This research project’s objectives are to (1) compile, synthesize, and analyze published and unpublished ecological, environmental, socioeconomic, and other data from breached and intact tidal rice fields, (2) assess the methodologies, successes, and failures of restored rice field projects, (3) collect and analyze community input from underserved African American (including the Gullah Geechee) communities, and the broader community of stakeholders on their historical knowledge and desired future endpoints for rice field infrastructure preservation to ensure community needs are incorporated into coastal resiliency and wildlife conservation plans, (4) generate a risk-benefit matrix profile and decision-support tool that addresses the ecological and societal costs and benefits associated with abandoning these historic rice field impoundments versus maintaining them, and (5) identify research and data gaps to develop a comprehensive long-term research agenda focused on socio-ecological conservation and ecosystem services of rice fields.
S.C. Sea Grant Funded Research
Envisioning the Future of South Carolina’s Antebellum Rice Fields: Development of a Decision Support Tool
Funding Cycle: 2024-2026
Principal Investigator: James T. Anderson, Clemson University
Co-Principal Investigators: Mažeika Patricio Sulliván, Clemson University; Shari L. Rodriguez, Clemson University; Marilyn Hemingway, Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce and the Gullah Geechee Foundation