Read about our presentation at the UNC Board of Trustees Meeting, updates on our research projects, and more.

Researchers from Western Carolina University and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services are partnering with organizations in western North Carolina to protect hemlock trees, the “Redwoods of the East.” The Collaboratory is supporting this project.

During the 2019 legislative session the N.C. General Assembly passed a law intended to support and enhance the state’s growing shellfish industry. The legislation was based on the report “North Carolina Strategic Plan for Shellfish Mariculture,” which contained numerous policy and funding recommendations to strengthen and promote the shellfish industry.

The NC Policy Collaboratory will receive $2 million in funding from the North Carolina General Assembly as part of a disaster recovery package approved by the legislature.

The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory has been charged by the General Assembly with creating an advisory panel to study and develop recommendations for determining the presence of cancer clusters in the state.

A bill designed to grow the shellfish aquaculture industry in North Carolina received approval from a legislative committee on June 4, 2019. The bill is based on recommendations developed by an NC Policy Collaboratory and UNC Institute of Marine Sciences report.

On May 15, East Carolina professor Jamie DeWitt testified before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on the health effects of PFAS.

On April 9, a team of researchers from the Collaboratory’s PFAS Network project provided a briefing to the North Carolina General Assembly’s House Environment Committee.

The NC Policy Collaboratory’s PFAST Network water testing has recently begun in the Piedmont and will spread statewide later this year.

The North Carolina Coastal Federation is hosting its 2019 North Carolina Oyster Summit on Tuesday, March 12. The summit will include panel presentations about the recommendations to promote North Carolina’s shellfish industry from the North Carolina Strategic Plan for Shellfish Mariculture.