September 30th/Savannah, Georgia

Summary

The first Coastal Georgia Colloquium was held on September 9, 2002 at the Coastal Georgia Center in Savannah.  There were a total of 50 presentations, with coastal scientists representing many of the units in the University system as well as scientists and managers from both federal and state agencies.  Each of the presenters had an opportunity to make a brief presentation regarding their current activities, and there was a general discussion concerning current research needs and the possibility of holding regular meetings with the Coastal Resources Division of DNR.

 

Outcomes of Colloquium ’02 :

• The Colloquium allowed many of the scientists and coastal managers in Georgia to meet one another and to learn about the tremendous research expertise that exists across the state with regard to coastal issues. It also provided an opportunity to discuss sharing resources (equipment, ship time, etc.) and to make contacts for future collaboration.
• We prepared a short interview form, a profile, for each participant to use in describing his or her interests in coastal research or management.
• A listserv was established by the GCRC staff to keep contact with interested scientists and managers.
• A follow-up meeting was scheduled for Thursday, November 7 at 1:00 pm in the Marine Extension building in Brunswick to further discuss marsh dieback, which is one of the issues that was raised at the Colloquium.
• Coastal resources personnel identified a number of immediate scientific needs that exist in the Department of Natural Resources. They are:

Better delineation of fish habitat

Stock assessments and evolution of models

Cumulative impacts of docks, dock policy regulations

Blue crab decline

Marsh balding / dead marsh – what is causing it?

Instream flow

Buffers adjacent to tidal marshes, particularly important to hammocks

Understanding the interface of ground and surface waters

Black gill disease in shrimp – is it fatal in shrimp?