MES Thesis and Internship Defense announcements for Fall 2009 are listed here.

The Pew Environment Group, South Carolina Wildlife Federation and the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League present...

Was Mother Wrong? What’s happened to all the fish in the sea?

6:00-6:30 pm: Light reception with free drinks and snacks.

6:30-7:30 pm: Slideshow presentation and discussion

Cost: Free

Fish are fast disappearing from our coasts. Learn about the threats to our fish and how healthy fish populations benefit our environment and economy. Discover why recent government actions put science at the heart of fisheries management and ways you can help ensure sustainable fish populations for future generations.

About the presenter

Leda Dunmire has a bachelor’s degree in biology and ecology and a dual MBA and master’s degree in global environmental policy from American University. She is the outreach coordinator for the Pew Environment Group’s Campaign to End Overfishing in the Southeast.

For more information, call 305-393-0934

www.sustainablesoutheastfisheries.org

This orientation gives incoming MES Students a chance to meet their fellow first-year students, some faculty members, and representatives from MESSA (the MES Student Association). Additional information is provided about the MES Program, and students will have a chance to ask any questions they may have.

All MES Program Students are invited to the second annual MES Program Convocation. Start off the new year by meeting new students and old friends, followed by a pizza lunch!

"Functional genomics of the red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis: the role of the spliced leader RNA in gene expression and genome architecture"

The August Marine Genomics Workshop will be held on Tuesday August 25th at 3pm in the HML auditorium.

Fran Van Dolah will present "Functional genomics of the red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis: the role of the spliced leader RNA in gene expression and genome architecture"

Speaker: Steve Arnott, Marine Resources Research Institute, SC Dept. of Natural Resources

Dr. Steve Arnott, a recent addition to the Marine Resources Research Institute's Mariculture and Estuarine Finfish research group, will examines how certain finfish species adapt to climate variation. Dr. Arnott has worked on fish species from a wide range of latitudes and will describe how these species might be expected to respond as environmental conditions change in the future, concentrating on genetic adaptations in growth rate. Dr. Arnott will describe a series of experiments covering a global array of finfish populations from such diverse locations as Nova Scotia, Spain, Scotland, Iceland, British Columbia, Japan and South Carolina, designed to reveal the range of adaptations that occur, what evolutionary mechanisms might drive them, and what underlying genetic causes might be responsible.

For the complete seminar schedule please visit the link below.

www.cofc.edu/~grice/fjseminars.htm

Speaker: Louise McKenzie, Ecology & Evolution Research Centre, Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

To request additions or deletions from this distribution list, contact marine@cofc.edu. See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

Food and Drinks provided. All graduate students are invited!

Join us for this fall's first Green Business Networking event. We will meet Sep 10th from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm on the second floor of the Tate Center (enter through the Beatty Center, 5 Liberty Street). Our hope for the monthly event is to bring together a variety of knowledge, skills, motivation, and expertise to share ideas about helping businesses be more environmentally-friendly, starting new sustainable businesses, finding employees/employment and generating general networking contacts here in Charleston and the Lowcountry. Come out and meet like-minded representatives from local businesses and organizations plus CofC students, alumni, staff and faculty. If you know anyone that might be interested, please feel free to pass this along to them, or just bring them with you.

Also, join us on LinkedIn. The group was set up to allow the networking to continue virtually in between our monthly events. Please feel encouraged to join the group and share what you are doing, ask or answer questions about green business or share interesting news articles.

As always, we’d appreciate an RSVP, but it is not required. Send RSVPs to David Hansen.

Fort Johnson Marine Science Seminar: Assessing Vulnerability to Climate Change
Auditorium, MRRI/SCDNR at Fort Johnson

Climate models suggest that future climate change will impact the Carolinas through increasing average temperatures and changes in precipitation. How vulnerable are the human and biophysical systems in the Carolinas to climate change?

Dr. Jessica Whitehead, regional climate extension specialist for the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium and North Carolina Sea Grant Extension Programs, will provide an overview of climate change vulnerability, resilience to climate change, and assessment methodologies to help local researchers explore this subject in the contexts of their research.

See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

The GSA is hosting their 3rd Annual Graduate Student Kickoff. Please come join us to enjoy some great company and some free food from Moe’s.

The event will be held Saturday September 12 from 5-9 pm on James Island at the Fort Johnson Marine Lab Complex (the same location as CofC's Grice Marine Lab).

Please remember to bring your college ID plus your driver’s license. Also remember the event is BYOB.

Fort Johnson Marine Science Seminar: Aggregation Processes of Pelagic Fishes Around Drifting Floating Objects in the Equatorial Indian Ocean
Auditorium, MRRI/SCDNR at Fort Johnson

Speaker: Gorka Sancho, Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston

Many pelagic fishes aggregate around floating objects in tropical oceans. Fishermen have been taking advantage of this phenomenon for centuries, looking for natural floating objects and deploying their own, which are referred to as Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs).

Drifting FADs play a major role in the purse-seine tuna fishery in tropical waters, the technologically most advanced fishery in the world. More than 50% of the world catches of tuna are made around FADs, emphasizing the growing need to manage the exploitation of FADs and a better understanding of the biological and behavioral processes responsible for the formation of fish aggregations.

As part of a multinational EU project, fish aggregation behaviors around FADs were studied in situ in the equatorial Indian Ocean, characterizing multispecific fish aggregations and the processes involved. The development of new technologies and methodologies to facilitate the remote study and monitoring of fishes in pelagic ecosystems was a must.

See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

College of Charleston Biology Department Seminar
Science Center, Room 239

Dr. Thomas Rainwater
Biologist

"Status and conservation of the critically endangered gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) in India"

The Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) has been eliminated from much of its historic range and is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN (International Union on the Conservation of Nature). The National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS) in north central India is home to the largest remaining populations of gharials in the world, and the Chambal River provides critical habitat for other endangered species including Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica), smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata), red-crowned roof turtles (Batagur kachuga), mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris), and numerous waterfowl and fish species.

Between December 2007 and March 2008, approximately 110 subadult and adult gharials were found dead or dying in the NCS. The Chambal River is considered to be relatively pristine compared to India’s largest rivers; however, the available data suggest the cause of death was kidney failure, followed by visceral and articular gout, possibly resulting from exposure to an unidentified toxic chemical or mixture of chemicals. One hypothesis regarding the source of chemical exposure is that contaminated fish migrating into the Chambal River from its confluence with the highly polluted Yamuna River were consumed by gharials. Non-native tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) have been present for years in the Yamuna River, a drainage of the major urban cities Delhi and Agra, but have only recently moved into the NCS.

In March 2009, we initiated a study to examine the health of tilapia in the Chambal River as a potential indicator of the influence of environmental pollution on wildlife fitness. Specifically, we compared morphological indices used to assess fish health in tilapia collected in the Yamuna and Chambal rivers. Tilapia were collected from six locations along a putative gradient from an area of expected high pollution ( Yamuna River) to an area of expected low pollution ( Chambal River, ~ 240 km upstream from the Yamuna River). Morphological indices included condition factor (CF), hepatosomatic index (HIS), splenosomatic index (SSI), and gonadosomatic index (GSI). CF was greater in tilapia from the Chambal compared to the Yamuna, and the CF improved within the Chambal as the distance upstream from the confluence with the Yamuna increased. HSI was greatest in tilapia from the Yamuna, whereas no differences were detected for SSI or GSI.

These results support the hypothesis that environmental quality improves along a gradient from the Yamuna upstream into the Chambal River. Further analyses of contaminant burdens in tilapia along the same gradient are warranted to determine if this non-native species poses a serious threat to piscivorous wildlife as its range expands into new drainages.

Biology seminar schedule fall 2009: http://spinner.cofc.edu/biology/seminar_cal.html

Please join the MES Student Association for the Master's of Environmental Studies Student/Faculty Mixer!

When: Thursday, September 24th from 5 to 6ish
Where: On the patio at Yo Burrito - 77 Wentworth Street
Who: Any MES students or faculty

**Appetizers will be provided**

Fort Johnson Marine Science Seminar: Barnacles Commensal with Rare Hosts - Are They Putting All Their Eggs in One Basket?
Auditorium, MRRI/SCDNR at Fort Johnson

Speaker: John Zardus, Dept. of Biology, The Citadel

Barnacles that live attached to other organisms as commensals are often specific in associating with a single host species. The particular substratum required by these epibionts is a rare commodity, especially since many hosts are mobile and may include threatened or endangered species of marine mammals and sea turtles. Life-history summaries, questions, and conundrums concerning these organisms will be introduced followed by results of lab and field studies. The latter include experiments testing recruitment rates in the field and larval settlement preferences along with molecular-genetic studies showing unexpected host plasticity for some species. An overview of phenotypic diversity within the group will be presented and discussed in the context of the chronology of host evolution.

See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

Fort Johnson Marine Science Seminar: Long-wave Response of the Coastal Ocean to Hurricane Landfall
Auditorium, MRRI/SCDNR at Fort Johnson

Speaker: Alexander Yankovsky, Dept. of Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina

Direct observations of the storm surge induced by Hurricane Wilma’s landfall on the West Coast of Florida on October 24, 2005 revealed a formation of a wave pulse propagating alongshore as Wilma moved inland.

The wave height exceeded 1.5 m in detided sea level data but its magnitude was obscured in direct surge measurements because it propagated during the stage of low tide. The duration of this wave pulse was ~6 hrs and the propagation speed was ~13 m/s. The wave pulse was followed by a train of much weaker oscillations during the next 24 hrs. The observed wave is identified as an edge wave of large spatial and temporal scales.

A set of numerical experiments has been conducted to delineate a generation of edge waves with large spatial and temporal scales by a fast-moving storm system. A fast-moving storm system crossing the shelf at a right angle produces a nearly symmetrical response of two edge wave trains propagating both downstream and upstream. When the storm trajectory deviates from the normal approach, the edge wave response is not symmetric: most of the energy propagates in the direction of the alongshore component of the storm translation velocity.

See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

Keep Charleston Beautiful and Lowcountry Earthforce’s 4th annual Green and Lean 5K is right around the corner on October 10th

This is a great race that helps raise funds for environmental education programs in local schools. We are looking for individuals who are willing to get up early on Saturday October 10th and head over to Brittlebank Park to help us set up the race and guide runners through the course. There are two shifts for volunteers 6:30am and 7:00. There will be coffee donated by Starbucks and you will receive an organic volunteer race shirt. If you are interested in helping out please email Jenn Scales at scalesj@ci.charleston.sc.us with your t-shirt size and the volunteer shift you will be able to work. After the race we will be heading over to the Recovery Room Tavern (one of the Green and Lean’s local sponsors) to mingle and relax after all our hard work.

If you would rather run in the race that’s great too! You can find registration forms online at www.keepcharlestonbeautiful.org Also Guinn Garrett is putting together a MES team (reduced entry fee of $15 rather than $20 each) so if you do want to run make sure to register before October 8 th and mark your form with an MES.

ast but not least, there will be a silent auction on race day and anyone can place a bid on the items. The auction will feature a rain barrel, cutting boards made from recycled wood, hotel stays, art work and much more. If you have any questions please contact Jenn Scales 579-7501 or scalesj@ci.charleston.sc.us

The Good Ship 'Ocean Watch' has just sailed in: http://www.aroundtheamericas.org
Join us for an impromptu seminar:

Around the Americas 2009-2010 (and just through the Northwest Passage)

Michael Reynolds, Ph.D. - Remote Measurement and Research Company, LCC
Thursday, October 15th at 11:00 am
HML Auditorium (Fort Johnson)

Dr. Reynolds completed degrees in Electrical Engineering, Oceanography, and Atmospheric Sciences (Ph.D. University of Washington). In over 40 years he has participated in research programs in every ocean and both poles. The Ocean Watch will be his smallest research vessel. His specialty is shipboard instrumentation for the study of air-sea interaction. He will be sharing the experience of the Ocean Watch as it travels around the Americas to build awareness throughout the Americas of increasing threats to our fragile ocean environment and to mobilize North and South Americans to take action to improve the health of our oceans. http://www.aroundtheamericas.org

Continuous collections of nekton and zooplankton in North Inlet estuary for >25 years have revealed changes in abundance, growth, and phenology of some taxa that correspond to long-term increases in water temperature. Changes in seasonal and interannual patterns of faunal abundance in the high salinity estuary also indicate short- and long-term responses to episodic ENSO and tropical storm events. However, the taxonomic composition of both assemblages has remained largely unchanged. Estimates of annual secondary production (nekton) within an intertidal marsh basin indicate that the carrying capacity of the habitat has been sustained.

These signals of stability suggest community level tolerance and resilience to changing physical conditions in the water column. Other studies in NI show that spatial variations in nekton carrying capacity among intertidal creek basins are controlled by specific hydrological and geomorphological features. Changes in sea level and other factors that alter habitat availability are expected to influence use by nekton. Changes in patterns of habitat use by key species could have implications for trophic structure, ecosystem services, and fishery yields.

ee http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule

The City of Charleston along with the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston are hosting a...

Bicycle Visioning Workshop

The public are invited to join designers, planners & cyclists for a drop-in session to explore bicycle routes, parking & policies.

Help create a vision for the future of bicycles in Charleston!

Saturday, October 17
Charleston Civic Design Center
85 Calhoun Street
10am - 2pm

For more information contact:

City of Charleston
Department of Planning, Preservation & Sustainability
843.724.3788

Dr. Robert Baldwin
Assistant Professor
Department Forestry and Natural Resources

http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/departments/forestry/faculty_staff/baldwin_robert.html

Conservation Planning for Pool-Breeding Amphibians

Conservation planning occurs at multiple scales. My talk will examine several approaches I have taken with my colleagues from throughout North America for projects occurring at the continental, ecoregional, and local scales. GIS is used intensively at broad scales, but for pool-breeding amphibians at local scales field study must be integrated to make fine-scale decisions about allocating land for habitat for sensitive species, while still acknowledging the tremendous development pressure, in high-amenity areas.

My talk will consist of three case studies using GIS data at the North American, Appalachian, and municipal scales for conservation planning, and will illustrate the particular problems with habitat conservation for species with complex life cycles, dependent upon wetlands as well as adjacent terrestrial habitats. I will make the case for integration of field and remote (i.e., GIS) studies, and for doing GIS only with a thorough understanding of the ecology of species whose habitat is being modeled.

Biology seminar schedule fall 2009: http://spinner.cofc.edu/biology/seminar_cal.html

Speaker: Julie Neer, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

SouthEast Data, Assessment, and Review (SEDAR) is a cooperative Fishery Management Council process initiated in 2002 to improve the quality and reliability of fishery stock assessments in the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and US Caribbean. SEDAR seeks improvements in the scientific quality of stock assessments and the relevance of information available to address fishery management issues. SEDAR emphasizes constituent and stakeholder participation in assessment development, transparency in the assessment process, and a rigorous and independent scientific review of completed stock assessments.

SEDAR is managed by the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic Regional Fishery Management Councils in coordination with NOAA Fisheries and the Atlantic and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commissions. The process is organized around three workshops (Data, Assessment, and Independent Review) which are public meetings organized by SEDAR staff and the lead Council. Workshop participants are drawn from state and federal agencies, non-government organizations, Council members, Council advisors, and the fishing industry with a goal of including a broad range of disciplines and perspectives. The completed assessment, including the reports of all 3 workshops and all supporting documentation, is provided to the Council SSC for certification as ‘appropriate for management’ and development of specific management recommendations.

This presentation will discuss the current SEDAR process, along with the changes to be implemented in 2010.

See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

Make A Difference Day
Fort Johnson Marine Lab-Boat Field

SCDNR’s SCORE program invites you to join Hands on Charleston in a morning of shell bagging

Fort Johnson Marine Lab (meet in the boat field)

Wear closed-toe shoes and old clothes

Hope to see you there!

MESSA General Meeting
MES Conference Room

Pizza and drinks will be provided!

We will be talking about upcoming MESSA events for the semester, including the camping trip, oyster roast, and 8k for H2O.

We are still in need of a race director for the 8k for H2O, as well as volunteers to help with sponsors, t-shirts, etc.
Great opportunity to add input for future events and meetings!

Peace Corps Information Session
Stern Student Center, Room 206

Go beyond dreaming about the world you want to live in! The US Peace Corps, an independent government agency, will be holding an information session on campus to provide information about international volunteer opportunities.

College students across the US voted the Peace Corps #7 out of the top 100 “Most Ideal Employers to Meet Your Career Goals” on Universum’s 2009 Student Survey. If you are already thinking about starting your career after graduating, the Peace Corps is an excellent way to gain:

• International living/working experience
• A foreign language
• Cross-cultural exposure critical in today’s global environment
• Technical skills in Education, Environment, Agriculture, Forestry, Health, Community Development, Business and Youth Development.

In addition, the 27 month long volunteer experience is a great vehicle for serving the US by assisting the needs of developing countries, for adventure and travel and for building memories and friendships you’ll never lose. As a volunteer, you will receive round-trip airfare, a living allowance, full medical coverage, hands-on training and more.

Come see what other college students across the US are excited about! As a returned Peace Corps volunteer and recruiter, I will be in room 206 of the Stern Student Center from 4:00 – 6:00 pm October 28th to talk about the Peace Corps, the application process and answer any questions you may have. If you can’t make it on the 28th, I will also be holding a similar session on the 29th at the downtown library, Meeting Room A from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. If you have any questions prior to or after either event, feel free to contact me at: eread@peacecorps.gov.

See you there!

Elaine Read, Regional Recruiter
Peace Corps, Southeast Regional Office
61 Forsyth Street, suite 3M40
Atlanta, GA. 30303
(404) 562-3476
www.peacecorps.gov
RPCV Malawi 98-00

Volunteer: Adopt-a-Highway

Volunteers are needed for an Adopt-a-Highway event for Saturday, October 31. We will start at noon and it should only take about an hour. Free food will be provided!
Please email Kelly Sloan to sign up. Halloween costumes are encouraged!

Thank you for your participation,

Kelly

kellysloan419@gmail.com

Deep-water corals: Diversity Meets Utility
HML Auditorium, Fort Johnson

Talk by Peter Etnoyer, Ph.D.
JHT, NOAA/CCEHBR
Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christy

Deep-water corals are broadly distributed throughout the world’s oceans, from the shallow intertidal zone to deeper than 6200 meters. They take a variety of forms within the Hydrozoa (lace corals) and the Anthozoa (black corals, gold corals, scleractinian corals, soft corals, gorgonians). Each group contributes to the overall diversity of deep-sea corals, and each group provides a different type of information, from community ecology to paleo-archives of water-mass chemistry.

n this presentation, I’ll provide a general overview of deep-corals and deep-coral research, with some examples from my own studies of their distribution, diversity, and habitat functions for associated fish and invertebrates in the Gulf of Mexico. I’ll discuss deep-corals in the context of essential fish habitat, and show some short videos of natural substrates (reefs) and artificial substrates (shipwrecks) for viewers to experience the tremendous breadth, diversity, and value of deep-coral habitats.

Transforming Ocean and Earth Sciences with Interactive Submarine Sensor Networks Wired to Next-Generation Internet
College of Charleston Education Center, Room 118

Talk by Dr. John R. Delaney, School of Oceanography, University of Washington

Interactive, Internet-linked sensor-robotic networks are the next-generation approach to enabling long-term 24/7/365 surveillance of major processes that are central to the habitability of our planet. Continuous, real-time information from the ocean basins will launch rapid growth in our understanding of the habitats and behavior of known and novel life forms, climate change, erupting underwater volcanoes, and major earthquake timing and intensity, as well as improving mitigation of natural disasters and managing living and non-living marine resources.

The NEPTUNE ocean observatory program will be a leader in this approach. The $140 million observatory’s 1400-mile network of heavily instrumented fiber-optic/power cable will convert a major sector of the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate and its overlying ocean off the Northwest Pacific coast, into an interactive, real-time natural laboratory. Thousands of physical, chemical, and biological sensors distributed across the seafloor, throughout the ocean above, and within the seabed below, may be linked to autonomous robotic platforms that are integrated into interactive networks connected via the Internet to land-based users. 

NEPTUNE is being designed to provide scientists, educators, policy makers, and the public with unprecedented forms of novel information about natural and human-induced processes operating within the ocean basins.  Data management and visualization challenges include handling large volumes of multidisciplinary data streams; assimilating real-time data into models; and providing data discovery and visualization tools that enable collaborative discovery by groups of researchers.

The Education Center is located on St. Philip Street, between George and Wentworth Streets. Parking may be found at the St. Philip St. Garage.

Sponsored by Project Oceanica, Dept. of Geology and Environmental Studies, College of Charleston Contact: SautterL@cofc.edu

Please visit the Project Oceanica web site at: http://oceanica.cofc.edu

The Career Services Office of the College of Charleston invites you to attend the Career and Graduate School Expo. This event is open to all students and all majors. Participating organizations include those recruiting upcoming graduates for full-time career opportunities; organizations recruiting undergraduates for internship and/or part-time opportunities; and graduate/professional schools seeking to provide students with information about admission requirements and application procedures.

* Students should dress professionally (as they would if going for an interview: business professional preferred, business casual acceptable)

* Transportation provided. A shuttle will take students to/from the Gaillard Auditorium, leaving from the Stern Student Center every 15 minutes on the day of the event, beginning at 11:45 am.

* Interested faculty and staff are invited to attend as well.

List of participating organizations (will be updated until the Expo)

Additional information and instructions for students

Many of the companies in attendance at the Expo will be represented by College of Charleston alumni. We want to support their efforts to recruit additional student/graduates for employment and/or internship opportunities.

Join us for the next Green Business Networking event. We will meet Tuesday, Nov. 3rd from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm on the second floor of the Tate Center (enter through the Beatty Center, 5 Liberty Street). Our hope for the monthly event is to bring together a variety of knowledge, skills, motivation, and expertise to share ideas about helping businesses be more environmentally-friendly, starting new sustainable businesses, finding employees/employment and generating general networking contacts here in Charleston and the Lowcountry. Come out and meet like-minded representatives from local businesses and organizations plus CofC students, alumni, staff and faculty. If you know anyone that might be interested, please feel free to pass this along to them, or just bring them with you.

Also, join us on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1786534 The group was set up to allow the networking to continue virtually in between our monthly events. Please feel encouraged to join the group and share what you are doing, ask or answer questions about green business or share interesting news articles.

As always, we’d appreciate an RSVP, but it is not required. Send RSVPs to David Hansen (hansend@cofc.edu)

Dr. Paul Robbins, from the Geography and Regional Development group at the University of Arizona, will give the annual geography lecture on

"Lawn People: The Politics of Everyday Landscapes"

Co-sponsors: Masters of Environmental Studies, American Studies, and Urban Studies

What this talk is about:

There is a long assumed theory that people with higher education and concern with "the environment" will be good environmental stewards. However, what Dr. Robbins' work discusses is why these are the very people responsible for the massive pollution that comes with lawn maintenance. They pollute despite "knowing better." Robbins shows that there are numerous structural and cultural imperatives that impede the free will of individuals to make the choice to either not have lawns or not care for them....Does this quandary sound familiar to any of you homeowners...???

Also, there will be a "coffee" organized for graduates and undergraduates to meet with Dr. Robbins, from 10:30-noon on Thursday, meeting at Kudu. If you know any other students interested in meeting with the speaker, please tell them about this opportunity--the more the merrier!

Dr. Robbins' research is on political ecology, not only regarding the American lawn, but also specializing in wildlife management in the American West and the political ecologies of India

Speaker: Josh Eagle, Associate Professor of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law

Although it has now moved to the forefront of ocean policy discussions, the idea of applying laws or regulations to physically separate uses of marine resources is a relatively new one. In this talk, Dr. Josh Eagle will describe the various theories behind the idea, the history of past zoning efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere, the status of current efforts, and the prospects for the future.

See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

The Charleston Association of Grant Professionals will host a Funders' Fair on Friday, Nov. 13th from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. This will be an opportunity for nonprofit professionals to network and meet with grant funders offering support in a variety of areas.

Format:
9:00 – 10:00 - Networking Brunch/Registration/Welcome
10:00 – 12:00 - Roundtable Discussions with Funders
12:00 – 12:30 - Question and Answer Session

Funding agencies/foundations in attendance:
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of SC
The City of Charleston
The Lowcountry Housing Trust
The North Charleston Cultural Arts Department
The Coastal Community Foundation
The SC Arts Commission
The Exchange Club of Charleston
The SC Department of Commerce
Charleston County Grants Administration
Other foundations may still be added

Location:
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Church Hall - 120 Broad Street, Charleston. Parking not provided. (Two parking garages are within easy walking distance: the Queen Street Garage and the Municipal Parking Garage at the corner of King and Queen.)

*** CAGP Member Price: $20; Non-Member Price: $25 (Payable at sign-in)***

Space is limited and reservations are REQUIRED. Call 843-452-4492 or email chasgrantpros@gmail.com for additional information or to make a reservation.

The mission of CAGP is to assist and strengthen nonprofit, governmental, and community service organizations by providing opportunities for grant-related training, networking, mentoring, and collaboration.

Infaunal Hydraulic Ecosystem Engineers: The Cast of Characters, Biogeography and Possible Impacts
Auditorium, MRRI/SCDNR at Fort Johnson

Speaker: Sally Woodin, University of South Carolina

Sediments cover more than 80% of the surface of the Earth and in many areas those habitats are occupied by large active animals which move hydraulically within the sediments. Such hydraulic activities cause changes in pressures within the sediments which result in porewater advection.

Using a combination of pressure sensors, oxygen optodes and visual imagery, we have demonstrated that porewater bioadvection results from hydraulically generated pressure fields that change in direction and magnitude over time scales of minutes to hours and have a radial extent of 50 cm or more from the individual. Hydraulic activities thus create transient conditions within the sediment at depth and those fluxes extend radially outward to the sediment surface.

My focus is three fold. First, which organisms show such activities and are there species and behavior specific bioadvective signatures in either porewater movements or pressures? I will argue that one can rank organisms as to likelihood of such activities based on how they move and orient themselves within the sediment. Secondly, how predictable are the frequencies of the behaviors which result in movement of porewater? I will show some data that are consistent with the idea that these activities are very common. Finally, what are the impacts on the functioning of benthic systems of these bioadvective porewater movements and how common are they in sediments?

Obviously, since I am discussing the importance of such activities, I think they are very important and I will show you data that are consistent with that proposition.

See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

MESSA: Camping Trip
Honey Hill Recreation Area in Francis Marion Forest

** This is a change from the previous location at Dixie Plantation **

MESSA Camping Trip!

When: November 13th at around 5:00 through the 15th

Where: Honey Hill Recreation Area in Francis Marion Forest, here are directions:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/fms/fmarion/recreation/HoneyHillRecreationArea.php

Why: For fun and a little "hiking" and biking...

Dinner provided Saturday night only, the official camping trip is Saturday but come Friday if you would like to.

Bring tents, sleeping bags, etc. There are no bathrooms or showers at this location. I would suggest bringing bottled water too.

If you need any further information, call Katie at 254-368-2096 or email her at katie_camp09@hotmail.com

Ft. Johnson Seminar:
Adapting to Shoreline Change in South Carolina
Auditorium, MRRI/SCDNR at Fort Johnson

Speaker: Braxton Davis, SCDHEC - Office of Ocean & Coastal Resource Management

Braxton Davis will provide an overview of a new report from the SC DHEC Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management that describes a series of policy and management recommendations for beachfront and estuarine shoreline management in South Carolina.

The report was produced by the SC Shoreline Change Advisory Committee, which was made up of 23 representatives from resource agencies, academia, local governments, and stakeholder groups. This comprehensive report was developed over a two year period with assistance from OCRM staff, and covers a broad range of issues that include beachfront development, beach renourishment, erosion control options, and estuarine shoreline management. Dr. Davis will provide an overview of existing shoreline management policies and rules, trends over the past two decades, and policy recommendations included in the report.

See http://grice.cofc.edu/fjseminars.htm for complete seminar schedule.

Midyear Commencement
Carolina First Arena