Why the Center exists.

The Center for Future Coastlines measures how sand and water move through barrier-island systems, so that decisions about beaches, inlets and marshes can rest on a shared, repeatable record rather than on impressions, and it tests candidate responses only where the evidence and the permits allow. Its study site, Figure Eight Island between Rich Inlet and Mason Inlet, is where it develops and tests the observation and analysis methods it means to apply to other coastlines.

It grew out of the Conservancy’s mission:

To establish by scientific research the quality of the natural resources in our stewardship area, and take action to protect quality resources and clean up pollution. Northeast New Hanover Conservancy mission statement

The Conservancy is a nonprofit steward of roughly 1,500 acres of barrier islands, marshes and tidal creeks in northeast New Hanover County. The Center’s purpose is to understand how and why coastlines change, and to develop practical, field-tested responses that communities and decision-makers can act on. The goal is measurement good enough to help communities keep their beaches, inlets and marshes functioning as the water rises, at a cost they can sustain.

The Center pursues ambitious questions while staying explicit about what the evidence can support. Its commitment is to publish findings even when they complicate existing practice, and to decline funding that would condition results or restrict publication.