Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
Katherine Shearin, a senior undergraduate double majoring in BS in Multidisciplinary Studies with Environmental Studies Concentration and Community and Regional Planning, completed an internship program with the Ocean Isle Beach Sea Turtle Protection Organization (OIBSTPO). The OIBSTPO is a nonprofit environmental conservation organization dedicated to monitoring and protecting the sea turtle population on the island. This organization also prides itself on its commitment to educating the community and tourists on the cultural and environmental importance of sea turtles on Ocean Isle Beach.
“Starting in early May, the organization begins preparing for the sea turtle laying and hatching season on the island, which continues through September. I spent the summer (early May through early August) as an intern for the organization and gained extensive knowledge in sea turtle conservation, island geography and characteristics, community engagement, and the ins and outs of operating a nonprofit organization. Some of my biggest takeaways from this internship include community engagement skills, teamwork skills, leadership skills, and experience working with a nonprofit.”
“One of the most unique and rewarding tasks I had during my internship was the release of a sea turtle hatchling. Toward the end of my time with the organization, a hatchling washed back up on the beach after venturing into the ocean. The team decided it would be best to re-release the hatchling at a different spot, where the currents could help guide it safely back into the ocean. I was given the responsibility of overseeing the release, and it was an incredible experience that further solidified my passion for sea turtle conservation.”
“Turtle Talks are the organization’s primary opportunity for community engagement and education. These sessions provide an opportunity for community members and tourists to learn about our organization and about Ocean Isle’s sea turtle population. During these talks, I had the opportunity to interact with and educate attendees on sea turtles, deepening my connection with the community. It also allowed me to get to know many people and helped me to understand the community more. Additionally, I learned a great deal from these talks, which helped me become more knowledgeable on the specifics of Ocean Isle’s sea turtle population and the conservation efforts of the organization. I was also surprised to discover that many visitors plan their trips to Ocean Isle Beach with the hope of witnessing a sea turtle or a turtle hatching. This emphasized the importance of the organization’s work in protecting these creatures.”
“My internship with the OIBSTPO provided me a unique opportunity to integrate my two majors of Environmental Studies and Community & Regional Planning by combining environmental conservation with community engagement and planning related tasks. It allowed me to interact with, work alongside, and learn from a diverse group of people, each with different leadership and work styles for completing tasks. I found that these differences helped to shape my own approach to teamwork and problem solving. All the people I worked with were incredible mentors for me.
One of the most significant parts of my internship was engaging with the community and tourists of Ocean Isle Beach. It was fascinating to meet residents, long time visitors, and first-time tourists. As an intern for the OIBSTPO, I often found myself acting as a representative of the community. Many people would identify OIBSTPO personnel by our presence on the beach and many approach us with questions. I gained valuable experience in how to engage with people effectively, provide clear answers, and on occasion, deescalate tense situations.
This internship was a rewarding experience that allowed me to fully immerse myself in the work I am passionate about. I developed a strong passion and deep sense of dedication to the work I did and the community I worked for. To succeed, it takes a lot of time and dedication. However, I would not trade this experience for any other.”
– Sections borrowed from Katherine Shearin’s internship reflection report, submitted for PLAN3038: Planning Internship (Fall 2024)
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
- Full name: Laura Carolina Wisecup (Class of 2025)
- Degrees: Master of Science in Planning and Development with Urban and Community Planning concentration. ECU (Fall 2024), B.S. in Urban Planning, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela
- Hometown:Caracas, Venezuela
- Current employment position: Planner at SSFM International, Honolulu, HI
- Planning interests: My passion lies in improving the quality of life in communities by planning for better transportation systems, fostering environmental sustainability, creating economic opportunities, and planning for cities that are inclusive and just. I also have a particular interest in transportation planning, with a focus on promoting sustainable mobility alternatives such as pedestrian, bicycle, and transit systems.
- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urbmartinezmontilva/
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
- Full name: David Miller (Class of 2025)
- Degrees: Master of Science in Planning and Development with Urban and Community Planning concentration (Fall 2024), Master of Library Science (East Carolina University, Class of 2011), Bachelor of Arts (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Class of 2008)
- Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
- Current employment position: Transportation Planner at Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization
- Planning interests: I have an interest in using both urban design and transportation planning to help make city and community environments more walkable, multimodal, sustainable, equitable, and adaptable to climate change.
- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-robert-miller/
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
- Full name: William Dee Lowery III (Class of 2025)
- Major/Minor: B.S in Community and Regional Planning with a minor in Public Administration
- Hometown: New Bern, North Carolina
- Interest in Planning & future goals: I have a passion for sustainable and conservation-focused development, emphasizing the promotion of open and green spaces, the protection of farmland, and the coexistence with wildlife by preserving established habitats.
- Favorite thing about the department:As a non-traditional student, returning to college studies initially posed a learning curve. However, the planning program’s “family-like” atmosphere created an environment where everyone feels comfortable and included. Both students and faculty are not only friendly but also genuinely supportive of one another. A prime example of this support was the encouragement I received to apply for the 4+1 program. I felt honored that the faculty believed in my abilities, enabling me to become one of the first students accepted into this new initiative.
- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-lowery-53a274103/
- William Lowery’s Accomplishments and Projects:
- William Lowery was nominated for the 2024-2025 American Planning Association (APA) Outstanding Students Award by the ECU Planning faculty.
- Fountain, NC, Downtown Parking Study (Spring 2024): Practicum (Community Partner: Town of Fountain, NC, and the Mid-East Commission) – individual project
- Shoreline Erosion Control Plan, Washington Park, NC (Fall 2023): Studio (Community Partner: Town of Washington Park, NC) – small group project (Project team leader)
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
The Community and Regional Planning program hosted a Panel Discussion entitled, #Pirates and Precipitation: Who’ll Stop the Flood?, on October 29, 2024, co-hosted with the North Carolina Association of Floodplain Managers (NCAFPM). The event was held hybrid, and the recording is available here.
Four leaders joined as panelists, including Holly B. White, AICP, CFM, Resilience Planner at NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR), Marc Recktenwald, Director of Mitigation Services at NC Department of Environmental Quality Division of Mitigation Services (DMS), Dr. Ruth Akintoye, Senior Flood Planning Associate at American Flood Coalition (AFC), and Chuck Heustess, Executive Director in Economic Development, Bladen County, NC. Panelists’ bios and the organization’s introduction are here.
Moderated by Dr. Anuradha Mukherji, panelists shared their organizations’ role in flood resilience, their perspectives on hurdles in achieving flood resilience, their vision of the future of NC flooding and flood resilience, their motivations to become a professional in the area of specialty, and advice for young professionals and students.
The event was to bring students’ attention to the importance of flood resilience and the establishment of the first student chapter of NCAFPM at ECU. The chapter’s kick-off event will be on November 13, 2024, at 5 PM at Brewster D-209. Inquiries to Catharine Spruill, Zasha Griffin, or Sam McCormack.
The event was possible through the dedication of people—From NCAFPM, Laura Arnold, Chair, Holly White, Ken Ashe, Amit Sachan, and Stephen Smith; from ECU, Dr. Misun Hur and Cooper Hilbert, SPAN President; from the ECU Planning Alumni Advisory Board, Catherine Grimm, Chair. We thank you all!
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
Beyond networking, planners learn new skills, opportunities, and ideas by sharing research projects, best practices, and certification training at the American Planning Association (APA) conferences.
The ECU’s Community and Regional Planning program has participated in the state APA conference every year. The 2024 APA-North Carolina chapter conference was held in our Pirate Nation, Greenville, NC, on October 16-18, 2024. With funds raised by alumni, we could register 20 undergraduate students to attend the conference.
We have announced two great achievements of our undergraduate students. Cameron Brown received the 2023-2024 American Planning Association-North Carolina Chapter’s Marvin Collins Planning Award for the Outstanding Student Award, and Mary Archibald received the Marvin Collins Planning Award for the Outstanding Student Project Award category.
Since 2023, the Community and Regional Planning program has hosted a Lightning Round Session at the APA-NC conference to showcase our student work to the planning profession. It encourages students This year’s session included three undergraduate student projects completed during the 2023-2024 academic year (moderated by Dr. Misun Hur). The first project, Housing Market Study and Affordable/Workforce Housing Strategic Vision: Beaufort County, NC, was Mary Archibald’s summer internship project. Mary received the Outstanding Student Project Award for this project. The second project was a class-wide project of PLAN4075: Transportation Planning in Fall 2023 (instructor Dr. Kaylyn Levine). The Rural On-Demand Transportation: Recommendations for Microtransit in Pitt and Beaufort Counties, was presented by Cooper Hilbert on behalf of the class. The last project presented was Isabella Sardina’s senior practicum project with the Town of Tarboro as the client: Town of Tarboro’s Flood Land Reuse Plan (instructor Prof. Merrill Flood, Planner-in-Residence).
During the award ceremony, there were several announcements celebrating the achievement of our alumnae Michelle Nance’s FAICP induction at the national APA conference, Cameron Brown’s national APA leadership as Student Representatives Council Representative, Region 2, and Isabella Sardina’s APA Outstanding Student Award.
A sincere appreciation to Mr. Thomas McNair Cassell, Mr. James Oscar Duncan, Jr., Mr. Walter Geddie Fields, III., Mrs. Michelle English Nance, Mr. Christopher Normile, Mr. James Franklin Rhodes, and Mr. Chad David Sary (alphabetic order by last name) for generous donations! You gave 20 students lifetime memories and solid motivations for their careers. Go, Pirates! Go, Planning!
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
- Mary Archibald (middle) receiving her award
- Presenting the project at the conference
- Presenting the project at the conference
Mary Archibald’s project, “Housing Market Study and Affordable/Workforce Housing Strategic Vision for Beaufort County, NC” was chosen for the 2023-2024 American Planning Association-North Carolina Chapter’s Marvin Collins Planning Award for the Outstanding Student Project Award. This award recognizes high-quality student work that increases the understanding of the value of planning.
Partnering with Beaufort County, the ECU Office of Research, Economic Development, and Engagement helped the county understand its housing market through in-depth research on affordable housing. Mary Archibald conducted the research as a summer internship under the guidance of Professor Merrill Flood, Planner-in-Residence in the Community and Regional Planning program.
The Housing Market Study and Affordable/Workforce Housing Strategic Vision is a research project that provides a comprehensive evaluation of the housing challenges faced by the working population in Beaufort County. The research involved analyzing demographic data, housing market information, environmental conditions, and employment-related factors to identify the specific barriers to affordable housing for residents. The research involved exploring the unique characteristics and needs of the working population, such as age, household composition, income levels, and employment sectors driving the economy. Through examination of the local housing market and employment landscape, the research project generated evidence-based recommendations to guide policymakers, stakeholders, and housing advocates in developing targeted strategies and solutions to improve access to affordable housing for the workforce in Beaufort County. Work completed for Beaufort County has been shared with communities in the east as other ENC communities consider ways to address their loss of talent and economic vitality concerns.
Ms. Archibald presented this project at the 2024 Research and Creative Achievement Week (RCAW) symposium at East Carolina University on April 2, 2024, to inform the ECU community about the status of affordable housing in eastern NC county. Her efforts to disseminate the research findings became even more expensive. On April 10, 2024, she presented in the Economics & Society session at the International Global Partners in Education conference. This project has also been selected to present at the American Planning Association-North Carolina Chapter conference in October 2024.
Mary Archibald also completed two capstone projects: (1) Hilton Garden Inn Impact Assessment in Greenville, NC (Fall 23, Client: City of Greenville, NC). She served as the team captain for the project with Jordan Kearney and Noah Mills. (2) McNair Heights Housing Development: Building Community and Opportunity (Spring 24, Client: Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne, Inc).
Mary Archibald graduated in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Community and Regional Planning. After completing her internship, she is an Economic Development Projects Coordinator at the Mid-East Commission. Cheers to Mary Archibald for a job well done!
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts

Cameron Brown (center) during the award ceremony.
Cameron Brown received the 2023-2024 American Planning Association-North Carolina Chapter’s Marvin Collins Planning Award for the Outstanding Student Award. This award recognizes students who have excelled in a Planning Accreditation Board–accredited NC planning program. Cameron Brown graduated in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Community and Regional Planning and is currently a master’s student in the Public Administration program at UNC-Chapel Hill.
During his undergraduate at ECU, he held many leadership positions in the degree program, the institution, the UNC system, and the national organization. He had been an active member of the Student Planners’ Action Network (SPAN) since he joined ECU and served in the Treasurer position during his senior year. He was involved as an At-Large Representative in the East Carolina University Student Government Association and served as the University of North Carolina Association of Student Government (UNC ASG) Office since 2022. Perhaps the most significant achievement and ongoing efforts would be his role as the national American Planning Association (APA) Student Representatives Council Representative, Region II for 2024-2026.
He completed six internships during his tenure at ECU. Working in the Governor’s Office through the NC Department of Administration’s State of North Carolina Internship Program, collaborating with small businesses through ECU’s RISE29 Internship program (2022) and ECU’s Public Service Fellow Internship (2022) by the Office of Engagement and Research, ECU Office of Research, Economic Development and Engagement’s summer intern, NCWorks Workforce Development Intern (2023), and the U. S. House of Representatives District Intern (2024).
His senior capstone projects were “Greenville Involved: A Playbook for Public Engagement (Fall 23, Client: City of Greenville, NC)” with Isabella Sardina and Johnathan Alberg and “Industrial Site Study (Spring 24, Client: Pitt County, NC).”
Mr. Brown showcased how great an undergraduate student can do through the undergraduate journey. We are proud of Cameron Brown, and congratulations on his well-deserved award. Go, Pirate!
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
Dr. Misun Hur’s research about H-2A migrant farmworker’s housing isolation and its impacts on mental health and quality of life is published* in the Journal of Rural Mental Health, published by the American Psychological Association. Partnered with the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina (AMEXCAN), this paper is a small achievement of several years of intense community-engaged research, including numerous labor camp visits to build trusts with promotoras, public and professional presentations for public awareness, months of digging into farmworker databases, and more. The research was sponsored by the ECU Division of Research, Economic Development, and Engagement as an Interdisciplinary Research Award with Dr. Katharine W. Didericksen. Co-authored by Dr. Katharine W. Didericksen, Dr. Bumseok Chun, Dr. Roberta Ballamy, and Juvencio Rocha-Peralta.
The H-2A migrant farmworkers are integral to U.S. agriculture. The US regulates that growers must provide housing (labor camps) and transportation for their H-2A workers. Farmworkers are often isolated since the housing or labor camps are in rural areas and frequently near farming fields. A farmworker Hur interviewed noted,“what I really want to have is the knowledge of services in the area. I have come back to the same farm for over 10 years, but I have no idea what are out there.” The primary purpose of this research was to use structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore migrant farmworkers’ visibility as it relates to their access to resources, quality of life, and mental health. The paper suggested that H-2A might farmworkers’ mental health to worsen when labor camps are hidden from the road (physically isolated from society). When farmworkers felt they had poor access to various societal resources (perceptually isolated from society), their mental health and life/community satisfaction decreased significantly. The paper proposed several implications for policymakers, growers, and public health service providers.
*Hur, M., Didericksen, K. W., Chun, B., Bellamy, R. W., & Rocha-Peralta, J. (2024). H-2A migrant farmworkers’ housing visibility and mental health in eastern North Carolina. Journal of Rural Mental Health. Online first at https://doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000275
**The banner image is owned by Scott Temple, a good friend of Hur and a co-director of the documentary film, At a Stranger’s Table. “With tensions high on immigration control, the time is right to introduce the North Carolina east coast migrant field worker to the United States consumer of produce.” (from the film synopsis)
Community and Regional Planning Program: Posts
Isabella Sardina, Class of 2024, with a Bachelor of Science in Community and Regional Planning, is a recipient of the 2023-2024 American Planning Association (APA) Outstanding Student Award. The APA Outstanding Student Awards “recognize outstanding attainment in the study of planning by students graduating from Planning Accreditation Board–accredited planning programs during the academic year of the award.”
“I am honored to have received the American Planning Association’s (APA) Outstanding Planning Student Award for the 2023-2024 year. Speaking at last year’s APA-NC conference in Durham, NC, and attending the National Planning Conference in Minneapolis, MN, were invaluable experiences, exposing me to the multitude of opportunities APA offers to planners nationwide. I credit my journey to the education and experiences gained from ECU’s Community and Regional Planning Program.” – Bella Sardina
Ms Sardina joined the program in August 2022 with an associate degree. As a Global Fellow, an initiative of ECU’s Office of Global Affairs designed to position high-achieving students for success in today’s global, multicultural economy, she participated in the Sustainable Urbanism in South Korea summer study abroad program. Her scholarships are proven by various scholarships and awards she received, including the Thomas W. Rivers Foreign Exchange Scholarship, C. Ray Pruette Scholarship, ECU Geography Scholarship, and ECU Urban Planning Alumni Scholarship. She entered the Planning Accelerated Degree program (4+1) in 2023 and is continuing her graduate degree of MS in Planning and Development upon graduation. She served in various leadership positions, including the Social Media Coordinator of the Student Planners Action Network (SPAN), for two years.
After graduating in May 2024, Ms. Sardina completed an internship with the City Manager’s Office in Greenville and now serves as a full-time Program Specialist in the Neighborhood and Business Services Department, Community Development Division.
Please see Isabella Sardina’s graduate profile. Go, Pirates!