News Archives 2006           current topics

• S.C. Sea Grant Hires Assistant Director for Research & Planning
• Sorensen Re-Elected as Board Chair of S.C. Sea Grant
  
• S.C. Sea Grant-Nominated Students Awarded Knauss Fellowships

S.C. Sea Grant Hires Assistant Director for Research and Planning

Charleston, S.C.—Denise Sanger has joined the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium as the assistant director for research and planning.  Sanger has experience in coastal zone management and ecotoxicology with an emphasis in estuarine benthic ecology, sediment chemistry, design and analysis of ecological risk assessment data and status and trends monitoring of environmental water quality data.  She is particularly interested in the impacts of human land use on the estuarine environment.

Sanger obtained her doctorate in marine science in 1998 from the University of South Carolina and her B.A. degree in marine biology in 1993 from the University of California, Santa Cruz.  She has most recently worked for the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (SCDHEC-OCRM) as senior scientist.

Her research projects include evaluating the impacts of development on tidal creek and salt marsh ecosystems including examining water quality, sediment contamination, biological quality and human health and welfare in association with NOAA’s Hollings Marine Laboratory Center of Excellence in Oceans and Human Health.  She is also evaluating water quality, water quantity and efficiencies of stormwater ponds in the coastal zone of South Carolina in association with SCDHEC-OCRM. Finally, she is assessing the potential for hypoxia in Long Bay, S.C.

The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, a university-based state agency, seeks to maximize the economic, social and environmental potential of the state’s coastal and marine resources through the support of integrated research, education and extension programs.  The Consortium is a member of the nationwide network of 30 Sea Grant Programs that are sanctioned through the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program, U.S. Department of Commerce. For more information, visit http://www.scseagrant.org.

Sorensen Re-Elected as Board chair of S.C. Sea Grant
President of USC to serve third consecutive term

Dr. Andrew A. Sorensen, president of the University of South Carolina, has been re-elected as chair of S.C. Sea Grant Consortium’s Board of Directors. Sorensen began his one-year term on January 1, 2006.

Sorensen is the 27th president of the University of South Carolina. Prior to his appointment at USC, Sorensen served as president of the University of Alabama and provost and vice-president for academic affairs at the University of Florida.

“We’re pleased that our board members have elected Dr. Sorensen to serve as the Consortium’s board chair,” said Rick DeVoe, executive director. “His previous experience with Sea Grant programs in the Southeast and his leadership in South Carolina will help guide our efforts over the next year.”              

The Consortium’s Board of Directors is composed of the chief executive officers of its member institutions. Currently serving on the board are: Board Chair Dr. Andrew A. Sorensen, president of University of South Carolina; Dr. Ronald R. Ingle, president of Coastal Carolina University; James F. Barker, president of Clemson University; Dr. Andrew H. Hugine, Jr., president of S.C. State University; Dr. Raymond S. Greenberg, president of Medical University of South Carolina; Lieutenant General John W. Rosa, president of The Citadel; Leo I. Higdon, Jr., president of College of Charleston; and John E. Frampton, executive director of S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

S.C. Sea Grant-Nominated Students Awarded Knauss Fellowships, Call for Applications for class of 2007

Kristine Hiltunen and Liza Johnson have been chosen to receive Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships for 2006. Nominated by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, the students were selected from a pool of 82 candidates submitted by Sea Grant College Programs nationwide. Selection criteria include academic performance, letters of recommendation, career interests and work and volunteer experience.

Hiltunen, an M.S. graduate in marine biology from the College of Charleston, has been placed as an executive fellow in the Program Planning and Integration office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She will learn and ultimately be able to provide analyses of strategic programs throughout the planning and executive phases of the NOAA Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Executive System.

Johnson, an M.S. graduate in environmental studies at the College of Charleston, has been placed as an executive fellow in the Office of Response and Restoration/Coral Reef Conservation Program in the National Ocean Service, NOAA. Johnson will be part of a group involved in all aspects of coral reef restoration, including mapping, monitoring, management and education/outreach components.

Each Sea Grant program may nominate up to five individuals for the Knauss Fellowship. “I am very pleased two graduate students from South Carolina were selected for this year’s class,” said Rick DeVoe, executive director of the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium. “The Knauss Fellowship experience will greatly benefit Kristine and Liza as they move forward with their professional careers.”

“Once again, S.C. Sea Grant has recommended outstanding fellowship candidates, two of whom have been selected in a highly competitive process to spend a year in Washington, D.C. working with marine policy in the executive branch,” said Jacques Oliver, Knauss Fellows program manager. Forty-two students from across the nation will participate as Knauss Fellows during 2006. 

To further the education of tomorrow’s leaders, the National Sea Grant Office has sponsored the Knauss Fellowship program since 1979. The fellowship brings a select group of graduate students to the nation’s capital where they work in the federal government’s legislative and executive branches. Students learn about federal policy regarding marine and Great Lakes natural resources, and lend their scientific and policy expertise to federal agencies and congressional staff offices. The fellowship is named after Dr. John A. Knauss, one of Sea Grant’s founders, former NOAA administrator and former Dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island.

The application process for the 2007 fellowship has begun. Applications must be submitted to the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium by March 6, 2006. The Consortium will then interview applicants and determine which candidates will be forwarded to the National Sea Grant College Program for consideration. Prospective candidates should contact John Dwyer by phone at (843) 953-2078 or email John.Dwyer@scseagrant.org.

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