From the Editors 



Dreams 



Humans are creatures blessed with the ability to dream, to 

 envision change, to look ahead and yearn. During the holiday 

 seasons particularly, we spend time considering our desires. 



At Christmas, toys left under the tree are dreams come true for 

 children. At the turn of the new year, we evaluate our lives, 

 resolving to turn dreams into realities. Whether it's a vow to be 

 more environmentally friendly or a determination to better our- 

 selves, we envision how we want to effect change. 



We all have dreams. Even organizations like Sea Grant have 

 dreams. In that more formal setting, we call them goals, but they're 

 dreams all the same. And now, with new leadership, Sea Grant has 

 begun to dream anew. 



Ron Hodson, who stepped in as the program's director in July, 

 envisions a future for Sea Grant as an advocate for strong, unbiased 

 research. We at Sea Grant don't use the word "advocate" much. 

 That's because our organization doesn't take positions on coastal 

 issues — erosion, fisheries, estuarine ecology, aquaculture, property 

 rights — although some of them are contentious. Instead, Hodson 

 wants Sea Grant to continue to advocate sound research and 

 translate it into information that North Carolinians can use to make 

 good choices. 



Within the organization, however, are individual people, each 

 with his or her own dreams. Here at Coastwatch, we have decided 

 to make some personal dreams come true. Both of us are leaving the 

 program to chart a new course in life. 



In August, Jeannie Faris Norris left with notebooks and 

 textbooks in hand to return to school. However, she has continued 

 to work part-time with Sea Grant and contribute to Coastwatch. 



In September, Daun Daemon hit the Oregon Trail with her 

 husband, who found his dream job in the Portland area. A published 

 fiction writer, she will take some time to craft stories, and so she 

 bids North Carolina farewell — with her writing notebook in hand. 



An entirely new team of editors with new dreams will now 

 steer the course of the magazine. 



Renee Wolcott Shannon, also a fiction writer, is completing 

 her NC State University master's thesis, a novel about down- 

 home North Carolinians. A career at Sea Grant is a natural 

 extension of her interests in coastal life and marine science, fueled 

 by her childhood experiences with marine-biologist parents. She 

 brings informal science training and many summers on the North 

 Carolina beaches to her writing for Coastwatch. 



Ann Green is a Mississippi native with experience in 

 journalism and public relations. She is a graduate of Louisiana 

 State University and Georgia State University. Her articles have 

 been printed in 77?^ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tlie (Durham) 

 Herald-Sun and the Los Angeles Times. 



Katie Mosher will take the helm as communications 

 coordinator and managing editor of Coastwatch starting with the 

 Winter 1999 issue. Mosher brings to Sea Grant considerable 

 writing, editing and managing skills from years of work in 

 newspapers, television and, more recently, an online news service. 

 Our longtime subscribers might remember Mosher' s July/August 

 1994 article profiling the Mexican women who fill the labor needs 

 in North Carolina crab houses. 



Change is also coursing through Sea Grant's Marine 

 Extension Program as a new leader steps in. Read more about this 

 in the Winter 1999 issue. 



So even though we are heading away from Sea Grant and 

 into uncharted waters, we can assure our readers that Coastwatch 

 will continue to supply news and information about everything 

 that makes the North Carolina coast one of the most appealing 

 areas in the country. With a new crew of editors and writers on 

 deck, the magazine will be energized afresh while maintaining its 

 traditional standards of excellence. E 



Daun Daemon and Jeannie Norris 



Contributors 



Writers: 



Debbi Sykes Braswell • David Cecelski • Daun Daemon • Odile Fredericks • Ann Green 

 Jeannie Faris Norris • Athena Osborne • Julie Ann Powers • Renee Wolcott Shannon • Joyce Taylor 



Photographers: 



Barbara Doll • Michael Halminski • Herman Lankford • Scott D. Taylor • Erin Wall 



