NC Sea Grant Funds Varied Coastal Research for 2016-2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Katie Mosher, 919-515-9069, kmosher@ncsu.edu
John Fear, 919-515-9104, jmfear@ncsu.edu

Posted Monday, March 7, 2016

Researchers across the state are beginning North Carolina Sea Grant research projects, looking at topics such as shellfish and finfish aquaculture, southern flounder, algal blooms, storm surge, environmental education, coastal communities and public health.

“We are pleased that these projects will consider such critical coastal issues,” notes Susan White, executive director. “These two-year projects are considered our core research. They complement our ongoing research efforts, including minigrants and fellowships, along with our outreach and partnerships.”

The projects include researchers from varied universities, including: East Carolina University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC Wilmington and Duke University. Several projects also include community partners.

Funding comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through the National Sea Grant College Program, along with state funding through the University of North Carolina system. Each project also includes matching funds from the respective university.

The follow listing of the core projects, which will run through early 2018, cites the lead investigator, as well as other participants.

• Fishery Management Implications of Environmentally Determined Sex and Biased Juvenile Sex Ratios in Southern Flounder
  Russell Borski of NC State, with Jeff Buckel, Harry Daniels, John Godwin and James Rice, all of NC State.

• Interactions between Waves, Flooding and Beach Morphology During Storm Events
  Joel C. Dietrich of NC State, with Rick Luettich of UNC-Chapel Hill and Margery Overton of NC State.

• Effects of Oyster Grow-Out Cages on the Condition and Ecosystem-Services of Seagrass Communities
  Joel Fodrie of UNC-Chapel Hill, with James Morley and Abigail Poray, also of UNC-Chapel Hill, and Katherine McGlade of Hatteras.

• “Next Generation” Coastal Communities: Leveraging Social Capital to Build Local Leadership Capacity
  David Griffith of ECU, with Barbara Garrity-Blake of Duke and Susan West from Buxton. Sara Mirabilio of Sea Grant also will participate.

• Understanding the Public Health Risk Associated with Under Dock Oyster Culture and Aquaculture Activities in the Estuarine Waters of North Carolina
  Rachel Noble of UNC-Chapel Hill, with Brett Froelich, also of UNC-Chapel Hill.

• Hypoxia and Algal Bloom Forecasting for the Neuse River Estuary
  Daniel Obenour of NC State, with Hans Paerl of UNC-Chapel Hill.

• Going with the Flow: New Approaches for Determining Drivers of Toxic Cyanobacteria Blooms in the Cape Fear River, NC
  Hans Paerl of UNC-Chapel Hill, with Nathan Hall of UNC-Chapel Hill, Scott Ensign of Morehead City and Astrid Schnetzer of NC State.

• Building Climate Literacy and Coastal Hazard Resilience through Intergenerational Transfer
  Markus Nils Peterson, NC State, with Howard Bondell, Sarah Carrier, Kathryn Stevenson and Renee Strnad, all of NC State.

• Overcoming Technical Barriers to Cost-Effective Production of Marine Finfish Fingerlings and Expanded Growout Production: Optimizing Nursery Stocking, Feeding and Harvesting Strategies
  Wade Watanabe of UNC Wilmington, with Md. Shah Alam and Patrick Carroll, also of UNC Wilmington.

In addition to the core projects, Lisa Schiavinato, North Carolina Sea Grant’s coastal law, policy and community development specialist, is part of a South Atlantic Sea Grant regional project: Advancing Understanding of Risk: Increasing Accuracy of Hazard Damage Assessment Tools by Improving Base Data and Analyzing Opportunities and Barriers for Use in Adaptation Planning.

That team is led by Shana Jones of the University of Georgia, along with J. Scott Pippin also of UGA, Jason Evans of Stetson University in Florida, Kirstin Dow of the University of South Carolina, and Victor Flatt of UNC-Chapel Hill.

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