María Cecilia Pertuz is a Political Scientist and Masters in Public Policy and currently a student of Coastal Environmental Management at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.
María hails from Colombia, and has worked as a research assistant in a think tank, as a coordinator in the Colombian National Government, and as a WWF consultant.
She had the incredible opportunity to work in national public policies such as Colombia as a Bioceanic Power 2030 and National Protected Area System.
María is an avid scuba diver and ocean enthusiast, having participated in Reef Check and Reef Repair expeditions. Her love for the ocean and passion for public policies is an asset to Duke and CCRW in contributing to protecting water quality in Coastal NC.
María is assisting CCRW in diversity planning to ensure our work equitably represents our community environment. Maria is also assisting CCRW with grant research in order to sustain and expand our work for NC waters.
Meet Alex
Alex Risius is a Master of Environmental Management Candidate at Duke University. She is assisting CCRW with our education, outreach, and social marketing projects to increase our community’s awareness of water quality issues.
Alex is in her first year of graduate school and is specializing in Coastal Environmental Management. Prior to returning to school, Alex worked as the Assistant Director of Reef Relief, a non-profit organization focused on coral reef conservation.
During her time at Reef Relief, she taught thousands of students about coral reef ecosystems, worked with community stakeholders to solve local environmental issues, and assisted in hiring and managing staff and interns. Alex now sits on the board of directors at Reef Relief and helps guide policy decisions on water quality and environmental issues in South Florida.
Alex is very excited to be working with the team at Coastal Carolina Riverwatch to improve the quality of water and quality of life through outreach and marketing initiatives.
Join CCRW on World Water Day for the premiere of our new documentary, “Tidal Alert: The State of Water Quality and its Impact on Coastal Fisheries”, on Facebook Live and Vimeo on March 22, 2022 at 6:00pm EST.
Coastinista 