 United
States Department of Agriculture -
Forest Service |
 Southern Research Station200 W.T. Weaver Boulevard Asheville, NC 28804 |
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Project Focuses on Low-Income Minority Communities of Upper Charleston County
Asheville,NC -- USDA Forest Service (FS) scientists have helped start an exciting new environmental sciences program in the public schools of upper Charleston County, SC. Dr. Marianne Burke, research ecologist with the FS Southern Research Station (SRS) Center for Forested Wetlands Research in Charleston, SC, received a $10,000 grant from the FS Washington Office for a collaborative project in the public schools of upper McClellanville, the largest town in upper Charleston County. The project will also conduct a study of community perceptions and needs in relation to the national forests and future land use within the rural coastal community.
Upper Charleston County, which lies north of the city of Charleston in the coastal plain between the Sewee and Santee Rivers, is increasingly threatened by urban sprawl and coastal development. Once covered with rice plantations, the area is still mostly rural and its residents predominantly African American. Though a large part of the county lies within the Francis Marion National Forest, African American residents rarely use this resource, nor do they tend to be involved in decisions about future land uses in their area.
Burke's project will support new environmental science curricula in McClellanville schools by providing equipment, supplies, a network of volunteers, and the technical help of a wide array of partners. Dr. Cassandra Johnson, social scientist from the SRS Recreation, Wilderness, Urban Forest, and Demographics Trends Research unit in Athens, GA, will coordinate the second component of the program, a study of community needs and perceptions that will focus specifically on minority participation in decisions about both private and public lands in upper Charleston County.
"Our project has three main goals," said Burke. "There is a real need to inform the residents about local environmental issues and to involve them in making decisions about the future of their community. We also want to help residents appreciate and use the federal land near their community. At this point, our most important goal is to assist the public schools with education in the environmental sciences. This is particularly important in upper Charleston County, where there is a history of high teacher turnover rates and low student performance on standardized tests. This situation has improved with the arrivals of the new high school principal, Dr. Paula Gaffney, and the environmental science teacher Dr. Robert Scott. The new project, with its wide range of partners, is an exciting opportunity for students, educators, the community, and the collaborators themselves."
Along with SRS units in Athens, GA, Clemson, SC, and Raleigh, NC, project partners include: the Charleston County Public School system, the Sewee to Santee Community Development Cooperative, South Carolina Forestry Commission, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, University of South Carolina, Sustainable Soils, L.C.C., the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests, NOAA's National Oceanic Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, College of Charleston Masters in Environmental Studies Program, Sewee Visitor and Environmental Education Center, the Charleston Aquarium, and T-Bonz Restaurants.
The school program is off to a fast start. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service recently trained Dr. Scott and his students to monitor local bodies of water for algal blooms. Students learn to identify algae and algal blooms, conduct field sampling, and then report their results by Internet to South Carolina's Phytoplankton Monitoring Network, which is already established in 13 other high schools in coastal South Carolina.
In addition, the Algal Ecology Laboratory of the SC Department of Natural Resources and University of South Carolina has donated two new microscopes and lab and field supplies, and the College of Charleston and South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium have contributed state-of-the-art curricula on terrestrial, coastal, and ocean science. The Forest Service has purchased field and laboratory supplies and equipment, reference materials and software, and is participating in curriculum development with Sustainable Soils, L.L.C. The first two curricula include units on geography and biodiversity, and freshwater wetland ecology. The Sewee Visitor's Center is planning environmental education programs for Dr. Scott's classes, and T-Bonz has donated their nature center facilities in McClellanville for educational programs.
"For the curriculum on wetland ecology, students are constructing a small model wetland for study just outside their classroom, and will explore the role of land use on the health of wetlands systems and how these systems in turn influence deepwater marine life and fisheries," said Burke. "This topic is particularly important to people in the area, since fishing is still one of the most important industries in McClellanville. The students will study biodiversity and geography using state-of-the-art technology. Results from their field studies will be compiled into computerized maps that will be shared with other students and researchers by way of the Internet. These students should have a lot of fun while gaining important technical skills and learning about environmental issues in their community and in other communities around the world."
For more information, or to get the "wish list" for the environmental science program: Marianne Burke at (842-766-0371 x118) or mburke@fs.fed.us
SRS Center for Forested Wetlands Research:
/charleston/
South Carolina's Phytoplankton Monitoring Network:
http://www.chbr.noaa.gov/CoastalResearch/SCPMN/SCPMNmain.htm
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