Estuarine systems are areas of immense ecological importance and provide numerous social, economic, and environmental benefits. These benefits, both direct and indirect, are referred to as ecosystem services. Ecosystem services considerations are of increasing importance to the NERRS and many of their partners, and this webinar describes a project aimed at finding streamlined ways to incorporate ecosystem services into NERR coastal decision-making. We use Ecosystem Service Conceptual Models (ESCMs) as a framework to think about ecosystem services and how they can be considered within the NERRS. We will describe our work with the North Carolina and Rookery Bay NERRs to develop oyster reef and mangrove ESCMs, our efforts to apply these models to specific restoration sites at these NERRs, and our use of the models as a way to think about standardized monitoring of ecosystem services outcomes across the NERR network.

About the Speakers:
Sara Mason joined the Ecosystem Services Program at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions as a policy associate after graduating from Duke with a master’s degree in environmental management. Her work focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of biodiversity conservation and how that can be leveraged to engage the public and policy makers in conservation efforts. Prior to joining the Nicholas Institute, Sara worked in ecological field research and endangered animal rehabilitation.

Lydia Olander directs the Ecosystem Services Program at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. She leads the National Ecosystem Services Partnership, supporting efforts to integrate ecosystem services into decision making, and studies environmental markets and mitigation, including forestry and agricultural based climate mitigation; wetland, stream and endangered species mitigation; and water quality trading. She also serves on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Advisory Board and the secretariat of The Bridge Collaborative.