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February 2001 Topics      current topics

• Dr. Davis re-elected S.C. Sea Grant Consortiun board chair
• Minority students to receive internship aid
• Grassroots program to restore oyster habitat
• Knight selected for Leadership South Carolina
• Sea Grant hires new accountant

Davis re-elected S.C. Sea Grant Consortium board chair

Dr. Leroy Davis, president of South Carolina State University, has been re-elected chair of the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium's Board of Directors. Davis begins his second one-year term immediately.

Davis has spent much of his professional life at South Carolina State University, where he began his academic career as a biology professor. In 1990, he became Vice Provost for Academic Administration and was later promoted to Vice President for Student Services. Davis was appointed the eighth president of South Carolina State University in 1996. He has also published articles in general and technical journals.

"I am extremely pleased that Dr. Davis has been re-elected chair of the Consortium Board of Directors," said Rick DeVoe, executive director of S.C. Sea Grant Consortium. "The Consortium and its programs will continue to benefit from his guidance and stature as one of the state's preeminent university leaders."

Minority students to receive internship aid

The National Sea Grant College Program has awarded $135,000 to the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium to support a South Carolina State University proposal that will foster student careers, research, and workforce competitiveness in marine and related sciences.

Through innovative partnerships, S.C. State will provide opportunities for South Carolina's minority students to be better prepared for careers in marine sciences, with a focus on aquaculture. Up to six students each year will receive internships during the three-year project, scheduled to run through 2003.

Project partners include Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Maritime Transportation Research Center, South Carolina Technology Alliance, College of Charleston, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium.

Donald Anadu, associate professor in the Department of Biology, leads the project, and S. Sureshawaran, assistant professor in the Department of Agribusiness and Economics, serves as co-investigator.

Grassroots program to restore oyster habitat

For generations, Americans have moved vast amounts of oyster shells from the water to the land, but now Sea Grant researchers plan to work with local volunteers to return shells back to the sea.

If more shell was planted in coastal waters, it could provide a foundation for the young oysters. To survive, oyster larvae must attach to hard surfaces such as shells or dock pilings. Replanting oyster shell along the shoreline helps to increase oyster habitat and encourages future generations of oysters.

"People have mined oyster reefs for shells and meat, but they didn't recycle the shell back to the water," said Loren Coen, marine scientist at the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR). As a result, the oyster resources along the East and Gulf coasts have declined dramatically over the past century.

Coen and his DNR colleague Nancy Hadley are coordinating a project funded by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, NOAA, EPA, and the Hilton Head Foundation to help volunteers restore and enhance South Carolina oyster habitats, establish and promote oyster shell recycling, and use pilot reefs as living classrooms.

The researchers will work with volunteers from the S.C. Coastal Conservation League, University of South Carolina-Beaufort, local schools, and the S.C. Aquarium to establish oyster habitats.

Volunteers will build reefs by planting oyster shell and covering it with stabilizing mesh. Over time, these reefs will collect new oysters through natural larval settlement. Eventually, these areas should develop into natural oyster habitat. The researchers plan on organizing the construction of a minimum of two to three reefs in each coastal county.

Oyster reefs provide habitat for estuarine species to nest, breed, spawn, feed, and find refuge from predators, said Coen. Oyster reefs can also protect salt marshes by reducing bank erosion and improving water quality and clarity.
The researchers will develop a volunteer-based monitoring program to evaluate success of these restoration projects. DNR scientists and fisheries managers are also establishing an oyster-recycling program in South Carolina for future restoration and resource enhancement projects.

In wintertime, many people in South Carolina hold oyster roasts and eat shellfish harvested from South Carolina or, more frequently, from the Gulf of Mexico. The problem is that "all or most of that shell gets thrown away, and in the past we had no organized state shell recycling program," said Coen.

The pilot reefs will be used as living classrooms to develop public awareness of various ecosystem values of oyster habitats. Schoolchildren will be involved in the project through collaboration with the Charleston Math and Science Hub, which will develop classroom and field activities related to oyster habitats.

Knight selected for Leadership South Carolina

Elaine Knight, assistant director of the Consortium, has been selected to participate in the 22nd class year of Leadership South Carolina, which is sponsored by the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of South Carolina. The class helps participants invest their energy and talents for the improvement of the state of South Carolina.

Sea Grant hires new accountant

Romeka Washington has joined the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium as a fiscal analyst. Washington will handle a variety of the agency's accounting needs, including grants accounting and assisting in budget preparation.

Washington was formerly the finance clerk for the Town of Kiawah Island. She has a B.S. in business administration, with a major in accounting and management science from the University of South Carolina. Washington is currently completing coursework for her M.B.A. from the Citadel, which she expects to receive in August 2001.

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