CCEDS NRT Challenge at the Coast!

From August 11-15, a group of ECU graduate students took part in the 2024 Challenge at the Coast at the Coastal Studies Institute. The six participants—Jillian Eller, Colin Finlay, Mariela Garcia Vega, Jessica Miller, Jacquelyn Moore, and Shalimar Moreno—are members of the second cohort of the Coastal Community Environmental Data Scholars (CCEDS). This prestigious National Research Traineeship (NRT) program aims to expand the use of data science in addressing real-world environmental challenges facing communities (details at https://water.ecu.edu/nrt/).

This year’s NRT students come from the Integrated Coastal Sciences (ICS) PhD Program, the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Biology, Biochemistry, and Chemistry (IDPBBC), and the M.S. in Biology. The Challenge at the Coast is an intensive, team-based summer research experience focused on solving community-inspired research problems. Rosana Nieto Ferreira (Geography, Planning and Environment) led faculty mentors Drs. Stephen Moysey (Geology), and Mike O’Driscoll (Coastal Studies) and Randall Etheridge (Engineering) to provide guidance throughout the Challenge, helping the CCEDS NRT students partner with the City of Nags Head to develop an educational campaign addressing the challenges of on-site wastewater management amid increasing tourism and a changing climate. The educational campaign will go live on City of Nags Head social media during National Septic Week from September 16-24 2024.  Thanks to the Town of Nags Head for their support and participation in this program!

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2125684.  Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.