{"id":5832,"date":"2015-06-01T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T21:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=5832"},"modified":"2024-08-30T15:40:24","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T19:40:24","slug":"sea-science-hot-topics-coastal-conference-sparks-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/sea-science-hot-topics-coastal-conference-sparks-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"SEA SCIENCE: HOT TOPICS: Coastal Conference Sparks Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
More than 200 experts from government, academia, industry and community groups gathered this spring for North Carolina’s coastal conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe day had a broad focus on coastal ecosystems and economies,\u201d explains Susan White<\/a>, North Carolina Sea Grant executive director. Sea Grant organized the event for the University of North Carolina system<\/a>. \u201cThe success of the event was having such a mix of participants, across the panels and the attendees,\u201d adds Christopher Brown, UNC vice president for research and graduate education. The conference was April 16 at NC State University\u2019s McKimmon Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crowd included: researchers across many disciplines; local, state and federal officials; representatives of community organizations; independent business owners and industry leaders; and others interested in coastal topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were especially excited to have graduate students there to see the convergence of research results and hot topics, as well as emerging issues. These future leaders gained important perspectives from all the speakers and the networking time,\u201d White notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An opening plenary identified demographic changes in the coastal region, along with examples of challenges and responses from the City of Wilmington as a local government, Cape Fear Home Builders Association as an industry, and the NC State Center for Marine Sciences and Technology as a university research partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Panel discussions focused on energy resources, coastal economies, healthy coasts and communities, hazard preparation and response, marine industry development, and coastal infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An evening program included remarks by UNC President Tom Ross, N.C. Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown and Emlyn Koster, director of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. In addition, various tools developed across the UNC system were demonstrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Videos, photos and presentations from the day are available online at ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/nc-coastal-conference\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article was published in the Summer 2015<\/a> issue of Coastwatch.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n