S.C. Sea Grant Consortium

Building a Regional Network to Study the Influence of Climate Change on Contaminants of Emerging Concern

The geographical scope of this project is focused on South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and includes both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida. We aim to support research that will address priorities defined through our literature gap analysis, legal scan, and advisory committee discussions.

Project Support

This project is supported by a grant from the National Sea Grant Office and NOAA. Following the completion of a gap analysis and legal scan in Year 1, we released a Request for Proposals to address the priorities identified in our Primer.

The competitive research opportunity was open from October 2023 through January 2024.

Supported Research Projects

Till J.J. Hanebuth, Ph.D., Professor, Coastal Carolina University

Proposal Name: Rising water tables and increasing river flooding changing the transport pattern and fate of PFAS in the lower Winyah watershed (WinyahFlu)

Leslie Hart, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Charleston

Proposal Name: Climate factor influences, spatiotemporal variability, and bottlenose dolphin health related to phthalate exposure measured over 30 years in Sarasota Bay, Florida (1993-2023)

Ching-Hua Huang, Ph.D., Turnipseed Family Chair and Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

Proposal Name: Impact of Drinking Water Treatment on the Fate of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances (PFAS) and Precursors in Wastewater Reuse Application

Xiaoyu Xu, Ph.D., Assistant Research Scientist, University of Georgia

Proposal Name: Develop a Community-Based Participatory Approach to Evaluate the Dietary Exposure of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in an Underrepresented Community

Project Team

Brooke Saari
SCSGC Coastal Environmental Quality Program Specialist
brooke.saari@scseagrant.org
(843) 953-6406

Katy Austin Smith
GASG Water Resources Specialist
klaustin@uga.edu
(912) 262-3338

Catherine Marie Janasie
National Sea Grant Law Center Senior Research Counsel
cjanasie@olemiss.edu
(662) 915-7775

Lola Renauer
SCSGC Contaminants of Emerging Concern Graduate Assistant
lola.renauer@scseagrant.org
(843) 953-2078

Advisory Committee

Bill Strosnider – University of South Carolina, Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences

Ryann Rossi – St. Andrew & St. Joseph Bays Estuary Program, Florida State University Panama City

Chip Robinson – Georgia Interfaith Power and Light

Marilyn Hemingway – Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce

Jennifer Kline – Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Resources Division

Chaquetta Greene – South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Environmental Justice Associate

Elizabeth Booth – Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Watershed Protection Branch

Cheryl Cail – American Rivers

Lisa Fraley-McNeal – Center for Watershed Protection

Ed Wirth – NCCOS/Hollings Marine Lab

Lisa Krimsky – Florida Sea Grant

Ray Holberger – South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control

Sue Ebanks – Savannah State University

Stephanie Showalter-Otts – National Sea Grant Law Center Director