News and Events

March 2010

Lisa Schiavinato to Receive Governor's Conservation Achievement Honor

Lisa Schiavinato, co-director of the North Carolina Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center, has been selected as the Natural Resources Scientist of the Year in the 2009 N.C. Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards program. The award will be presented at a September event hosted by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, which administers the statewide awards program.

Schiavinato "has worked tirelessly to bring coastal policy issues to a wide range of citizens, from local communities to the General Assembly to academic institutions," said Tim Gestwicki, executive director of the N.C Wildlife Federation. "She is a very deserving award winner."

In 2009, Schiavinato provided leadership for a statewide advisory panel that made recommendations on emerging ocean policy topics. The resulting publication, Developing a Management Strategy for North Carolina's Coastal Ocean, is now under review by the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission. The report was developed through a two-year partnership among the N.C. Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center, the N.C. Division of Coastal Management and North Carolina Sea Grant.

The recommendations include development of a comprehensive plan to protect beaches and inlets, identification of available sand resources, creation of a coastal vulnerability index, and mapping of ocean resources. Emerging issue areas identified by the committee are: sand resource management, alternative energy development, ocean outfalls, marine aquaculture and comprehensive ocean management.

"The ocean policy report is just one example of the fine work that Lisa has done to help the state focus on current and anticipated coastal issues -- thus encouraging proactive policy measures rather than reactions," notes Michael Voiland, North Carolina Sea Grant's executive director. Schiavinato is also the legal and community development specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant.

President-elect of The Coastal Society, an organization of private sector, academic, and government professionals and students that address coastal issues, Schiavinato was the 2008 recipient of the organization's award for professional promise. She is the conference co-chair of for the group's 22nd International Conference, to be held in Wilmington in June 2010.

For a complete list of the 2009 Governor's Conservation Achievement Award Winners, and for information about the awards presentation, go to www.ncwf.org.

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Estuarine Shoreline Study Receives Funding

The North Carolina Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center was awarded more than $23,000 from the National Sea Grant Law Center to study emerging issues along North Carolina's estuarine shoreline.

Modeled after Strategies for Managing North Carolina's Coastal Ocean, a successful emerging issues report focused on North Carolina's ocean shoreline, the new estuarine study will be a collaboration among state agencies, academic and student researchers, representatives from the private sector and local governments, and public input.

"When the ocean policy study was taking place, the Center kept receiving requests from various coastal communities to do a similar study for the state's estuarine shoreline," explains Lisa Schiavinato, the Center's co-director and grant applicant. Schiavinato also is the legal and community development specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant.

The new study and report, titled Strategies for Managing North Carolina's Estuarine Shoreline, will: identify the emerging natural resource issues that will impact North Carolina's estuarine coastline for the next 15 to 20 years; provide technical information on the factors associated with them; and recommend management strategies on how the state may address the issues.

The study also will complement an existing mapping project being conducted by the N.C. Division of Coastal Management, says Schiavinato. "The results of this report will provide a road map of issues and policy recommendations regarding the state's estuarine shoreline."

The research results may have application to other states, she adds. "States with shorelines made up of mostly estuarine habitat may find the results instructive."

Strategies for Managing North Carolina's Estuarine Shoreline is one of seven successful projects in the 2010 National Sea Grant Law Center Competition. The competition is funded by the National Sea Grant College Program and administered by the National Sea Grant Law Center at the University of Mississippi.

To learn more about the competition, or to view the other winning projects, visit http://nsglc.olemiss.edu/.

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