Project Updates

Kelly Thorvalson, Senior Manager of Conservation Programs with the South Carolina Aquarium was awarded the 2024 S.C. Environmental Awareness Award for her conservation efforts in plastic pollution mitigation, sustainable seafood, and resilience.

The new art exhibit, Beyond the Surface, is bringing attention to South Carolina’s water resource challenges through a creative blend of science and visual art. The collaborative project is the result of partnerships between the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, Clemson Extension, South Carolina Water Resources Center, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville art gallery.

What is the best use case for South Carolina’s historic rice fields, and how can land managers plan for the future? Long recognized as a vital habitat for wildlife and fisheries, including migratory waterfowl and endangered species, S.C.’s managed antebellum rice fields, or impoundments also increase the coast’s resilience to sea level rise and the accelerated magnitude and frequency of storms.

Atlantic blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) move throughout the estuarine system in response to changing life stages and environmental conditions. Understanding when and why these movements occur is critical to developing effective and sustainable fishery practices and tools.

The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium Board of Directors will hold a meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Monday, February 10, 2025. The meeting will be held virtually.

What impact can clean water and public awareness of contaminants have on a coastal community? For Edisto Island and the Town of Edisto Beach, a clean watershed could mean increasing opportunities for wild shellfish harvesting—and the economic and cultural boon that represents.

CoastSnap was recently re-installed at the Cherry Grove Fishing Pier in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. CoastSnap is a beach monitoring program that uses cell phone photos taken by beach visitors from a specific location.

The S.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Collaborative Program, a watershed-based resilience planning pilot program, has begun meeting with recently developed community action teams in the Salkehatchie River Basin.

The first round of sampling in a study on Vibrio spp. levels in farmed oysters during routine cage drying was conducted this summer by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

The Consortium’s Coastal Resilience Collective project team presented findings from a recent resilience needs assessment survey. The Coastal Resilience Collective aims to create connections across sectors and regions to facilitate knowledge transfer among those working in climate resilience in coastal South Carolina.

S.C. Sea Grant Consortium’s Annual Board of Directors Meeting to be held virtually on October 29, open to members of the media and the public.

S.C. Sea Grant Consortium-nominated Jesseca Kusher of the College of Charleston selected as 2025 finalist for the Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship.