Coastwatch 



Managing Editor 

 Katie Mosher 



Senior Editors 

 Ann Green 

 Jeannie Fans Norris 

 Renee Wolcott Shannon 



Designer 

 Linda Noble 



Circulation Manager 

 Sandra Harris 



The North Carolina Sea Grant College 

 Program is a federal/state program that 

 promotes the wise use of our coastal and 

 marine resources through research, extension 

 and education. It joined the National Sea Grant 

 College Network in 1970 as an institutional 

 program. Six years later, it was designated a 

 Sea Grant College. Today, North Carolina Sea 

 Grant supports several research projects, 

 a 1 2-member extension program and a 

 communications staff. Ron Hodson is director. 

 The program is funded by the U.S. Department 

 of Commerce's National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration and the state 

 through the University of North Carolina. 

 Coastwatch (ISSN 1068-784X) is published 

 bimonthly, six times a year, for $15 by the 

 North Carolina Sea Grant College Program. 

 North Carolina State University, Box 8605, 

 Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8605. 

 Telephone: 919/515-2454. Fax: 919/515-7095. 

 E-mail: kmosher@unity.ncsu.edu. 

 World Wide Web address: 

 http://www2. ncsu. edi</sea_grant/seagrant. html. 

 Periodical Postage paid at Raleigh, N.C 



POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 



Coastwatch, North Carolina Sea Grant, 

 North Carolina State University. Box 8605. 

 Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. 



COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Olson Named New Outreach Director 



North Carolina Sea 

 Grant has a new outreach 

 director steering the course 

 for the extension and 

 communications staff. 



Steven G. Olson, 

 former director of the 

 National Coastal Resources 

 Research and Development 

 Institute (NCRI), started his 

 new position in November. 

 Olson's experience includes 

 oversight of North 

 Carolina's hybrid striped 

 bass demonstration project 

 while at NCRI. 



From 1994 to 1998, Olson led NCRI, 

 which promotes environmentally respon- 

 sible economic development in coastal 

 regions through research and community/ 

 industry outreach projects. He also helped 

 facilitate the development of new coastal 

 and marine technologies. 



Olson replaces Jim Murray, now 

 director of the National Sea Grant Exten- 

 sion Program in Silver Spring, Md. 



In his new position, Olson supervises 

 Sea Grant's extension agents, educational 

 program and communications staff. 



"We're very happy to have Steve join 

 the North Carolina Sea Grant staff," says 

 Sea Grant director Ron Hodson. "He brings 

 with him extensive experience in coastal 

 and marine policy and administration and 

 community outreach. One of Sea Grant's 

 priorities is improving community input." 



Olson's first order of business is to 



Steve Olson 



travel the coast to assess 

 the needs of Sea Grant 

 extension staff and coastal 

 communities. "The future 

 of Sea Grant will hinge on 

 its ability to meld together a 

 high-quality, peer-reviewed 

 research program with an 

 aggressive outreach effort," 

 he says. 



Increasing the 

 visibility of North Carolina 

 Sea Grant is also high on 

 Olson's agenda. "My goal 

 is to make North Carolina 

 Sea Grant the primary source for timely and 

 accurate information about the state's 

 coastal and marine issues," he says. "With 

 the expertise and experience of our staff, we 

 can continue to be a clearinghouse of 

 information for our state's citizens." 



Educated in wildlife management and 

 natural resource policy, Olson received a 

 master's degree in 1983 from Colorado 

 State University. From 1987 to 1988, he 

 was a Dean John A. Knauss Sea Grant 

 Fellow in the U.S. House of Representa- 

 tives, where he worked on budgets for the 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service. 



Olson has held other positions in 

 Washington, D.C., including the director- 

 ship of the marine and environmental 

 affairs division of the National Association 

 of State Universities and Land-Grant 

 Colleges. He also worked at the National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 



—AG. 



Front cover photo of the Intracoastal 

 Waterway by Scott D. Taylor. 



Table of contents photo of Pamlico 

 Sound oysters by Michael Halminski. 



Printed on recycled paper. ® 



b the Next Issue of Coastwatch 



Few regions of the state have a sporting legacy to match that of Currituck 

 Sound. From the mid-1 9th century to the present, Currituck's waters have served 

 as a haunt of rich Northern industrialists, gunning grounds for market hunters 

 and philosophical birthplace of Ducks Unlimited. In our next issue, T. Edward 

 Nickens travels to the Currituck past for a look at the region's waterfowl heritage 

 and how it influenced state and national conservation initiatives. 



2 WINTER 1999 



