DURHAM, N.H. - Fred Short, professor of natural resources and the environment at the University of New Hampshire and a leading expert in seagrass conservation and restoration worldwide, has been named "Conservationist of the Year" by the Coastal Conservation Association of New Hampshire. He will receive the award at an event Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, at the Wentworth Marina in New Castle.

Short, a UNH faculty member for nearly three decades, has done extensive research and advocacy on the ecology of New Hampshire's Great Bay estuary, where UNH's Jackson Estuarine Laboratory is located. His expertise is in seagrass conservation and restoration, and he is considered by his peers to be an international expert. He leads a global science-based monitoring program called SeagrassNet, which monitors seagrass health in 117 locations in 33 countries. He has authored and co-authored close to 100 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and three books. He published articles on such topics as "How Climate Change Will Affect Seagrasses" and "The Global Decline of Seagrasses."

He recently received a Lifetime Achievement Environmental Merit Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New England region. In 2009, Short was honored with a Coastal America Partnership Award, the only environmental award of its kind given by the U.S. president, for his contributions to a project that restored eelgrass to coastal salt ponds in Rhode Island.

More information about Fred Short is here: http://marine.unh.edu/jel/faculty/fred2/fredshort.htm.

Since 1998, Coastal Conservation Association of New Hampshire (CCANH) has advised and educated the public on the conservation of marine animal and plant life and other coastal resources both onshore and offshore. Its objective is to promote, protect, and enhance the present and future availability of these coastal resources for the benefit and enjoyment of the general public.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

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Photograph available to download:
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Caption: The Coastal Conservation Association of New Hampshire will honor Fred Short, professor of natural resources and the environment at the University of New Hampshire and a leading expert in seagrass conservation and restoration worldwide, with its Conservationist of the Year award Aug. 6, 2011.