OBXFS Capstone Research Review

Another season of the Outer Banks Field Site (OBXFS) has now come and gone, and an entire semester of research was distilled into a brief yet insightful public presentation before the thirteen students departed CSI to head home for their well-deserved holiday break. The celebratory 25^th year of the UNC Institute for the Environment’s field site for undergraduates on the Outer Banks was overall a great success.

During CSI’s December installment of the Science on the Sound lecture series, the 2025 OBXFS participants highlighted the methods, findings, and conclusions from their nearly three-month-long Capstone research study, “Patterns of protection: Natural and social values of the Nags Head Woods maritime forest”.

The Nags Head Woods Preserve is a highly revered maritime forest that spans the boundary of Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head, NC. Given its unique ecosystem and cultural importance to the local community, the OBXFS students wanted to investigate the levels of protection found in and around the Woods through both natural and social science lenses. The natural aspects of the project considered ecological processes, while the social science component considered human values and perceptions of Nags Head Woods. To conduct their study, the students surveyed six plots of land in the Woods to understand biological influences, and they interviewed 26 stakeholders, or users, of Nags Woods to better understand public use and value of the area.

The six plots that the students picked to assess were spread across Nags Head Woods. Moving from north to south, three sites were located near the sound side, while the others occurred toward the ocean in the eastern portion of the woods. At or near each study area, the students placed a wildlife camera along visible deer trails to record animal observations and a tower to collect salt spray. Additionally, they used the Carolina Vegetation Survey method to quantify canopy coverage, assess plant age and maturity, and identify the species composition.

Across the plots, wildlife sightings included raccoons, white-tailed deer, Virginia opossum, American robins, swallowtail butterflies, coyotes, lots of grey squirrels, and one bobcat. The students concluded that the local wildlife utilized the habitat and protection provided by the Woods. Additionally, the students observed 51 unique plant species, only two of which were invasive. They found loblolly pine, pignut hickory, and American holly to be the most common species among all sites; however, the distribution and abundance of these species varied from site to site. Based on the amount of salt spray collected at each site, the students concluded that salt spray blown from the ocean and the sound strongly influenced the vegetative composition and canopy cover in the Nags Head Woods Preserve. Specific sites received varying levels of protection from salt spray based on the amount of canopy cover at each site, as well as the topography of the immediate surrounding area. The students briefly highlighted nuances of each site in their public presentation and gave even greater detail in their final written report.

While tackling the natural science aspect of the Capstone project focused on quantitative measures of biodiversity and protection values, the human dimensions component incorporated a qualitative approach to understand users’ perspectives on the values of Nags Head Woods. To identify values and capture emergent themes across interviews, the students first had to transcribe and code each interview for prominent thoughts and feelings about Nags Head Woods.

Overall, as noted on page 71 of their written report, “Interviewees valued the Woods for the contributions it made to their lives, as well as the relationships they forged with nature and with others through nature.” More specifically, values captured in the interviews included recreation and leisure; biodiversity and habitat; mental wellness; social bonds; and preservation. Nags Head Woods overwhelmingly provides people with a sense of protection on multiple fronts including protection from environmental stressors and social stressors, as well as from further land development in the area. However, differences in opinion emerged regarding the level of public access to Nags Head Woods. Those who live in the Woods believed it to have already lost a degree of privacy, while those who often visit the area did so for the serenity it offered. The juxtaposition of these opinions highlights the criticality of finding a balance between managed access and seclusion in the Nags Head Woods Preserve. Finally, it is worth noting that regardless of user type, many interviewees indicated a deep sense of moral obligation to steward and protect the Woods itself, further revealing what the students described on pages 73-74 of their report as a “self-perpetuating cycle [of] protection offered to the Woods, by the Woods, and through the Woods….”

The values and attitudes of people toward Nags Head Woods captured through the 26 interviews seemingly align with the management strategies chosen by the towns of Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy. Quantifying these perceptions through this study and continuing to do so in the future will allow managers to make the most informed decisions about land use going forward.

“Between spending time in the Woods and in conversation with interviewees, the students amassed an impressive dataset. They brought remarkable analytical insights and interpretative skills to their analyses, which illustrate not only the multiple and inter-related values of the Woods, but the students’ own engagement with and awe of Nags Head Woods,” OBXFS Associate Director Dr. Linda D’Anna elaborates.

The students recognize their study was narrow in scope given the time constraints of the semester, and they are leaving behind some big ideas and believe the work is just beginning. Future steps could include continuing with the same methods over a longer period to include more seasonality and perhaps capture long-term changes in Nags Head Woods. Considerations of forest succession, local hydrology, and user impacts to the Woods could also further complement their project.

While their ideas for future studies may be cut out for future researchers, the thirteen students of the 2025 OBXFS are proud of their work during the Fall semester and look back fondly on their time spent on the Outer Banks and in Nags Head Woods.

The preceding story first appeared in the Winter 2026 edition of CoastLines, published in January.