ECU JOINS REGIONAL
ECOSYSTEMS PACT                   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Carolina University has joined a regional consortium designed to foster ties between universities and federal resource management programs.

ECU’s inclusion into the Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit will expand research opportunities for ECU faculty and students and establish relationships with federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Lauriston R. King, director of the Ph.D. Program in Coastal Resources Management, will represent ECU.

As a member institution, ECU will collaborate with six other universities in the southeast to address problems that concern resource management. The other universities are: Auburn University, Clemson University, North Carolina State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and the University of Central Florida.

The universities work together to provide research and technical assistance to federal organizations such as the Agricultural Research Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Audubon societies of Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina are also members.

The Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast is one of 17 Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Units nationwide. The University of Georgia serves as the host for the Piedmont-South Atlantic unit and will work with ECU to develop strong working relationships with these agencies.

Information about the region’s Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit is available at http://www.cesu.org/currentcesus/piedmont/index.html.

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