Campus and research Students dive in for a THESE ALUMNI AREN’T news, faculty and alumni semester at the coast JUST TREADING WATER interviews and more

FALLSUM EASTTHE ECU MAGAZINE 20202019

WE TALK WITH ALUMNI AND SCIENTISTS ABOUT EARTH’S ESSENTIAL LIQUID Ensign Mason Cobb ’17, a graduate of the College of Nursing, served aboard the USNS Comfort in New York City in support of the coronavirus pandemic. CONTENTS He’s stationed at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia. During April, the ship treated non-COVID-19 patients in order to assist the New York hospital system.

On the cover: Life needs water — for nourishment, for health, for fun. This issue of East features alumni and faculty members who work with water every day. EAST IN EVERY ISSUE

View from Spilman...... 4

ECU Report ...... 6

Discovery...... 16

Faculty Focus...... 18

Pirate Nation...... 40

Students Kaleigh Bell, left, and Lauren Wright collect data along the beach to the waterline to produce a Pirate Spirit...... 42 2-D beach profile at Nags Head. Read more beginning on page 32. Horizons...... 44

More coverage including links to videos and more photos is at east.ecu.edu

24 Making Waves From recreation to regulation, read what these alumni are doing . with water. on the cover

20 Seeking clean water 38 Student snapshot 40 Labor to love ECU’s Jamie DeWitt is a The ECU Bass Fishing Club Two ECU nursing graduates national leader in PFAS is angling to put the Pirates are giving a natural alternative research. on top in fishing. to a hospital delivery room.

East Carolina University is a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina. It is a public doctoral/research-intensive university offering baccalaureate, master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees in the liberal arts, sciences and professional fields, including medicine. Dedicated to the achievement of excellence, responsible stewardship of the public trust and academic freedom, ECU values the contributions of a diverse community, supports shared governance and guarantees equality of opportunity. ©2020 by East Carolina University

2 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 3 Classes might have been moved online, but that didn’t stop senior Haley Creef from coming back to campus Pirate Strong in March to pose in her cap and gown with a few landmarks. And even though it was virtual, ECU still held What a year it’s been for our university. its annual spring commencement May 8. The university You already know I derive a great deal of Pirate pride from the conferred approximately 3,860 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate and doctoral degrees for the class of success of our students and the work we do in our region. And 2020. Included in those numbers were 72 medical while I may be outcome-oriented, today my latest source of pride graduates of the Brody School of Medicine and 52 graduates of the School of Dental Medicine. is the level of effort I see this institution making under the most trying of circumstances — fighting the spread of the coronavirus. Our faculty and staff are teaching and working online. Our alumni have modified their businesses to produce protective gear. Our health care professionals are caring for the sick. And our scientists are answering the questions that could lead to a treatment and vaccine. History will look back with astonishment at what we have done over the past weeks and will do in the months ahead. And I’m sure we’ll learn new ways to work, learn and serve that will pay long-term dividends. We are undeterred in our drive to succeed in academics, research and service. Campus is quiet, but don’t let that fool you. ECU is working as hard as any university in the country to get through this pandemic. We Pirates are a gritty bunch that just won’t quit. Best wishes View from for your health and safety, keep in touch, and keep wearing your purple with pride!

“Look, I know there is no substitute for a commencement Ron Mitchelson, Ph.D. Spilman celebration in person on our beautiful campus,” Interim Chancellor Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson said in a video message recorded in Wright Auditorium. “We recognize this ceremony is just another example of how COVID-19 has disrupted every aspect our lives. Despite these unusual and challenging times, this is still one of the most important moments in your lives, it is still an important moment in the life of this university, and it is still a great day to be a Pirate!”

4 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 5 In This Issue ECU Report Students undertake wastewater capstone project Students give back during alternative spring break ‘Mini brains’ and autism research Gusty winds blew across the “Usually by the end, they say, ‘I’ve enjoyed Making Pitt Fit Community Garden being outside,’” she said. “It’s therapeutic because off County Home Road south we spend so much time staring at screens.” of Greenville in March as ECU Students also worked with children at the ECU hosts students Tasha Spencer and Garrett Boys and Girls Club and Police Athletic League. Hope prepped planting beds for This is Spencer’s first time participating in first ‘HurriCon’ growing season. alternative spring break. “Since it’s my senior Spencer and Hope were among year, I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to help the community,” she said. From sea level rise to shoreline impacts to more than 75 ECU students who In addition to the Greenville staycation, community resilience and more, researchers signed up for alternative spring students worked in Atlantic Beach with and presenters from across the country break experiences to make the N.C. Coastal Federation; Asheville – as well as Puerto Rico – descended a difference at home and in and Atlanta with the LGBTQ community; on Greenville in February for ECU’s first communities across three states. Kindergartners from nearby Columbia, South Carolina, with youth in the “HurriCon.” Tasha Spencer works at the Making Pitt Fit Community Garden. Wintergreen Elementary School juvenile justice system; Raleigh, to explore The research conference, “2020 HurriCon: then planted sugar snap peas and citizenship; Washington with women leading Science at the Intersection of Hurricanes and transplanted strawberries, kale, collards and kohlrabi in the raised beds as change; Washington, D.C., to address youth the Populated Coast,” was Feb. 27-28 at the part of the county’s children’s gardening program, and coordinator Joni empowerment and urban development; and Main Campus Student Center. Torres appreciated the helping hands. Wilmington, on homelessness and hunger. “Hurricanes are an important aspect of life ECU students contribute 200-300 volunteer hours each year in Honors College students went to Asheville to in eastern North Carolina,” said Jamie Kruse, Approximately 25 conference attendees took a bus trip the garden. “In terms of physical labor, they are young, strong and participate in cleanups and maintenance with director of the Center for Natural Hazards Research at Feb. 28 to Windsor and Princeville, two towns that have energetic,” said Torres, who leads the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service RiverLink, a nonprofit environmental group. ECU. And not just eastern North Carolina, she noted. sustained significant flood damage due to hurricanes. community garden program in Pitt County. – Crystal Baity Presenters talked about the impacts and recovery efforts of hurricanes Harvey and Maria, which struck Houston “Category 1 (hurricanes are) what North and Puerto Rico, respectively, in addition to North Carolinians are experiencing, but there’s Carolina’s most recent storms, Florence and Matthew. a disconnect to what they think they are Students developing app for better health literacy The researchers and presenters came from multiple vulnerable to,” Gittman said. She surmised Taking prescription medicine is not always language. It then identifies disciplines, including biology, geography, geology, people accept repairing damage and worry easy. It can be especially troublesome for those the drug and gathers engineering, medicine, humanities and more. more about their homes being destroyed. who don’t speak English. information from the Approximately 200 people attended the conference, “People are OK with spending a fair Maria Alexandra Ortiz, a junior software web about specific drug according to organizers. The National Science amount of cash to create their armored engineering student at ECU, has seen it with interactions or substances Foundation supported the event with $100,000 through shoreline. It could mean experiencing her Spanish-speaking parents. that can be harmful if taken a competitive process, Kruse added. damage does not mean that person feels “My father was taking a prescription that with that prescription. Some attendees also took a bus trip to Princeville and vulnerable.” interfered with his blood pressure,” Ortiz said. Nguyen and Ortiz Windsor to see firsthand what hurricanes and related Reide Corbett, dean and professor “My mom didn’t know and my father didn’t competed against 96 other flooding have done to rural communities. of Integrated Coastal Programs and know until I came and checked, and it was projects from students Maria Alexandra Ortiz and Tiffany Nguyen Among the presenters from ECU was Rachel Gittman, the Department of Coastal Studies and actually the prescription that was raising his throughout the country at an assistant professor of biology who specializes in executive director of the Coastal Studies blood pressure with his other medication.” the event. restoration ecology, marine community ecology, Institute in Wanchese, discussed the Her solution is RxTranslate, a mobile “We weren’t expecting anything out of it,” Ortiz coastal management and policy, and conservation potential impacts of sea level rise on North application Ortiz and ECU senior computer said. “We saw so many amazing things and amazing biology. She detailed her work with Devon Eulie of the Carolina’s low-lying coastal plain. He’s a science and Honors College student Tiffany innovations, so we weren’t expecting anything, but we did a University of North Carolina Wilmington and Carter coastal oceanographer and geochemist. Nguyen presented during the HackNC 2019 good job. It was pretty cool. It was an amazing experience.” Smith of the Duke University Marine Lab in which “Much of coastal North Carolina is less hackathon last fall at the University of North Nguyen and Ortiz see their app going further, such they surveyed waterfront property owners about their than a foot above sea level, and we’re Carolina at Chapel Hill. RxTranslate won three as allowing users to input personal medical information properties and their perception of risk. talking about 1 to 3 feet of rise in the next prizes at the event — best health hack, best hack such as allergies to guarantee better results. It showed owners are most concerned about 100 years,” he said. empowering minorities and second place overall. “We would like to make an actual mobile application powerful Category 5 storms, even though one has not – Doug Boyd struck the state since the Safford-Simpson Hurricane The app takes a picture of a prescription and integrate things like machine learning models that Wind Scale has been used to rank hurricane intensity. bottle or label. It extracts the text from the better categorize text and better translate text,” said image and then translates it into the specified Nguyen, who is an EC Scholar. – Ken Buday

6 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 7 ECU Report Gifts totaling Engineering students work on wastewater project with Greenville Utilities $350,000 to “The longer we can put that expansion off, extend the lifecycle of what we have, benefit student fully realize the value of what we’ve already purchased, that will be better for everybody,” veterans Manning said. Helping student veterans Randall Etheridge, assistant professor in succeed is the goal of two recent the Department of Engineering, is the team’s donations to ECU totaling faculty co-advisor on the project. Students, $350,000. he said, “get to tackle a real-world problem The gifts will help the Student with all the constraints that you face in the Veteran Services office in the ECU real world like finances, trying to fit things Division of Student Affairs. As of into property boundaries and permitting. It’s fall 2019, more than 860 student real-world problems. That’s the best way to veterans and almost 700 military describe it.” dependents were enrolled at ECU. Natasha Bell, assistant professor of One of the gifts will fully fund engineering, is the other faculty co-advisor on the ECU Veteran to Scholar Madison Speagle, the project. Holly Whitmyer was among seven students Bridge Program, which helps ease left, and Holly Manning said the capstone project is the Whitmyer look over last fall and this spring tasked with a real-world veterans’ transition to campus second in which ECU students have worked a field of sorghum project that could help the environment as well life and coursework before classes at the Greenville on GUC’s wastewater collection system. “I will always be thankful for the sincere interest that The Masons provided two Utilities wastewater as the Greenville Utilities Commission and its start. Mason (who goes by one annual Warrior Scholar The first involved an engineering analysis of all of the professors and staff took in my journey,” Mason treatment plant. customers. name) and his wife, Kim Mason, student scholarships, a said. “My education at ECU was a major factor in business scholarship endowment “It’s a real-life project. It’s not something we maintenance on remote pump stations. of Fort Worth, Texas, pledged success, almost as important in partnering with my wife, and gave to fully fund the do in the classroom,” said Whitmyer, a senior “These students are working on things that I Veteran to Scholar Bridge $250,000 over five years for which has provided the means to fund the veterans grant.” environmental engineering major. “We’re couldn’t afford in my budget to go out and hire Program. the bridge program, as well as Mason’s father served in the Navy, his uncle served in the actually out here doing it.” a consulting engineering firm,” Manning said. two annually funded Warrior Marine Corps, and Kim’s father served in the Army. For Jason Manning ’88, superintendent of “And what I’ve found is the capstone teams are Scholar student scholarships and a In addition, Betty Beacham of Greenville recently gave GUC’s wastewater treatment plant, it’s all about much more responsive to our needs versus a scholarship endowment. $100,000 to name the SVS lounge in Mendenhall Building the math. The plant has a capacity of 17.5 brick and mortar engineering firm. “Our purpose is to give a and to support scholarships and programs for veterans. million gallons of effluent a day. And as it gets – Ken Buday hand up and not a handout,” Beacham has spent 25 years at ECU, where she has been closer to that capacity, a solution is needed Mason said. “As business owners, engaged in service and outreach to eastern North Carolina to serve future customers. A plant expansion military service proved to be a key as director of the STEM-Corps East and Teacher Quality or new construction that could add 10 million indicator of loyalty, dependability, Partnership programs. She has developed and managed gallons a day could cost $150 million, a price dedication and accountability AmeriCorps and VISTA programs to provide tutoring and taxpayers and customers would have to pay. when searching and selecting mentoring for K-12 students in the region. The students are determining the feasibility team members. Our hope is that “This commitment to service also defines my personal of taking between 1 million and 2 million the grant helps ease the pain and life,” Beacham said. “It was a natural next step for me to gallons a day and using that as part of a aids veterans in continuing their support our ROTC and student veterans by providing waterfowl impoundment pond on GUC formal education.” educational scholarships. Being able to help our students in property that would create habitat for birds and Mason served in the Marine this way is very rewarding.” delay plant expansion. Such a plan could also Corps from 1974 to 1978 before For SVS, the donations will provide much-needed help replenish shallow water aquifers. earning a degree in business scholarships and resources for student veterans. Taking 1 million or 2 million gallons of administration from ECU. He “Opportunities for scholarships are an incredibly capacity could clear the way for industrial said he passed the CPA exam important feature of a military-friendly university,” said development, with the plant having extra on his first sitting because of Nicole Jablonski, associate director of SVS. “Scholarships capacity to handle wastewater from a potential the dedication of ECU faculty diminish the need for students to take out loans and help large employer. Student Morgan Ensley, Jason Manning, superintendent of members. the GUC treatment plant, and student Dawson Reese look ensure they finish the degree they wish to complete.” over equipment at the plant. – Crystal Baity

8 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 9 ECU Report Naloxone available at Faculty trio awarded more than half of retail ECU recognized three professors for their pharmacies scholarly work March 2. Three out of 5 North Carolina retail pharmacies English professor and author Liza Weiland have the opioid-overdose antidote naloxone in received the Lifetime Research & Creative stock as part of a statewide standing order. But Activity Award. Her latest novel, “Paris 7 A.M.” some independent pharmacies and those in rural (2019, Simon & Schuster) focuses on a three- areas lack same-day availability or would not sell it week stretch during the life of poet Elizabeth Bishop in Paris. She has received fellowships without a prescription. Karen Litwa, an assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology, is working to solve Those are the findings of an ECU study, published questions about autism. from the National Endowment for the Arts online in the American Journal of Preventive among others and received the 2017 Robert Medicine, that examined the implementation of ‘Mini brains’ could help unravel Penn Warren Prize from the Fellowship of the statewide standing order. Kathleen Egan and Southern Writers. Her fiction, poems and essays Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson, left, Liza Weiland and Interim Vice autism spectrum disorders have appeared in 13 anthologies and more than Chancellor of Research, Economic Development and Engagement Mike Joseph G.L. Lee in the Department of Health Van Scott. Education and Promotion in the College of Health 40 published magazines and journals. When people ask Karen Litwa what she does for a living, her Ning Zhou, an associate professor in the and Human Performance, developed the study, the response is unique. first of its kind in North Carolina, Egan said. Department of Communication Sciences and “I say that I’m a brain builder,” she says with a smile. Disorders, received the Five-Year Achievement Naloxone, also known as Narcan, reverses Litwa, an assistant professor of anatomy and cell biology at the effects of an opioid overdose by blocking for Research & Creative Activity Award. Her ECU’s Brody School of Medicine, studies the mechanisms by research tests the effectiveness of cochlear receptors in the brain and restoring breathing. In which the brain cells form connections with one another to share 2016, North Carolina enacted a standing order implants and how they might depend on the information with each other. condition a patient’s auditory nerve. Zhou has allowing pharmacies to dispense naloxone without In order to do that, her team grows mini brains in culture a prescription to increase access for people who received more than $2.3 million in research dishes. funding, including two National Institutes of need it. “We can take a sample from a tissue bank, usually connective In February, ECU made naloxone available at the Health grants. She received a New Investigator tissue from a skin biopsy, and make it into a pluripotent state, Award from the American Auditory Society in Student Health Services pharmacy on Main Campus. which just means it has the capacity to become any type of cell,” Students Ashton Knudsen and Samantha Foster 2014. She’s been an author on more than 35 Litwa said. “Then using different growth factors, we make research articles. She joined ECU in 2013. called 200 pharmacies across the state. They these into little spheres that contain the neurons that we’re asked whether naloxone was available without a Terry Atkinson, an associate professor in the interested in studying.” College of Education, received the University prescription, whether they could they get it that day The mini brains Litwa grows lack blood vessels and are only Mitchelson, Robert F. Orlikoff, dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences, Scholarship of Engagement Award. Her Ning Zhou and Van Scott and how much it cost. about 2 millimeters in diameter, but they are able to replicate the More than half had naloxone available without a research investigates ways to promote literacy in stages of human fetal brain development, specifically the outer children up to 5 years old. She’s also executive prescription. All carried intranasal naloxone spray, cortex of the brain. and 4.1% carried intramuscular naloxone (injection). director of the local community literacy “We see a lot of the brain ventricles, which are the parts where coalition READ ENC. Atkinson also received The average out-of-pocket cost was $123.24 and the neurons are born, and we can also see the neuronal layers $33.82, respectively. Three-quarters of pharmacies the 2018 Advocacy Award from the United where the neurons form synapses with one another that allows Way of Pitt County. that would sell naloxone said Medicaid or other them to exchange information with each other,” Litwa said. forms of health insurance could cover the cost. The event also recognized six faculty “That will eventually become the basis for learning, memory members who received patents in 2019: Mark Naloxone availability was lower for independent formation and other cognitive events, such as socialization.” pharmacies than chains and in communities with Mannie and Jitka Virag (medicine), Anthony The mini brains Litwa’s team grew originated with tissue Kennedy (chemistry), Jean-Luc Scemama higher percentages of residents with public health samples from people with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as insurance, the research showed. (biology) and Cheng Chen and Kenneth autism spectrum disorders, so the team could explore how their Jacobs (physics). In 2018, nearly five North Carolinians died brains develop differently from people who don’t have autism. – Matt Smith each day from an unintentional opioid overdose, “If we know how the brain develops differently in autism according to the N.C. Department of Health and spectrum disorders, we can eventually develop therapies for Human Services, which oversees the state’s opioid autism spectrum disorders,” she said. action plan. – Rob Spahr Mitchelson, Terry Atkinson and Van Scott – Crystal Baity

10 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 11 ECU Report

father, Dr. Juan March, is an emergency physician at Left, a 3-D printed mask. Right, Antonio Leslie, left, Trevor Jones Vidant Medical Center in Greenville and professor and T.J. Smaw help Shykeem Spell at the Brody School of Medicine. pack up outside Gateway West on She said the most difficult part of the project is to March 20. make the masks and shields comfortable for those For example, ECU takes wearing them, and hopes they never have to be used. Taylor Walden ’19, Other alumni and friends are also chipping in. owner of Simple and on COVID-19 Following an April email from Interim Chancellor Sentimental, which Ron Mitchelson, nearly $60,000 was raised by mid- creates personalized March 20 was a sunny post-spring break day April for groups such as the Student Emergency gifts, has reworked at ECU. The only difference was students were Fund and the Students’ Treasure Chest, a student- her equipment to packing up to leave instead of getting back into run philanthropy organization. build protective their campus routines. By April 13 the Treasure Chest had received 51 plastic face shields. “It’s kind of tough,” freshman Shyheem Spell requests for COVID-related needs, although the She started a said as he and three friends packed up a truck demand is expected to increase significantly, said GoFundMe account, for the trip back to his home in Pinehurst. “It Lauren Thorn, associate dean of students and one and for every $8 (stinks) your freshman year had to change.” of the STC advisors. Requests have been technology raised, she can Not far away, Mallory Myers finished packing related, as some students lack access to a computer, produce a face shield. her mom’s car. “It’s sad,” she said. “I know all printer or webcam for their online courses. Others As of mid-April, my friends are bummed. It’s a lot different are struggling to pay bills and make rent due to lost the company had ECU pauses energy from moving in.” wages from unemployment. produced and shipped A month later, Myers said online classes were Taylor Walden uses a laser engraver Another resource, the Purple Pantry, distributed chancellor search more than 2,500 to create parts for face shields her going well for her, but she missed being on nearly 2,000 pounds of food in March in response shields around North company is producing. ECU has hit the pause button on its chancellor campus. “By talking with my friends from ECU to COVID-19. The group’s mobile unit served Carolina and to New search due to COVID-19. daily, it has helped to make this adjustment a 55 students with 419 pounds of food the first York, Washington state, South Carolina and Virginia. At an April 2 telephone meeting, Vern Davenport, bit easier,” she said. “I am … looking forward two weeks of April, said Tara Kermiet, associate At ECU’s Innovation Design Lab, students, faculty and chair of the ECU board of trustees, said the timeline to the fall, and I am hopeful that we will all be director of the ECU Center for Leadership and administrators teamed up to produce masks and shields for the search process has been adjusted and remains able to return then.” Civic Engagement. More than 5,000 students moved out of using the lab’s 3-D printers. uncertain due to the impact of the coronavirus and their dorms and completed the semester online The printer constructs a mask in 1,425 layers in about three – Doug Boyd, Michael Rudd, Erin Ward and Ken Buday related restrictions. with the rest of the ECU student body due hours. The team has about 20 printers available for production. “We have effectively paused the process at the to COVID-19. But they, along with alumni, Sarah March, a sophomore biochemistry major and moment when we were about to present the candidate faculty members and staff members, were Honors College student, was one of the students involved in FOR See how ECU faculty and staff pool to the search committee,” he said. committed to keeping on and doing what they the effort. MORE members moved their teaching – ECU News Services and work online at bit.ly/2Vteqvp. could to help ECU and their communities deal “I first got involved after being inspired by a lot of similar INFO with the coronavirus. projects all over the nation and world,” said March, whose

12 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 13 ECU Report

Coronavirus affects spring sports, ticket renewals

Just as things were getting exciting, the coronavirus forced ECU to cancel the remainder of the season for baseball, softball, lacrosse, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, and From top left, Jake Kuchmaner throws a men’s and women’s track and field. pitch in a 10-2 win over Georgia Southern on Feb. 23. ECU was ranked 19th in the In addition, in late March the NCAA Division I Council coaches poll and fifth in RPI when the announced underclassmen and senior student-athletes who season ended. Ally Stanton looks to pass in competed in spring 2020 may be granted another year of the women’s lacrosse game against Army on March 7. The Pirates were 5-3 before eligibility in 2020-21 provided they meet the following criteria: the season was cut short. Frederico Masetti • The student-athlete used a season of competition in a spring returns a serve, and Bria Stith jumps in the triple jump. Senior Olivia Narron, far right, sport during the 2019-20 academic year. and the ECU softball team were on a three- • The student-athlete was eligible for competition when he or game winning streak when the season was she competed during the 2019-20 academic year. canceled. Jake Agnos, below, was drafted last year by the New York Yankees. • The student-athlete’s season was ultimately canceled for reasons related to the COVID-19 outbreak. • The institution retains documentation on file clearly demonstrating the above three criteria were satisfied. In addition, institutions can apply a one-year extension of the five-year eligibility clock for all spring sport student-athletes who were eligible for competition during spring 2020. For baseball, the NCAA approved a 35-man roster limit exemption, which means any senior who meets the eligibility waiver directive and returns to compete in 2020-21 will be exempt from the 35-man roster limit. “Obviously, there is a financial component to this legislation, and while we don’t have a final financial number, I know it will be significant,” Jon Gilbert, ECU athletic director, said in an April 1 letter to fans. “It’s part of a financial plan we are currently working on internally as we navigate our way through these unprecedented times … but we are obviously going to see a significant decrease in revenue and distribution from the NCAA, AAC and other revenue sources.” Gilbert also announced the following changes to the football season ticket program: • The priority deadline for football season tickets set for May 1 has been postponed to June 10. Confined with teammates, Agnos spent • All payment plans remain intact, and all tickets on a payment time playing video games, competing in plan need to be paid in full by Aug. 5. home workout contests and learning to play • The Athletics Ticket Office staff are working remotely and the ukulele, which he borrowed from one of can be reached at [email protected], or leave a message his spring training roommates, Evan Voliva. at 252-737-4500. “It was not as tough as I thought it The coronavirus also affected at least one former ECU athlete. would be,” Agnos, 21, told the Times. “I’m Former Pirate pitcher Jake Agnos, now part of the Yankees minor still not good — trust me — but it’s fun league organization, spent two weeks in quarantine after a fellow to watch YouTube videos on how to play a pitcher in the organization tested positive for the coronavirus, song and then get it.” according to a March 25 article in The New York Times. – Doug Boyd

14 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 15 Latest Investigations Researchers look for ways to boost Discovery troop safety, increase food tourism

As part of the study, a profile of potential shellfish mariculture tourists — those who enjoy oysters, clams, mussels and other seafood — will be developed that would allow coastal communities to capitalize on the growing interest of food tourism and agritourism. Yeager’s also met with stakeholders such as growers, restaurant owners and special interest groups. Mitch Carstens, a first-year ECU graduate student, is assisting. The researchers will compare supply and demand for shellfish mariculture tourism in North Carolina, mapping ECU research could areas where products already exist and Students work on setting up others with opportunities for business help save lives of equipment as part of Teresa Ryan’s sound propagation research in June and resource development, according to 2019 on the Outer Banks. the grant summary. military personnel “This is research that benefits eastern North Carolina,” said Yeager, who has a Teresa Ryan, an assistant professor in the The previous grant had Ryan and her students testing ECU Department of Engineering, has received a the effects temperature, humidity, wind and seas had on Emily Yeager bachelor’s degree in geology and a master’s in sustainable tourism. “There are people $370,000 grant to continue her efforts to help the distance sound travels. The group traveled to such wanting to invest in aquaculture in eastern protect military personnel. places as the Outer Banks, Aurora and the Chowan River to Oyster tourism could be next big North Carolina. We are looking at how to Ryan has been studying sound propagation in conduct the tests. She said the goal of that data was to test unify the supply chain.” cooperation with Catholic University for the last if the numeric model had been improved. thing in eastern North Carolina Virginia already has a state oyster trail four years as part of a project funded through the “The results were promising. The results warranted with an online map and trip planner. North Office of Naval Research. For this latest grant from moving ahead in the effort,” Ryan said. In stuffing, soup or simply steamed, oysters are a part of many Carolina could have a similar product. the Navy, Ryan is the lead researcher. That’s the reason behind this latest grant that will involve food traditions. “We’re laying the groundwork for this,” The goal is to improve a numeric model that will far more sound testing in the field. Making it easier for consumers to find oysters is one of the long-term Yeager said. “We want to find out from inform commanders how close a ship can get to “It’s funding an effort to collect a database of goals of a multi-institutional grant involving Emily Yeager ’12 ’14, an stakeholders if this is what they want.” an enemy shoreline without being heard based measurements that represent a wider range of assistant professor of recreation sciences at ECU. She’s part of a research The lead investigator on the project, on the atmospheric and sea conditions. That’s atmospheric conditions,” Ryan said. “We want to capture team led by N.C. State University in partnership with North Carolina funded at $119,784 for two years, is important not only to protect the ship from enemy data when it’s hot, when it’s cold, when it’s windy, Sea Grant, the N.C. Coastal Federation, N.C. Shellfish Growers Whitney Knollenberg at N.C. State. fire but also to protect the lives of those onboard when it’s humid, when it’s not humid. We’re trying to Association and N.C. Economic Development Partnership. Susan White, executive director of as well as assault personnel as they prepare to capture a broad database of atmospheric and seascape The project, “Mariculture Tourism: Cultivating Consumer Demand N.C. Sea Grant, said in a news release the storm the beach. conditions, so we have a better pile of data to proof the & Coastal Community,” is one of 42 projects and collaborative efforts will help improve and expand the “The person driving the boat needs to know improvements in the numeric model.” programs recently receiving $16 million in national Sea Grant and aquaculture industry in North Carolina. how close to get to shore before the special Work on the one-year grant began Feb. 1. Ryan plans National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funding aimed at “Our country imports 85% of its ops people have to swim. Do they have to swim on enlisting the help of 10 to 11 students, with sophomore advancing sustainable aquaculture in the United States. seafood,” she said. “There’s tremendous the last 75 meters or do they have to swim the Faith Cobb serving as the student team leader. Food tourism and agritourism is a growing market across the potential for the aquaculture industry to last 500?” Ryan said. “That’s a huge operational “I really like this work because it does have this military country, and oysters are in that niche, Yeager said. increase its share of the market in North difference for the people in that tactical situation, connection, and I get to show undergrads how all this One report shows 77% of U.S. travelers recently participated Carolina and more broadly across the and ultimately this technology gives that power to math and all this hard work that they are doing actually in food tourism activities at breweries, wineries, cooking schools, United States.” the person making those tactical and operational applies and has some sort of measurable benefit. Why culinary events or farm-related events. These types of activities build – Crystal Baity decisions in the field, to give them the additional are we doing all this math? It’s because we can answer connections for tourists, who may seek out foods closer to home or information to preserve mission integrity and important questions with it,” Ryan said. plan future trips to other destinations. warfighter safety.” – Ken Buday

16 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 17 Susan Pearce Department of Sociology Focus Associate professor

Floods come and go, but Princeville persists It’s a small town with a big history. That’s why Susan Pearce is so interested in Princeville. Princeville became the first town in the country to be chartered by African Americans in 1885, about 20 years after former slaves created the community after the Civil War. The Edgecombe County town along the Tar River has been in a fight for survival ever since, first from white supremacists and later by flooding from hurricanes Floyd in 1999 and Matthew in 2016. “Princeville has had all these threats to its existence since the 1860s,” said Pearce, an associate professor and director of graduate studies in the ECU William E. Allen, associate Randall Etheridge, assistant professor in the ECU Department of Department of Sociology. “It’s a town that has decided professor of organic chemistry, Engineering, has been named one of the New Faces of 2020 by the American to stay despite all these threats.” has been named ECU’s recipient Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Etheridge was among 10 Over the years, residents have left for better of the 2020 Excellence in people in the country recognized in the professionals category for those jobs, and others left after the hurricanes. Teaching Award by the University age 35 or younger. He teaches environmental engineering courses and core “A lot left, but a lot stayed because of of North Carolina Board of engineering courses in the College of Engineering and Technology. His the legacy, and they stayed for their Governors. He’s a graduate of recent research has focused on flooding and water quality issues of Lake ancestors and a sense of responsibility Washington and Lee University Mattamuskeet and its impact on the surrounding area. to keep the town going,” Pearce said. and UNC-Chapel Hill. He’s taught Pearce, along with Lynn Harris, at ECU since 1998. In the lab, associate professor of history and Allen’s research is focused on maritime studies at ECU, helped tell understanding and enhancing the Princeville’s story with an exhibit in function of small proteins with Dr. Mark Bowling received the ECU’s Joyner Library this winter. medical importance. N.C. Dogwood Award from Attorney The exhibit, funded through General Josh Stein in March for the N.C. Humanities Council, is his work to treat patients and raise available as a traveling display. awareness about the dangers of “I think this is a real good vaping. Bowling is a pulmonologist and example of how the university associate professor of medicine at the works with the community,” said Brody School of Medicine at ECU. Kendrick Ransome, part of the nonprofit Freedom Organization of Princeville and a native of Pinetops. “It’s been real good working with Dr. Pearce.” Ransome is part of a younger Dr. Danielle Walsh, associate professor of surgery at the Brody School generation taking up the cause of Medicine at ECU and the director of the surgery residency program at ECU to preserve the town. Princeville and Vidant Medical Center, has received the first Outstanding Mentor of the native Marquetta Dickens is working Year award by the Resident and Associate Society of the American College of with him. Surgeons. The award recognizes an American College of Surgeons fellow who “There’s a new drive around,” effectively engaged with residents and provided support essential for the residents Pearce said. “A lot of planning, a lot to develop a sustainable foundation for a surgical career. Walsh is a pediatric of energy, and some real excitement is surgeon. Walsh also testified before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on coming to the town.” Nov. 6 about increased cancer risk with patients living near ethylene oxide- – Ken Buday producing plants.

Kendrick Ransome and Susan Pierce 18 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 19 ECU’s Jamie DeWitt is a national leader in PFAS research STORY BY ROB SPAHR

Associate professor Jamie DeWitt has become a national leader in the study of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances.

20 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 21 Jamie DeWitt sat confidently at a large wooden table, an Research by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease County and Pittsboro in Chatham County, have ECU pin shining from her lapel, when the microphone in Registry indicates certain PFAS may affect the growth and also made headlines recently after PFAS were “PFAS are being found in almost all sources. It’s front of her turned on and the cameras started rolling. development of infants and children, interfere with the detected in their water supplies. It was one of the two times DeWitt, an associate professor body’s natural hormones, affect the immune system and “When we think about PFAS, it’s not just one gotten to the point if we go out and collect in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at increase the risk of liver, pancreatic, thyroid and testicular chemical. As far as we know, it’s more than 5,000 samples, we’re going to find PFAS ... it’s in air and ECU’s Brody School of Medicine, testified before a U.S. cancer in animals, as well as other diseases. individual chemicals,” DeWitt said. “PFAS are it’s in other types of environmental media — soil, House of Representatives subcommittee in 2019. She was no “I have developed this overwhelming sense of being found in almost all sources. It’s gotten to stranger to speaking in front of crowds or cameras, as she is responsibility,” DeWitt said. “I’ve met people who are the point if we go out and collect samples, we’re dust, flowers, honey. They’re so persistent ... and regularly invited to give scientific talks at meetings across the afraid for their lives and their children’s lives, their pets’ going to find PFAS. And it’s not just in water, they’re able to travel anywhere.” country and is called upon almost weekly for interviews by lives and the lives of others in their families because of their it’s in air and it’s in other types of environmental Jamie DeWitt, associate professor of pharmacology and journalists from all over the world. exposure to PFAS. They want answers to the questions media — soil, dust, flowers, honey. They’re so toxicology at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine But DeWitt was still terrified. they have on the health effects of exposure to PFAS and persistent, which means they don’t break down, “I am not one of those scientists who seeks the spotlight. other types of emerging contaminants. That sense of and they’re able to travel anywhere.” I got into science because I think science is awesome and responsibility is a greater driver than my own individual DeWitt has been studying the because I wanted to make the planet better for other people fear of speaking in public.” immunotoxicity of PFAS since 2005 and is PFAS and human health who live on the planet and share space with me,” DeWitt Even though PFAS have been around for decades, scientists part of a collaborative with investigators at The health effects of several different types of PFAS have been said. “Every day I go into a classroom to teach, I’m terrified. did not find the connection between the chemicals and N.C. State University, the University of North studied in both humans and animals. Some of these studies have Every time I have to speak to a reporter, I have a fear inside harmful health effects until relatively recently. Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington, shown that exposure to PFAS can have consequences on health. of me that I’m going to say something wrong, I’m going “Just because we’re now discovering PFAS in all of these UNC-Charlotte, North Carolina A&T and to look stupid or I’m not going to answer the question the environmental media doesn’t mean that they haven’t been Duke University that is studying the health However, many of the health effects of PFAS are still unknown. right way.” responsible for diseases all along. What we’re starting to effects of the substances. Due to this, research is still ongoing to determine how exposure That fear drives her to want to be better, DeWitt said. appreciate are the linkages between exposure and disease,” “In my laboratory, we’re trying to understand to PFAS can impact human health. But the message she has to deliver — the human health DeWitt said. “Scientists who study health effects are always the molecular pathways by which PFAS change risks of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances — is her going to be years to decades behind the contaminants the immune system,” DeWitt said. “We need What are the health effects of PFAS? ultimate motivator. that are released out into the environment. That is the to understand those molecular pathways before PFAS are human-made chemicals – such as PFOA, PFOS unfortunate reality of how our system works. We rely on we can ask questions about other PFAS. Because and GenX — that have been manufactured and used in a chemists to be the detectives, to find the compound, and we know a lot about a relatively small number variety of industries for more than 70 years. Used to make then toxicologists and epidemiologists come in and start to when you consider that there’s more than 5,000 nonstick and water or grease-resistant household products, make the linkages.” individual PFAS.” including pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags, Teflon pans, Concern about PFAS in North Carolina has skyrocketed As the list of communities affected by PFAS firefighting foams, stain-proof carpets and weather gear, they since 2017, after the Wilmington Star News reported contamination grows, so too have the requests are also found in industrial facilities, drinking water and that GenX was found in the Cape Fear River in relatively for DeWitt’s time and expertise. food grown in PFAS-contaminated soil or processed with high concentrations. Other communities across the state, “Oh look! There’s a day that doesn’t have equipment that used PFAS. including Fayetteville and Hope Mills in Cumberland something on it!” she joked while looking at her schedule for February, which even had her weekends filled with work-related tasks. What are PFAS? PER- AND POLYFLOUROALKYL SUBSTANCES But DeWitt still accommodated yet another request for an interview and photo shoot — this PFAS is a group of industrial, What are the sources of PFAS in water? one for the day after she returned from a PFAS- human-made chemicals. They focused meeting in Brussels. are known as “forever chemicals” “I think we’re at a very critical tipping point because they do not break down where we have to make decisions about what PFAS, if any, we’re going to continue to allow easily in humans, animals, or the being used in products and processes. We’re environment. A number of PFAS also at a point where we have to determine studies have shown they can if regulations are necessary or not,” she said. potentially harm human health. “There will likely be more communities in this state that learn they have contamination. The distribution and the concentrations vary, but they’re there. And we can’t treat them away; we Infographics provided courtesy of the Information sourced from Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry | Additional health effects have North Carolina PFAS Testing Network can only filter them away.” been reported and those highlighted demonstrate a range of potential effects.

22 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 23 STORY BY CRYSTAL BAITY • LACEY GRAY • DOUG BOYD • ERIN WARD LACEY GRAY JULES NORWOOD ERIN WARD

Hoyt grew up on the Ohio shores of Lake submarine U-576 and the Nicaraguan- Erie, diving on Great Lakes shipwrecks with flagged freighter Bluefields, sunk off the N.C. his dad. coast in 1942. Today, he’s national maritime heritage Leading the national maritime heritage program coordinator with the Office of program, he said, “feels like a validation From creeks to oceans, water covers more than National Marine Sanctuaries in Washington, of more than a decade of hard work and D.C. The program covers the National dedication to the field of marine archaeology. 70% of the Earth’s surface. For these East Carolina Marine Sanctuary System – sites ranging It also feels like a great deal of responsibility from American Samoa to New England. to ensure our program continues to deliver graduates, that’s plenty to create a career. He’s a graduate of ECU’s maritime studies the expected level of excellence and resource program, in which students put theory protection and stewardship.” FEATURE into practice through field schools and He says the main issue affecting historic Looking for a unique vacation? The Boruffs have the answer. internships. resources in the marine and freshwater A week in the Caribbean aboard the 56-foot me,” says Erika, 26, who majored in communication “They really provide practical hands- environment is lack of awareness. That catamaran Viramar. with a concentration in journalism and a minor on experience working with a number of translates into a number of threats ranging “Our job is to open our home and host the best in business. Tyler, 27, majored in business partners in state resource management from support for research to unintended as vacation ever to complete strangers,” Erika ’15 says. administration with a concentration in finance. programs and federal managers,” Hoyt says. well as deliberate damage from recreational Tyler ’15 is captain, dive guide and instructor, After graduation, they worked corporate jobs in “So, you not only learn how to be a good and commercial uses. bartender and maintenance person. Erika is the chef, Texas and Florida. Then, Erika got a phone call historian and archaeologist from an academic “It takes a lot of effort for the general provides dive support, and cleans and entertains. that changed everything. A dive shop owner in the perspective but come out really prepared for public to be able to interact with sites, They offer scuba diving, snorkeling, water sports, British Virgin Islands was looking for someone with working in the field.” particularly those in deep water or far from hiking, paddleboardingSUBHEAD and other FOR activities. THE FEATUREdive and retail experience to become buyer/manager While at ECU, Hoyt worked on submerged shore,” he says. “So, our challenge is to The Boruffs run about 15-20 charters each season for four stores. historic sites in North Carolina, Wisconsin, develop ways to capture stories and engage (eight to nine months of the year) with trips ranging “I called Tyler, since he was traveling for work, and Hawaii and Bermuda. He also worked people in a discussion on valuing these places Igniminvero et aspedicae quos sequamet, cus doles quaeper from fiveTITLE to 10 days for up to eight guests. told him I was putting my two weeks in and if he alongside professionals from the National and the importance of preservation. They managenatur? and Quibustrum maintain the Viramardolorro while eum enissumwanted arcimi, to come volo then toreperum he could find me on an island,” Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “One thing I learned through my time at generatingeos revenue aut pliqui from trips. re soluptiSince they sunt are basically as mod quatasErika says. aliquam “It didn’t facepudita take long for him to go for it.” which led to his first job after graduation. ECU that I plan to carry forward is to focus their own boss, they have freedom to run the business They moved to Virgin Gorda, got married and “This translated into me securing a position on partnerships. I am hoping that I can their way.volest, eseque repeliquae. Bus cone mosdiscovered rehent the aspid charter undit yacht industry. “We realized literally the day I defended my thesis,” he Atbuild explit, strong etur, que connections laceper spiet, consersperum with programs that says. “I defended in the morning and startedvoluptusda have sime overlapping susam aut inverum interests, eum ea and dit, vellathat we can “We hadet, no volupta idea that tiusdae.you could liveNemperspicit and work on etumquamthat there sit was preperf no monetary amount or level of dolupti onsequisit quodis quia di de explaceritem someoneerferfero else’s yacht andtem get faciis paid to alit do it,”lacersped Erika says. ut doluptasuccess that tiaspeditae could match perunt, the time we were missing my career with NOAA that afternoon.” apereptis comeea venis together quoditi ommolupid to do more quo tende and eashare ad more They met freshman year when both lived in Garrett with each other,” Erika said. He worked with the Monitor National resources and expertise.que vollore pediteI’d love laccum. to see my Hall. Theyconecusdam, worked at Rum temRunner facea Dive quiShop aut volla illaborem “We have workedsimagnis our ‘real’rem. jobs, Ut but now we just Marine Sanctuary, studying and protecting efforts translate into increased interpretation, the Civil War ironclad submerged off the awareness and protectionQuia of pero threatened beatusam ium ent (owned byverumquae. ECU faculty memberVolorestet Dr. Peter dolupid Wagner) elluptiunto want a experumreal life,” Erika quiatiusam says. “We know now that we facest volectiam qui bea volorum and were officers in ECU’s scuba club. can do both, and that we can work for ourselves or coast of Cape Hatteras. He led the 2014 archaeological sites.”que voluptame voluptatur re nis eliti viti cus, quat. FOR Follow the Boruffs discovery and 2016 exploration of German Hoyt serves on thedebis Advisory mo blaut Council quidici llorias for il “I ended up working in logistics — a career path I manage others’ assets properly because of what we MORE at facebook.com/ Underwater Archaeology.incit alicipsant et pra nonsedipsaut did not expect — which would become a trend for learned at ECU.” INFO boruffsonaboat and on Instagramlaccatem qui volectur, sunt 24 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east@boruffsonaboatandebitibust East ipsundaemagazine inciustium.25 The Navy keeps the oceans secure. Capt. Roderick Boyce ’91 makes sure their water is safe. Boyce has spent his career keeping sailors “I always wanted to go into the Navy. My and Marines healthy. As a preventive grandfather was a World War II veteran. I medicine expert, it was his job to provide grew up listening to his sea stories,” he says. immunizations, health inspections and water Boyce enlisted and received a direct testing services to Navy bases and hospitals all commission as an environmental health over the world. officer in 1995. His job took him many “Preventive medicine is the mechanism to places, just not on ships. ensure a healthy, ready Navy,” Boyce says. “For my specialty, we don’t have jobs on “A strong naval force is necessary to defend ships. We have jobs that provide direct support American freedom and security, protect to the fleet, but in Navy medicine we man our nation’s global influence and deter any the hospitals,” he says. When it comes to adversary.” water, the Navy has instructions and policies His assignments took him to Illinois, governing safe drinking water to align with Virginia, Hawaii, Spain, Japan, Iraq and EPA standards, whether it’s on a ship, a shore- Kuwait. In Iraq, he supported Operation based station, or in a deployed environment. Iraqi Freedom as an environmental health Boyce is now a commanding officer for the officer. In Hawaii, when concern for avian 2nd Medical Battalion at Camp Lejeune. It’s influenza was high, he worked with the his terminal rank, or the level he plans to retire World Health Organization to develop from, and “hands down the best job I’ve had a military plan for handling a potential in my military career,” he says. That’s because pandemic. In Japan, he was responsible for he gets to mentor other officers and help leading more than 400 Marines and sailors them achieve their goals. Often that includes in global health engagements as an executive encouraging them to pursue more education. officer for the 3rd Medical Battalion. But the basis for his career started at I ALWAYS WANTED TO GO INTO ECU. Boyce graduated with a degree in environmental health, where he was trained to THE NAVY. MY GRANDFATHER WAS A ensure the safety of what people eat, breathe, WORLD WAR II VETERAN. I GREW UP touch and drink. LISTENING TO HIS SEA STORIES. “The environmental health program was outstanding,” the Kings Mountain native says. “I owe a lot to my education.” “It’s important that people understand After graduation, Boyce spent several years your educational foundation is really the as an environmental health specialist and instrument that sings your song throughout registered sanitarian for the state of North your career. ECU was the foundation of my Carolina, doing permit testing for septic career,” Boyce says. systems and wells and health inspections for His daughter, Makayla, is also pursuing her restaurants. But the Navy was always in the degree at ECU in the College of Nursing. She back of his mind. plans to join the Navy, just like her dad.

26 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 27 Donna Creef ’88 protects Dare County water and property. With a new business degree from ECU, “The big issue for us right now is new Creef moved to the coast and started working flood maps for Dare County, which will for Dare County. Today, she’s the county’s be effective in June,” she says. The Federal planning director, working with citizens and Emergency Management Agency created property owners to oversee the development the maps that reduce by 41% the number of unincorporated areas of the county, which of unincorporated Dare County properties include Hatteras Island, the mainland, Roanoke included in the flood zone. Island, Colington (west of Kill Devil Hills and “Many of these properties are oceanfront where Creef resides) and Martin’s Point. Her properties and other properties that have flooded husband is a commercial fisherman. in the past,” she says. “There is a concern that property owners will not realize the flood hazards associated with their property.” THE PROTECTION OF OUR ABUNDANT In response, Dare County is adopting a NATURAL RESOURCES IS IMPORTANT SINCE local regulatory effort to treat the reclassified properties as if they were still in a flood zone. OUR LOCAL ECONOMY REVOLVES AROUND That means owners will have to raise structures OUR BEACHES AND SOUNDS. to a locally applied elevation mark. “This is a progressive approach in North Carolina and an example of the dedication Dare County has “Water is part of everyday life here on to ensuring our communities are resilient from the Outer Banks,” she says. Residents and flood hazards,” Creef says. visitors drive over it, work on it, play in “We have been successful with securing it. They also deal with flooding — some FEMA mitigation grants over the past moderate and mainly an annoyance, and decade to elevate close to 100 homes in some severe and destructive. unincorporated Dare County,” she adds. Thus, she stays busy protecting water “Many of the homes elevated on Hatteras quality. “The protection of our abundant Island did not flood during Hurricane Dorian natural resources is important since our local last year because of these mitigation efforts. economy revolves around our beaches and “Many people in other areas believe the sounds,” Creef says. In addition, the Dare residents of Dare County should simply County Board of Commissioners has been move inland or retreat. This is not a practical active in efforts to prohibit offshore gas and solution; many of the people here on the Outer oil exploration off the North Carolina coast. Banks have lived here for generations. Familial “Such activities could threaten our natural connections and ties to the community are not resources and our water quality, so that is easily severed as some believe. always a big issue for us,” she says. “Dare County is known for our beaches Mitigating flood risk is another priority and and historical places such as the Wright making sure construction mitigates flood risks Brothers Monument and Fort Raleigh, but it and complies with Coastal Area Management is our coastal villages and neighborhoods that Act regulations and state building codes. represent the true spirit of the Outer Banks.”

28 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 29 Submerged historic sites need saving. Joe Hoyt ’04 ’08 is doing that. Hoyt grew up on the Ohio shores of Lake dedication to the field of marine archaeology. Erie, diving on Great Lakes shipwrecks with It also feels like a great deal of responsibility his dad. to ensure our program continues to deliver Today, he’s national maritime heritage the expected level of excellence and resource program coordinator with the Office of protection and stewardship.” National Marine Sanctuaries in Washington, He says the main issue affecting historic D.C. The program covers the National resources in the marine and freshwater Marine Sanctuary System — sites ranging environment is lack of awareness. That from American Samoa to New England. translates into a number of threats ranging He’s a graduate of ECU’s maritime studies from support for research to unintended as program, in which students put theory into well as deliberate damage from recreational practice through field schools and internships. and commercial uses. “They really provide practical hands- on experience working with a number of partners in state resource management OUR CHALLENGE IS TO DEVELOP programs and federal managers,” Hoyt says. WAYS TO CAPTURE STORIES AND “So, you not only learn how to be a good ENGAGE PEOPLE IN A DISCUSSION historian and archaeologist from an academic perspective but come out really prepared for ON VALUING THESE PLACES AND THE working in the field.” IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVATION. While at ECU, Hoyt worked on submerged historic sites in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Hawaii and Bermuda. He also worked “It takes a lot of effort for the general alongside professionals from the National public to be able to interact with sites, Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, particularly those in deep water or far from which led to his first job after graduation. shore,” he says. “So, our challenge is to “This translated into me securing a position develop ways to capture stories and engage literally the day I defended my thesis,” he people in a discussion on valuing these places says. “I defended in the morning and started and the importance of preservation. my career with NOAA that afternoon.” “One thing I learned through my time at He worked with the Monitor National ECU that I plan to carry forward is to focus Marine Sanctuary, studying and protecting on partnerships. I am hoping that I can the Civil War ironclad submerged off the build strong connections with programs that coast of Cape Hatteras. He led the 2014 have overlapping interests, and that we can discovery and 2016 exploration of German come together to do more and share more submarine U-576 and the Nicaraguan- resources and expertise. I’d love to see my flagged freighter Bluefields, sunk off the N.C. efforts translate into increased interpretation, coast in 1942. awareness and protection of threatened Leading the national maritime heritage archaeological sites.” program, he said, “feels like a validation Hoyt serves on the Advisory Council for FOR In February 2019, Joe of more than a decade of hard work and Underwater Archaeology. MORE Hoyt spoke at the Coastal INFO Studies Institute about his work to protect WWII wrecks off the N.C. coast. Watch it at bit.ly/2VT6h51.

30 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 31 STORY BY ERIN SHAW STORY BY JULES NORWOOD

Students collect data on the beach near Jeanette’s Pier in Nags Head. 32 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 33 a career that combines his passion for computer science with his love of the environment. He has already started looking at positions and programs related to data science and data analytics at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. The opportunity to spend a semester at the coast and do fieldwork was too perfect to pass up. “Being able to experience these things in person — we learn about it in class, then we come out here, we see the beach, we see the water, and we experience the things that we’ve learned — it really drives it Under a new program, As the water warms in the early spring, delicately balanced coastal environments home,” he says. students can spend a baitfish school by the thousands and even to study how they work, how they change, On a windy day in February, the students semester learning and millions off the coast of North Carolina’s how to preserve them and how to harness visited Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head to conducting research at the Coastal Studies Institute in Outer Banks. Gannets and cormorants the immense energy of the ocean’s waves, measure the profile of the beach using Wanchese. divebomb the schools from above while tides and currents. This spring, four students several methods, the first of which was bluefish and mackerel attack from below, became the first ECU undergraduates to decidedly old school. Using two stakes and a roiling mass of life and death just off the spend an entire semester at the university’s a 2-meter length of string, the students sandy beach. Outer Banks Campus in Wanchese, recorded elevations from the dune line to Later, sea turtles venture out of the ocean taking courses that include environmental the water’s edge. It was an involved and and trek up the beach to lay their eggs in anthropology, remote sensing of the time-consuming process, taking all four Student Marco Agostini Reide Corbett, “I was able to works with Kimberly holes dug in the sand. The fish, seabirds and environment, and analysis techniques and students nearly an hour to record one transect of the beach — executive director at the record a half a billion Rogers, an assistant turtles are all part of the unique ecosystem of methods of coastal ocean research. about 18 individual observations — and it left plenty of room for Coastal Studies Institute, observations in professor of coastal holds a satellite image our coast — a dynamic, shifting line of sand The Semester Experience at the Coast is human error, Agostini says. about two hours,” studies, while using the dividing the unrelenting ocean from the salt open to all majors, and the course credits Then they performed the same task using a real-time kinematic showing erosion nearby. “clementine,” a device Lagomasino says. that measures sea water marshes and estuaries behind. count toward a minor in coastal and marine GPS, a device that uses the positioning of multiple satellites “Really I have taken the beach home with me conductivity, temperature Researchers and students from East interdisciplinary studies. Kimberly Rogers, and a land-based station to record the elevation at an exact set and put it on the computer.” and depth. Carolina University are drawn to the same assistant professor of coastal studies, says of coordinates with a margin of error of less than 2 centimeters, The TLS provides a high level of each student brings a unique allowing them to record the data more quickly and more accurately. resolution, allowing researchers to track perspective to the table, learning minute changes in the beach, but that about coastal science through the BEING ABLE TO EXPERIENCE THESE amount of data means increased storage lens of their own experiences and needs and longer processing time. fields of study. THINGS IN PERSON — WE LEARN ABOUT IT “So we have to look at what questions we Marco Agostini, a sophomore IN CLASS, THEN WE COME OUT HERE ... AND want to answer and what data we need to majoring in computer science and WE EXPERIENCE THE THINGS THAT WE’VE answer those questions,” Lagomasino says. an EC Scholar, says he learned The students also dove into the topic about the program during an LEARNED — IT REALLY DRIVES IT HOME. of ocean energy, taking measurements of Honors College field trip to Marco Agostini, EC Scholar and ECU computer science major conductivity, temperature and depth of the the Outer Banks Campus his water from the pier and using that information freshman year. to determine whether the Hatteras front — a “So for a year I hounded Finally, David Lagomasino, assistant professor of coastal studies, boundary between cooler and warmer waters them and bothered them and showed the students a model of the same area of the beach created that normally converge near Cape Hatteras — said, ‘Hey, is this program ready using a terrestrial laser scanner, which scans the entire beach in a had moved north as far as Nags Head. yet? Are we doing it? What’s matter of seconds using laser pulses reflected back to the device’s Rogers says the course offerings are FOR See more at happening?’” he says. sensors. The data was used to create a 3-D computer model so complementary and coastal-focused, but each bit.ly/3auUOME MORE The idea was appealing detailed it showed tire tracks and footprints on the beach. offers a different perspective. INFO because Agostini wants to find

34 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 35 “I cannot imagine spending my last semester at ECU any other way,” she says. Anthropology major Lauren Wright, a sophomore, says she’s interested in the human relationship with the environment and is exploring a possible career in underwater archaeology. She likes the active, real-time application of research techniques and data collection offered by the program. “In a standard classroom setting, we’re often just given the textbooks and … here’s the data that’s already been collected. And here’s how it’s already been Kimberly Rogers watches as students collect data along the beach to the waterline to produce a 2-D beach profile. interpreted,” she says. “Here we are actually taking the measurements, taking in the data “They’re getting a 360-degree viewpoint of some of these really and analyzing it for ourselves. I think it’s fundamental concepts that are shaping the Earth’s beaches, bays and absolutely amazing.” coastlines. And of course, some of the oceanography that is leading to As the group wrapped up its observations the phenomena that we’re seeing on our beaches,” she says. “They’re on the pier, a front moved in, bringing rain going to be much more critical thinkers, and having the experience and postponing a potential visit to another of being on the water here and seeing these processes, it takes that beachfront location, but with plenty of time abstract lecture that they’re getting in the classroom, and they’re seeing left in the semester, their field trip plans still it in action.” included kayak outings, a pontoon boat trip Students participating in and wetland visits. the Semester Experience at Despite the successful start to the program, the Coast live in Manteo, due to COVID-19 students did not return about 4 miles from the after spring break and continued their Outer Banks Campus coursework through virtual methods to facility, and the housing complete the spring semester. and tuition costs are Reide Corbett, executive director of the similar to a semester on Coastal Studies Institute, said plans are to ECU’s Main Campus. resume the program next spring and eventually Logan Willis, a senior expand it to fall and spring semesters. history major, says the ECU’s Outer Banks Campus is home to group got along well the CSI, a partnership among ECU and living together and grew other UNC System schools. Completed in close quickly. They had a 2012, the facility spans 213 acres of marshes, standing movie night on scrub wetlands, forested wetlands and sound Wednesdays at the Pioneer ecosystem. It houses dive and research vessels, Theatre, which has been a wave tank, and laboratory and classroom operated by the same space. Major research areas include renewable family for more than 100 ocean energy, coastal sustainability and years, and planned to go maritime archaeology. surfing and share other Faculty member David outdoor activities as the Lagomasino explains the Elizabeth Mason works with sand samples studying beach model made from the weather warmed. grain size at the Coastal Studies Institute. terrestrial laser scanner data. 36 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 37 STUDENT SNAPSHOT ECU Bass Fishing Club

East Carolina’s Bass Fishing Club competes in three national collegiate series. The club’s approximately 50 members travel the eastern half of the U.S. and even north to Canada to compete against anglers from other colleges and universities. Participants catch their fish then release them after weigh-in. Club members use their own boats — two members to a boat in tournaments, about 15 boats total in the club — and pay many of their own expenses either out of pocket or through dues of $150 a semester. The university provides about $4,000 yearly, as it does for other club sports organizations, but its use is restricted. The club also holds fishing fundraisers around the state.

I’VE ALREADY BUILT RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE IN

THE INDUSTRY TO HOPEFULLY Sam Wheat (Keagan Kermode) GET A JOB AFTER GRADUATION. shares a moment with Molly Jensen (Karley Konegay) in their apartment during a Feb.17 dress rehearsal The club’s co-president is Braxton Chase, for Ghost. a business major who plans to graduate in May 2021. “I’ve already built relationships with people in the industry to hopefully get a job after graduation,” he said. “It’s something I enjoy. It’s not really going to be work for me.” The biggest bass he’s caught in a tournament was 7.5 pounds; the biggest he’s ever caught was an 11-pounder he hooked in seventh grade. Chase’s favorite time to fish is in May, after bass have spawned. “They’re really

Braxton Chase, co-president hungry and skinny,” he said. “They’re going of the ECU Bass Fishing Club to be aggressive and try to feed before they go out deep for summer.”

38 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 39 PIRATE NATION

Not only can the water provide a soothing effect to the mother, it also helps in the delivery process. MONTI ’00 “Whereas on land we’re kind of SCHOOLS METRO helping to guide baby out and catching the baby, in the water we don’t do ATLANTA ON BEER that,” Ensminger said. “We let the water kind of catch the baby and then usually moms just pick the baby up on their own and bring them to their chests. A lot of times we’re just sitting there and watching and making sure everything is going as it should, making sure everything is safe and that if there are any complications we can step in and help out.” Above, Thomas Monti, left, and “The water does a lot of our work Justin Waller opened Schoolhouse for them,” Winecoff agreed. “When Brewery last year. Left, Monti poses they’re out of the water we have to with a pint. do quite a bit more hands-on — give LABOR TO LOVE them back pressure or hip squeezes “teacher’s lounge”— for some peace and quiet. Just don’t get sent to the — there’s a lot more touching. But in principal’s office, a.k.a. the employees-only area. Two ECU nursing graduates are the water, usually they’re able to relax “I definitely take a lot of what I learned at East Carolina, especially the giving soon-to-be moms a natural more so they may not need as much science classes, into the brewhouse,” Monti said. “Every day, there’s science alternative to a hospital delivery room. of that hands-on support.” involved, from fluid pressures to yeast propagation to enzyme production. I Marcia Ensminger ’05 and Nicole The birthing center was borne out of After nearly two decades teaching middle would never have been able to do this without the knowledge that I received Winecoff ’11 opened Natural Beginnings Ensminger and Winecoff’s close working school science, Thomas Monti ’00 left the at ECU.” Birth & Wellness Center in Statesville in relationship and rising demand for more classroom to open Schoolhouse Brewing, one When Monti enrolled at ECU, the Currituck native was in the science 2008. Nearly 90% of the 20-30 births midwives in the area. The parents-to- of the Atlanta area’s best new breweries. department, but he quickly found a love for teaching. He switched majors their center performs each month are be whom Ensminger and Winecoff In just six months after opening, and graduated with a degree in middle school education with a concentration water births, in which the mother gives encounter are interested in more natural Schoolhouse Brewing had produced 19,000 in science and math. He taught first in Raleigh and then in Marietta, a city birth in a tub of warm water. birth plans in a comfortable setting. gallons of beer, with plans for 50,000 gallons northwest of Atlanta. Water births at the center are “I think as women are trying to look at next year. The tanks are at capacity, and “I loved it. I loved the kids. But about seven years ago, I chose to leave the done without pain medications and other options for their health care, they’re business is good. Schoolhouse was voted classroom,” he said. without intervention. looking at the more low-intervention Georgia’s best new brewery by Beer Guys Monti opened a small craft beer and home brewing store. Soon, people Certified nurse midwives Marcia Ensminger emphasized that water practices with really good outcomes, Radio in 2019 and was nominated for best were asking him when he was going to start brewing and selling his own Ensminger ’05, left, and Nicole birth candidates are women with better statistics,” Winecoff said. beer in Cobb County in 2020. beer. He and fellow teacher Justin Waller decided to go for it and opened Winecoff ’11 own Natural “Our patients are all low risk, and Beginnings Birth & Wellness low-risk pregnancies that follow a The secret? Co-owner Monti’s knowledge of Schoolhouse Brewing in Marietta in 2019. Center in Statesville. normal pattern. During labor, babies they really believe that their bodies chemistry, biology and physics — a must for The duo brew beer two to three times a week at Schoolhouse. A batch are monitored using a fetal doppler for were meant to have babies naturally successful brewers — and a school-themed space in their smallest vessel is about 260 gallons, Monti said. “We use 560 intermittent fetal monitoring in the without any interventions,” Ensminger that feels like the place where beer meets recess. to 600 gallons of water to make that much.” The typical beer is 90% to same way low-risk pregnancies would said. “So, they prefer to come to an Every tap behind the bar is shaped like a No. 2 95% water, making it one of beer’s most important ingredients. Other be monitored in a hospital, Winecoff out-of-hospital site where we don’t use pencil, and beers are given aptly educational names key ingredients, per Monti’s brewery ethos, are scientific know-how and a said. If complications arise, the mothers interventions very often unless it’s an like Social Stouties, Walt Wheatman and Sack dash of fun. are helped out of the water for closer emergency situation. They feel like this Lunch (with peanut butter and jelly flavors). In the next few years, Monti said he hopes to expand the brewing observation and taken to the center’s is a natural process and if everything is Take a seat on the vinyl benches ripped from operation into North Carolina. official transferring hospital, Davis normal and healthy then we should just an old school bus or visit the back room — the “The goal is to move back to North Carolina. That’s my home.” Regional Medical Center, if necessary. let nature take its course.” – Erin Ward – Natalie Sayewich

40 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 41 PIRATE SPIRIT Go-to Teammate

POPOVIC IS A LEADER IN THE POOL AND LAB

Grega Popovic has traded his swim with getting a best time and the goggles for safety glasses. amount of effort it takes.” Popovic, a four-year member of the Popovic routinely rose at 6 a.m. for Pirates swim team, saw his athletic morning practice, followed by class or eligibility end after the American lab time and afternoon practice before 5 minutes with Athletic Conference championship returning home at 7 or 8 p.m., six days AMINA in February. The ECU record holder a week. Popovic swam 30-35 miles EDMONSON ’09 earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in a typical week of practice — plus By Erin Ward in May 2019. He plans to graduate weights and dryland training. with a master’s in chemistry in 2021 He is a two-time All-Conference Occupation: Wardrobe and is interested in medicine. swimmer and received All-Academic supervisor for Virgin Grega Popovic Popovic has been working on honors. He said being part of winning Voyages cruises Year: Graduate Student research projects under Adam the conference title his freshman year Degree: Theatre arts Major: Chemistry Offenbacher, assistant professor of stands out. The Pirates repeated as Hometown: Maribor, Slovenia chemistry, and Nathan Hudson, champions this year in Houston. Hometown: Rose Hill, N.C. assistant professor of physics. One Popovic, from Slovenia, says going looks at cell function that can lead to school in the U.S. was a dream. THESE GUYS HAVE PRETTY to various diseases including kidney “ECU made that happen,” Popovic failure, and another involves precursors said. “I loved the atmosphere of the MUCH BEEN MY FAMILY THE for blood clotting. team — that really convinced me to We want to hear stories Countries cruised to: Canada, Colombia, How did your time at ECU prepare you for LAST FOUR YEARS, AND I His attention to detail in the lab is a commit. These guys have pretty much from alumni about Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico, Dominican your current career? how their experiences Republic, British Virgin Islands, Portugal, Spain, The School of Theatre and Dance was LOVE THE COACHING STAFF, carryover from his success in the pool. been my family the last four years, and I at ECU shaped them “It’s one of the hardest sports love the coaching staff, the professors.” today and how they pass Italy, France and the United Kingdom. committed to making us into competent THE PROFESSORS. out there,” said Popovic, a freestyle Associate head coach Kate Moore those lessons to others. theater professionals. I still feel that the swimmer. “There’s a lot of satisfaction recruited Popovic, describing him Send us an email at What does your job entail? professors and staff cared about me as an [email protected]. as a fierce competitor and hard The wardrobe department makes costumes individual and were personally invested in worker. “He’s a go-to guy for our happen on the ship. Before a show, I make sure my success. Each of them offered a wealth that every garment and accessory is in show of combined experience in the field of younger swimmers,” she said. “He’s condition: clean, in good repair, and ready for entertainment and they were eager to share encouraging to his teammates. He has the performers to step right into them. During that with me while giving me room to grow my meant a lot to us. the show, I facilitate any costume changes that individual interests and talents. “He’s very smart and driven. I’m the performers can’t handle by themselves. excited for his future. We’ll lose that And because Virgin Voyages is a new company, Were there any classes or professors at ECU leadership role, but he’s rubbed off on I’m helping create their entertainment spaces that were particularly memorable? our younger swimmers.” from the ground up. Jeffery Phipps was my costume design – Crystal Baity professor, and I still remember and apply What’s the best part of working on a techniques and strategies that he gave us in cruise ship? class and in the costume shop. Delta Childers You forge a family with people from all over Smith, the costume shop supervisor when FOR Watch Grega Popovic the world, folks you never would have met I was an undergraduate, was always willing MORE talk more about his otherwise. And if you commit to truly getting to to give hands-on help when I needed it. Her time at ECU at INFO know them, you can’t help becoming a better current students are beyond lucky to have her! https://bit.ly/39yopUZ. And follow him on person. Plus, how do you beat getting paid to Instagram @popovicgrega. travel and meet new people every week?

42 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 43 ALUMNI AWARDS 2020 Virgil Clark ’50 Distinguished Service Award John Cooper ’71 is president of Ronald E. Dowdy ’66 is a longtime Horizons ConnectC, a full-service government leader in financial giving to ECU — relations and lobbying firm. Cooper Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and Dowdy CHANGING LIVES, was appointed to the Board of Student Stores bear his name. He CHANGING COMMUNITIES Visitors in 2012 and became chair in is a founding Chancellor’s Society 2019. He also helped acquire state member, Order of the Cupola By Erin Ward funding for the Brody School of member and ECU Military Hall of Medicine and the School of Dental Fame inductee. For many years, Medicine. He and his wife, Carol, he was the sponsor for the Ronald established the Dr. Christopher J. E. Dowdy Retired Faculty Dinner, Cooper Scholarship Endowment at earning him the distinction of Retired Brody in honor of their son. Honorary Faculty Member in 1992.

Young Alumni Achievement Award Tina Cordova ’10 studied family and community services and upon graduation was commissioned as a quartermaster officer in the Army. She serves as the aide-de-camp and executive officer for the commanding general of Division East, First Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Her awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, three Army Commendation Medals and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. In addition to her military excellence, Tina volunteers for the nonprofit organization Give2TheTroops, Julienne Beblo packaging and sending care packages to troops deployed overseas.

forms and uncertainty of working with clay. Art Hometown: Cabot, Pennsylvania is also a powerful communicator and I started to Outstanding Alumni Award see the value of incorporating artistic approaches Year: First-year graduate student Dr. Joshua Sonett ‘88 is chief Lt. Col. William “Billy” Dye ‘04 into efforts to inform others about the need to of thoracic surgery at New York- is a senior pilot in the Air Force, Major: Master of fine arts – ceramics understand and protect coastal environments. Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia serving as the chief of the special Career goals: I want to work in a position that allows University Medical Center and the technical operations branch within me to combine my interest in marine science and art in How do scholarships help you director of the Price Family Center the Future Operations Division at a way that helps further marine conservation efforts. accomplish your academic goals? for Comprehensive Chest Care and Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia. Being an out-of-state student and completing Esophageal Center. Sonett is known He is also an Air Force One advance a graduate degree is a significant financial for his work as the operative surgeon agent, charged with ensuring the commitment. Scholarships have been incredibly How would you describe your artwork? for former President Bill Clinton safe arrival and departure of Air Force helpful for me. They have provided financial relief Most of my work is rooted in functional pottery. I love creating to remove scar tissue following a One. He has earned the Air Medal and security so that I am able to better focus on my pieces on the wheel – everything from bowls to vases to quadruple bypass in 2005. and Global War on Terrorism Service courses rather than on external jobs. As an artist, I jars. Some of my pieces directly mimic natural elements and Medal, among other decorations. organisms while others indirectly utilize textures, colors and also need to purchase certain materials and tools. forms that can be found in a marine environment. Having scholarships provides additional income to support the purchase of materials that will Vonta Leach ‘10 was a top athlete James “Jim” Westmoreland What made you decide to combine marine enhance my work. I would not be able to complete and captain of the Pirate football ‘74, ‘75, ’81 spent more than topics and art? my degree so comfortably or capably without the team before joining the NFL as 40 years in the ECU community. The natural world is a major source of my inspiration, especially support provided by scholarships, and I am so fullback with the Green Bay Packers He started in student life, working the ocean. I began my undergraduate degree at the University grateful for the donors who made that possible. followed by the Houston Texans and with residence and new student of North Carolina Wilmington majoring in marine biology. But Baltimore Ravens. He was named All- orientation programs. From 1981 until as I took elective art courses, I decided that I wanted to major Scholarships: Pro in three consecutive seasons and 2001, he worked in career services, in studio art also. As I completed courses in both disciplines, Claire E. Armstrong Scholarship and Hannah was part of the Ravens’ Super Bowl where he served as assistant director I found that there a strong connection between the two. Graduate Scholarship. For more information on XLVII championship team. Leach was and director. From 2001 until his Ceramics is the ultimate combination of science and creativity. how to support students such as Julienne, visit named to the ECU Sports Hall of retirement in 2019, he was associate I enjoy juxtaposing the precision of science with the organic ecu.edu/give. Fame in 2014. dean of external affairs for the College of Business.

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46 East magazine summer 2020 ecu.edu/east East magazine 47 Howard House Mail Stop 107 East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858-4353

DueEast 2.16.20 Lincoln Robinson, 4, and ECU student volunteer Gabrielle Carmina spend time in the PeeDee sensory room at Minges Coliseum during the ECU-Cincinnati men’s basketball game Feb. 16. The room, on the first floor of the arena, is designed to give fans with autism and other sensory processing disorders a place to escape from overwhelming sights and sounds often found at college sporting events. The space was made possible through the financial support of ECU trustee Leigh Fanning and her sister, Ellen Bland.