{"id":4559,"date":"2015-04-08T17:52:13","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T21:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=4559"},"modified":"2024-08-29T16:14:49","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T20:14:49","slug":"rewarding-innovation-jones-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/rewarding-innovation-jones-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"REWARDING INNOVATION: Jones Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Rebecca Nagy is a communications intern with North Carolina Sea Grant. She recently graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in English and a minor in environmental science.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every other year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a> presents the Walter B. Jones Sr. Awards for Coastal and Ocean Resource Management<\/a>. This year, six recipients of this prestigious honor are from North Carolina \u2014 all with North Carolina Sea Grant<\/a> ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The awards are named for the late Walter B. Jones Sr., who represented North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1966 to 1992. He supported many initiatives, including NOAA\u2019s fishery and coastal management programs, commercial shipping, oil-spill cleanups and prevention, and flood-insurance reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spencer Rogers<\/a>, Sea Grant coastal construction and erosion specialist, received the honor of Coastal Steward of the Year. This award is given to individuals who display continued leadership in seeking the balance between human use of the coast and ocean and the needs of the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the six recipients of the Excellence in Coastal and Marine Graduate Study award, four are from North Carolina. This distinction honors graduate students whose academic study seeks to contribute to the development of new or improved techniques of coastal and ocean management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe high number of North Carolina graduate students among the winners speaks to the excellent quality of marine and coastal research being conducted in our state, as well as to the caliber of the students themselves,\u201d says Chris Brown, vice president for research and graduate education for the University of North Carolina System<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSpencer\u2019s Coastal Steward award notes the strength of the North Carolina Sea Grant outreach program that links university expertise with community needs,\u201d Brown adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Currituck County<\/a> received an award for Excellence in Local Government. The accolade recognizes local governments that have influenced change in coastal management through increasing commitment to public awareness of coastal issues and advancing the goals of the Coastal Zone Management Act, or CZMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Spencer Rogers<\/strong><\/a> is one of two individuals named Coastal Steward of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis honor reflects Spencer\u2019s three decades of service to coastal communities and the state overall through his North Carolina Sea Grant extension work in coastal construction, erosion and other factors related to coastal processes,\u201d notes Susan White<\/a>, Sea Grant executive director.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSTEWARD OF THE COAST<\/h2>\n\n\n\n