The
Bluffton Blufft n Sun December 3, 2024 • Volume 27, Issue 23 • Complimentary • BlufftonSun.com
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Governor McMaster hosts USCB Pritchards Island Research Update BY CAROL WEIR Contributor
More than 200 conservationists, scientists, community leaders and government officials gathered on November 13 at Tabby Place in Beaufort to hear Governor Henry McMaster and USCB biologists tout the research underway on Pritchards Island. The university owns this 1,600-acre barrier island—untouched by development and located 25 miles east of Beaufort— that has become a focal point for students and scientists exploring coastal resilience and marine ecosystems. At the “Return to Pritchards Island” research update, USCB Chancellor Al M. Panu and Warren Parker, executive director of the Pritchards Island Research and Living Shoreline Coalition (PIRLS), recognized McMaster for his pivotal role in securing the island’s future. PIRLS co-sponsored the event. McMaster successfully secured state funding — $1 million to date — which has allowed USCB to use Pritchards Island intensively for educational purposes. Because half of the nation’s salt marshes
are located in South Carolina and many in Beaufort County, Pritchards Island is an unparalleled resource for studying coastal environments. “It’s like going back to the Garden of Eden,” McMaster said. Sea Turtles, Marine Worms and more Dr. Kim Ritchie, associate professor of genetics and prokaryotic cell biology and director of Pritchards Island Research, said the 2.5-mile-long island is a living laboratory. There, she and her students are studying the differences between pristine barrier islands and those where beach renourishment and other interventions take place. They also monitor loggerhead turtle nesting on Pritchards Island and are studying temperature in turtle nests and loggerhead maternal DNA. “We are on Pritchards every day during nesting season,” Ritchie said. Ongoing protection efforts for nesting loggerhead sea turtles will continue, with input from community volunteers who have monitored nests on Pritchards Island for years. These efforts are super-
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SC Governor Henry McMaster spoke at the University of South Carolina Beaufort’s Nov. 13 briefing about research taking place on Pritchards Island.
Tunnel to Towers 5k raises thousands for first responders
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