SUPPORT FOR CLEAN OCEANS

“Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” may be one of Jack Johnson’s best-known songs, but he’s doing nothing of the kind when it comes to cleaning up the world’s oceans. For the third time, the musician's philanthropic foundation has made a gift to the Plastic Ocean Project. The Johnson Ohana Foundation matched donations to the local nonprofit group up to $2,500 in the fall, while also giving an additional $500 and two tickets to a Johnson concert.

“He's from Hawaii, so he actually witnesses the barrage of plastic that washes up on their beaches,” said Bonnie Monteleone ’11M, executive director and co-founder of the Plastic Ocean Project. Monteleone’s group, which focuses on eliminating plastic waste and the threat it poses to the oceans, was among those to receive donations from the foundation previously in 2014 and 2017.

The Plastic Ocean Project also held a fundraiser in October to support its feature-length documentary now in production, If the Ocean Could Talk: A Voice for the North Atlantic. Johnson is one of the celebrities who has agreed to participate in the film by answering the question, “If the ocean could talk, what would it say?” Monteleone, an adjunct instructor in environmental sciences, said the goal is to finish the film by World Ocean Day, June 8.

– Stacie Greene Hidek

University Establishes Asian Heritage Cultural Center

Asian and Pacific Islander students now have a place to gather and find additional support and resources with the recent establishment of the Asian Heritage Cultural Center, one of four centers that support the university’s diversity and inclusion efforts through teaching, service and outreach.

The Asian Heritage Cultural Center, located in Fisher University Union, is an inclusive space that supports students’ engagement and facilitates their connections across campus and in the community. It also provides co-curricular educational programming that enriches the understanding of Asian American and Pacific Islander cultures and histories, said Interim Director Patti Schulz ’11M. The center opened in August.

“With our focus on global diversity, opening an Asian Heritage Cultural Center provides new opportunities for us to design programming that expands our knowledge of other cultures,” said Dr. Donyell Roseboro, UNCW’s chief diversity officer. “We’re excited about the possibilities for learning with community members who share a deep desire to understand more about the people and histories that shape who we are.”

The center includes conference room space, student computer workstations, virtual meeting capabilities and a gathering space for students to interact. Members of the Asian Student Association petitioned and advocated for the space and worked with the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion in its planning and opening.

“The Asian Heritage Cultural Center will serve to help and support students of Asian heritage and any others who wish to aid in our mission of spreading awareness and culture,” said Brienna Rafferty, president of the Asian Student Association. “We would like the center to become a place where students, faculty and peers from various cultural groups can come together to address any challenges they face in everyday life.”

The center was also a vision of past Student Government President Robby Fensom ’22, who researched similar centers and spoke with student leaders affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“This center speaks to the power of administrative response to students and the shared campus responsibility for working alongside each other to secure change,” said Fensom. “My hope is that the space embodies that history and reminds students of the power they hold.”

– V.J.

Arbor Day Foundation Designates UNCW a “Tree Campus Higher Education University”

UNCW’s efforts to sustainably manage and preserve its natural areas and to replace lost trees due to storms and construction have earned the Arbor Day Foundation’s “Tree Campus Higher Education University” certification.

“UNCW actively maintains our natural areas for the benefit of our students, faculty and staff as well as the community,” said Roger Shew ’76, senior lecturer in Earth and Ocean Sciences and Environmental Sciences, who applied for the designation on behalf of the UNCW Sustainability Program. “The natural areas serve as outdoor classrooms for students and educators, recreational areas for walkers and bikers, and habitats for wildlife.”

The university has more than 200 acres of forested lands on the main campus, including 190 acres of longleaf pine and 10 acres of mixed hardwoods and pines in the Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve. The university also has 57 acres of forest and salt marsh along the Intracoastal Waterway at the Center for Marine Science and 174 acres of mixed pine/oak and bottomland hardwood forests in the Ev-Henwood Preserve in Brunswick County.

The Tree Campus Higher Education program “celebrates the unique role that anchor institutions play within their community forest,” according to the foundation. More than 400 universities nationwide are participants.

– Andrea Monroe Weaver

On Your Mark. Get Set. Go!

Racing fans don’t have to travel to Charlotte or Daytona to see UNCW in the fast lane.

The Seahawks have a car in the eNascar College iRacing series, being driven by history major Skyler Berry ’26. UNCW’s car was designed by Jacob Shorba, who makes custom schemes for iRacing.

Esports are competitive video games in which users compete in high stakes events that are streamed on platforms such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming. According to Ray Pastore, professor of esports, instructional technology and online teaching and learning, the industry is expected to grow 8.7% and generate $1.38 billion dollars this year alone.

To meet the demands of this growing industry, UNCW introduced the Seahawk Esports and Gaming Club in 2019. In fall 2020, UNCW introduced an esports academic certificate program for gaming, streaming and other esports career options. The program, open to undergraduate and graduate students, was the first in the state. These programs flourished through the COVID pandemic and are designed to help students have academic and competitive experiences aligned with the industry.

“We’re in the process of setting up an esports lab at UNCW and will have a full wheel/cockpit in the room later this fall,” said Pastore. “For now, the students are doing this all at home. We will have small esports/gaming events all semester and are planning a much bigger one for December.”

– C.C.

Esports Facts

- Jobs in the field are expected to grow 35% year over year for the foreseeable future (Goldman Sachs, 2018)

- In 2022, the global esports market was valued at just over $1.38 billion U.S. dollars, and is forecast to grow to as much as $1.87 billion U.S. dollars in 2025 (Statista)

-Viewership of the 2019 League of Legends championship peaked at 100 million viewers

- Streaming esports platforms Twitch and YouTube

Gaming each have more subscribers than HBO, Netflix and Spotify

- Sponsors for esports-related events include Nike, Coca-Cola, Mercedes Benz and the U.S. Army

Hands-On Fun

Visitors to the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher enjoyed learning from experts working in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields during the “Women in Science” event in September. Faculty, staff and graduate students representing the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Marine Science and various departments from the university provided an inside view of STEM careers alongside many others from the community.

“We talked about entrepreneurship as a career path, women in entrepreneurship and the variety of CIE programs that people can get involved in,” said CIE Director Heather McWhorter. Her team also represented CIE’s Alliance for a Blue Economy (All Blue) and the careers in technology and ocean science that support economic growth based on the sustainable use of ocean resources.

“It’s important for young girls to see someone like themselves in STEM fields,” said Unique Experiences Coordinator Gail Lemiec, who organized the event for the aquarium. “Women in Science” was first held in 2019, but this year was only the second time the event was held in person. UNCW took advantage of the hands-on opportunities.

“There were snails you could hold, a toxic algae computer game, sieving for shells in the sand and fossils,” said Dr. Andrea Hawkes, professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences. “Everyone did an awesome job.”

– S.G.H.