For our 40th anniversary, we are sharing treasures from our archives. Here’s the North Carolina Sea Grant management team in the 1980s. From left: Jim Murray, then extension director and later deputy director of National Sea Grant; B.J. Copeland, then director and later a member of the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission; Kathy Hart, then communications director and now with the NC State Alumni Association; and Ron Hodson, then associate director, who retired as director in 2006.

For our 40th anniversary, we are sharing treasures from our archives. Here’s the North Carolina Sea Grant management team in the 1980s. From left: Jim Murray, then extension director and later deputy director of National Sea Grant; B.J. Copeland, then director and later a member of the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission; Kathy Hart, then communications director and now with the NC State Alumni Association; and Ron Hodson, then associate director, who retired as director in 2006.

For North Carolina Sea Grant, July 1976 holds meaning beyond memories of the United States’ bicentennial. That month, nearly a decade of our early research, outreach and education efforts earned full Sea Grant College designation.

We are taking a year to look back at four decades of success — and 50 years of our parent, the National Sea Grant College Program. More importantly, we will take this time to continue to plan for the future and identify emerging needs for coastal ecosystems and economies.

Our impacts are rooted in our strong partnerships so we ask you to join our celebration on social media, and at a variety of events. Happy birthday to us!

This article was published in the Summer 2016 issue of Coastwatch.

For contact information and reprint requests, visit ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/coastwatch/contact/.