RTI International - News Release - 12.19.2006

New Study Seeks to Sustain Natural Resources for Military Training and Optimize Environmental Stewardship of NC Coastal Areas

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Researchers at RTI International will lead a collaborative effort involving environmental experts from seven universities, two federal agencies, and two research organizations to identify an ecosystem-based management approach to sustain the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD's) coastal lands for military training and maintain the health of natural resources in those coastal areas.

This collaborative effort, called the Defense Coastal/Estuarine Research Program (DCERP), was created by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), which is DoD's program of corporate environmental research and development. DCERP is designed to conduct mission-relevant and basic and applied research in support of an ecosystem-based management approach.

As part of the 5-year, $11-million contract, RTI will lead a team that includes scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Institute of Marine Sciences; the College of William and Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Duke University, North Carolina State University; University of South Carolina; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; University of North Carolina at Wilmington; Porter Scientific, Inc.; URS Corp.; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Laboratory in Beaufort, N.C.; and the U.S. Geological Survey in Raleigh, N.C.

Under terms of the contract, RTI researchers and their partners will study the ecosystems at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., and surrounding environments in eastern North Carolina to develop an understanding of coastal and estuarine composition, structure, and function within the context of a military training environment. The researchers will study several different ecosystems and their attributes, including the New River estuary, associated marshes, coastal barrier islands, and terrestrial uplands of the military base. In addition, air quality issues also will be considered as these affect all of the other ecosystems.

"This project will help ensure that Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune's unique training lands are managed to sustain and enhance their strategic use in military preparedness in the future, as well as to sustain these ecologically and economically important ecosystems," said Patricia Cunningham, Ph.D., an environmental biologist at RTI and principal investigator for the program. "The study also will provide a greater understanding of the basic ecological processes operating in biologically diverse coastal and estuarine ecosystems of the New River estuary, and its findings likely will be transferable to other ecologically similar areas across the country."

The research team will develop conceptual and mechanistic ecological models to direct future research and environmental monitoring and will identify significant on-site and off-site environmental stressors and their level of impact on Camp Lejeune's ecological systems. These stressors will include both natural impacts from drought or hurricanes as well as human impacts from water and air pollution and military training and testing uses.

Based on its findings, the research team will develop ecosystem-based management tools that can be used by military resource managers to sustain and enhance military training assets of Camp Lejeune while optimizing environmental stewardship of the base's natural resources.

This project builds on RTI's extensive history in environmental research, where more than 200 scientists work to reduce air, water and soil pollution and develop clean energy technology. RTI scientists provide expert analyses that inform the development and evaluation of public policies designed to promote the sustainable management of air, water and land resources for both government and commercial clients.