Carried by Water, the original Blue Lab podcast helmed by Mario Soriano, was awarded the New Jersey Association for Floodplain Management (NJAFM) 2025 Media Award, which was established to acknowledge exemplary efforts on the part of communications media to increase information and awareness of flood issues with the general public.
"It's an honor to be recognized by NJAFM, an organization at the forefront of empowering communities to mitigate flood risks," said Soriano. "When we set out to create this podcast, my hope was always to foster a dialogue of learning across multiple perspectives, including those of flood survivors, policymakers and technical experts. I'm grateful to all the individuals who graciously shared their stories with us, and I'm proud to see our efforts to amplify their voices resonating with wide audiences."
Blue Lab director Allison Carruth and project manager Asela Perez-Ortiz were on hand to receive the award on behalf of Soriano, who recently took a faculty position at the National University of Singapore. Perez-Ortiz, who contributed significant production support to season 2 of Carried by Water, added:
“Growing up in New Jersey I experienced flooding first-hand, even in my hometown of Princeton, which is pretty far from the shore. But it wasn’t until I dove into this project for Blue Lab with Mario that I truly understood how widespread and dire the effects of storms and heavy rain are becoming, especially in New Jersey's low-lying coastal areas. I'm so honored that this project and the lab's commitment to these issues were recognized by NJAFM."
You can listen to season 2 of Carried by Water on Blue Lab's website.
Project Title Carried by water
Project type Podcast
Project Lead Mario Soriano
Season 2 Production team Farah Arnaout '26, Jayme Collins, Asela Perez-Ortiz + Hannah Riggins '27
Season 2 of Carried by Water brings listeners to communities in New Jersey and Delaware where homeowners and scientists are grappling with the question of relocation in the face of increasing flooding and sea level rise. Through stories of people making real-time decisions about whether the advantages of remaining in place outweigh the risks of repeated disaster, we discover evolving ideas of climate adaptation, home, identity and resilience.
You can find Carried by Water on Blue Lab, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music. and iHeartRadio.
Mario Soriano is the creator of and project lead on the original Blue Lab podcast Carried by Water.
I grew up in a part of the world where floods were just a fact of life that people have learned to live with. You could say that I became a hydrologist because I was fascinated by the idea that there was an actual science to this that would enable one to systematically understand the processes driving such events. The podcast project allowed me to dive into the social and cultural aspects of disasters, centering community voices and lived experiences that have often been drowned out by technocratic discourses.
- Mario Soriano
Carried by water season 2 production stills
Tahmidur Junayed, a researcher at the University of Delaware, describes instruments for monitoring subsurface environmental conditions. This set-up is in a phragmites zone.
Signage for Woodbridge Township Open Space Conservation/ Resiliency Zone. This area was once occupied by homes, which the state acquired through the New Jersey Blue Acres program. The homes were demolished and the land is being kept open for flood mitigation and promoted as a walking trail.
Monique Coleman watched with her family as their house in Woodbridge, New Jersey was demolished as part of the Blue Acres buyout program. The lot, now designated as permanent open space for flood mitigation purposes, has been reclaimed by nature. Photo by Mario Soriano.
Hannah Riggins and Farah Arnaout speak with Andrea Habeck and Amanda Archer at the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve in Tuckerton, New Jersey.
Mario Soriano and Hannah Riggins interview Lisa Auermuller at the Rutgers University Marine Field Station.
Ken Able, retired professor and station director from 1987-2019, believes that retreat from the field station’s unique location would constitute a loss of irreplaceable local insights. Here, he is discussing a photo from his book “Coastal Landscapes: South Jersey from the Air” with Mario Soriano. Photo by Jayme Collins.
Asela Perez-Ortiz interviews Tom Flynn, floodplain administrator for Woodbridge Township.
The Rutgers University Marine Field Station in Tuckerton, New Jersey. With its unique location at the inlet of Great Bay, the station provides a vital base for long-term ecological research. Photo by Mario Soriano.
Jayme Collins lowers a hydrophone to record the underwater soundscape at the Rutgers University Marine Field Station.
