Meeting at University of South Carolina Beaufort Focused on Sea Level Rise

SEERS held its Spring 2016 meeting at the Hilton Head Gateway Campus of the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) on 10-12 March 2016. Thanks to the outstanding efforts by local host Joe Staton (USCB) and program chair Loren Mathews (Georgia Southern University), the meeting was a tremendous success as well as a great deal of fun! Over 90 people attended the meeting, which included 30 oral and 26 poster presentations. Roughly half of these presentations were from students, including 12 undergraduates.

The meeting kicked off Thursday night with a reception and a keynote address by Christopher Marsh of the LowCountry Institute. Dr. Marsh’s engaging talk, entitled “Climate Change and the Future of Southeastern Coastal Habitats: A Naturalist’s Perspective,” served to introduce the theme of the Friday special session on Sea Level Rise and Estuaries of the Southeast. Invited speakers for this session included Dr. Jeremy Stalker of Jacksonville University, Dr. Lisa Chambers of the University of Central Florida, Dr. James Morris of the University of South Carolina, and Dr. William Conner of Clemson University.

Friday began with a “Coffee & Career Advice” student networking breakfast with professionals. After a full day of oral presentations and the formal poster session, everyone headed over to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resource’s Waddell Mariculture Center , where we caught the sunset over the Colleton River before the banquet, thanks to Waddell Center Director Al Stokes and the Bluffton Oyster Company.

After a full morning of oral presentations on Saturday, the meeting concluded with the Business Meeting and Student Award Presentations. Thanks to Wade Sheldon for providing photographs of the opening reception and closing award presentations.