Weeks Bay Coordinator Recognized Nationally

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has announced that Eric Brunden, stewardship coordinator at the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) in Fairhope, has received the NERR System and NERR Association Award for Outstanding Contribution. The NERR Association and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management Stewardship Division present this award each year to an individual or group who has demonstrated exemplary leadership and sustained commitment to the mission of the national reserve system. Brunden began volunteering at Weeks Bay in 1999. During his time as a volunteer, he worked on various education programs and became certified as an Alabama Water Watch monitor for the Weeks Bay Watershed Project, while pursuing a master’s degree in secondary education from the University of South Alabama. He was hired at Weeks Bay in 2000 to be the lead technician overseeing the reserve’s system-wide monitoring program. In 2005, he was promoted to stewardship coordinator. In this role, he has worked with numerous partners to conduct research, monitoring and habitat restoration within the reserve.