Cape Fear River Watch

April First Saturday Seminar
2021-04-03 09:00 - 11:00 (America/New_York) | NC
Save the Date for our April First Saturday Seminar featuring Warren Darrell, who will talk about Climate Change Impacts in the Cape Fear Region

Warren Darrell lives in the Wilmington area, is an avid sea kayaker, monitors high-tide flooding with the North Carolina King Tide Project, volunteers with the North Carolina Coastal Reserve, and volunteers in Central America with the Ecologic Development Fund. He is a registered professional engineer with an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Alabama, and an M.S. in Environmental Science from Montana State University.

Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kcO-rqDwvEtEpmMaakri7TKhOvQA2urph

May First Saturday Seminar
2021-05-01 09:00 - 11:00 | Zoom and FB Live, NC, United States
Join Cape Fear River Watch and Special Guests to talk about PFAS (like GenX) from many perspectives including health, policy and community impact. Our esteemed guests will be: Toxicologist Dr. Jamie DeWitt, Clean Cape Fear’s Emily Donovan, Haw Riverkeeper Emily Sutton, NC Black Alliance’s La’Meshia Whittington, and filmmaker Elijah Yetter-Bowman.
May 1 from 9-11 AM via Zoom and FB Live. Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kcO-rqDwvEtEpmMaakri7TKhOvQA2urph?fbclid=IwAR2-eIVqUtqf3I3xMRmCrJXOl61P9iq9LjSCEAjWEXayRXntYxFYqBo0xBs
Special Guests:
La’Meshia Whittington- La’Meshia Whittingtonis a Professor in the Division of Sociology at Meredith College. She is also the Deputy Director for Advance Carolina and the Campaigns Director for the North Carolina Black Alliance. She is the co-convener of the NC Black & Brown Policy Network, former National Democracy Campaigner for Friends of the Earth, former Chairwoman of the FRENC Fund Administration, Founding member of Democracy Green, member of the Burke Women’s Fund in Western NC and the former NC spokesperson on fair courts for The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Professor Whittington leads the work on intersectional democracy and environmental justice, she was a co-author of NC Senate Bill 673, prioritizing environmentally contaminated communities-of-color in voting rights, and a co-author in several Pro-Democracy North Star legislation bills. Professor Whittington is a member of the NC PFAS Team anchoring AFFF legislation, and a convener of the Black Firefighters Fighting PFAS Collective. Professor Whittington has created and co-convened national, regional, and statewide tours and workshops on environmental justice, namely chemical contaminants, and dirty corporations. Professor Whittington continually works with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, DHHS and government agencies to ground community needs and strategies in alleviating health disparities in Black and Brown communities. Professor Whittington led the development of a statewide map to highlight the intersection of environmental justice contamination zones and the frequency in which they are located within gerrymandered Black majority voting districts. Professor Whittington is a community liaison for the National Academies of Science, Engineering & Medicine for the Guidance on PFAS Testing and Health Outcomes national study. She is a petitioner in two active petitions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for more information: PFAS and 1,4 Dioxane. Professor Whittington is an Afro-Indigenous woman from North Carolina, hailing from a former environmental justice settlement: The Kingdom of the Happy Land. She received her education at Western Piedmont Community College and Meredith College.
Jamie Dewitt PhD, DABT- Jamie DeWitt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Her laboratory’s research program focuses on functional effects of environmental chemicals on the immune system and its interactions with the nervous system during development and adulthood. With respect to PFAS, Dr. DeWitt has published numerous primary research articles and review articles, two book chapters, and edited a book on their toxicity. Her laboratory is currently assessing the immunotoxicity of emerging PFAS that are of concern in NC.
Elijah Yetter-Bowman- Elijah is a documentary filmmaker and UNC graduate raised in Wilmington, NC with a passion for problem solving. For nearly four years he has been following the PFAS crisis, first inspired by the 2017 Star News article. His focus is fusing STEM and the arts to share complex ideas in simple ways.

Emily Sutton- Emily Sutton joined the staff of Haw River Assembly in 2016, managing citizen science projects to watchdog against sediment pollution and monitor the tributaries and main stem of the Haw River. As Riverkeeper, she is now leading the fight against pollution in the Haw River on many fronts, including emerging contaminants, Jordan Lake nutrients, and sediment pollution. Emily grew up paddling rivers in the Midwest, and moved to North Carolina to received her B.A at Appalachian State University in Sustainable Development, where she studied Agroecology, Watershed Ecology, and Outdoor Education. Emily lives in Chatham County, NC.
Emily Donovan- Emily is co-founder of Clean Cape Fear–a grassroots community group formed in 2017 in response to discovering DuPont/Chemours contaminating North Carolina’s air, soil, water, and food supply with toxic PFAS for over 40 years. Her work has helped elevate NC’s PFAS contamination crisis to the national stage. She has testified before Congress twice regarding PFAS contamination. She created a lobby day effort in Washington, DC for local community members and participated in a Washington Post Live panel discussion with actor Mark Ruffalo and lawyer Rob Bilott. She helped organize and co-host two screenings of the movie, Dark Waters, in Wilmington and Raleigh featuring special guest, Mark Ruffalo–both events resulted in NC’s Attorney General suing DuPont/Chemours for natural resource damages and NC’s General Assembly filing a historic amount of PFAS bills during the 2021-2022 legislative session. Locally, she helped secure reverse osmosis filling stations for 49 public schools impacted by PFAS contamination in Brunswick and New Hanover counties. She is a member of the leadership team for the National PFAS Contamination Coalition and sits on various community advisory boards and coalitions working to address PFAS contamination. She frequents Washington, DC and Raleigh, NC pressuring lawmakers and regulators for quicker responses to our growing PFAS public health crisis. Emily lives in Brunswick County with her husband, David, and boy/girl twins. She’s been a resident of Brunswick County since 2009.

June First Saturday Seminar
2021-06-05 09:00 - 11:00 | Zoom and FB Live, NC, United States
Join Cape Fear River Watch and Bonnie Monteleone for her presentation, “Save Our Seas Save Ourselves”.
Bonnie Monteleone is the Executive Director and Director of Science, Research and Academic Partnerships for the Plastic Ocean Project based in Wilmington, NC. Her research engages citizen science with school-age children to university graduate students and to date has assisted over 100 UNCW students in Directed Independent Studies (DIS) on plastic related research projects. She co-created the course “Plastic Marine Debris Field Studies” at UNCW and has received several conservation awards for her innovative research and outreach on marine plastic pollution. She is a co-investigator on the NOAA funded research project “Microplastic ingestion in the Black Sea Bass, Centropristis striata.” She established the analytical feasibility study working with a US company that is turning plastics into fuel. Ms. Monteleone is also an accomplished artist who integrates the plastic she has collected from the world’s oceans (near 10,000 nm) into modern artistic masterpieces. In 2017 she received the Governors Award for Environmental Communication, received the 2019 YWCA Women of Achievement for her environmental work, and a NC Coastal Federation Pelican Award in 2019.
June 5 from 9-11 AM via Zoom and FB Live. Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kcO-rqDwvEtEpmMaakri7TKhOvQA2urph

August First Saturday Seminar
2021-08-07 09:00 - 11:00 | Online, NC, United States
Join us for our final ZOOM First Saturday Seminar featuring Dr. Peter Schumann for his talk “Anglers’ Willingness to Pay for Recreational Catch Improvements in the Cape Fear River”.
This seminar will take place on August 7th from 9am to 11am. Dr. Peter Schumann is a Professor of Economics at UNCW and earned his PhD in economics from NC State with field concentrations in environmental economics and statistics. His primary area of research is the non-market valuation of environmental goods and services, largely focused on coastal and marine resources and tourism in NC and the Caribbean. Dr. Schumann’s work includes consultancies with various national and international organizations and he has authored/coauthored more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and technical reports.
Register beforehand here!

November 1st Saturday Seminar
2021-11-06 08:30 - 10:30 | NC
Presented by Brayton Willis, Chairman of the North Carolina Gullah Geechee Greenway/Blueway Heritage Trail Project for the Brunswick County Branch of the NAACP.

Stretching nearly 500 miles along the coast of Florida to North Carolina, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor footprint was established in 2006 by Congress as a National Historic Area so that members of the public would be encouraged to explore its culturally historic sites and celebrate the story of the Gullah Geechee people.

This corridor allows local communities to preserve, protect and celebrate the Gullah Geechee heritage in a wide variety of ways. The presentation will highlight the efforts of the Brunswick County NAACP to establish a North Carolina Gullah Geechee Greenway/Blueway Heritage Trail along the west side of the Cape Fear River. Beginning in February 2020, this effort has been gaining support from local governments, private foundations, and local citizens. The new greenway/ blueway footprint is roughly 30 miles long and reaches from Navassa to Southport.

Brayton strongly believes that preservation, protection and celebration our historical, cultural, and natural resources are foundational to our community’s “sense of place”.

This seminar will be hosted on Zoom & FB Live. Please register beforehand for Zoom here.

December 1st Saturday Seminar
2021-12-04 09:00 - 10:00 | Online, NC, United States
December 1st Saturday Seminar: Team Effort to Clean Up Greenfield Lake!

Our December 1st Saturday Seminar will feature 5 speakers who will present on the Jumping Run Branch nutrient reduction project on Greenfield Lake!

Our speakers will share highlights on the project including an introduction to the issue, a summary of the work accomplished thus far, a look to the future, and very importantly, how regular citizens can get involved in reducing stormwater pollution!!

Please register for Zoom beforehand: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZIpdu6rrTwoH9wlZDbO0OA4TqOem…

SPEAKER BIOS:

– Dr. Mike Mallin
Dr. Michael Mallin is an aquatic ecologist with an M.S. in limnology from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. in marine and estuarine biology from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and is currently Research Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Center for Marine Science. His research interests include analyzing the impacts of land use practices on water quality, the study of nutrient loading on estuaries, rivers and streams, impacts of green development practices and BMPs on pollution mitigation, the environmental effects of catastrophic weather events, impacts of human and animal waste pollution on watersheds, and water quality management issues. He has authored or coauthored over 100 peer-reviewed papers and 135 book chapters, and technical reports on the ecology and pollution of freshwater, estuarine, and coastal marine systems. Dr. Mallin was a 2001 Aldo Leopold Environmental Leadership Fellow, and he is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007). He served as President of the Southeastern Estuarine Research Society from 2004-2006 President of the North Carolina Lake Management Society from 2018-2019.

– Amber Ellis
Amber hails from the NC mountains, but has made a new home on the coast since 2015. She recently earned her M.S. from the Biological and Agricultural Engineering department of NC State University, working with Bill Hunt and the Stormwater Engineering Research Group. She now works as an Extension Associate with that research group managing projects in the southeastern portion of the state.

– Dr. Larry Cahoon
Dr. Larry Cahoon is Professor of Biology and Marine Biology at UNC Wilmington and teaches courses in Biological Oceanography, Limnology, and Coastal Ocean Science and Policy (the latter w/Dr. Mike Mallin). His research interests include a broad range of water quality issues in addition to basic research in coastal ocean, estuarine and freshwater ecosystems. He has won UNCW’s Faculty Scholarship, Graduate Mentor, Distinguished Teaching Professorship, and Senior Distinguished Scholarly Engagement and Public Service awards, in addition to the NC League of Conservation Voters’ Catalyst Award for his work with the GenX issue. He is currently in his 40th year of service at UNCW.

– Dana Sargent
Dana earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from San Diego State University, and a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences & Policy from The Johns Hopkins University. She worked in communications for a large nonprofit out of D.C. for 13 years and moved to Wilmington in 2013 with the intention of transforming her career to align with her passion for the environment. She began volunteering throughout the community and writing freelance and was soon invited to chair the CFRW advocacy committee, before being elected to the Board of Directors. Cape Fear River Watch then hired her to manage an outreach campaign on water quality issues including GenX and industrial agriculture. She is honored to have been hired in January 2019 to serve as the Executive Director at this small organization that does huge things. She loves music and her two magnificent daughters.

February First Saturday Seminar
2022-02-05 09:00 - 11:00 | Online, NC, United States
Speaker: Dawn York, Senior Coastal Planner with Moffatt & Nichol and Cape Fear River Partnership Coordinator
Topic: Update of Lock & Dam #1 Rock Arch Rapid Modification
Zoom Link to Register – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMocO6rrz8vGdZ0dkEDPIAderYqRZTpJbFj

March First Saturday Seminar
2022-03-05 09:00 - 11:00 | Online, NC, United States
March is Fish Consumption Month! Join us for our March First Saturday Seminar on Saturday, March 5th at 9:00 am via Zoom. Our presenters will share a summary of toxins found in fish and crabs in the Cape Fear River, including mercury, arsenic, chromium, and PCBs, and will discuss how those levels were used to determine fish consumption advisories for our area. We will also share updates from our community stakeholder partnership in advancing the Stop! Check! Enjoy! Campaign during the month of March and beyond.
Speakers
– Mozhgon Rajaee – Assistant Professor of Public Health at Oakland University
– Abigail Joyce – Research Scientist and Manager of the Analytical Chemistry Core with Duke University Superfund Research Center
-Veronia Carter – Town of Leland Councilmember
– Introduction by Chiara Klein, Program Coordinator for Community Engagement with Duke University Superfund Research Center
Zoom link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlfuChqjIpGd1tWxcXhnLjE-6GBsll8MKv
Dr. Mozhgon Rajaee is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Oakland University in Michigan. She holds a Master of Science and a Master of Public Health and a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on environmental health and justice issues.
Dr. Abbey Joyce is a Research Scientist at Duke University where she is the manager of the Analytical Chemistry Core for Duke’s Superfund Research Center. Her research focuses on measuring and understanding environmental contaminants, notably PFAS.
Veronica Carter is a former Civil Servant (International and US) and retired Army officer with over 39 years’ experience in managing complex logistics operations, often under austere conditions. Veronica has served on the Board of Directors for Cape Fear and Brunswick County’s Habitat for Humanity affiliates and Town of Leland’s Parks and Recreation Board. In addition she serves on the Duke Superfund Advisory Board and was instrumental in starting the Brunswick County Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), the County’s Long-Term Recovery Group. Veronica has devoted much of her time to ensuring Environmental Justice by empowering, advocating, and educating EJ communities in southeastern NC.
The Governor of North Carolina appointed Veronica to the Coastal Resources Commission, from 2008 through 2012 and she currently serves on the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Board. She is a native of Brooklyn, New York and received her BA in Political Science from Fordham University and her MPA from Troy State University. She is a graduate of the United States Army’s Command and General Staff College.
In November 2019, Veronica was elected, and is currently serving as a Councilmember for the Town of Leland, North Carolina.

April First Saturday Seminar
2022-04-02 09:00 - 10:30 | Online, NC, United States
Energy Trends and Issues in NC and the Role of Offshore Wind
Speaker: Roger Shew

Saturday, April 2nd
9:00 – 10:30 am
Virtual via ZOOM – Register HERE

Join us for our April First Saturday Seminar virtually via ZOOM. Roger Shew will be discussing energy trends and issues in NC and the role of offshore wind with comments on current sea level and high tide flooding issues in the Lower Cape Fear River. This will be our final ZOOM-only seminar! We will be returning to in-person Saturday Seminars at the CFRW Office beginning in May, though will continue to offer a ZOOM option for those that prefer to join from home! Register for April HERE.

Speaker Bio: Roger is a Geology and Environmental Science professor at UNCW and has been teaching since 1999. He is particularly interested in energy and water resources, coastal plain ecosystems, and other sustainability issues. He has served on the Board of Directors at Cape Fear River Watch since 2008 and additionally volunteers with the Coastal Federation and the Nature Conservancy. Roger grew up in Brunswick County and worked in the Energy Industry for 20 years.

May First Saturday Seminar: The Plastic Pandemic
2022-05-07 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
We hope you can join us for our May First Saturday Seminar, which will be our first IN PERSON seminar since the beginning of COVID! We can’t wait to share coffee and pancakes with you at our office. CFRW staff members Rob Clark and Audrey Dunn will be discussing the growing plastics crisis, including plastic’s dire environmental impacts from production to disposal (or lack thereof) as well as CFRW’s work to combat plastic pollution in our area. Check out Audrey and Rob’s bios here.
For those who would prefer to attend via Zoom, that option will be available, and you can register for that here.
For everyone who wants to attend in person, please register here.
The seminar will be held at our office (617 Surry St.), with doors opening at 8am and the presentation beginning at 9am.

September First Saturday Seminar
2022-09-03 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
A History of Greenfield Lake with Travis Gilbert
We hope you can join us for our September First Saturday Seminar! Travis Gilbert, Executive Director of the Historic Wilmington Foundation will be sharing about the history of Greenfield Lake, from centuries ago to today.

Our doors will open at 8am for coffee and pancakes and our seminar will begin at 9am. You can also join our seminar virtually via Zoom.
Register for ZOOM ONLY here: https://bit.ly/FirstSatZOOM

No pre-registration required for in-person attendees.

The seminar will be held at the CFRW office located at 617 Surry St. We hope to see you there!

October First Saturday Seminar
2022-10-01 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
Join us at 617 Surry St. on Saturday, October 1st for an educational seminar presented by Andy Wood. Doors open at 8am for pancakes and coffee; seminar begins at 9am.
Magnificent Rescue: Protecting Biodiversity at Ecosystem Scale
Cape Fear River swamps and other wetland habitats are imperiled by river dredging, the wood pellet industry, and an expanding ocean. This engaging program explores the environmental challenges our species must meet head-on for the sake of future generations—ecologically, economically, and politically—with attention to protecting the living nuts and bolts holding-together our Starship life-support system.
Andy Wood is a biologist and conservation educator. His career includes 12 years as Education Curator with the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher and 11 years as State Education Director with the National Audubon Society. As director of Coastal Plain Conservation Group, Andy is focused on preventing unfettered habitat loss and extinction of southeast North Carolina plants and wildlife. Andy is otherwise an environmental consultant with his wife Sandy’s company, Habitats Gardens, LLC.
Pre-registration not required. We will record this event and share to our Youtube channel.

1st Saturday Seminar: Restoring Wilmington's Waterways
2022-11-05 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
Speaker: Anna Reh-Gingerich, Watershed Coordinator – Heal Our Waterways Program with City of Wilmington Stormwater Services
Topic: Restoring Wilmington’s Waterways through Stormwater Solutions
Anna’s presentation will introduce the goals of the Heal Our Waterways Program and walk through a variety of “Creek-Friendly Practices” property owners can incorporate around their homes and businesses.
About the speaker: Anna is the Watershed Coordinator for the City of Wilmington and manages the City’s ‘Heal Our Waterways Program’ for Bradley Creek and Hewletts Creek. After receiving an M.S. in Coastal and Ocean Policy in 2016 from UNC-Wilmington, she moved to Richmond, Virginia and worked for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in a water quality policy role for several years. The pull of the ocean and love of Wilmington brought her back to the area and to her current position where she enjoys promoting simple solutions for stormwater pollution within the community.
Note: Pre-registration not required. In-person only. Coffee and pancakes at 8am, presentation begins at 9am. The recording will be available online within the next couple of weeks.

1st Saturday Seminar - From Mountains to Sea: An Adventure in Plant Communities
2022-12-03 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
Speaker: Amy Renfranz
Topic: From Mountains to Sea: An Adventure in Plant Communities
Join naturalist Amy Renfranz as she makes parallels between the plant communities on the coast and in the mountains of North Carolina. Her talk will leave you with a bucket list of places to visit and a few ideas for ways to incorporate natural ecology into your own backyard!
About the speaker: Amy Renfranz lives for exploring and investigating the world around her – and sharing those experiences with others.
Amy began in environmental education on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2008. In 2011, she was awarded the National Park Service at the Blue Ridge Parkway’s “Ranger of the Year” award for her work in creating new programming for youth and adults. She is a NC Certified Environmental Educator and a Certified Naturalist through the Yellowstone Institute. She has also worked at Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, Lees-McRae College, the Yellowstone Association Institute, and New Hanover Soil & Water Conservation District. For nearly ten years, she wrote an award-winning, weekly newspaper column called “Dear Naturalist.” In 2022, she began pursuing a full-time career in native plant landscaping.
Amy is a graduate of Appalachian State University and North Carolina State University, where she obtained a Master’s Degree in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management. She currently serves on the board of Keep New Hanover Beautiful and the Environmental Educators of North Carolina. She volunteers as a Creek Watcher for Cape Fear River Watch, and facilitates litter cleanups in her neighborhood.
Note: Pre-registration not required. In-person only. Coffee and pancakes at 8am, presentation begins at 9am. The recording will be available online within the next couple of weeks.

1st Saturday Seminar - Magnificent Rescue: Protecting Biodiversity at Ecosystem Scale
2023-01-07 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
Speaker: Andy Wood
Topic: Magnificent Rescue: Protecting Biodiversity at Ecosystem Scale
Cape Fear River swamps and other wetland habitats are imperiled by river dredging, the wood pellet industry, and an expanding ocean. This engaging program explores the environmental challenges our species must meet head-on for the sake of future generations—ecologically, economically, and politically—with attention to protecting the living nuts and bolts holding-together our Starship life-support system.
About the speaker:Andy Wood is a biologist and conservation educator. His career includes 12 years as Education Curator with the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher and 11 years as State Education Director with the National Audubon Society. As director of Coastal Plain Conservation Group, Andy is focused on preventing unfettered habitat loss and extinction of southeast North Carolina plants and wildlife. Andy is otherwise an environmental consultant with his wife Sandy’s company, Habitats Gardens, LLC.
Note: Pre-registration not required. In-person only. Coffee and pancakes at 8am, presentation begins at 9am. The recording will be available online within the next couple of weeks.

1st Saturday Seminar - Bird Atlasing in NC
2023-02-04 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
Speaker: John Carpenter
Topic: Bird Atlasing in NC
The NC Bird Atlas, now in its third year, is a project that maps bird distribution and abundance through bird observations. Come out to learn about the NC Bird Atlas, its function, and how you can get involved. Learn about priority blocks and where you can find additional resources on atlasing. Great if you are new to birding, or an experienced birder who wants to contribute to the Atlas.
About the speaker: John Carpenter has worked as a Wildlife Biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission for the past 13 years. He received a M.S. in Plant and Soil Science from Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Note: Pre-registration not required. In-person only. Coffee and pancakes at 8am, presentation begins at 9am. The recording will be available online the following week.

1st Saturday Seminar - Oysters
2023-03-04 08:00 - 10:00 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
Speaker: James Hargrove, Owner of Middle Sound Mariculture
Topic: Oysters
8:00 am – Doors open for coffee and pancakes
9:00 am – Seminar begins
Note: Pre-registration not required. In-person only. Coffee and pancakes at 8am, presentation begins at 9am. The recording will be available online the following week.

1st Saturday Seminar - Cooking the GOOS: Salinity, sea level rise and the oceans
2023-04-01 08:00 - 10:00 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
Speaker: Dr. Frederick Bingham, professor in the Department of Physics & Physical Oceanography and Center for Marine Science at UNCW
Topic: Salinity, sea level rise and the oceans. Join us as Dr. Frederick Bingham will be talking about some of the ways that the ocean is observed, including in situ (wet) instruments, tide gauges and satellites relating them to how we observe and understand sea level rise. He will also talk about salinity, how it is defined and measured, how it is changing globally and how it is being monitored (or really not) in the Cape Fear River.
Bio: Dr. Frederick Bingham has been a professor in the Department of Physics & Physical Oceanography and Center for Marine Science at UNCW for almost 30 years (29). He has a PhD in Oceanography from the University of California San Diego, and a Masters degree in Computer Science and Information Systems from UNCW. He has held previous positions at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Fred has spent his career studying the circulation of the oceans at large scales, their interaction with the atmosphere, their role in the climate, and the importance of ocean salinity in all of that. He has over 50 published papers in the field and his research has been funded by NASA as a member of their Ocean Salinity Science Team since 2009.
8:00 am – Doors open for coffee and pancakes
9:00 am – Seminar begins
Note: Pre-registration not required. In-person only. Coffee and pancakes at 8am, presentation begins at 9am. The recording will be available online the following week.

February First Saturday Seminar
2026-02-07 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
We will hear from New Hanover County’s first Sustainability Manager, Madelyn Wampler. Madelyn will provide an overview of the county’s recently completed sustainability assessment (click here to read). She will highlight key findings, ongoing initiatives, and opportunities to strengthen environmental stewardship and resilience across New Hanover County.
Be sure to arrive early to warm up with complimentary pancakes and coffee, plus the chance to meet our spring interns!

March 2026 Seminar - What's Happening with the GenX Exposure Study
2026-03-07 09:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
For our next installment in our seminar series, we will hear a much-anticipated update on the GenX Exposure Study from Dr. Jane Hoppin. Dr. Hoppin is a professor at N.C. State University and the principal investigator of the study. She will provide a summary of the study’s findings to-date and discuss future plans for the project. The GenX Exposure Study first began in 2017 to measure the blood levels of PFAS in Wilmington residents. Since that time, it has grown into a long-term health study with more than 1,000 participants throughout the Cape Fear River Basin.
Be sure to arrive early to secure a seat and warm up with complimentary pancakes and coffee, courtesy of our spring interns!

April First Saturday Seminar
2026-04-04 08:00 - 10:30 | Cape Fear River Watch Headquarters, 617 Surry Street, Wilmington, NC, 28405, United States
The state’s oldest history museum, founded in 1898, the Cape Fear Museum focuses on the history, science, and culture of the Lower Cape Fear region. Museum Director Kate Baillon will give us an exclusive preview of the state-of-the-art exhibits and experiences coming to the museum’s new Grace St. campus this summer, including a planetarium, education space, and much more.

Be sure to join us before the seminar at 8 a.m. to warm up with free coffee and pancakes!

Please note: our front door is currently out of use due to renovations, please follow the signs and use our side door for seminar entry!
