Thinking hard at a Coastal Growth Strategies workshop. Ignore the pile of candy in front of me.

As an extension specialist, I am involved with projects that improve the understanding of our coastal ecosystems and how they are impacted or changed by human activities. I also work to help communities identify strategies they can use to maintain the health of the resources we value. I help facilitate information exchange and collaborations with other state and federal organizations to advance coastal resource research and management.

In my blog posts, I’ll share some of the work we are doing in the Chowan River and Albemarle Sound to identify and track invasive aquatic plants, introduce you to some of our newly funded Sea Grant researchers that are examining coastal resources, and talk a little trash — about marine debris that is.

You can reach me at gloria_putnam@ncsu.edu or 919-513-0117.