This month’s “Science on the Sound” Lecture Series at the Coastal Studies Institute on the ECU Outer Banks Campus will highlight recent research on the sea turtles of the Outer Banks.
The monthly, in-person lecture series brings perspectives from all over the state and highlights coastal topics in northeastern North Carolina. For December, the students of the Outer Banks Field Site (OBXFS) will present the findings of their Capstone Research Project in a presentation entitled, “Artificial Light at Night: Public Perception, Sea Turtle Nesting, and Spatio-temporal Change in North Carolina’s Outer Banks”. The program will take place at 6 p.m. on December 12, 2023, at the Coastal Studies Institute on the ECU Outer Banks Campus.
For those unable to attend in person, the program will also be live-streamed on the CSI YouTube channel.
The UNC-Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment’s Outer Banks Field Site (OBXFS) is a semester-long, interdisciplinary residential learning experience for undergraduate students hosted by the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) on the East Carolina University (ECU) Outer Banks Campus.
Each fall since 2001, OBXFS students have spent the semester taking classes, engaging in internships with local organizations, and completing a Capstone research project as a group.
This year’s Capstone research addresses Artificial Light at Night, or ALAN, on the Outer Banks, including how ALAN has changed over the past nine years, what OBX residents and visitors think about ALAN, and how changes in ALAN relate to sea turtle nesting patterns. The program will last approximately 90 minutes including presentation, questions, and discussion.
Presentation attendees will also have the opportunity to view posters about the students’ internship projects before and after the Capstone presentation and to talk with the students about their experiences during a reception following the presentation. Light refreshments will be provided.
The program is free, and the public is encouraged to attend. For more information on the Science on the Sound lecture series, click here.
