Tony Reevy

Sr. Associate Director UNC Institute for the Environment

Current and past titles:

  • Senior Associate Director of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Institute for the Environment at UNC-Chapel Hill
  • APNEP Service: Policy Board Member 2005-2012, Chair 2010-2012

Please briefly describe your current position, roles & responsibilities, and/or research.

I am the senior associate director of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Institute for the Environment at UNC-Chapel Hill (UNC-IE), where I oversee our administration (including research administration), communication, facilities management, proposal development and coordination, and information technology. I am also a writer, working in the areas of poetry and non-fiction. My non-fiction in recent years focuses on photography of the mid-twentieth century United States.

Tell us how your work, organization, or research has contributed to our collective mission of identifying, protecting, and restoring the significant resources of the Albemarle-Pamlico system.

As the Chair of the Policy Board, I helped oversee development of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) and Ecosystem Assessment. I am very proud of these projects and the quality documents that were produced. UNC IE, where I work, is very active in the APNEP region—we have a policy analyst working, in part, on the Falls Lake rules; our Environmental Resource Program has a number of area-relevant projects, including the NC Watershed Stewardship Network, EGRET (Exploring the Geographical Region and Ecosystems of the Tar-Pamlico Watershed), an annual teacher institute usually held near Morehead City; our environmental field site network has two sites in the region, at Manteo (Coastal Studies Institute-CSI) and Morehead City (Morehead City Field Site); and faculty affiliated with IE conduct extensive research in the area, focusing on inland flooding, salinization, coastal energy production and other topics. Personally, although this is less true in my recent work, I have written a number of articles on coastal North Carolina folklore and also poems with a setting in the APNEP region. The largest segment of my work like this is my series of poems on the Eno River, which of course is in the APNEP region. (I am from Durham, NC).

What does it mean to you to be an APNEP partner?  Describe how your involvement has enhanced or benefitted your work, organization, or research.

APNEP’s mission is especially well-aligned with the Institute’s outreach and public service arm, the Environmental Resource Program, which has a long history of serving North Carolina, especially eastern North Carolina, with public service programs and outreach programs focused on K-12 teachers and their students. We value this partnership with APNEP a great deal. And, speaking personally, I was proud to serve as a member of the Policy Board, and through my service gained a much deeper appreciation of, and understanding for, the Albemarle-Pamlico region.

Share your elevator pitch! If you had 1 minute to convince someone about the importance of investing in (or providing other types of support for) research, monitoring, education, conservation, restoration, etc. of the A-P system, what would you say?

The Albemarle-Pamlico is one of the most important estuarine systems in North America. It is a nursery and habitat for fish and other important species; a hub for coastal and near-coastal folklore and folk life; and a beautiful region offering many different types of recreation for residents and for millions of annual visitors. We must protect it for our children, and their children’s children. To advance the Albemarle-Pamlico region, we must understand it, we must care about it, and we must then act to restore and conserve.

Tell us an interesting fact or story about the A-P watershed and estuarine system that may not be common knowledge.

The beach grasses on North Carolina’s Outer Banks are largely not natural; they were planted to try to build dunes by public works projects during the Great Depression.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your involvement with APNEP?

Again, my pride in having an opportunity to serve the program as a member of the Policy Board, and the region, for seven years; and the greater understanding of the region I gained through my involvement with APNEP.

Read more about Tony Reevy on the UNC-IE website.