WILMINGTON – One of the things that attracted Chancellor Jose “Zito” Sartarelli to UNC Wilmington two years ago was the strength of its Marine Sciences and Marine Biology programs.

The nationally recognized programs involve what Sartarelli calls “multi-disciplinarity” in the accompanying video – overlap with such diverse fields as geo-science, ocean physics, oceanography and economics.

But marine science isn’t purely academic, Sartarelli says.

“It also has resonance to economic development – direct economic development,” he says, noting that UNCW is cultivating both shellfish and oysters in its aquaculture programs.

“We have a full development of new strains of oysters, perhaps more adapted to the conditions of our oceans today,” he says.  “This is where there’s an insertion – a very practical insertion – into the economic reality of the state.”