FROM THE EDITOR 



Change Seems Constant 



; expected, 2003 continues to bring 

 changes to North Carolina Sea Grant. 

 On page 4, you can read of exciting new 

 duties for Lundie Spence, who is now 

 director of the Southeast Center for Ocean 

 Science Education Excellence, based in 

 Charleston. S.C. 



She will be missed, but her regional 

 duties will keep her in touch with North 

 Carolina — where her trademark "marsh 

 walks" have been as famous for her 

 enthusiasm as for the wonderful creatures to 

 be found. 



Over the years. Lundie has received 

 numerous honors, including being named 



NOAA Environmental Hero in 2000. The award recognizes individuals for 

 their "tireless efforts to preserve and protect the nation's environment." 



She continues to be a hero — one who can make connections. Even 

 in a first meeting, Lundie listens attentively, quickly understands your 

 plans, and suggests a person or resource to help you meet your goal. That 

 was the case when I met her long before I joined Sea Grant. Now, of 

 course, Lundie connects folks to me. 



Here and across the state, the answer to many a question has been: 

 "Ask Lundie." She would know whom to ask for the complete answer — 

 be it scientist, official or local fishing patriarch. 



I've already dropped her a few e-mails at the South Carolina Sea 

 Grant Consortium. And she continues to lead Sea Grant's national marine 

 education network. 



Teachers and teachers-in-training are a special audience for Lundie. 

 Her first Sea Grant projects included coastal curricula she developed with 

 the late Dirk Frankenberg of the University of North Carolina at Chapel 

 Hill. In more recent years, she coordinated COAST/Operation Pathfinder 



Lundie Spence shares a lesson. 



graduate courses that took teachers out of the 

 lecture hall and into the dunes. 



In 1997, she and Harriet Stubbs, 

 SCI-LINK/Environmental Programs director 

 at North Carolina State University, initiated 

 the first environmental education course 

 taught on undergraduate and graduate levels 

 in the University of North Carolina system. 

 Through interactive video, the course reached 

 four UNC campuses. 



Lundie has been an advocate of informal 

 education at aquaria, estuarine reserves, parks, 

 etc. And she passionately believes that 

 fascination has no age boundaries — just ask 

 participants in workshops she has led through 

 NC State's Encore Center for Lifelong Enrichment. 



And she gets folks involved. In 1987, she initiated the first Beach 

 Sweep, which grew into Big Sweep, now an annual waterway clean-up in 

 the state's 100 counties. 



Recently. Lundie helped to develop a North Carolina coastal plain 

 river and estuaries paddle trail network that promotes ecotourism and 

 environmental awareness. She also provided leadership for Tlie Soimdfront 

 Series estuarine guides. 



Friends and colleagues have more Lundie stories than could fill this 

 issue of Coastwatch. Not all are about the coast, but all make us smile. 

 Former North Carolina Sea Grant Director B.J. Copeland recalls meeting 

 Lundie in the 1970s, when she shared stories of caring for an abandoned 

 goat — at her home in Chapel Hill. 



One of the last items Lundie packed away in her Raleigh office was a 

 skin of a red drum — the state's saltwater fish. It only seemed appropriate, 

 because to many folks, Lundie is a strong symbol of our vibrant coast. 



Katie Mosher, Managing Editor 



IN T H 



S S U E 



Contributing Writers: 

 GiannaCohn a Ann Green D Cynthia Henderson 

 Katie Mosher D T. Edward Nickens a Pam Smith 



Contributing Photographers: 

 Ken Blevins ° Walker Golder Michael Halminski 

 Ray Midgett D T. Edward Nickens 

 Scott D. Taylor D Allen Weiss a Greg Wolf 



North Carolina's diverse coast offers countless interesting subjects. 

 The large dots on the locator map indicate story settings in this issue — 

 including the Outer Banks and Brunswick County. 



