CORNELIA DEAN.
Cornelia Dean is a science writer and former science editor at The New York Times, where she writes mostly about environmental issues and science policy, and a lecturer at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard, where she offers seminars on the public’s understanding of science. Her book Am I Making Myself Clear: A Scientist’s Guide to Talking to the Public was published in 2009 by Harvard University Press. Her first book, Against the Tide: The Battle for America’s Beaches, was published in 1999 by Columbia University Press and was a N.Y. Times Notable Book of the year. She is at work on a book about the misuse of scientific information in American public life. She is a member of the Corporation of Brown University, her alma mater.Author article, Former Science Editor at the NY Times, presenting workshops on writing about science for the public. As increasingly complex scientific issues enter policy debates and public discourse, scientists can no longer assume that science speaks for itself. Instead, researchers must be able to reach outside of the lab and explain their work in ways that the public and policymakers can understand. The ability to explain things in clear, concise, and engaging prose should be a part of every scientist’s skill set.
federal report
Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the U.S. geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has released a report that discusses the impacts of sea-level rise on the physical characteristics of the coast, on coastal communities, and the habitats that depend on them. The report, Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region examines multiple opportunities for governments and coastal communities to plan for and adapt to rising sea levels.
Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise is one of 21 climate change synthesis and assessment products commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), the forerunner to the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The report examines the effects of sea level rise, impacts on society, and opportunities to prepare for those consequences, focusing on the eight coastal states from New York to North Carolina.
Stanley R. Riggs,
Dr. Riggs is a coastal and marine geologist who has been doing research on modern coastal systems since 1964 and has been on the faculty at East Carolina University since 1967. His research extends from inland river, lake, and pocosin environments, to estuarine and barrier island systems, and seaward across the continental shelf. His areas of interest lie in sedimentation, Quaternary and Tertiary stratigraphy, coastal and mineral resources, and their inter-relationship with the development of human civilization. Dr. Riggs has been actively involved in numerous technical coastal and mineral resource issues at the Federal, State, and local levels that included appointments to many commissions, task forces, panels, and committees. These appointments, as well as many of his publications, have dealt directly with integrating scientific understanding and utilization and management of various coastal systems including such critical issues as climate change and sea-level rise, shoreline erosion and land loss, hazard zone delineation, inlet dynamics, water quality, and habitat preservation (i.e., hardbottom reefs, salt marshes, maritime forests, etc.), and natural resources (i.e., water, beach nourishment sand, as well as resources critical for energy, food production, building, etc.).
Dr. Riggs has carried out long-term research programs in the following general topics both in North Carolina, throughout the US Atlantic coast, and in many other coastal regions of the world. These projects were funded by many Federal and State agencies including the US National Science Foundation, NOAA Sea Grant, NOAA National Undersea Research Program, Environmental Protection Agency, Geological Survey, Department of Defense, Minerals Management Service, and the NC Departments of Water Resources, Geological Survey, Water Quality, State Parks, and Transportation. a coastal scientist at East Carolina University who is an author of a new book, “The Battle for North Carolina’s Coast,” which describes in depressing detail the difficulties of keeping the road open.
Eddie Williams,
Paint Box, a gift shop in the village of Hatteras. See his beautiful photos
Beth Smyre,
an engineer for the State Department of Transportation who is leading the planning effort, Beth Smyre is a project planning engineer for the Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch of the Department of Transportation. Smyre is the project manager for the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge replacement project. The bridge spans the Oregon Inlet and connects Hatteras Island to the mainland, in Dare County. According to Smyre’s colleague, Robert Hanson, the project is one of the most complex of DOT’s current projects. It has so far required a number of environmental impact statements and assessments – far more than the normal expectations of a project planning engineer. Smyre’s expertise has been critical in managing the project, says Hanson.
Due to the urgent need to replace the existing bridge (current suffi ciency rating of 2 out of a possible 100), Smyre has been required to achieve project tasks at a very accelerated pace. Her leadership has been especially important due to the highly visible nature of the project and sensitive inquiries from media outlets, environmental interest groups and environmental lawyers. Smyre’s master’s degree in coastal engineering has given her a unique perspective on the ocean processes affecting engineering projects on the Outer Banks. Her experience,
leadership skills and work ethic, led her colleagues in the Eastern Project Development Unit at DOT to recommend her for the Governor’s Award for Excellence.
2011 state report, NC BEACH AND INLET MANAGEMENT, FINAL REPORT , April 2011 XII-1 XII.
Funding and Prioritization Strategies for North Carolina Beach and Inlet Projects The North Carolina Beach and Inlet Management Plan is a joint project by theDivision of Water Resources and the Division of Coastal Management. Management of the State’s inlets and beaches is presently achieved through multiple programs managed by the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources and its divisions.
DENR conducted a second set of public meetings in March to update the public on the progress of the state’s Beach and Inlet Management Plan. Regional presentations can be found here. A summary of public comments recieved is available here. DENR previously held five public meetings regarding BIMP development in December 2008. These meetings included a preview of the draft BIMP management regions, shown below, along with a presentation on accomplishments to date. (Regional presentations can be found here.) A summary of public comments received is available here.
Jerry Jennings, Bonner Bridge Repair Work, Division 1 Engineer.
- Irene’s attack on Highway 12 came as North Carolina was already confronting a number of issues relating to the fate of the Outer Banks. Last summer, the state confronted what engineers called “advanced deterioration” of theHerbert C. Bonner Bridge, which carries the highway from Nags Head to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, on the north end of Hatteras Island.
Some geologists suggested replacing the bridge with a system of ferries from the mainland. Others suggested maintaining a road link with a causeway or “long bridge,” looping into Pamlico Sound, an idea that the federal Fish and Wildlife Service endorsed as the best long-term option.
Robert S. Younga coastal geologist who is head of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University,
Phone: 828-227-3822
Email: ryoung@email.wcu.edu
Office Address: Belk 294
Website: http://psds.wcu.edu
Areas of Interest:
- Coastal processes and coastal management
- Hurricanes
- Wetlands
- Environmental restoration
- Holocene landscape evolution in the southern Appalachians
Education:
- Ph.D. Geology, Duke, 1995
- M.S. Quaternary Studies, University of Maine, 1990
- B.S. Geology, College of William and Mary, 1987
Recent Publications & Presentations:
Young, R.S. and Conkle, L.J. (In Press). A new report on the antiquity of Southern Appalachian heath balds. Geology.
Young, R.S. (2007). The importance of carbon loss through wetland erosion in the Albemarle-Pamlico-Currituck Sound system, North Carolina. Southeastern Geology, 45:2:51-58
Bush, D.M., Neal, W.J., and Young, R.S. (2004). After the Storms: Geologists look at coastal zone building. Architectural Record, 11/2004:65-66.
Pablo Hernandez,
the transportation department engineer who managed the bridge work. Pablo Hernandez, PE, NCDOT Assistant Resident Engineer
Virginia Tech – BS Civil Engineering , Hobbies: skiing, mountain biking, and hanging on the beach
Andrew S. Coburn,
associate director of the shoreline program at Western Carolina University,
Phone: 828.227.3027
Email: acoburn@wcu.edu
Andrew S. Coburn is Associate Director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University. There he provides critical policy, planning and technical support to hundreds of local, state and federal resource management agencies, universities, NGOs, the media and other stakeholder groups, and has served as a member of the NC Hazard Mitigation Planning Initiative, NC Barrier Island Planning Steering Committee, NC Coastal Stakeholders Committee, NC State Emergency Response Team and NOAA Beach Nourishment Steering Team. Mr. Coburn has completed over twenty aerial and on-the-ground post storm coastal impact assessments, and was one of the first researchers to evaluate and document the impacts of Hurricanes Katrina and Ike along the Mississippi, Alabama and Texas Gulf Coast. Mr. Coburn has also provided expert testimony to the US House Subcommittee on Fisheries and Oceans, briefed US House staffers on the status of coastal engineering, served as a coastal management guide/expert for National Geographic, NBC Nightly News, CNN and the New York Times and has been interviewed, featured and/or mentioned in nearly 150 media outlets nationwide. He has a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and a MEM from Duke University.
Areas of Interest:
- Coastal planning, policy and management
- Hurricane and storm impacts
- Green building
- Alternative energy
Education:
- M.E.M., Duke University, 1993
- B.S., The Pennsylvania State University, 1988
NC-20,
an organization of public officials and businesspeople from 20 waterfront counties, acknowledges that sea level has risen about 7 inches in the last 100 years, but rejects the idea that the situation is worsening. And it says that altering road or other infrastructure plans would be “unscientific” and “portends financial disaster.”
North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission
concluded that a sea level rise of about three feet is likely and should be “adopted as the amount of anticipated rise by 2100, for policy development and planning purposes.”
Two NASA satellites are capturing images of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which began April 20, 2010, with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. This series of images reveals a space-based view of the burning oil rig and the ensuing oil spill, through May 24. The imagery comes from the MODIS instruments aboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites. The oil slick appears grayish-beige in these images. The shape of the spill changes due to weather conditions, currents and the use of oil-dispersing chemicals.
Nancy
outerbanksharvest
Michelle
