WCU Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines receives $54,612 grant from NC Department of Environmental and Natural Resources
Rob Young (left)
By Matt Salerno
The Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at 甜瓜视频app has just received a grant from the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources for $54,612.
The PSDS studies coastlines around the world to advocate for more responsible strategies for development on and around them. The program is also continuing a project for the National Parks Service where they are conducting vulnerability assessments to structures in the nation's natural and cultural heritage sites. The PSDS has done assessments everywhere from the Statue of Liberty to Pearl Harbor and even famous parks such as Yellowstone.
Around the end of the last ice age 15,000 years ago, the ocean was 300 feet lower than it is now. The coast of North Carolina, and every other coastline around the world, stretched miles farther out than it currently does. As the earth warmed ocean-levels rose, submerging much of the continental shelf and moving the coastline to where it is today.
As the coast moved in, so did the beaches, estuaries, and wetlands. Rivers that ran into the ocean drowned, as the rising sea levels pushed their point of entry further inland.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to keep in mind that the coastal zone is dynamic,鈥� said Robert Young, professor of coastal geology at WCU and director of the PSDS. 鈥淭his is a delicate balancing act of protecting economic and social interests of coastal communities and environmental interests of coastal environments.鈥�
Young conducts research on which areas are most vulnerable to damage from storms and flooding and then sits down and talks with state and local governments, elected officials, concerned citizens, the media, and nonprofit organizations. As much of his time is spent offering advice based on data gathered from research as it is doing the science.
The PSDS also maintains the Beach Nourishment Database, an interactive model that tracks how much money each state has spent on beach nourishment. In the state of Florida alone over $3 billion dollars have been spent on beach nourishment projects.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021 allotted $47 billion to resiliency projects, projects that do not improve planning or flood-plain development but fund beach nourishment projects and allocate funding to rebuild homes in vulnerable areas.
For small coastal towns, there is no reason to protect against risk when government or insurance companies are there to pay the bill for the destruction. Beach nourishment projects don鈥檛 change the fact that rising sea levels raise the water table, and marshy areas further inland experience increased flooding.
One such area is Carteret County near Cape Lookout National Seashore where the water table has risen so high their septic tanks have been rendered unusable.
Students are involved with helping maintain the beach nourishment database. One such student is Sam Ogburn, a recent WCU graduate who studied ecology and evolution as a biology major. He tracked the amount of money spent on beach nourishment and rebuilding projects by doing some online detective work.
During his two years working with PSDS, Ogburn updated the beach nourishment database with data from the past 100 years. He scanned local news outlets and the US Army Corps website for information about the cost of projects and volume of sand used before uploading the information into the database that is available to the public.
His passion is studying birds, but his time with PSDS has influenced him to pursue a master鈥檚 degree working in coastal ecosystems. He enjoys having a deeper knowledge of coastal ecology from his time working with PSDS.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just siphon off a little part of the ecosystem and study only birds, but you have to understand everything else around it,鈥� Ogburn said.
The world we are living in is changing and this is affecting all aspects of life. The coastlines of the world have always been fluid, dynamic borders that existed long before towns, counties, and property lines.
Young and the PSDS are at the forefront, helping individuals and communities adapt to the new reality that faces us and hopefully will allow coastal communities to keep their heads above water for many years to come.
