*VIMS study indicates disappearing coastal wetlands*
A recent study published in the Oct. 27 issue of Environmental Research Letters and co-authored by Virginia Institute of Marine Science professor Carl Hershner claims that over 50 percent of coastal marshes and wetlands along the eastern seaboard will disappear by the year 2100.
Hershner, director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management at VIMS, says that the wetlands will drown because of their inability to migrate with rising sea levels.
Almost 60 percent of coastal land will be developed by then, with only nine percent of land three feet above sea level set aside for conservation and wetlands protection.
The study calls for a revision in government policies regarding the regulation and construction of bulkheads in order to preserve the coastal wetlands.
*Preston named National Humanities Center Fellow*
College music professor Katherine Preston has been named one of 33 National Humanities Center fellows.
Chosen from an international pool of 475 applicants, she will conduct research at the National Humanities Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. as the William J. Bouwsma Fellow in Musicology.
“These fellowships generally go to scholars who have completed or nearly completed research on a major project,” Preston told Ideation magazine.
She will use her time at the center to work on her current project, a book on the role of women in English opera in America during the late 19th century.
Preston is the fourth professor at the College to receive this distinction since the program began 32 years ago.
*Alum nominated to West Marine board of directors*
Barbara L. Rambo ’74 is expected to be named to the board of directors of West Marine, a boating supply company, following current board member William U. Westerfield’s decision to step down at the end of the year.
Rambo is currently a director of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the PG&E Corporation. She served as CEO of Nietech Corporation and OpenClose Technologies, and was group executive vice-president of Bank of America.
