Down East refers to a group of communities east of Beaufort in Cateret County and is one area where ghost forests are increasingly prevalent. However, not all residents understand the significance of ghost forests, according to Erin Seekamp<\/a>, the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Coastal Resilience and Sustainability and director of the NC State Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seekamp has been working with the Down East community since 2015 on research related to climate adaptation planning at Cape Lookout National Seashore, which has fostered strong and sustained relationships with Karen Ampsacher, director of the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center, and Jeff West, superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following a conversation with Erin Sills<\/a>, head of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, about how the Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative might contribute to the ES 400 course, Seekamp recalled that Ampsacher had begun talking about how she was starting to consider a museum exhibit on ghost forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seekamp initiated conversations with Ampsacher, West and the course instruction team \u2014 Marcelo Ard\u00f3n<\/a>, an associate professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, who is tracking the spread of ghost forests, and Michelle Jewell<\/a>, the chief science communicator with the Department of Applied Ecology \u2014 to consider a science communication project around ghost forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMarcelo\u2019s work on ghost forests and the use of Chronolog stations to engage visitors immediately came to mind. Everyone was onboard with the idea for an ES 400 project to set up a Chronolog site and develop some science communication content for the museum and, once a group of students selected the project for their capstone course, the project started rolling,\u201d Seekamp said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ard\u00f3n has either installed or helped to coordinate the installation of nearly 20 Chronolog stations<\/a> at various state parks and wildlife refuges along the coast of North Carolina since 2021 as part of a research project to document the spread of ghost forests, known as the \u201cSentinels of the Sounds<\/a>.\u201d He recently installed a station along the Soundside Loop Trail behind Cape Lookout National Seashore\u2019s visitor center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When visiting the Chronolog stations, people can use a cell phone or tablet to snap a photo of the surrounding environment and then upload it to an online platform. The photo is then added to a time-lapse video of that location. As part of the ES 400 project, the students analyzed photos from the station at Cape Lookout National Seashore and incorporated promotional language about the station in the slideshow and brochure to promote public engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGhost forests are not only an indication of how sea level rise and coastal erosion has affected the coast of North Carolina, but they also foreshadow how our coastal forests could look as time goes on,\u201d Strickland said. \u201cSpreading this information to the local public is important because it gives them an opportunity to see how the environment is changing and being affected around them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that one of his favorite aspects of participating in the project was learning how to effectively design science communication products for the general public. \u201cThere are a lot of variables that go into designing these products, and having to design our own made me realize how important science communication is and why it is crucial in the field of environmental science.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seekamp said the project will likely be expanded upon in future semesters so that students can not only help to develop content about ghost forests for the exhibit at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center but also co-create curriculums with local schools to promote intergenerational learning opportunities, with the goal of a classroom \u201cadopting\u201d the Chronolog station so that students can visit it with an adult to discuss their observations.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cnr.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2023\/07\/ghost-forests-brochure-1500x844-1-1024x576.png\")
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