Nags Head CWC

Ongoing Projects and Research.

This feature has been created in support of the CoPe (Coastlines and People) projected headed by East Carolina University (National Science Foundation Award #2052889) and will reside on a data hub. The data hub is a centralized data repository of artifacts and data sources in support of activities ranging from community engagement to pure research.

The project will strengthen coastal resilience in communities along the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuary system of coastal North Carolina. This area has been impacted by poor water quality that threatens ecosystems and economic activities important to coastal communities. The team of researchers will measure how contaminants flow throughout the natural and built environment over time to understand processes that control their distribution and their impact on the watershed. A key goal of the Hub is to integrate a broad coalition of academic, community, NGO and government stakeholders to develop mitigation strategies and understand tradeoffs in adaptation and management plans. The Hub's Coastal Environmental Justice Institute will serve as the central coordinating unit to catalyze connections within the community, coordinate internships (high school and college students) embedded with partners and communicate with community stakeholders. Manhattan College, a primarily undergraduate institution, will also serve to integrate STEM with non-STEM fields (business and management) to better prepare and inform the next generation of decision makers in the community.