands.
Dr. Jennifer Krumins is the Director of the Institute and a Professor of Biology at Montclair State University. You can learn more about Jennifer on our staff page.
The Pinelands provide an ideal location and environmental context for a scientific field station. The ecology of the Pinelands is distinctive and provides numerous subjects for inquiry in fire ecology, rare and endemic species conservation, the hydrology of a largely intact aquifer system under heavy human pressure, and the “island ecology” of a relatively pristine ecosystem surviving among some of the most densely developed urban centers on earth. The Pinelands includes habitats ranging across barrier islands, estuaries, maritime forests, freshwater wetlands, rivers, isolated ponds, upland forests, lands cleared for farming, and a variety of human population centers.
The Institute’s remote location, expansive forest access, and onsite accommodation provide opportunities for intensive research, one-day and multi-day classes, and large-scale studies. Through the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, researchers will also have access to the Rancocas Creek Farm, a 72-acre regenerative farm that practices sustainable agriculture with close ties to local communities.
The Pinelands is surrounded by many important natural and cultural resources in the greater Philadelphia and New York Metropolitan regions, as well as the Delaware Bay and estuary. Due to its location and conservation-based regional planning program, the Pinelands serve as an ideal case study in sustainable development and regional growth management. It has been designed to preserve the heritage, ecology and vital water supply in the face of ongoing intense development pressure. Within this context, the Institute promotes the following vision:
The Institute:
- Conducts and supports scientific research on natural history, human activities, conservation, agriculture, and health topics for which the Pinelands region provides valuable settings and subject matter.
- Helps to develop the next generation of scientists and naturalists.
- Educates young people and adults across scientific and liberal arts subjects about the ways we understand nature and human impacts on natural resources.
- Teams with research institutions, colleges and universities, schools, community service organizations, and public agencies to develop innovative, high-impact research, conservation, and education initiatives.
- Hosts informed discussion of environmental, health, and social policies and their mutual interactions.
- We believe that connecting people of all backgrounds across the region’s diverse communities with its forests, land and water is essential to building an engaged public who enjoy and care for the natural resources on which they rely.
PPA’s Pinelands Adventures outfitter can also provide support for canoe/kayak and hiking expeditions, including trips that are inclusive for people with disabilities, for your programs.
Please contact Dr. Jennifer Krumins for more information about the Institute and how the Institute can welcome you for research and single- or multi-day class visits. Jennifer can be reached via phone by email jennkrumins@pinelandsalliance.org or by phone at 609-859-8860.
To enquire about the Pine Tree Center group programs, contact Rob Ferber at Rob@PinelandsAlliance.org or 609-859-8860 x 116.