Wetland Summit 2024: Promoting Outreach and Education Pratices

The Carolina Wetlands Association in partnership with North Carolina State University and RTI International hosted a Wetland Outreach and Education Summit on June 5 in Research Park, NC. With over 60 attendees, we had people representing nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and universities. We also had members from four tribes including the Coharie, Lumbee, Nottoway, and Waccamaw Siouan. We appreciate all our attendees for making this event so special! 

We want to thank our speakers, who were the stars of this summit. The summit started with an overview of wetland ecology. We heard from Thomas Reed and Heather Patti about amphibians and wetland plant communities, respectively.  Then Dr. Michael Burchell led a session about the societal and ecological functions wetlands provide. Nicole Goddard from NC Office of Recovery and Resilience (NCORR) discussed the flood attenuation services wetlands provide and the resources available on the NCORR’s NC Resilience Exchange and Wendy Stanton from the US Fish and Wildlife Service presented the carbon capture ability of wetlands in the coastal plain.  Dr. Burchell concluded the session with a discussion on the water quality benefits that wetlands provide. 

Shifting gears, our Executive Director, Rick Savage, provided insights into the status of state and federal wetland protection policies. An important point to remember is that the definition of wetland has not changed; only the requirements on which wetlands are projected by state and federal policies. Bailey Recktenwald NC Climate Change Policy Advisor discussed how NC Governor Cooper’s Executive Order 305 aims to increase wetland protection by aiming to permanently conserve one million new acres of natural lands with a special focus on wetlands. 

The Wetland Summit was funded by an EPA Region 4 Wetland Program Development Grant and the project was to test the feasibility of developing a volunteer-based wetland monitoring program (VWMP).  Volunteer Coordinator Chase Bergeson presented the outcomes of the VWMP, and we got to hear from three of the program’s lead volunteers — Dr. Tom Schwarcz, Paul Jadot, and Michael Stokes — about their experiences in the program. The program has proven to be viable, and the team announced the program will continue and expand to more sites under new EPA grant funding. 

Our final topic of the Summit was to discuss how to effectively engage with a variety of audiences to promote the importance of wetland protection. Kristie Gianopulos from the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) shared science communication tips she learned from the creation of the www.ncwetlands.org website and supporting resources.  Amin Davis (NC DEQ) discussed how wetlands provide community benefits with a focus on urban communities and incorporation of green stormwater infrastructure and how to use these benefits to engage with audiences. Beth Roach works for the Sierra Club and is a member of the Nottoway Tribe (VA). She provided insight on how to best engagement with Indigenous communities to build relationship and partnerships. Brooks Rainey Pearson (Southern Environmental Law Center) explained how to build relationships and communicate with policymakers. All these talks together created an engaging, well-rounded day, which ended with an open house to network and share resources with one another. 

We also had a collaborative breakout session, focused on building a theory of change for wetland protection. Led by Dr. Caren Cooper (NCSU), groups discussed current activities that are helping to our collective goal of increased wetland protection and community resilience in return. This discussion, along with the speaker sessions, sparked valuable conversations and connections between professionals, showing us the value of bringing all our talented attendees together for this event. 

Finally, we want to thank everyone who worked behind the scenes to make this summit a success. Thank you to RTI, and the coordination of our emcee Kim Matthews, for hosting this event and making it run smoothly. Thank you to our interns, Erin and Bryce for all the behind-the-scenes work.  And again, thank you to our attendees and speakers, for showing up and showing out. We can't wait for the next summit!