& f t deck 



Madame President 



Sea Grant communications director 

 Kathy Hart was recently elected president 

 of the N.C. Big Sweep board of directors. 

 Big Sweep, the nation's largest statewide 

 waterway cleanup, was launched in 1987 

 by Sea Grant. 



Hart has worked with Big Sweep 

 since its inception, primarily promoting 

 the cleanup to the state's media. She 

 previously served for one year as vice 

 president of the board. 



Big Sweep incorporated in 1993 and 

 formed an 1 8-member board of directors 

 to manage fund raising, educational 

 projects and event coordination. 



Sea Grant marine education 

 specialist Lundie Spence also was 

 voted an honorary member of the board 

 in appreciation of the contributions 

 she made in founding the cleanup 

 and inspiring cooperation among 

 coordinating groups. 



This year's cleanup is set for 

 Saturday, Sept. 16 from 9 a.m. to 

 1 p.m. For volunteer information, 

 call 1-800-27-SWEEP. 



An International 

 Newsletter 



One Sea Grant communicator will 

 soon be thinking, talking and writing 

 about trash on a regular basis. 



Jeannie Faris is about to launch Sea 

 Grant's latest periodical, Marine Debris 

 Worldwide, an international newsletter 

 devoted to ocean litter. As managing 

 editor of the publication, Faris will be 

 gathering information about scientific 

 marine debris surveys and research, 

 industry and urban waste reduction 

 efforts, worldwide legislative efforts to 

 halt ocean litter, and educational projects 

 aimed at teaching the public or special- 

 ized audiences about the hazards and 

 costs of marine debris. 



The publication's audience will be 

 waste management officials; the shipping 

 and cruise industries; commercial fishing 

 organizations; boating, diving and 

 recreational fishing groups; coastal 

 resource managers; marine scientists; 

 manufacturers of products used in the 



marine environment; and coastal 

 cleanup organizers. 



"The newsletter will serve as a 

 communications tool for audiences that 

 are interested in marine debris," Faris 

 says. "These groups have common 

 concerns, which bring them together at 

 international conferences, but otherwise 

 they've remained fragmented. Educators 

 have not regularly exchanged informa- 

 tion with researchers, and industries 

 have not communicated with cleanup 

 organizers. So this newsletter will help 

 keep these people in contact." 



The newsletter is funded by the 

 National Sea Grant College Program 

 through a grant from the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service. 



For a complimentary copy of the 

 first issue, write Sea Grant, Box 8605, 

 N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC 

 27695. Or call 919/515-2454. 



New Staff On Board 



Rachel Wharton and Larisa Tatge 

 are the new names you'll notice in the 

 Coastwatch masthead. They've joined 

 the Sea Grant staff part time. 



Wharton is a recent graduate of 

 N.C. State University, where she 

 received her bachelor's degree in 

 language, writing and editing. She 

 worked previously for Business Leader 

 and Technician, the NCSU student 

 newspaper. 



Tatge is a graduate student at 

 NCSU working toward a master's 

 degree in international studies. She 

 received her undergraduate degree in 

 English literature from Oklahoma State 

 University and worked for two years as 

 a reporter for Tulsa World, a daily 

 newspaper in Tulsa, Okla. She is fluent 

 in Spanish. 



Both writers will be producing 

 Coastwatch articles as well as handling 

 other writing and editing assignments. 



"Rachel and Larisa are welcome 

 additions to the staff," says Kathy Hart, 

 Sea Grant communications director. 

 "They bring enthusiasm and a fresh 

 perspective to the many topics we tackle 

 on a daily basis." 



Doll Wins Take Pride 

 in North Carolina 

 Award 



At times last year, storm drain 

 stenciling was practically an around-the- 

 clock project for Sea Grant water quality 

 specialist Barbara Doll. She found herself 

 assembling stencil kits for 43 cities, 

 testing paints and grids, rounding up 

 volunteer painters, contacting city 

 liaisons, planning press releases and 

 fliers, and filming a video. But these 

 efforts paid off as volunteers invested an 

 estimated 700 hours of their time in the 

 project. 



Now, Doll and storm drain stenciling 

 have been recognized on a statewide level 

 with a 1994 Take Pride in North Carolina 

 Award. 



"I want to take this opportunity to 

 commend you for the outstanding work 

 you are doing to promote wise use of our 

 state's public resources," Gov. Jim Hunt 

 wrote in his congratulatory letter to Doll. 

 "Your involvement in this program helps 

 to ensure that future generations also can 

 enjoy and benefit from our state's natural, 

 historic and cultural resources." 



The awards program recognizes 

 outstanding stewardship projects that 

 increase awareness of natural and cultural 

 resources and encourage an attitude of 

 stewardship and responsibility toward 

 these resources. 



Doll's stenciling project met these 

 criteria by assembling and equipping 

 volunteers to paint storm drains in cities 

 throughout the state's coastal watershed. 

 The "KEEP CLEAN!" stencils identify 

 the coastal waters to which these drains 

 flow, including Albemarle Sound, 

 Pamlico Sound, Cape Fear River, New 

 River, other sounds and the ocean. Once 

 painted, the messages can raise awareness 

 of coastal waters and alert the public that 

 dumping trash into storm drains can 

 pollute these valuable resources. Every 

 year, antifreeze, motor oil, cigarette 

 butts, paint, plastics and yard wastes 

 wash into our waters, spoiling them for 

 people and wildlife. 



The project has support from N.C. 

 Sea Grant, N.C. Cooperative Extension 



24 MARC HI APRIL 1995 



