Tidal Flat

Welcome to the first post in the #CoastalResearchGrants blog series. Over the next 6 weeks, we will walk through the steps of preparing a proposal for a coastal research grant.

‘cause we are living in a virtual world, and I am a virtual girl

The Coastal Reserve’s training program has been continuing outreach to real estate professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the virtual meeting platform Webex, three workshops were held in August and Septmeber on low impact development and barrier island development issues. Real estate professionals get four elective continuing education credits for participating in these workshops. 

Marae Lindquist, a PhD student at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, will study two wintering sparrow populations as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Margaret A. Davidson Fellow with the North Carolina Coastal Reserve & National Estuarine Research Reserve. She will focus her research on the impacts of sea level rise on wintering populations of the saltmarsh sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta) and seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima).

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management’s N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve (“the Reserve”) is seeking a talented individual to join the Reserve team as a Natural Resources Resilience Specialist. We are seeking someone with a strong background in protecting and/or enhancing natural infrastructure as it relates to coastal hazards resilience; environmental planning and natural resource management; or a closely-related field.

The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management’s N.C. Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve (“the Reserve”) is seeking a talented individual to join the Reserve team as a Geographic Information System (GIS) Specialist. We are seeking someone with a natural resources background that is well-versed in the ESRI platforms (e.g., ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Collector) and experienced with metadata and file structure/organization. The selected applicant must be comfortable working with a team, but also capable of working independently and remotely.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM) is seeking public comment on its application for funding of the Currituck Banks Reserve Boardwalk – Replacement of Decking Boards by the Public Beach and Coastal Waterfront Access Grant Program for the 2020-21 grant cycle. A project summary can be found here.

Under the increasing threat of hurricanes, coastal storms, and flooding, coastal North Carolina communities are striving to adapt to the changing climate. While it is impossible to eliminate natural hazards, there are tools to build resilience, or the ability for a community to “bounce back” after a hazard event. More frequently, communities are proactively turning to nature to find ways to reduce the risk of coastal hazards.

The Reserve has partnered with the North Carolina Coastal Federation to offer two summer internships. The interns will participate in the federation’s Coastal Policy and Restoration Internship program and work on one of two projects assigned by the Coastal Reserve.

Every summer, the Reserve staff doubles in size as interns and seasonal employees join offices in Beaufort, Kitty Hawk, and Wilmington.

In July, the Coastal Training Program hosted NOAA’s Social Science Basics training for local professionals. The social sciences are a valuable but often overlooked element of coastal zone management. Issues from marsh restoration to flood mitigation all involve critical human elements – knowledge, values, and attitudes – of the people that live, work, and play in these areas.