Coastal Careers Workshop Nov. 18 Honors Margaret Davidson

Updated Oct. 24, 2019.

University students and early to mid-career professionals are invited to register for a Nov. 18 workshop — one day ahead of the North Carolina Coastal Conference in Wilmington.

The Coastal Society is partnering with North Carolina Sea Grant to host the next Margaret A. Davidson Coastal Career Development Program. 

“Margaret was a coastal icon who mentored and befriended many of today’s coastal leaders,” notes Tom Bigford, of the society’s board of directors. “The Coastal Society is proud to honor her legacy through a series of regional career development workshops around our nation’s coasts to benefit students and early- to mid-career coastal professionals, as well as the next generation of coastal practitioners.”

North Carolina Sea Grant Executive Director Susan White, who collaborated with Davidson on many NOAA efforts, agrees. “Margaret would both motivate and challenge everyone she met,” White explains. “Thus, we are pleased to have these inspiring sessions ahead of our Coastal Conference, so that students can immediately put lessons into practice.” 

In addition to her more than two decades at NOAA, Davidson had been a long-time director of South Carolina Sea Grant. To honor Davidson after her death in 2017, colleagues developed the workshop series. 

The Wilmington program features a morning of keynote talks on career options, employment prospects and important career opportunities in North Carolina, the region and around the nation. The afternoon will offer a series of smaller group discussions about skills needed to succeed, such as: leadership, networking, finding mentors and building resumes.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet with prospective mentors, an enduring benefit. In addition to White, presenters include Suzette Kimball, past director of the U.S. Geological Survey and a current member of the North Carolina Sea Grant Advisory Board.

Other speakers represent: 

• Duke University TCS chapter
• East Carolina University
• NOAA Fisheries
• North Carolina Coastal Federation
• Pender County, N.C.
• Rostan Solutions, Inc.
• The Coastal Society
• Thrivner, Inc.
• UNC Wilmington

The workshop will be held at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The registration fee includes lunch. For details, including the draft agenda, go online to thecoastasociety.org and follow the career development links. Or contact Tom Bigford at tebigford@gmail.com.

Varied topics of coastal science and policy will be presented at the North Carolina Coastal Conference, Nov. 19-20 at the Hotel Ballast in downtown Wilmington. For the agenda, registration — including a student rate — and other details, go online to: https://ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/nc-coastal-conference-2/.

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