{"id":7807,"date":"2016-03-01T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=7807"},"modified":"2024-08-15T16:14:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T20:14:03","slug":"all-grown-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/all-grown-up\/","title":{"rendered":"ALL GROWN UP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

Spy a new butterfly species on Bogue Banks in Carteret County. Enjoy adventures and meet the locals along the state\u2019s inner banks.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two projects that benefitted early from North Carolina Sea Grant funding continue to draw attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crystal skipper butterfly and the microentrepreneurs of People-First Tourism, Inc.<\/a>, await you at the coast this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the coastal connection, these two attractions have another thing in common: both received early funding from North Carolina Sea Grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crystal skipper butterfly, which was officially recognized as a new species by The Lepidopterists\u2019 Society in 2015, has been flitting around Coastwatch<\/em> pages since a Spring 2007 article<\/a> described a Sea Grant-funded study on its habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allison Leidner \u2014 then a doctoral student at North Carolina State University \u2014 conducted the work with her advisor Nick Haddad, who focuses on ecology and conservation biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armed with a butterfly net, a pair of forceps and a marker, Leidner, now with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, focused on how a habitat broken up by development affected population sizes and movements of the butterfly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brown flyer is only found in a 30-mile stretch from Radio Island in Carteret County to Hammocks Beach State Park in Onlsow County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People-First Tourism connects microentrepreneurs to tourists seeking new adventures. The website lets travelers sign up for ecotours in North Carolina and around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A story in the Autumn 2012 issue<\/a> of Coastwatch<\/em> described how Sea Grant funding enabled Duarte Morais, one of the network\u2019s co-founders, to understand the challenges faced by prospective rural entrepreneurs in coastal North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With these connections, Morais, an NC State faculty member who focuses on equitable and sustainable tourism, and colleagues expanded People-First\u2019s network to include ecotourism opportunities in the less-traveled parts of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The venture was incorporated in 2015. Its profits go to the People-First Innovation Fund that trains microentrepreneurs to build successful enterprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interest in the butterfly and the travel marketplace endures. The following stories describe the latest developments for both projects, years after receiving Sea Grant funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n