to launch the PDF document full screen - East Carolina University

Check out Vaughn’s GISci Poster
Sallie Vaughn took 3rd place in the GISci.org
poster contest. Some of you probably remember
Sallie as one of our excellent grad students from
a few years back. For GISci 2012 Poster Contest
Entries, see www.gisci.org/Contest2012/index.htm
Hall Awarded SEDAAG Best MA Paper
Lin Hall received the award for best Masters’
Paper at SEDAAG for his paper and presentation
on Climatology of the Structure, Frequency, and Propagation
of Midlatitude Cyclones that Affect North Carolina.
ecology. The
program familiarized
participants
with tides,
waves, geological
classifications of
estuarine systems,
and the plants and
animals that call
the estuary home.
Exerpted from Magnetic
East, Fall 2012.
Randall with turtle hatchling
Internship Report
Alyssa Randall, a senior geography major with a
minor in coastal and marine studies, received a
2012 summer internship through the NC State
Government Summer Internship Program led
by the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office.
For 10 weeks Randall worked within the DENR
Division of Coastal Management in Wilmington,
NC, as a natural resource management and
outreach assistant for the NC Coastal Reserve and
National Estuarine Research Reserve System.
Randall’s job was to oversee and lead the sea turtle
nesting efforts on Masonboro Island. As part of
the North Carolina Coastal Reserve, Masonboro
Island is a protected island with no man-made
structures and is only accessible by boat. While
the public can visit the reserve, its main function
is to act as a field research site and provide a haven
for hundreds of different species.
During her internship, Randall led volunteers on
a 10-mile sea turtle nest patrol. When a site was
identified, participants would dig in the sand until
the top layer of eggs was reached. In order to
track where turtles may nest in the future, a DNA
sample was taken by collecting the shell of one
of the eggs. The eggs were then recovered with
sand and wire mesh (to mainly keep out the red
foxes that live on the island). In addition, Randall
used a GPS unit to mark the location of the nest
and to document the data, including species type,
predation count and track width.
Once in the lab, Randall processed the GPS and
created nesting maps using ArcGIS. She also
created a map of fox dens on the island, as well as
a map of potential kayak routes that can be used
to look for diamondback terrapin.
Randall participated in other activities during her
internship, including shorebird rescue efforts and
sea turtle necropsies. Her final project as an intern
with the North Carolina Coastal Reserve was to
teach an outreach program on the topic of estuary
Job Reports
Tyler Bruce, Spring 2012. GIS Techncian 1 with
Stantec (Formally Greenhorn and O’Mara)
Recently I traveled to Seattle for field recon. We
were geotagging a coastline in Kitsap county
across the Puget Sound from Seattle. It was a 3
day adventure with 342 miles on a boat doing
3D geotagged pictures for engineering models
to represent the actual coastline. It was a great
opportunity and was fun to travel with work.
At the beginning of November I accepted a full
time offer to become a GIS Tech 1. I willcontinue
to work on projects as well as picking up several
new tasks related to the FEMA FIRM process I
will be involved in more coastal primary frontal
dune analysis and wave runup/still water flooding
mapping. It has been challenging at times but a lot
of interesting work that is helping me learn new
tasks.
Dr. Palmer-Moloney Deploys to
Afghanistan
Former Geography instructor and Ph.D. candidate
in Coastal Resources Management, Dr. Laura
Dr. Palmer-Moloney and Corpsman Daniel Holmberg
hike to the Helmand River in southern Helmand Province.