Join us for the October 2023 installment of the “Science on the Sound” Lecture Series at the Coastal Studies Institute on the ECU Outer Banks Campus. This monthly, in-person lecture series brings perspectives from all over the state and highlights coastal topics in northeastern North Carolina. This month, Allyson Ropp, a doctoral candidate in the Integrated Coastal Sciences program at ECU, will present “Wrecked on Chicamacomico: An Examination of the Shipwrecks along Wimble Shoals, Rodanthe, North Carolina” on October 19, 2023, at 6:00 PM.
Like many places on the North Carolina coast, along the northern portion of Hatteras Island, lies a set of submerged shoals, Wimble Shoals. These shoals have been agents of destruction in the area for centuries, playing a role in the wrecking of ships sailing the Atlantic shipping lanes. Many wrecking events led to harrowing rescues by passing ships or the U.S. Life Saving Service units stationed along the island. During the program, Ropp will explore the histories of some of the vessels lost along Wimble Shoals and northern Hatteras Island, and she will highlight the area’s overall near-shore and offshore wrecking trends to understand various dynamics of the loss of vessels.
Governor Ames, a 5-masted schooner, wrecked upon Wimble Shoals on December 12, 1909, while on a voyage between Georgia and New York.
Allyson Ropp is a North Carolina native with a passion for maritime archeology. She obtained a master’s degree from the Program in Maritime Studies at ECU, and she is now a doctoral candidate in the ECU Integrated Coastal Sciences program. She was recently named to NOAA’s Dr. Nancy Foster Scholars Class of 2023. Her dissertation research aims to characterize and evaluate the degradation of wooden shipwrecks through the integration of archaeological, microbial ecology, hydrological, and geospatial methods.
The program is free to attend and the public is encouraged to attend. The program will also be live-streamed, as well as archived for later viewing, on the CSI YouTube Channel.
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.
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.
The ECU Outer Banks campus is home to the Coastal Studies Institute.
