By Hailey Murphy, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
Aerial views of Oyster Landing in the North Inlet Estuary at the University of South Carolina Baruch Marine Field Laboratory, where researchers have deployed wooden stakes as an alternative shoreline restoration technique to rebuild oyster reefs. Photo credit: Noah Stillman/S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
Coastal restoration, aquaculture, and water quality protection benefit the South Carolina environment and economy, but could switching to non-plastic materials in these sectors be the next step in providing these services even more sustainably?
Scientists aim to mitigate the introduction of microplastics to South Carolina’s coastal zone by providing a reliable list of non-plastic material options for use in everything from floating treatment wetlands to shoreline restoration.
Examples of plastic used in the coastal aquaculture, environmental restoration, and water quality protection sectors include floating treatment wetlands, geotextiles for erosion control, plastic oyster bags, styrofoam buoys, floating oyster cages, and anti-predator netting. Bruce Pfirrmann, University of South Carolina.
The Consortium’s collaborative research project, “From Blue-Gray to Blue-Green: Facilitating the Transition to Non-Plastic, Natural Material Use Within the Coastal Zone Economy” led by Principal Investigator William Strosnider, Ph.D., University of South Carolina, seeks to address the potential for microplastic pollution from sources within the aquaculture, shoreline restoration, and water quality protection sectors. By providing stakeholders in each sector with a list of alternative natural materials that have been tested for practical use and economic feasibility within coastal South Carolina, and conducting extensive outreach and education on microplastics, the team hopes to reduce barriers to adopting non-plastic materials and preventing microplastic pollution in the region.
Co-Investigators include:
- Brooke Saari, Amanda Guthrie, Ph.D., Matt Gorstein, and Susan Lovelace, Ph.D., S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
- Bruce Pfirrmann and Mariah Livernois, Ph.D., University of South Carolina Baruch Marine Field Laboratory.
- Michael Carbajales-Dale, Ph.D., and Sarah White, Ph.D., Clemson University.
- Robert Lowe, Ph.D., and Scott Schneider, University of Dayton.
- Mark Dugo, Ph.D., Johnson C. Smith University.
- Joshua Robinson, Robinson Design Engineers.
Students assisting with this project include:
- Briar Ownby-Connolly, Ph.D. student, University of South Carolina.
- Levi McKercher, Ph.D. student, University of South Carolina.
- Lexi Watson, M.S. student, College of Charleston.
- Evan Smyjunas, M.S. student, University of Dayton
- Loring Leitzel, M.S. student, University of Dayton
- Camila Montoya, M.S. student, Clemson University.
- John Mark Asare, M.S. student, Clemson University.
- Taylor Campbell, M.S. student, College of Charleston, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
- Elle Pestorius, M.S. Student, College of Charleston, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
- Kayla Thompson, undergraduate student, University of South Carolina.
- Jhoan Gutierrez, undergraduate student, University of Dayton
- James Anderson, undergraduate student, University of Dayton
- Erin Barr, undergraduate student, Clemson University.
- Alex Cromwell, undergraduate student, Johnson C. Smith University.
This project is also supported by the following research technicians and educators:
- Maggie Pelton, University of South Carolina, Baruch Marine Field Laboratory.
- Rashawna Huntley, Johnson C. Smith University.
- E.V. Bell, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
- Morgan Treon, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
- Elle Pestorius, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
This project is funded through the National Sea Grant Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Marine Debris Challenge Competition.
Samples of coir geotextiles labelled and prepped for analysis at the University of South Carolina Baruch Marine Field Laboratory. Photo credit: Hailey Murphy/S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
To lay the groundwork for the project’s education and outreach goals, in summer 2024, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium education staff held “Micro to Macro,” a marine debris workshop that brought together formal and nonformal educators across the state of S.C. During this three-day workshop, educators learned from scientists about current research on plastics and microplastics, engaged in hands-on classroom and stewardship activities, and brainstormed ideas for the creation of a new marine debris educational resource to be developed during the grant period.
The research project team convened on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) in the fall of 2024, in part to better understand how this project supports capacity building for JCSU’s academic programming focused on sustainability with an emphasis on the relationship between land-use and water quality. During this visit to JCSU, four members of the research team, Mariah Livernois, Rashawna Huntley, Bruce Pfirrmann, and Mark Dugo, participated in a STEM natural science seminar and panel discussion, Promoting healthy coastal ecosystems through research and education at the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory, that was attended by JCSU STEM students, faculty and staff.
So far, the research project team has conducted outreach to guide alternative materials selection through community and stakeholder engagement via a series of workshops and meetings, and developed an initial list of potential alternative materials, including jute, coir, glass aggregate, and biopolymers.
List in hand, the team began field and laboratory testing of the materials, conducted extension focused on promising field sites, and refined the list of alternatives based on results from their preliminary tests. Materials were selected for factors such as buoyancy or physical degradation, tensile strength, and elasticity through testing at the University of Dayton. This narrowed-down list includes candidates such as coir geotextiles for oyster reef restoration and shoreline protection; it also includes glass aggregates and cork, which provide buoyancy for floating wetlands that aid in water quality improvement.
Bruce Pfirrmann of the University of South Carolina leads a group studying contaminants of emerging concern on a tour of Baruch Marine Field Laboratory, where a variety of natural materials are being tested as alternatives to plastic. Photo credit: Hailey Murphy/S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
The team is currently conducting field testing of these narrowed alternatives at the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory and the Water Treatment Technology Laboratory in Clemson. The team is also developing an economic analysis of the viability of applying these materials in the habitat restoration, aquaculture, and water quality protection sectors. These findings will lead to a final list of economically and ecologically sound non-plastic alternatives for use in the coastal zone of South Carolina. This list and educational materials will be shared with coastal communities and stakeholders, will be included in the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium’s K-12 education programming and teacher workshops, and submitted for publication in scientific journals.
“We’ll realize the impact in a few years when we see a speedier transition to better material options, for example, as next-generation, biodegradable, non-plastic oyster reef restoration structures become more common than current conventional plastic mesh,” says Principal Investigator Strosnider. “We’re working to catalyze that shift away from plastics to protect our sensitive coastal environments.”
For more information, check out the From Blue-Gray to Blue-Green project. You may also reach out to Brooke Saari, Coastal Environmental Quality and Extension Services Specialist at the Consortium, or Principal Investigator Bill Strosnider, Ph.D., at USC.