North Carolina’s Coastal Conference Will Feature Tools, Collaborations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

As North Carolina faces critical coastal issues, communities, agencies and researchers are working together. Those partnerships, and new technologies that harness vast datasets, will be highlighted in North Carolina’s Coastal Conference, April 4 and 5, 2017, in Raleigh.

“The agenda will cover a wide spectrum of topics,” explains Susan White, executive director of North Carolina Sea Grant, host organization for the event. “By drawing such a varied audience, we expect to energize new and continued connections across universities, agencies, industries and communities.”

In particular, a free evening program on April 4 will highlight speakers from the N.C. General Assembly as well as demonstrations of technologies, including online tools to identify resilience.

Daytime plenary sessions and concurrent panels, including Michael Regan, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, will be at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Check the updated draft agenda here.

Online registration is open through March 31, 2017. Conference details are available at ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/nc-coastal-conference.

The conference has strong support from sponsors:

• Emerald: University of North Carolina General Administration; NC State University’s Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development; East Carolina University; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Sapphire: NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management.
• Ruby: Duke University Marine Lab.
• Crystal: Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership and the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Coastal and Marine Sciences.

Sponsorships help cover the costs for student participation. “These students are our future leaders. They need to be part of these science, policy and economic discussions,” White notes. See the sponsorship flyer or contact White at snwhite3@ncsu.edu or 919-515-2455 for more information.

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North Carolina Sea Grant: Your link to research and resources for a healthier coast