Protecting North Carolina's Waters Starts Before the Damage Begins
By Michelle Fiscus, Senior VP & Chief Communications Officer
Along North Carolina’s coast, the waterways are not just part of the landscape—they are part of daily life, identity, and the state’s economy. But beneath the surface, a persistent and costly problem quietly builds—layers of aquatic organisms attaching to boats, infrastructure, and equipment, slowing vessels, clogging systems, and increasing both environmental and financial strain.
For Robert Hughes, a professor of chemistry at East Carolina University whose work focuses on applied protein biochemistry, this problem isn’t just scientific—it’s personal, practical, and urgent. After years of working with protein-based technologies in controlled lab environments, he reached a turning point.
“Biofouling is a huge problem with fewer environmentally friendly solutions than there should be,” Hughes explains. “It’s also fascinating to learn about the many attempted solutions… sometimes it’s unclear why promising technologies never moved forward into the marketplace.”
At its core, biofouling is what happens when marine organisms accumulate on surfaces in the water. For everyday North Carolinians, it’s the slimy buildup on a dock ladder or the drag on a boat that suddenly makes it harder to steer. But at a systems level, the consequences are far more significant. Increased friction on ships drives up fuel consumption, raising both costs and carbon emissions. Clogged systems disrupt operations. And the solutions currently used to combat the problem—particularly copper-based coatings—are creating their own environmental risks.
“Many of the most effective solutions… are not good for our waterways or for the people who have to apply and reapply the biocides,” Hughes says.
Older compounds like tributyl tin were phased out decades ago due to their toxicity. Their replacements, while somewhat less harmful, are now accumulating in waterways and facing growing regulatory scrutiny. Without a viable alternative, the long-term health of marine ecosystems—and the industries that depend on them—remains at risk.
Hughes’ approach offers a different path. His team is developing environmentally friendly coating technologies rooted in applied protein biochemistry—solutions designed not just to work in the lab, but to function in real-world marine conditions. The goal is deceptively simple: prevent buildup before it starts, without introducing new environmental harm.
If successful, the impact could ripple outward—from recreational boaters to commercial shipping, from coastal communities to global supply chains. “All of the above stand to benefit,” Hughes notes. “It perhaps begins locally… then expands to boat manufacturers… and extends across other industries and communities.”
But for years, like many academic innovations, this work risked staying confined to the lab.
That trajectory changed with support from NCInnovation.
“NCInnovation is a primary reason for this technology to continue to go forward,” Hughes says. “Without the hybrid research and commercialization approach… almost certainly this would still be a laboratory-scale project.”
Unlike traditional academic funding, which often prioritizes discovery without requiring a clear path to market, NCInnovation brings a different lens—one focused on translation, validation, and real-world adoption. Through non-dilutive funding and commercialization support, Hughes and his team are now able to test their technology in real environmental conditions, explore regulatory pathways, and begin thinking about company formation and industry partnerships.
“The marketing and commercialization aspects… are critical for framing this project as something that needs to ultimately generate revenue,” he explains. “It prioritizes a de-risking approach… and will ultimately have an accelerating effect.”
That acceleration is already visible. What once might have taken years to move beyond early-stage research is now advancing toward real-world testing—across varying temperatures, salinity levels, and conditions that mirror North Carolina’s diverse coastal environments.
“Faster—faster to ecotox testing, faster to company founding, faster to scoping out a regulatory pathway,” Hughes says simply.
Success, in his view, isn’t just a scientific milestone. It’s a fully validated technology with a clear market application and, ideally, an industry partner ready to take it further. It’s a solution that is not only effective, but simple enough to be adopted—because in the end, even the most elegant science must work in the real world.
For North Carolina, the stakes are both economic and environmental. The state’s coastal economy, its boat-building heritage, and its deep cultural connection to water all depend on sustainable solutions that protect both industry and ecosystem.
“I keep going back to the love that many North Carolinians have for their waterways,” Hughes says.
That connection is what makes this work matter—and what makes its success feel tangible.
Because if Hughes’ technology reaches the market, the impact won’t just be measured in reduced drag or cleaner hulls. It will be seen in healthier waterways, more efficient industries, and a stronger, more sustainable coastal economy.
And for Hughes himself, the outcome is both simple and profound: “It would be very gratifying to know that I’ve had a hand in advancing an impactful technology.”