Coastal Kingdom, the television program hosted by Tony Mills and developed as a partnership between LCI and Beaufort County TV, was awarded 4 national “Telly” Awards this summer - Tellys are awarded to the best local, regional, and cable television programs.  The first 3 episodes of the show are also now available to the public in a dvd box set. 

This summer LCI, in partnership with Clemson’s Youth Leadership Institute, co-sponsored four workshops for teachers at Shanklin Elementary and Shell Point Elementary Schools.  The workshops introduce teachers to a comprehensive curriculum for grades K-5 that emphasizes the connections that link the environment, economics, and history of land, with an emphasis on South Carolina and the United States.  Support from two family foundations has provided a year of funding for a curriculum specialist who will work with Chris developing classroom lessons that support this curriculum. 

LCI continues to work closely with its local partners.  In June, we hosted a staff development day for SC Dept of Natural Resources personnel at Spring Island, during which time we shared information about our respective educational programs and how to expand our partnership. LCI staff also partnered with Coastal Discovery Museum at Honeyhorn to conduct summer programs on local wildlife and habitats for the public. Approximately 2000 people attended these educational programs.  

Coming up in September the next Master Naturalist course begins with a full roster, and registration for classes beginning spring 2011 has already opened – MNI will meet on Mondays from Feb. 21-May 9 and MNII will meet on Feb. 22-24, Mar. 22-24, April 12-14, and May 3-5.  Click here to sign up.

Dr. Chris Marsh

1. All projects must address one of LCI's four major goals and supporting strategies: (a) educate adults who have the ability to impact others through their careers or their volunteer efforts, (b) provide information not currently available that is needed to make important environmental policy decisions, (c) promote environmental education efforts that reach a large audience including schools, and (d) use Spring Island as a showcase for effective habitat management practices.

2. Projects that simultaneously address more than one of LCI's three goals are given higher priority.

3. Projects which have a majority of their funding from another source, but need LCI staff expertise or matching funds to be accomplished.

4. Projects that address an environmental issue that will influence a municipality or county's implementation of a law or ordinance that will improve environmental protection and stewardship.

This month's projects include:

• Establishing an LCI  stormwater management work group for local engineers and regulatory staff to help them improve their ability to better understand how to retain stormwater in ways that protect local water quality.
•  In partnership with SC DNR, LCI and volunteers from the LowCountry Master Naturalist Association began a 9 month citizen science project this month at Victoria Bluff Heritage Preserve (Bluffton).  Participants will help catalog plant and animal species found in the preserve. 
• Don't miss it! The latest episode of Tony's TV show "Coastal Kingdom" is now showing on The County Channel.
• If you are interested in participating in the Master Naturalist class this fall, sign ups start April 1^st.  The class will meet on Mondays from Sept. 20 through Dec. 6.  Visit our website - http://www.lowcountryinstitute.org/ - to find out more about how to sign up or contact Kristen Mattson (987-2732).

Thanks again to all of you who made this work possible through your contributions!

Dr. Chris Marsh

Though the weather has been cold and rainy this winter, LCI has continued to work extensively in the local community - training teachers to better educate students about the environment, working in schools, improving ways Beaufort county protects water quality, and introducing community members to the wonders of our natural surroundings here in the low country.  The second installment of Tony's TV show "Coastal Kingdom" is due to be released soon and will focus on low country mammals.  I am working with the Master Naturalist teachers at Shanklin Elementary helping them create a new curriculum that emphasizes environmental science and experiential learning.  In the upcoming months, we will also be introducing 2 community citizen science projects - stay tuned if you'd like to participate!

Our next Master Naturalist class begins this month.  We will again be teaching 2 classes this spring - one in the "traditional" format, and a second designed for business people and those who travel that meets 3 days in a row once a month.  Next fall, classes will be held on Mondays from Sept. 20 through Dec. 6.  Sign-ups for the fall session will begin April 1^st and will now be electronic.  You can access the sign-up form from the Master Naturalist page of our website - or contact Kristen Mattson (987-2732) for more information.

The Board and Staff of the LCI are deeply grateful to our members and friends whose generous contributions to will allow us to continue our work in 2010. 

Dr. Chris Marsh

Over the last decade, LCI staff and volunteers have worked to protect water quality in Port Royal Sound, and we are pleased to announce that this hard work has come to fruition.  On October 26, 2009, Beaufort County Council passed a new and radically different stormwater ordinance that will serve as a model for communities around the country. The stormwater ordinance, which controls the volume of water leaving a property, as well as water quality, is essential to preserving this unique and nationally important coastal estuary.  Restricting the amount of runoff from the land to pre-development levels will prevent large fluctuations in salinity and turbidity in our tidal creeks that harm the developing crustacean larvae that are essential to our recreational fisheries.

Stay tuned for the release of a new TV series entitled Coastal Kingdom, featuring LCI's very own Tony Mills, on the Beaufort County Channel.  The pilot episode for the series (Reptiles and Amphibians) has already been filmed and was very well received by Beaufort County Council.  We also continue to work with teachers and students at our pilot schools - click here to read the news release about a project to enhance native bird habitat recently undertaken by Kristen and Tony at Whale Branch Middle School and here to read the article about the project published in the Beaufort Gazette.  Many thanks to all of those individuals who participated in the citizen science alligator survey who were not mentioned in the previous update - Paul Kinsey, Mike Logan, Alex Althausen, Chuck Ford, Mike Cooper, Larry Outlaw, Sally Papineau, Tom Burke, and Warren Williamson.

The LowCountry Institute is 100% funded by tax-deductible gifts.  Your 2009 donation will allow the LCI to help meet the many challenges confronting the Low Country in 2010.  There is still much work to be done.  We hope you will give as generously as you can.

November and December are transition months here at LCI.  The Nature Center has received a make over, our website has been redesigned and we're setting up our 2010 calendar of events.  Our conservation project done in partnership with the Spring Island Trust has been a huge success thanks to alligator researchers Tom Murphy and George Rock.  Spring Island residents Al Gerber, Martha McMahon, and Mary Humphrey have conducted spotlight surveys and are taking data on location of each alligator to determine how much individuals move and what parts of the island they are inhabiting. Tony and Kristen are beginning work on a habitat enhancement project at Whale Branch Middle thanks to a $2,000 grant from DHEC's Champions of the Environment program   They'll also be working with teachers to incorporate a new outdoor classroom into their existing curriculum.  Chris continues to speak at Beaufort County Council meetings trying to help more rigorous stormwater management guidelines to be put in place.

It is with mixed emotions that we announce that Dr. David Bishop has accepted an excellent position as natural resources specialist at Fort Carson, the US Army Base near Colorado Springs, Colorodo.  His last day with LCI was Oct. 31.  We hope you will all join us in wishing David the best of luck in the future - we will miss him!

The successes of the LowCountry Institute are the result of consistently strong support from our donors.   As we kick off our annual fund-raising we hope you will give as generously as you can.  For those of you who have already contributed this year, we say thank you!