Karen Cartlidge

Karen’s interest in the environment began as a teenager while working for Youth Conservation Corps at the Beltzville State Park in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. 

After graduating with a Computer Science degree from Bloomsburg State College, she moved to Dover, Delaware to start her career with Playtex Products, Inc.  She spent 15 years in the Manufacturing and Logistics Industry, while teaching business classes at Polytech Adult Education.

In 2000, she moved to Morehead City, NC to marry the love of her life, Jim.   Stepping out of the corporate world and in to several different positions - Secretary (Carteret County School System), Volunteer Coordinator at the North Carolina Aquarium - Pine Knoll Shores and then Sales Coordinator for Morehead Marine / Starling Marine.

Karen enjoys spending time at the horse barn and church.  She also loves kayaking; walks with her rescue boxer, Maggie; camping with her husband and book discussions with the best of friends.

Lindsay Dubbs

Lindsay keeps being drawn back to the coast despite growing up in landlocked PA and attending Tufts University (B.S.) and UNC Chapel Hill (M.S. and Ph.D.) at inland universities. She originally moved to the Outer Banks in 2008 to teach ecology for the UNC Institute for the Environment's Outer Banks Field Site (OBXFS). Lindsay now works at the Coastal Studies Institute in Wanchese, NC. She is a Research Associate Professor at UNC Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment and the Coastal Studies Institute, Director of the Outer Banks Field Site, and Associate Director of the NC Renewable Ocean Energy Program. Her research interests broadly focus on biogeochemistry and ecosystem‐scale ecology.

When not working, Lindsay enjoys spending time outdoors with husband, Corey Adams, and their son and dog.

Bill Ducker

Bill spent 6 years in the US Marine Corps and 9 years with the US government before returning to the Carolinas and getting into real estate management and construction. He came to Sunset Beach in 1979 with aspirations of becoming a developer, but after building a couple of houses, lost his ambition as a developer and decided to promote conservation and protection of the coastline and environment.

Bill is a past board member of the NC Coastal Federation, NC Environment Education Fund and is currently the chairman of the steering committee of the Bird Island Preservation Society. As a founding member of the Bird Island Preservation Society, Bill played an instrumental role in the successful effort to acquire Bird Island for the NC Coastal Reserve.

David Hughes

David grew up in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC and studied fisheries biology at the College of William and Mary and the University of Maryland, graduating in 1972. He worked for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) for ten years before relocating to Beaufort with his wife Louise and daughter Kate. The first few years with MDNR David worked on a Chesapeake Bay‐wide anadromous fisheries project (predominately striped bass) as well as investigating fish mortality incidents. For the last six years at MDNR he led a federally funded statewide stream survey project to document naturally reproducing brook and brown trout populations in the streams of central and western Maryland. After moving to North Carolina David took a job at MCAS Cherry Point doing water quality chemistry for the base water and wastewater treatment plants that led to an eventual 25‐year career as an IT professional with NADEP/FRC East at Cherry Point. David retired in 2011 as Director of Computer Operations for FRC East. David stays busy boating, fishing, kayaking, playing golf and traveling with his wife Louise. He has also been an active volunteer with Coastal Federation, Seafood Festival, Lions Club, Beach Sweeps and church.

Marilyn Shuping

Marilyn has been hooked on the great outdoors ever since the ripe old age of 5 when, on Long Island, her grandparents had her feeding peanuts to chickadees out of her hand.

Marilyn spent 40 years in Winston-Salem before retiring to Beaufort on the Pamlico Sound. In Winston she worked as a research librarian at Wake Forest University in the government documents department. She also was very active in the Audubon Society of Forsyth County serving as their president for several years.

She has spent time with Paula Gillikin on the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve darting the ponies for birth control, restoring storm-damaged osprey platforms, erecting “No Trespassing” signs during bird nesting periods and helping with clean-up efforts. She views the Reserve in Beaufort as its strongest asset and vows to keep it as pristine and beautiful as possible. Marilyns brother, Bruce Bjork, serves on the board as the Vice Chair and Treasurer for the Friends of the Wells Reserve in Maine. She also hopes she has passed on her love of the outdoors through her daughter, Jennifer, who is a park ranger at Jockeys Ridge State Park. Marilyn lives with her husband, Mike, also an outdoor enthusiast. They enjoy travelling the United States in their RV with their Carolina dog, Misty. Her other retirement pleasures are reading, knitting, felting and sailing.

JoAnne Powell

JoAnne grew up in northern California, graduated from UC Davis and came to North Carolina to teach high school oceanography and biology at New Hanover High School in Wilmington in 1970. She married a UNC marine science masters student, Allyn Powell, in 1971 and moved to Carteret County where she taught marine science and biology at West Carteret HS until 1973 when her son was born. In 1975 she began part‐time work at the then Hampton Marine Museum (which became the North Carolina Maritime Museum in 1985) where she led field trips for the general public and school groups to salt marshes, tidal flats, Bird Shoal, fossil quarries and birding hotspots. She retired as head of the museum's education section in 2009. Since retirement JoAnne has served as a volunteer for the Rachel Carson Reserve, the NC Coastal Federation, and the Core Sound Museum and continues to bird watch as much as possible, both locally and worldwide. She and her husband have lived on Sleepy Creek in Gloucester for 45 years. JoAnne is currently serving as FOR Vice President.