Coastal Management Fellowship

2002-2004 Fellowship Project Summaries

California: Ruby Pap, from the University of Michigan, worked with the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission on a project entitled "Development of a Water Quality Monitoring Program for Marinas in the San Francisco Bay." She worked collaboratively with key federal, state, and local environmental protection and management agencies and organizations to develop a scientifically based, volunteer water quality monitoring program for marinas in San Francisco Bay. In addition, she conducted pilot monitoring projects at selected marinas and evaluated the successes and failures of those projects. Finally, Ruby made recommendations for continued water quality monitoring at marinas throughout the Bay.

Connecticut: Susan Fox, from the College of Charleston, worked with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Long Island Sound Programs, on a project entitled "Public Access to Coastal Environments." Susan developed a comprehensive GIS database of shoreline property ownership classification and helped the state organize, analyze, and share information related to public access to coastal environments in Connecticut. The project resulted in the development of a public access database and Web site.

Louisiana: The fellow from the University of Washington, worked with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources on a project entitled "Mitigation at the Local Level — Technical Assistance to Local Government for Mitigation Program Development." The goal of this project was to develop a program that trains local parish personnel in the state's methodology for determining impacts from permitted activities. Tali developed a reporting process and database for mitigation data, produced a mitigation manual, and provided training sessions for and technical assistance to local agencies.

Massachusetts: Megan Tyrrell, from the University of New Hampshire, worked with the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management on a project entitled "A Marine Habitat Management Plan for Massachusetts." The project had two components: the first was to link resource managers with marine habitat data to improve habitat management and the second was to write a marine habitat strategic plan for the state. The "Strategic Plan for Mapping Massachusetts' Benthic Marine Habitats" evaluated the current threats to habitat in Massachusetts and the various approaches to protect it. The plan emphasized the importance of seafloor characterization and mapping for effective management. The plan also included regulatory tools that could help improve habitat management and outreach ideas to improve the public's understanding of marine habitat.

North Carolina: Julia Knisel, from the University of Maine, worked with the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Division of Coastal Management (DCM), on a project entitled "GIS Based Evaluation of Inlet Process Impacts on Oceanfront Shorelines, Transportation Infrastructure and Other Development Activities." The goal of this project was to delineate new Inlet Hazard Areas of Environmental Concern (AEC) boundaries, both for existing inlets and potential new inlet areas, by characterizing the nature, magnitude, location, and timing of inlet processes that represent a hazard to development activities, particularly transportation-related activities. By developing and analyzing GIS shoreline data sets from existing shoreline data, Julia developed alternatives and policy recommendations that expanded and updated DCM's existing Inlet Hazard AEC policies.