Representatives from the South Atlantic Sea Grant region, which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, met at the Penn Center Historic District on St. Helena Island, S.C., to discuss “Empowering Connections and Creativity in Southeast Sea Grant Programs.” The meeting’s objectives were to
- Build personal relationships among Sea Grant extension, law, and education program members and among Sea Grant faculty working in particular subject areas;
- Exchange programmatic information; and,
- Explore/develop collaborative opportunities.
The meeting began with discussions regarding the structure of each extension program and with individual agents introducing their various roles and projects. Day two began with overviews of current Sea Grant networks and major topic areas, including Fisheries, Climate, Sustainable Coastal Community Development, Hazards, Seafood Safety, National Working Waterfronts, Education, Communications, Legal and Social Science.
The goal for the remaining portion of the meeting was to work in small groups discussing potential regional/collaborative projects and developing a project logic model. The four small group topics were Research and Extension, Fisheries, Hazards, and Sustainable Coastal Development.