Nicodemus Wilderness Project
Nicodemus Wilderness Project
About Us Projects Education Links Volunteers Membership  
Nicodemus Wilderness Project

 
 

NWP Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists - Carolina Beach, North Carolina, USA

« ++ ·
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/24891248912489124891248912489124891248912489124891Nicodemus_Wilderness_Project.jpg
<<
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/248932489324893248932489324893248932489324893IMG_2018.JPG
<
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/24901249012490124901249012490124901249012490130727069_2400103400015325_6038857729097859072_n.jpg
·
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/248962489624896248962489624896248962489624896IMG-4702.JPG
>
http://www.wildernessproject.org/apprentice_ecologist/data/500/thumbs/248282482824828248282482824828248282482824828IMG_3616.JPG
>>
· ++ »

Carolina Beach, North Carolina, USA
(Click on photo to view larger image)

elenamb



Registered: December 2018
City/Town/Province: Carolina Beach
Posts: 1
View this Member's Photo Gallery
I have lived in the Wilmington, NC area for most of my life, so I have grown up by the ocean with salt marshes and an abundance of diverse ecosystems. This caused me to have a great love of nature from a young age. As I have grown up, I have seen the effects of climate change first-hand in the slowly-rising sea levels, declining sea life populations, and damaged salt marshes. I have also seen how people have damaged the environment, from single-use plastic pollution to residential development over important ecosystems. As I witnessed all of this, I decided to start volunteering at my local aquarium in order to better educate myself and others.


Wilmington is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna species. In the Coquina Outcrop off of Ft. Fisher, there are horseshoe crabs, anemones, and several types of stingray. Inland, there are several bird species, various mammals, and even some Venus Flytraps. This area is gorgeous and diverse, making it a perfect home for so many organisms. However, in recent years, development and overpopulation, as well as the tourism industry, have begun to take over. When I began working on my project, I decided to focus on Carolina Beach, a large source of tourism and business-related pollution. This is such an important area because of how delicate some of the ecosystems are and how much they add to the health of the overall environment. As pollution builds on the island, it will get out to the ocean and add to what is already there, hurting and killing sea life populations. As someone who watches the loggerhead turtles hatch every year, I wanted to do my part and help raise their survival rates in our area, as well as the other local species.


During my junior year, I began my involvement with the Teen Ocean Stewards at the Ft. Fisher Aquarium in North Carolina. We worked together to learn about environmental issues in our community and create a project that would help reduce the effects of climate change. As we are part of a coastal ecosystem, it was easy to see how carbon sinks impacted the overall health of the environment, so we decided to plant fifteen hundred spartina marsh grasses in the Carolina Beach State Park. It was also through the Teen Ocean Stewards that I was introduced to the NC Youth Ocean Conservation Summit, where I was made aware of the severe impact of single-use plastics.


A few months later, I told my peers about my idea for a community beach sweep and festival promoting the use of sustainable materials, so we started brainstorming which local businesses and environmental organizations we should call, as well as where and when we could have the event. It became Turn the Tide Fest and the event was approved for September 15, 2018. As summer approached, I was carrying out the plan for the event and getting artists, restaurants, and activists in my area involved. By August, there were fifteen vendors for the festival, and several school clubs in the area were committed to helping with the beach sweep and going plastic-free.


A few weeks later, news channels were plastered with the words "Hurricane Florence." My supervisor and I watched as the track showed the storm hitting us on the exact day of the festival that we had worked passionately to coordinate and, unfortunately, we had to cancel the event. Once Florence had passed, though, I was back at the aquarium and we discussed new dates for Turn the Tide Fest. We landed on March 30, 2019 and once again moved forward with our idea. Hurricane Florence was a major obstacle for me as I worked to organize Turn the Tide Fest, but it taught me to be persistent and always work for what you believe in.


Teen Ocean Stewards and Turn the Tide Fest are so important for so many reasons. Teen Ocean Stewards inspires young people to get involved with the issues about which they are passionate. We proved that you do not have to be an adult to make a difference. Turn the Tide Fest not only shows how young people such as myself are getting involved, but brings everyone in the community together to work toward a common, sustainable goal. If more businesses and restaurants in the Wilmington area will pledge to going plastic-free, then the local ecosystems will have a much better shot at thriving.


In the future, I can see myself taking on more projects like this one, working with people in my community and raising awareness about what we can do to prevent environmental damage and climate change. I want to major in environmental humanities or public policy in order to extend my reach and shift people's perspectives that way we can all acknowledge the environmental issues in our area and work toward the common goal of a clean, green future.
· Date: December 30, 2018 · Views: 3166 · File size: 13.1kb, 120.0kb · : 960 x 640 ·
Hours Volunteered: 360
Volunteers: 18
Authors Age & Age Range of Volunteers: 17 & 15 to 18
Print View
Show EXIF Info