The best laboratory for students at Coastal Carolina University, according to marine science professor Paul Gayes, would take an hour drive from campus grounds.
An undeveloped barrier island separated from the mainland by a marsh, commonly referred to as “Waites Island,” lies at the northern end of South Carolina known as the Grand Strand.
The Anne Tilghman Boyce Coastal Reserve, which includes a portion of Waites Island, has been a fundamental resource for marine science students and local communities since it has been preserved.
The Coastal Educational Foundation, a private, non-profit support component associated with the university, formally owns 1,105.17 acres of the land according to CCU’s website. This is approximately one-third of the area.
Paul Gayes, who is also the executive director of Burroughs and Chapin Center for Marine and Wetlands Studies, saw a sliver of Waites’ potential in 1987 when he was a young junior professor at CCU.
Gayes said he remembers “waxing on” about the great things the area coul
d be to individuals such as Bill Baxley, who was the dean of the business college at the time.
“The conversations that are going on now that would maybe realize some of those, you know, very early, perhaps somewhat naive, dreams a long time ago– what may come to be is very, very, very gratifying,” Gayes said.
Baxley happened to be chatting with Anne Boyce, who was interested in conserving the land. Gayes knew what it could mean to the students and community at large if he made the case for it to be donated to CCU, opposed to other organizations.
However, the coastal vessel hasn’t come near to capturing its full potential, he said.
Gayes said he believes ownership of the land by a certain entity would not necessarily negate others from doing research there. Today, he is working alongside Gov. Henry McMaster to conserve the land that plays a crucial environmental role.
Specifically, he emphasized the importance of communication, coordination and cooperation between the entities. There are serious precedents in terms of property rights all parties must manage, he said.
“You can’t be ignorant or ignore all the other aspects to it. People own property. We can’t take it from them,” Gayes said. “We want to regulate it in various ways and manage it for the benefit of all.”
The area is important, not just to Coastal students, but to about 16 foreign countries including the Netherlands and Ireland for research studies.
To Gayes, it takes bright minds and all hands on deck to continue and preserve Waites and conduct meaningful research.
“It’s not for one class. It’s not for one department. It’s not even for one university, necessarily,” he said. “It’s an important resource for the state in terms of speaking. Conservation in general, is important for everybody.”
Stephen Weisweaver, who is now a CCU alumni, is just one of the many students who were able to expand his skillset thanks to access to the coastal research vessel.
“It was extremely enriching, and I feel like it taught me valuable skills that I’m going to be able to use in a future career going down the road,” Weisweaver said.
Before Weisweaver had conducted research at Waites, he only had experience programming with Microsoft Excel. He then used Geographic Information System (GIS) software to map over 187 individual oyster clusters found across the land.
Weisweaver’s GIS map of the oyster reef system will allow future researchers to understand and analyze the inner-tidal zones.
“I hope that the data that I gathered can be used by other students in the future to get a better idea of just the general interest that they have because it shouldn’t just be applied to oysters,” he said.
Gayes organized a public input workshop in North Myrtle Beach on Dec. 5 with help from his environmental issue student leaders, which included Weisweaver. The purpose was to garner public input in breakout sessions on how average community members can contribute to Waites Island research at a low impact.
“Students are critical,” Gayes said, “because they’re the future.”
Barbara Demusz, a Little River resident who attended the workshop, volunteered her time for the last 18 sea turtle seasons on Waites Island.
Demusz said she is confident Gayes is taking acquisition in the right direction.
“It’s a piece of property I would like to see taken care of,” Demusz said. “Looking forward to see how [Gayes] comes together and pulls this all together and preserves the property.”
