Corbett named Coastal Studies Institute director

Reide Corbett is the new dean of integrated coastal programs and director of the Coastal Studies Institute.

Corbett, a professor in the geology department and a faculty member since 2000, has served as head of CSI’s Coastal Processes Program since 2012. He has also served as chair of ECU’s Coastal Strategic Planning Committee, tasked with developing a comprehensive strategic plan for the university’s involvement in coastal research, instruction and outreach, including economic development, over the next decade.

“ECU’s focus on its coastal enterprise, including resources at the Coastal Studies Institute, shows its continued commitment to the East,” Corbett said. “This commitment truly resonates with me, having grown up along our coast and having studied this system for the last two decades.”

His research focuses on sedimentary and geochemical processes in coastal environments, the discharge of groundwater into the coastal zone, and coastal hazards and resilience. He was one of the founding faculty in ECU’s Coastal Resources Management doctoral program.

Nancy White, the founding executive director of the Coastal Studies Institute, stepped down from the role in 2017.

ECU is the administrative home of the CSI, which is in Wanchese on Roanoke Island.