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ECU researchers take part in saltwater intrusion study

East Carolina University and partner institutions will work together to investigate saltwater intrusion in freshwater areas. George Olsen has more.

Researchers at East Carolina will team up with associates at N-C State, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University to look at how saltwater intrusion is affecting ecosystems and the economy of eastern North Carolina. The project is funded by a $1.5 million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation’s Coastal Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability program. During the five year study researchers will look at how increasing salinity will affect agriculture and natural ecosystems over the next 10-to-20 years. ECU’s principal investigator for the project Marcelo Ardon with the Department of Biology says increasing salinity can lead to several issues including plant mortality and decreasing water quality. The study will focus on the peninsula surrounded by the Albermarle, Pamlico and Croatan Sounds. I’m George Olsen.

George Olsen is a 1977 Havelock High School graduate. He received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina in 1982 where he got his first taste of non-commercial radio working for their student station WUSC. After graduation he worked about five years in commercial radio before coming to work at Public Radio East where he has remained since outside of a nearly 3-year stint as jazz and operations coordinator at WUAL in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the early 1990s. On his return to eastern North Carolina he hosted classical music for Public Radio East before moving into the Morning Edition host position and now can be heard on All Things Considered. He also hosts and produces The Sound, five hours of Americana, Roots Rock and Contemporary Folk weekday evenings on PRE Public Radio East News & Ideas, and is a news and feature producer for Public Radio East.