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Don't Miss our Next Science on the Sound Lecture!
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Mark your calendar for our next Science on the Sound Lecture to be held on January 22nd at 6:00pm at the UNC Coastal Studies Institute.
Join us for an evening lecture with Mike Muglia, Research Associate with the UNC-CSI Renewable Ocean Energy Program. Mike will discuss the importance of the Gulf Stream and highlight some of the recent research and observations being made as part of the Renewable Ocean Energy Program.
A flyer complete with details can be found HERE.
Can't make it? Tune in LIVE HERE. Did you miss the November or December program? The November program, entitled "The Marine Energy Industry, Global Progress and Opportunities", is archived for watching HERE. The December program, entitled " Our Native Lichens: A Hidden World in Peril", is archived for viewing HERE.
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Results of Scuppernong River Maritime Heritage Research Released
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In the fall of 2011, students and personnel affiliated with the Program in Maritime Studies (East Carolina University) and the UNC-Coastal Studies Institute, with the assistance of the organizations and individuals associated with the town of Columbia, and Tyrrell County (and in close collaboration with the Pocosin Arts Folk School) commenced the process of collating a submerged cultural resources inventory of the Scuppernong River and adjacent Bull Bay.
In 2012 the first volume of results (focused on an overview of Tyrrell County maritime history) was released to the public. This month, a follow up volume focused on the archaeological resources of the area (previously known about and newly discovered) was released. The reports are a part of a numbered series of occasional publications produced by ECU’s Program in Maritime Studies since the mid-1980s. For more information on the Program in Maritime Studies publications, click HERE.
There are three versions of each volume available:
Volume 1:
Black and White: Click HERE.
Color: Click HERE.
Ebook: Click HERE.
Volume 2:
Black and White: Click HERE.
Color: Click HERE.
Ebook: Click HERE.
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Dr. Mike Piehler Selected as Editor of the Journal Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
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Dr. Mike Piehler, Estuarine Ecology and Human Health Program Head was selected as an Associate Editor of the journal Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. It is an international multidisciplinary journal focused on aquatic systems influenced by salinity, ranging from the tidal freshwater zone to the edge of the continental shelf. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science is published by Elsevier in association with the Estuarine Coastal Sciences Association.
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NCSU College of Design Coastal Dynamics Design Lab Present "Pro-Active Community Recovery Structures" Project
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In partnership with the UNC Coastal Studies Institute, students from the NCSU College of Design have been working for the past semester on design project proposals for Dare County, NC. The projects, Pro-Active Community Recovery Structures (PARCS), exhibit strategies for resilient architecture and landscapes that enhance recreation, tourism, and day-to-day life in the Outer Banks. In their presentation, the students explained how their projects contribute to the natural and cultural quality of the Outer Banks while responding to the challenges associated with sea-level change and acute weather events such as hurricanes and Nor’easters. Each project demonstrates innovative design strategies for development in North Carolina’s upper coastal region.
An archived video of their presentation can be found HERE.
More information on the project and design lab can be found at http://design.ncsu.edu/coastal-dynamics-design-lab/
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Measuring Marsh Sedimentation in the Southeast
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In mid-November, Walsh, Corbett and one of their new MS students, Luke Stevens, headed to Georgia for some fieldwork. This work is related to a larger project focused on marsh mapping lead by Tom Allen (ECU Geography), Jim Morris (Univ. of South Carolina) and Clark Alexander (Skidaway Institution of Oceanography) and funded by the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The field work included mapping with RTK-GPS (very high-resolution GPS), vegetation documentation and core collection. From radiochemical analysis of the sediment, we can measure sediment accumulation, and this is important to evaluate longer-term change, especially in light of sea-level rise.
More information, including a research blog, can be found HERE.
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Piehler Lab Thesis Research Published
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Ben Von Korff did his thesis research in E2H2 Program Head Mike Piehler’s lab and recently published a manuscript from his work. Ben grew up in Minnesota and came to UNC having received a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin. He has diverse interests and experience in aquatic systems and quickly developed an exciting research project on the spatial variability of denitrification in the tidal freshwater zone of rivers. In the New and Newport Rivers, Ben made direct measurements of denitrification using a membrane inlet mass spectrometer. He determined how denitrification varied spatially in the TFZ between the channel, bank, and floodplain, and upstream and downstream sites within the TFZs. Denitrification was found to be capable of removing a substantial proportion of the incoming N load during some times of the year. Comparable rates of denitrification between the channel, bank, and floodplain suggest that denitrification was active regardless of inundation frequency or elevation. These results demonstrate that denitrification in tidal freshwater zone channel sediments can be an important sink for nitrogen.
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Outer Banks Field Site Present Capstone Research Project on Oyster Aquaculture
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Heading into the holiday season, the six Outer Banks Field Site (OBXFS) students who are wrapping up their semester on the Outer Banks saw only oysters and aquaculture racks dancing in their sleep-deprived heads. The students presented the findings of their semester-long multidisciplinary group research project to the public on Thursday, Dec. 11 at UNC CSI. The project is entitled “The Oyster Banks: A Dive into the Political, Scientific, and Social Realm of Oysters and Oyster Aquaculture in North Carolina.” Their original social and natural science research focused on quantifying ecosystem services provided by oyster aquaculture and assessing the public perceptions of and economic value placed on oysters, oyster aquaculture, and the ecosystem services that they provide. The students also analyzed policies that influence oyster aquaculture in North Carolina and surrounding states. The entire OBXFS faculty, including lecturers Lee Leidy and Adam Gibson and Site Directors Andy Keeler and Lindsay Dubbs, mentored the students in their research. Alyson Lewis, an East Carolina University Ph.D. student, led them through the process of adding an explicit economic valuation element to the survey. The students spent research field days collecting data from Joey Daniels’ aquaculture facility in the Roanoke Sound and administering surveys to Outer Banks residents and visitors in several Dare County locations. In addition, the OBXFS students got together in November with a sister UNC-CH program at the Institute of Marine Science in Morehead City and discussed their respective research projects, both of which were focused on the ecosystem services provided by both natural and maricultured oysters.
The OBXFS students also learned about the importance of oysters to the Outer Banks’ ecology and culture through a variety of non-research experiences. They worked with the NC Coastal Federation and The Nature Conservancy on the shores of Ocracoke, Nags Head, and the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on projects that maintain and monitor living shorelines that integrate man-made oyster reefs. Many of the students tasted oysters for themselves (most for the first time!) at the OBXFS’s annual oyster roast hosted by Beth Storie, the Site’s Community Advisory Board (CAB) Chair. At the roast, CAB members freely shared their perspectives on oysters, their favorite ways to prepare them, and of course, how to shuck them! The students also got creative with oyster shells when they used them to create art and jewelry under the guidance of Marlene True, Director of the Pocosin Arts Folk Art School in Columbia. If you miss the presentation but would like to hear more about the students’ research, you can find their written report at the OBXFS page on the UNC CSI website and the UNC CSI Facebook page
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Did you miss the OBXFS Capstone presentation? You can watch the archive of the presentation HERE.
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UNC CSI Partnership Yields Currituck County Maritime Heritage Projects Website
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A wireframe view of a 3D model of Hambone shad boat
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In 2012, two Outer Banks-based organizations, the UNC-Coastal Studies Institute and the Whalehead Preservation Trust began to collaborate on education, outreach, and research projects.
Since that time, a number of maritime heritage-themed projects have commenced through the collaboration of an extended group of organizations in Eastern North Carolina including Outer Banks Conservationists LLC, and East Carolina University (in particular the Program in Maritime Studies, Department of History). Similarly focused events and programs have been held either at locations within history Currituck County or at the UNC-Coastal Studies Institute on subjects from Currituck history.
This week a website, intended to serve as the memory of these programs, and provide members of the public an opportunity to learn more about the area’s maritime heritage was released at: http://blog.ecu.edu/sites/currituck/
The website is still undergoing development and expansion.
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4th Annual Renewable Ocean Energy Symposium Held at UNC Coastal Studies Institute November 20 and 21, 2014
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The North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy program’s 4th annual research symposium, held at the UNC Coastal Studies Institute on November 20 and 21 was a great success! The symposium featured research presentations by approximately 16 faculty researchers and posters presented by 15 of their students. Faculty and student researchers came from across the state, including the engineering schools at North Carolina State University, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, and from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, East Carolina University, and the UNC Coastal Studies Institute. The agenda was jam-packed with interesting presentations, engaging discussion, and planning for the future of the program. The audience of fellow researchers and members of the public, including local and state political representatives, state and federal agency representatives, and other interested members of the community, learned about ongoing research on magnetic geared power take-off systems, ocean compressed air energy storage, and multidisciplinary insights into the possibility of Gulf Stream based energy. The audience was also informed and inspired by keynote presentations by two of the four Technical Advisory Board members for the program. Jonathan Colby, Director of Technology Performance for Verdant Power, spoke about the state of the marine hydrokinetic industry, with an emphasis on in-stream tidal power. Bill Staby, co-founder and CEO of Resolute Marine Energy spoke about his company’s efforts to use marine hydrokinetic energy to provide energy to areas that are off-grid and where energy costs are high and also to provide drinking water. Colby and Staby are members of the Technical Advisory Committee along with Dr. Susan Skemp, Director of the Southeast Renewable Marine Energy Center at FAU, Dr. Richard Mercier, Director of the Offshore Technology Research Center at TAMU and Mr. Gordon Sterling retired from Royal Dutch Shell. The program’s researchers will continue their research through winter and spring, and upon receiving feedback from the Technical Advisory Board, they will lay out plans for their 2015/2016 research programs in January of 2015. The next research symposium is planned for sometime in May of 2015.
To watch a video on the NC Renewable Ocean Energy Project, please click HERE.
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Dominion Power Sponsors K-12 Renewable Energy Programming
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UNC CSI, in partnership with Dominion Power, Jennette’s Pier and Dare County Soil and Water, offer a unique alternative energy program to middle and high school students in northeastern North Carolina. This program educates students about wind, solar and ocean energy through site visits to Jennette’s Pier and UNC Coastal Studies Institute. Students learn about alternative energy technologies, their potential applications, and the mechanics of creating electrical energy from kinetic energy. Students then use what they have learned to engineer a device that creates an electrical voltage from wind, solar, ocean waves or ocean currents. Through this process students learn principles of electricity and engineering,as well as the science of ocean processes and problem solving. This program is made possible through grant funding awarded by Dominion Power to the UNC Coastal Studies Institute. The program has served over 500 students from area schools in northeastern North Carolina.
Click HERE to watch a video on the variety of K-12 opportunities available at the UNC Coastal Studies Institute.
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Year-Long Maritime Heritage-Themed Lecture Series Kicks Off January 8, 2015 at UNC Coastal Studies Institute
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Join us for an evening maritime heritage-themed lecture with Adam Parker, graduate student in the Program in Maritime Studies at East Carolina University. This program is the first in a year-long maritime heritage-themed lecture series entitled, "Our Underwater Heritage: Maritime Archaeology projects in Coastal North Carolina". The series is a collaborative partnership between UNC CSI, The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, East Carolina University and the Outer Banks Community Foundation. A flyer with details on the entire series can be found HERE.
Following the victory at Roanoke Island in 1862, Union naval officer Commander Stephen Rowan was given orders to pursue and destroy the Confederate fleet that had retreated to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The engagement at Elizabeth City was short and a conclusive victory for the Union forces. The tactics employed during the battle have been examined from historical documents, but have not yet been examined archaeologically. Using frameworks set forth by the American Battlefield Protection Program and also using Modern Naval Theory, this presentation will outline an attempt to recreate the tactics used, via historical documents and archaeological evidence.
A flyer with details on the presentation, can be found HERE.
The program will also be streamed LIVE at the following address:
http://csi.northcarolina.edu/ustream
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