Allyson Ropp, a Ph.D. candidate in the Integrated Coastal Sciences Ph.D. Program, has been named to NOAA’s Dr. Nancy Foster Scholars Class of 2023. This multi-year award will support her doctoral education and dissertation research. Allyson’s research aims to characterize and evaluate the degradation of wooden shipwreck through the integration of archaeological, microbial ecology, hydrological, and geospatial methods.

Using a WWI-era U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation wooden steamship, Aowa, in the Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary, her research will leverage traditional and emerging technologies to quantify the shipwreck’s degradation over three years to better understand in situ wooden shipwreck preservation. This scholarship would not have been possible without the support of the Maryland Historical Trust, NOAA’s Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary, ECU’s Program in Maritime Studies and the Department of Biology, and her co-advisors Dr. Nathan Richards (Maritime Studies) and Dr. Erin Field (Department of Biology).

Led by East Carolina University (ECU), The Coastal Studies Institute is a multi-institutional research and educational partnership of the UNC System including North Carolina State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC Wilmington, and Elizabeth City State University.

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CSI BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Based at the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program (NCROEP) advances inter-disciplinary marine energy solutions across UNC System partner colleges of engineering at NC State University, UNC Charlotte, and NC A&T University.  Click on the links below for more information.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

JENNETTE'S PIER WAVE ENERGY TEST CENTER

SMALL-SCALE WAVE TANK

ECU's Integrated Coastal Programs (ECU ICP) is a leader in coastal and marine research, education, and engagement.   ECU ICP includes the Coastal Studies Institute, ECU's Department of Coastal Studies, and ECU Diving and Water Safety.

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The faculty and staff at the Coastal Studies Institute come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, as well as departments and organizations including ECU Department of Biology, ECU Department of Coastal Studies, NC Sea Grant, the North Carolina Renewable Energy Program, and the UNC Institute for the Environment.

MEET THE TEAM

Tour the ECU Outer Banks Campus and learn about the research, education, and engagement projects of CSI and ECU Integrated Coastal Programs through our 360 virtual tour.

VIRTUAL TOUR

The ECU Outer Banks campus is home to the Coastal Studies Institute.
Located on Roanoke Island along the banks of the second largest estuary
in the United States, this coastal campus spans 213 acres of marshes, scrub wetlands, forested wetlands, and estuarine ecosystems.

FACILITIES

SUSTAINABLE CAMPUS