Education and Outreach

Scroll down and enjoy this archive of our educational webinars.

COMING SOON: Watch this space for additional educational materials related to our collaboration with the Town of Carolina Beach and Carolina Beach Elementary School.

In 2020, Island Wildlife - Cape Fear Region, a chapter of the NC Wildlife Federation, created a project which led to the restoration of 300 feet of shoreline around the lake in Carolina Beach. We hosted two outdoor education sessions with NC State Extension on stormwater, shoreline stabilization, and native plants. Installation was completed by community volunteers in December 2020.

Native plant species help prevent erosion, improve water quality, and create a healthy habitat for humans and wildlife. These initial efforts were supported by a coalition composed of NHC Extension, Cape Fear River Watch, NC Sea Grant, POP, and the Town of Carolina Beach Parks and Recreation.

Unfortunately, much of that area was damaged by an herbicide mishap shortly after installation. Island Wildlife worked with the town to install new native plants this spring (April 8, 2022). As part of an emerging collaboration with Carolina Beach elementary school, students helped with the re-planting.

Island Wildlife and the town collaborated on the installation of permanent educational signs similar to the Story Walk signs, with plates that can be interchanged and replaced (new projects, new art, new species, etc.) making this an ongoing collaboration with CBES, both for art-making and to utilize this area as an outdoor classroom. These signs include educational information and art from each grade level at the school. This ongoing project will support the use of this area as an outdoor classroom and as a place where the community may gain a deeper appreciation for the native species, wetlands, and wildlife habitats.

Education and Outreach

Native Plants for Pollinators with Amy Mead

Striped Bass with Kemp Burdette

Colonial Nesting Birds of the Cape Fear with Lindsay Addison

​

Ancient Cypress Trees of the Black River with Dr. David Stahle

Youth Ambassadors

Coastal Coyotes with Dr. Rachael Urbanek

Sea Turtles with Dr. Beth Darrow and Pleasure Island Sea Turtle Project

Flytraps with Jessica Roach

Alligators with Becky Skiba

Stormwater 101 with New Hanover County's Drucilla "Dru" Harrison

Hummingbirds with Susan Campbell

North Carolina Coastal Reserve, part 1, with Paula Gillikin

Panel Discussion on Disability and Outdoor Accessibility (For Cape Fear Sierra Club Earth Day)

Birding Basics with Lauren Pharr

Saltwater Intrusion and Ghost Forests with LeRoy Humphries

Longleaf Pines and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers with Carson Wood

Gardening for Climate Change in the South with Barbara Sullivan

Retracing John Lawson's Journey through the Carolinas with noted author Scott Huler

The Green Swamp and the Necessity of Fire with Roger Shew

Talking Trash with Plastic Ocean Project's Bonnie Monteleone

Discussion of the film, "Burned: Are Trees the New Coal?" with Professor John Taggart, Belinda Joyner of Clean Water for NC, and SELC's Heather Hillaker

Saving the Wild South with Georgann Eubanks

Rachel Carson and Lake Mattamuskeet, a presentation by historian David Cecelski

Diamondback Terrapins with Elizabeth Pinnix

Great White Sharks with Dr. Bob Hueter of OCEARCH

Janisse Ray, author of Wild Spectacle and Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

Waccamaw Siouan STEM Studio and Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Ashley Lomboy

DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in Field Safety with Murry Burgess