Source: PRESS RELEASE, 11/15/11

“The State of the Sounds: Charting a new course” symposium will be held Nov. 17 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center, 203 South Front Street, New Bern. The symposium features experts who will discuss environmental science and management issues in the Albemarle-Pamlico region. The symposium will introduce the public to new initiatives from the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program, or APNEP, a state and federal program that supports ecosystem-based management of an estuary in parts of North Carolina and Virginia.

The symposium will offer a preview of APNEP’s upcoming “State of the Sounds” assessment.  Presenters will highlight environmental trends in the region and inform participants of on-going restoration and protection efforts.

Protection of the estuary is important to the economy and environment in North Carolina and Virginia, as the estuary supports one of the nation’s richest varieties of terrestrial and aquatic life.

The symposium will be hosted by the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program, N.C. Sea Grant, and the N.C. Coastal Resources, Law, and Policy Center.
                   
Notable speakers include Dr. Nancy White, founding director of the UNC Coastal Studies Institute; David Knight, assistant secretary in the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources; Dr. Bill Crowell, director of the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program; Dr. Kirk Havens, director of the Coastal Watersheds Program at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science; and Tony Reevy, senior associate director at the UNC Institute for the Environment.

For more information, contact Jim.Hawhee@ncdenr.gov or (919) 707-8632.