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Optional Workshops
Sunday, June 13
Cape Hatteras: Crossroads of Change
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
The Cape Hatteras, NC region is a sentinel site for addressing critical cultural and ecological issues, monitoring environmental and climate change, protecting coastal resources, and educating stakeholders and the public. The area’s location between a unique oceanic ecosystem and the nation’s second largest estuary, its long and storied history of human habitation and distinct cultures, and the beauty of its barrier islands make it an important crossroads of marine conservation and economic and social uses. Further, lying at the congruence of two major currents, turbulent ocean conditions have taken hundreds of vessels to the bottom of the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” making it one of the most important maritime historical sites in the world. As such, the area lies at a true crossroads, facing the present day challenges of balancing the economic benefits of tourism with coastal protection and the maintenance of historic communities and shipwrecks.
The NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) is developing a program that focuses on Cape Hatteras as an iconic place of regional and national significance. Working with local communities and other partners ONMS is concentrating on integrating maritime heritage preservation with oceanographic research and environmental monitoring to promote Cape Hatteras as an ideal site for dedicated analyses of changing coastal and socio-economic conditions, and the issues involved with the possible expansion of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary into a larger “Graveyard of the Atlantic” sanctuary.
This workshop, through presentations, panel discussions and continual audience participation will bring together representatives from government agencies at all levels, the academic community, business interests, stakeholders, and non-governmental organizations to aid in this effort.
Cost: Free
Workshop organizer: Monitor National Marine Sanctuary Contact Information: Paul Ticco at Paul.Ticco@noaa.gov
Climate Change Adaptation Knowledge Exchange: Integrating Climate Change into Marine and Coastal Management
8:00 AM -12:00 PM
While many researchers, conservation practitioners and resource managers understand the reality of climate change, they are often still challenged by what to do about it. As a result the conservation community needs assistance developing its thinking on dealing with climate change, finding the information or data it needs to make informed decisions, and finding people to interact with on this topic as individuals develop their own approaches. This half-day workshop will provide context, guidance, and examples of how climate change adaptation or resilience building is being addressed in these fields. It will also invite participants to identify climate data and information needs and to become part of a scientific and management community aimed at building a robust field of climate change adaptation in the hopes of making it definable and approachable to a broader community. Participants will develop, through discussion, case studies and personal experiences, climate change adaptation and resilience strategies. Discussion will focus on successes and challenges — what has worked and what has not — as well as what information might be needed that is not currently or readily available.
Cost: $35
Workshop organizer: EcoAdapt
Contact Information: Jennie Hoffman at jennie.hoffman@ecoadapt.org
Green Infrastructure for Coastal Resilience: A Primer
8:00 AM -12:00 PM
This workshop will provide an introduction to how communities can characterize and assess their vulnerability and consider green infrastructure as part of a land use and conservation planning strategy to enhance resilience. Green infrastructure refers to a strategically planned network of natural lands and open spaces that conserve ecosystems values and functions and provide benefits to human populations. Protected ecosystems provide natural services to human communities—such as water filtration, flood protection, and storm buffering—that can help lessen impacts from coastal hazards. This workshop asks participants, “Where is your community vulnerable?” and “Where are the existing natural landscapes that can help reduce these vulnerabilities?” With increasing development pressures and frequent weather events threatening our coastlines, these questions become more and more critical to address. Through a lecture and case study, as well as group discussion and exercises, participants will assess community vulnerability and explore economic, environmental, and social benefits of using green infrastructure to enhance the resilience of coastal communities.
Cost: $35
Workshop organizer: NOAA Coastal Services Center Contact Information: Nancy Cofer-Shabica at nancy.cofer-shabica@noaa.gov
Coastal Inundation Mapping
8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Inundation events are among the more frequent, costly and deadly coastal hazards that can impact coastal communities in the U.S. In fact, riverine and coastal inundation are together responsible for the highest number of any natural- hazard-related deaths. In addition, future inundation risks may be exacerbated by local changes in climate and sea level, making the understanding of coastal inundation and its components critical for today’s coastal managers. Please join staff from the NOAA Coastal Services Center in a short-course version of their full Coastal Inundation Mapping course covering topics including the types of inundation, mapping products and terminology, elevation data and datums, mapping methods and assessing and adapting to coastal risks.
Cost: $35
Workshop organizer: NOAA Coastal Services Center Contact information: Matt Pendleton at matt.pendleton@noaa.gov
CanVis Software: Visualize Impacts
1:00 - 5:00 PM
Resource managers often face a challenge when speaking to stakeholders, other managers, and the public: how does the organization communicate the true importance and impact of resource change when armed with charts, graphs, and statistics? How can the speaker make these data coalesce into a visual image that will show the listeners, not simply tell them, about potential changes? For coastal resource managers, simulated visual images—also termed visualizations—are often much more effective than charts and graphs in conveying the real impact of coastal change and development. Such visualizations can spur stakeholders to develop strategies that mitigate potential negative impacts. However, until recently, effective visualizations such as these have been hard to come by for most coastal managers. Many lacked the specialized software, skills, or time to create visualizations. In response to the requests of coastal professionals for easy-to-use and inexpensive visualization tools, the NOAA Coastal Services Center contacted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agroforestry Center about CanVis. CanVis, a free software program developed by the USDA, allows natural resource professionals to create realistic simulations with minimal computer skills. The program comes with object libraries that contain agricultural images, and these images can be supplemented with coastal objects such as docks, boats, seawalls and aquatic vegetation (available at www.csc.noaa.gov/canvis/).
Cost: $35
Workshop organizer: NOAA Coastal Services Center Contact Information: Hansje Gold-Krueck at Hansje.Gold-Krueck@noaa.gov
Coastal Leadership Development Workshop
1:00 - 5:00 PM
This half-day workshop will begin with a panel of policy-level leaders from diverse coastal management sectors. The panelists will discuss: roles their organizations play in coastal policy development; how they create agendas/criteria for coastal policies; how they lead policy development and involve junior staff or stakeholders; their policy roles/involvements while moving up the career ladder; and their advice for junior staff who want to participate in policy development. Panelists will then lead breakout groups in discussing a particular leadership skill from the panel discussion. Participants will share findings with the entire workshop. The workshop is aimed at mid-career participants, although it is open to anyone attending the conference.
Cost: $35
Maximum Number of Participants: 40
Workshop organizer: The Coastal Society Contact Information: Leigh Johnson at ltjohnson@ucdavis.edu
Optional Field Trips
Sunday, June 13
UNCW Center for Marine Science
2:00 – 4:00 PM
The UNCW Center for Marine Science is a 100,000 square foot research facility located on the intracoastal waterway in Wilmington, NC. The center is a nationally recognized site for conducting research that contributes to understanding environmental processes and problems. The Center’s area of expertise include marine biotechnology, oceanography, harmful algal studies, coastal ecology, coral reef ecology, fisheries biology, and marine mammals. Dr. Ronald Sizemore, Center for Marine Science Associate Director will lead the one-hour tour. While touring the facility you’ll learn about CMS’s major research programs and see the oceanographic shop, teaching wet lab with aquariums, and oyster hatchery site among several other labs. If time and weather permit, the tour will include a walk out on the 900-foot pier overlooking the intracoastal waterway and Masonboro Island.
UNCW Center for Marine Science Website: http://www.uncw.edu/cmsr/
Cost: $15
What to bring: comfortable walking shoes
Maximum Attendance: 25
Kayaking Excursion to Masonboro Island
7:30 - 12:00 PM
Masonboro Island is an undeveloped, 8.5-mile long barrier island approximately twelve miles southeast of downtown Wilmington. As part of the NC National Estuarine Research Reserve, it is protected as a nature preserve and utilized as an outdoor laboratory by researchers and educators. Located in NC’s most populous coastal county, it is heavily utilized as a prime recreational area by the local community for a variety of activities, some of which have the potential to negatively impact the Reserve. Participants will have the opportunity to witness and discuss the ongoing management challenge of finding the balance between protecting natural resources and maintaining public access. The Reserve’s 5500 acres of marsh, tidal creeks, and upland provide habitat for a number of listed species, including diamondback terrapins, loggerhead sea turtles, American oystercatchers, and several plover and tern species, as well as being important to several hundred species of fish and birds as a nursery area and foraging grounds during migration and throughout the year. The field trip route is a moderate 2.5-mile return loop paddle through creeks and marsh to the island, where participants will enjoy a short hike and/or ocean swim. Basic kayaking experience is necessary to accommodate the group schedule.
Cost: $ 45 (includes kayak rental fee and transportation) What to bring: water, snack, sunscreen, bug repellent, shoes and clothes that can get wet
Maximum Attendance: 15
Bald Head Island
8:00 – 5:00 PM
June will be a perfect time of year to join Dr. Suzanne Dorsey, Executive Director of the Bald Head Island Conservancy, as she illuminates the complexities of all the systems interacting on a North Carolina barrier island — from the ocean, through the maritime forest, to the marshes, and including human systems. The tour on Bald Head Island, home of the Old Baldy lighthouse, will focus on barrier island geomorphology and ecology. You will have the benefit of approaching the island, which can only be reached by boat, on a ferry traveling across the mouth of the Cape Fear River. On the island, Dr. Dorsey will lead a hike through Bald Head Woods, a maritime forest component of the North Carolina Research Reserve that occupies the center of Bald Head Island. The woods provides critical habitat for the various plants and animals found here. They also anchor and protect the island, reducing the notorious instability for which coastal barrier islands are famous. You will hear about critical management issues on the island — deer, forest management, aquifer, and managing a tourist population on a sensitive barrier island. You will be delivered by a tram back to the ferry landing. Additionally, the trip will include a short tour of the Ferry landing in Southport (time permitting), which just received the Lower Cape Fear Stewardship Development Program’s Outstanding Stewardship award (highest level).
Cost: $75 (includes lunch, BHI Conservancy admission, ferry ticket, transportation)
What to bring: water, snack, sunscreen, walking shoes, bug repellent, and possibly a bathing suit in case there is time to take a dip.
Maximum Attendance: 20
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