Hydrilla Outreach Earns Honors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Katie Mosher, 919-515-9069, katie_mosher@ncsu.edu

Posted Friday, June 12, 2015

Recent state and national awards recognize efforts to raise local awareness about the invasive aquatic plant Hydrilla verticillata, led by Gloria Putnam of North Carolina Sea Grant.

An Award of Excellence in the 2015 APEX competition honors her work with Marie English, of the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership, on the video “Hydrilla: An Emerging Concern for the Albemarle Sound.”

The North Carolina Invasive Plant Council also presented Putnam the Excellence in Action Award for her Hydrilla survey work in the Chowan River initiated in 2014. The award honors individuals who take “specific and commendable action, demonstrated leadership, and/or show initiative regarding non-native invasive plants.”

Rob Emens, with the N.C. Division of Water Resources’ Aquatic Weed Control Program, nominated her for the award. “Gloria was clever enough to leverage very different types of resources to generate the much needed data on the Chowan River. The outcome was the first real insight to the extent of the Hydrilla infestation in the area.”

He also cites the many hours she spent securing funding, developing a data collection application, acquiring necessary equipment, and recruiting, training and coordinating volunteers.

Partners for the survey project include the Chowan Edenton Environmental Group, Chowan County and North Carolina State University Department of Crop Science.

“Gloria’s use of citizen scientists in this project has proven invaluable to the community,” says Jack Thigpen, Sea Grant’s extension director. “Giving local residents the opportunity to collect this data themselves, and in a scientifically responsible manner, has opened the door for more conversation and action in the region.”

Putnam and partners are planning a public program on Aug 22, 9-10 a.m. at the Chowan County Agricultural Building. Follow details about the event, view the long and short versions of the video, and read stories about Hydrilla featured in Coastwatch magazine, at: ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/hydrilla.

In her role at Sea Grant, Putnam works to increase environmental knowledge and incorporate sound science into natural resource management decisions. She also is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Panel on Aquatic Invasive Species.

Putnam earned her bachelor’s degree from NC State and her master’s degree in environment management and policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The APEX awards program acknowledges outstanding communications effectiveness through design and content. This year, nearly 1,900 entries were submitted from across the nation. Several other Sea Grant programs also received APEX awards. A complete list of the 2015 winners can be viewed at http://www.apexawards.com/A2015_Win.List.pdf.

View the short version of the video “Hydrilla: An Emerging Concern for the Albemarle Sound” that Putnam helped co-produce. For more on Hydrilla, go to ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/hydrilla.

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