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North Inlet-Winyah Bay Reserve awarded $606,500 for exhibits
The North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NI-WB NERR) has been awarded $ 606,500 from NOAA for design and construction of exhibits for the Reserve’s new (soon to be constructed) education and training center. The NI-WB NERR received a $2.9 million grant from NOAA last year to construct the new center, which is being planned in cooperation with The Belle W. Baruch Foundation and will involve expansion of the Hobcaw Barony Discovery Center (formerly named Hobcaw Visitor Center). The facility, located at the entrance to the Hobcaw Barony property near Georgetown, SC, was recently renamed to better convey the goals of the new center. Wendy Allen, NI-WB NERR Manager, noted “The new center and its exhibits will showcase the natural and cultural history of the Hobcaw property as well as important discoveries made by researchers from the University of South Carolina and other colleges and universities engaged in studies on the Baruch Foundation property.”

Baruch Foundation announces Center name change
The Belle W. Baruch Foundation recently announced “ Hobcaw Barony Discovery Center” as the new name for the Hobcaw Barony Visitor Center. The name change reflects expansion of the facilities and the new collaborative integration of the education and outreach programming of the Baruch Foundation, Clemson University’s Baruch Institute for Coastal Ecology & Forest Science, USC’s Baruch Institute for Marine & Coastal Sciences, and the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Over the next two years, the Discovery Center will undergo extensive renovations and expansion, with new research and education exhibits, a dedicated audiovisual room and classroom, and an enlarged lobby, reception, and gift shop area. The facility will also house the NERRS Centralized Data Management Offices (CDMO), presently located at the Baruch Institute’s marine field lab on Hobcaw Barony.

The architect team is LS3P Associates Ltd., based out of Charleston, SC. The exhibit design firm is Split Rock Studios, out of Arden Hills, Minnesota.

Donelan receives environmental stewardship award
Teresa Donelan, business associate, is the staff recipient of the 2007 Environmental Stewardship Award. The USC School of the Environment initiated the Environmental Stewardship awards in 1998 to recognize a student and/or student group, staff member, and faculty member who have demonstrated a high standard of stewardship of the USC environment. Donelan was nominated for her efforts in maintaining and providing the saltwater aquaria on the first floor of the Earth & Water Sciences building. Her nomination, in part, noted “The presence and visibility of the tanks within the hallway provides a unique glance at the environment to the myriad students that pass the exhibit daily. For many, I am sure that it provides, if only for a moment, an opportunity to digress from the hustle and bustle of the day to a quiet, peaceful, yet questioning peek at the ocean.” The awards were presented Monday, April 23, during the USC School of the Environment’s Earth Day reception.

Hougham, Jost Awarded Vernberg Fellowship
F. John Vernberg Bicentennial Fellowship awards were presented to Andrea Hougham (Geology Ph.D. candidate) and Jennifer Jost (Biology Ph.D. candidate) during the USC Graduate Student Day ceremonies, April 4, 2007. The fellowship recognizes excellence and research aptitude, and is given to graduate student conducting marine science research with the Baruch Institute for Marine & Coastal Sciences. A $500 honorarium accompanies the award. The fellowship is named in honor of Dr. Vernberg who established the Institute and served as its director for 27 years, among many accomplishments.

First Baruch Institute All-Scientist Research Symposium
*First Baruch Institute All-Scientist Research Symposium, March 28-29, Hobcaw Barony.* The meeting for researchers engaged in estuarine research at North Inlet is providing a forum for networking, sharing ideas, and learning what science is being done in "our back yard."  The symposium is being sponsored by the Baruch Institute and South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. The program schedule may be downloaded here.