Get To know me

The Basics

• Name: Paula C Gillikin
• Birth Year and Place: 1978, Beaufort, NC
• Years lived in Beaufort: 40 
• Why I Love Beaufort: It's a small coastal town with a rich history and a BIG personality! 
• High School: East Carteret
• College Education: University of North Carolina at Wilmington
• Post-college Education: Tufts University Veterinary School near Boston
• Occupation: Nature reserve manager for the State of North Carolina (16 years)
• Past-times: Sailing and ancestry research. 
• My Causes: Community Resilience, Environment, and Child & Animal Welfare

See my LinkedIn profile if you are interested in a full resume.

Roots in Beaufort

Charles Bowen Gillikin was my third great grandfather and he married Lurania Avis Simpson. Charles Bowen Gillikin and Lurania lived and farmed land on what is now current-day Steep Point Road in the area of the Gibbs Creek subdivision. Alice James Gillikin was born to Charles and Lurania and she is my great-great grandmother. She was a farm hand and had two children: Elizabeth Fisher and Mamie Catherine Gillikin, my great grandmother. Mamie eventually moved from Steep Point into Beaufort town limits where she maintained a home first on Cedar Street, then for many years in Highland Park (Carteret Ave-1st-2nd-3rd streets). Mamie’s son, Luther, was my grandfather and he married Lessie Willis from Swansboro and settled in the 300 block of Live Oak St where my father, Raymond Paul Gillikin, was born and raised. My father married Carolyn Corey, my mother, in Greenville and came back to Beaufort and lived just outside of Beaufort in the Oakwood Acres community. 

Education and Residence 

In 1996, I moved to Wilmington for college returning my last two summers to work at Duke Marine Lab. Upon graduation, I continued employment at Duke Marine Lab in the Ecology and Conservation Lab and purchased a home in Highland Park, Beaufort. I moved to North Grafton, MA in 2005 for graduate school and found my way back to Beaufort, again, when I was offered a short contract job managing the wild horses at the Rachel Carson Reserve. This contract eventually led to a permanent position managing the Rachel Carson site. In 2021, I sold my home in Highland Park and bought land a few blocks away to build my "forever home." 

In summary, I have deep roots, here, that inspire me to help maintain the environment and specialness of this place as it grows in population and character. We must welcome newcomers, preserve our rich history (the good and the bad), and ensure that founding families that have been here for hundreds of years, remain. They are the seeds of our history and newcomers from near and far have enhanced and continued to grow our town's endearing character for over 300 years.