Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve (Sapelo Island, GA)
Below are some interview questions that didn't make it into a podcast episode but still highlight some of the great work of the NERRS! The link to the reserve website is listed at the bottom of this page for further reading.
(interviewing Adam Mackinnon, Education Coordinator)
The Sapelo Island Reserve has school programs covering topics ranging from coastal chemistry, to marine mammals, to shorebird conservation. What is the importance of getting out in nature and getting hands-on when it comes to fostering stewardship?
Adam: What I've always found is that people only really truly care about things that they can kind of see, touch and feel. I mean you can't- you can get a little bit from reading and watching documentaries. But unless you have a personal experience, you know, you're not invested in the environment. So not as willing to protect it. So I think it's very important. Plus, you know, one of my big goals here, with students is- I'm a scientist by degree, and I think it's very important for us to create more scientists, I think not many kids want to be scientists anymore. Having kids my own kind of changed my perspective on things. And I really kind of found that, as a mission, I want to create some scientists. So this gives me an opportunity to make that happen. I want them to be inspired and excited about science and I've actually had a couple of students come back and say that they got into science because of experiences out here. So that makes me feel good. I mean, I say this: to see a right whale is fun, but to get these kinds of hands-on experiences is just as cool.
You have around 24 years experience working with the Department of Natural Resources. As an endangered species biologist by trade, how do you incorporate your experiences into education programs on the reserve?
Adam: So one of the big things that it does is gives me instant credibility with the audience. So it's always good to be an expert. If you've been around for that long, you just build up a ton of knowledge and so you can answer questions that are asked directly. You don't have to say "I don't know" or you know, "I'll figure it out later". Plus when you're trying to tell a story, you know, education is all about telling stories, you have that firsthand account. I got to disentangle a 60 ton right whale, several of them. I got to work with shorebirds, you know, all these cool things. I used to tell our teaching intern, they would get so aggravated when people kept coming up and asking them the same question over and over, I would tell them, you know, the giving the answer to that question may be the most important thing you do in your whole career. So I think that's one really good thing, that in all this experience, you can actually make that moment where you actually can translate all that effectively and enthusiastically. So I think that's one of the most important things we do.
Absolutely. Do you have a favorite program that Sapelo Island offers to guests?
Adam: That's a hard one. So we do so many things. We have to do public tours here because you just can't drive up to our reserve, you have to go on a bus and it's a big island. We have a 400 acre Hog Hammock community. But I think anything in this field is good/ is fun for me. I love seining because it's just like Christmas, you know, you never know what you're going to find in that seine net, maybe it's sharks, rays, and everything in-between. I've gotten into hydrophones a lot lately. So it's kind of cool to look at. But stuff like that. You look at our program list, and I mean I offer so much, but generally teachers want that "I want it all" one, the whole island package. So we do a little bit of all of it, but I love being in maritime forests. I'm really at home there. I love actually kind of telling people about not just the ecosystem, but how things are used medicinally or how people used to eat these things, you know, and it's fun. It's good, the most hands-on stuff you can get. I love it. And I love microscope work. And so I got a whole lab full of microscopes. We kind of take what we do for HAB monitoring, the harmful algal bloom monitoring, and kind of translate it for students. So then I bribe them. So I have certain things like on our dock fouling if they find a spider, sea spider, you know, or a dinoflagellate, they get a shark's tooth. So we're making it, make it a game. So I love those things. I geek out on those kinds of things. So anything field experience, that can be very general, but any time I've been outside, and get to be with the kids or in the lab. That kind of stuff. I love it. Love it.
You've mentioned how the community is changing, just like perhaps the island is changing in the aftermath of some of these flooding events. What has that looked like over the past few years coming back from those events?
Adam: So you know, the last time Georgia got hit by a hurricane was 1898. It was pretty devastating, but no one's been around since 1898. So we don't have that institutional memory. And then, so we had Matthew come through. That was a wake up call. There wasn't wind of it. And Irma came and even though that was far away from us, it flooded large portions of this island. The [Hog Hammock] community was underwater and one of their main churches was underwater. My lab was underwater. I mean, not much but then after that I heard so many people say "well, wow we finally got hit by the big one and it wasn't that bad". So that kind of shocked me. So we constructed a surge pole display out front, and this surge was very much at the bottom of the pole. But we put a topic for "what if Katrina hit us?", what it would be, and it's obviously just shocking and it's kind of visuals, I think is what we really try to do. And then, you know, I do a lot of climate change talks. But if we take these events, and we've learned to create a tapestry of change in the coast and what we can and cannot do, or should and should not do to prepare for it, it's reality. It's reality, especially when this year, we've already had one down by you guys. (Note: I was in Naples, FL for an internship when interviewing Adam for this project, and at the time, early June 2022, we had just experienced a tropical storm)
Yeah, yeah, Florida just got hit by a tropical storm and there might be another one on the way so it is definitely feeling very real down here in Georgia and in Florida.
Adam: I lived in Orlando, and then I lived in Boca for a while and remember, "oh, it's just a tropical storm". You- some of the most deadly storms in history were tropical storms. It's just this complacency. So just trying to keep people educated and ready for that stuff. It's really kind of a big paramount stuff that we do as an agency.
And one of the ways that we can educate people and collect some data related to this is through the system wide monitoring program, which is a NERR system initiative. The Sapelo Island Reserve participates in this, what sort of applications does this data have within the reserve and beyond?
Adam: SWMP is essential to everything we do out here, whether you know it or not. So, so we have about 17 to 19 different institutions come here to do research. So it's a place-based place to research. It's not like you go here and go out, you come here to do research, which is guess is one of the hallmarks in the history of science, it's where modern ecology was invented out here, but...so SWMP, all these people that come, you know they have research projects, whether it be short term or long term, they don't need to go and collect that data. SWMP already has that data. SWMP could be a great canary in the coal mine. It can tell you things are happening before you actually physically see them happening to the environment. Just an incredibly powerful tool. And I always tell like students you know, all is life here. All the parameters that you look at in SWMP dictate not only what life is here but the abundance and distribution of all this stuff, it's dictated by those things in SWMP. So, even though I always say it's not the sexiest part of science here, it's one of the most essential parts of science that's out here because I say all life here is hinged on all those parameters, right? Now, you know, we've talked about pH as being logarithmic- those little tiny changes matter a great deal. And we've tried to, with the kids, replicate things on a different scale, using electronics to be efficient and more, you know, teen appropriate, I guess. They like electronic things. Just try to introduce and get them comfortable with this stuff because that's what... I mean, a lot of educators are uncomfortable with SWMP. But I think it's cool to me, I love it. And I have no problem sharing that passion. I get excited about SWMP.
It is exciting because like you said, some of the smallest changes can mean the biggest difference. Just a point off of pH can drastically impact calcifiers.
Adam: You know, if you're a shellfish one point is huge. If you're a coccolithophore or a pteropod, that's the difference between life and death, you know, when when go move the decimal point. And I mean if you're- a 10% reduction in pteropods is a 20% reduction in salmon, that's a direct relationship and that's based on ocean acidification, which is through SWMP, so it even has economic implications, you know, because we have a big shellfish industry here. Those things matter. And hypoxia events matter when you're a mussel. That's one of the things we research out here, it's hypoxia and mussel. So these things matter and SWMP is a way of explaining that and help, you know, deal with these kinds of situations. I love SWMP.
Me too! Are there any other new and/or interesting research projects currently underway on the reserve?
Adam: So one cool thing we've started doing is estuarine fish monitoring projects. We go out in the skiff and do an otter trawl, and that's mainly for juvenile fish. But just to have that baseline, and SWMP is gonna tell us some of this data, but then the fish, the abundance and distribution of these fish populations are really going to tell us a lot. We have a researcher looking at biomass and how biomass has changed and it's hard to see because you can't really tell from year to year but on the reserve we've lost 30% of our biomass in the past 30 years and you would never know that. And SWMP helps explain that too. But it's just... these things are really kind of critical to habitat and humans, you know, because they're all linked. That's basically why you should care about these things.
Absolutely.
Adam: And also, one of the cool things that I've been involved with over the years is PCBs, and they're actually involved with humans and dolphins. So we had a phenomenon down in Brunswick just south of us. Pretty much, every firstborn dolphin to a new mother died because we had a Superfund site called LCP that was producing PCBs and it bioaccumulated in mullet and got eaten in mullet. And, you know, at .01 parts per million, PCB starts affecting humans negatively. And we had one season catch of mullet with practically 12 parts per mil. So no wonder these babies were dying because you store all your toxins in your fatty tissues and when you become pregnant and metabolize all that, your breast milk is just basically toxic and those calves can't handle it. So I always like to point out, young women? You literally are what you eat. And I think that's a really important message to send through this research, even here too, since smoked mullet is part of the cultural institution out here on Sapelo. You have a funeral, wedding, everything in between, you're having smoked mullet.
So research at the reserve is currently being conducted by representatives from several institutions including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech to name just a few. How do these students and professionals work alongside reserve staff?
Adam: So it's a great collection of people. That said, for the most part, we don't try to duplicate too much stuff, so we coordinate with them regularly. We kind of assist them if we can, we partner with them. But for me, really my job is to know what they're doing and deal with effectively translating that to different audiences. That research background I have enables me to kind of speak their language and trust me a little bit so I can pass it along and kind of... I don't believe in dumbing things down too much to students. I'll give them the high but then I'll give them the low too. I never want to not give them the good stuff. But we do work with I mean, I work with my equivalent over there. So he's a researcher who did a lot with dolphin acoustics. That's how I got the idea for the hydrophone. So we work with them quite often if we can, but as I said for most part, they're really separate people.
What makes Sapelo Island different from other National Estuarine Research Reserves? What draws students out here or scientists looking to do research?
Adam: Well, I guess one that's more obvious, we're one of the few reserves where you gotta take a dang boat to get out here. That's like at 4:30. But as I say, it's common when students come up here, that boat ride kind of makes it seem like you're going to a different planet, it sets the tone for the day. It's an adventure when you get out here, so that for the students that's a plus you know, we have an island. It's the fourth biggest barrier island in Georgia, as you can see on the map. But it's a huge island with basically a total population of 70 maybe if you count the so many people in the community plus, you know, researchers that are here. It's a big island, it's a big wilderness, I won't call it wilderness, but a natural state, and that's pretty unique to have so much land and protect it. You know, if you look at our whole coast, 14 barrier islands, you're going to get to four of them as a private citizen. You get the ferries, but it's a pretty... this stretch of coast is one of the most natural coasts that we have on the Eastern Seaboard. So that's kind of interesting. You know, we have this human history out here. It's unique. So I always say Sapelo's one place that has evolved, you can go to different places to find a little bit of everything, but we have all the research history from Odum, you know, basically establishing modern ecology out here to you know, we have a Native American shell ring on north end that dates back 4500 years. We had the Spanish, the French, English all out here. You have the Gullah-Geechee community. So you have this whole human element to this place. It's just a pretty unique merging of many different things that, so you don't have to- you go one place you get all these different experiences, you just choose and that's often one of the hardest things is choosing which one to focus on. There's so many things out here that are worth looking at. I mean just going to that little community, as I said, it's probably the last intact Gullah-Geechee community on the East Coast that's on a barrier island. Most of the ones that are off barrier islands, they kind of, I won't say they've... it's more of a homogeny over there so they really preserve more here. Although I will say there's not many people that can speak fluent Geechee or Gullah anymore. But it's- the culture is still alive. We have a culture day out here. So these are pretty neat things that Sapelo has.
What issues are currently of the greatest concern to the Sapelo Island NERR and how is the reserve working to address them?
Adam: I mean, obviously, it's the same for everybody, it's climate change. You know, I said we had these storm events, you know those are obviously huge kind of acute events where there's more chronic...or things that are coming up like ocean acidification, we have big shellfish industry here. So how do we deal with these things? We have to investigate the best management practices. So it's nice that we have other institutions here. And we go to the university or DNR or even the community and have different voices that we can represent on these issues because it all affects people differently. You know, so historically, they're fishermen and shellfish guys. And so they see the change, you know, a lot of the forest is dying because it's all under inundation. So they see these changes visually. They see how what they catch is changing, you know, things warm up, we have the black mangroves just across the border. We have about a third of all the salt marsh in the country. South Carolina has more than us but between two of us we have most of it and at least in Georgia, it's kind of slowly and surely taking over this black mangrove if trends continue. So these sort of affect everything we have here, so we're not willing to have the ecosystem be outwelled. And so if you change this environment, it's going to have a huge effect. So we, we're worried about these things, and we won't have this happen in my lifetime but I've seen change in like you know, just my 24 year career. We're starting to get, we have Atlantic mangrove fiddler crabs up here we have mangrove tree crabs we have even the Cardisoma, the giant blue land crab spotted here. So these things are happening. So we have to chronicle these events. I don't know that much we can do about it. There's some things. So invasive plant species, invasives that are kind of part of this climate adaptation, we need to kind of deal with. Those are some big issues. Big issues.
Those are definitely big issues. How can listeners support the reserve? Are there any ongoing citizen science projects that they can be a part of or anything else they could do to help?
Adam: So that's always tricky when you're shored by a ferry, you can't just drive up, but we do a lot of picture posts, which are great way of again, it's not research for the sake of research, but it adds to the story. You know if you're trying to tell a story about change, picture posts are great and these are, any public can go and post it. So these are places they can go, but you have to be here, you have to get to the island, so we do most of our stuff, our citizens science stuff through our Friends group. If you've never heard of Friends, you can come out here whenever to do projects. They do beach slope monitoring, you know, basically with PVC and a rope, and you'd think that'd be very inaccurate. We measured against our trusty LiDAR, and it's pretty close. But it goes back a long time. So we have this great history of our beach slopes being monitored by our Friends group. They've done native bee surveys for us and kind of manpower stuff that you know, it's stuff we don't have the time for or, you know, the ability to do. They help us a great deal on those kind of things and then, obviously to help us out on any kind of public events on the mainland. So these big festivals. We have we have something called "CoachFest" that brings in 10,000 people for this event. And trying to man a SINERR tent just with us, it's hard, and they really fill that void and help educate because they know our story. So they really help us a lot in those kinds of things. And not only that, you know, it's hard to take in money as a state agency sometimes so they can be our, our kind of go-between. So when we do teach workshops, those teachers have to write a check to somebody, it's hard to write check to SINERR, so they write to Friends and they hold money for us and so we kind of put it back into the programs that way. So they make life so much easier for us. But again, citizen science that they do we couldn't do otherwise, and that's the only way we can really do a lot of citizen science is through that Friends group.
What is your favorite thing about Sapelo Island or maybe a favorite experience that you've had on the reserve?
Adam: First thing, my favorite thing's the food! I just like having this big backyard and I'm a science geek, you know, I'm a self-professed nerd and I love being... there's so much science out here. I can't get enough. There's so many cool projects going on and so many at any given time that there's... you never get bored if you love science out here. It's everything from studying grasshoppers in a marsh to you know, blue carbon to all these, you know, energy flows. We even have an eddy covariance flux tower. It has a fine scale CO2 detector. I mean, these things are cutting edge and set for so many different years. We have Indiana University, midwestern universities come here. So you get the perspective of all these different sorts of scientists. We had a guy that studied moss out here. And so I got to hang out with him and come to find out that you know, Sapelo, this little island, has 1000 different moss species. Tells you about how many diverse habitats we have, diverse ecosystems, just on these barrier islands, so if you're a nerd, a nature nerd, you get exposed to these things. It's, it's awesome. I love it.
Do you think that there are any misconceptions that the public has about the NERRs?
Adam: If they know what the NERRs are! I think one of the biggest ones I've come across is that the NERRs were created by NOAA to help basically "create" climate change, to create the idea that there's climate change induced by people. I think that's changing and I know that the younger generation is going to definitely not going to buy that. But just overcoming old stigmas like that with federal government, you know, having a hand in NERRs. People are naturally kind of leery of, of data and we're trying to make people understand what good science is versus bad science, right? You know, good science is really hard. There's a lot of rigor to it. I can design experiments getting exactly the answer I want, but that's not good science. Just trying to make them realize that the NERRs is good science. So trying to dispel that myth that NERRs is part of that conspiracy. That we actually do produce high-end, quality science and we do a heck of a lot of good for communities, research and everything. Everyone's been affected by what we do out here in a positive way. Trying to make people realize that and not let them think about this big brother or federal government in their backyard, like tell them what to do or, or what we do is going to effect what they have done. Like, shut down fisheries or something. Like I did a lot of sea turtle work and people will say "well you must not like shrimpers" and I say "no, I mean a shrimper invented the turtle excluder device". You know? So they're essential, we work with them. So just trying to try to dispel those kinds of myths which are unfounded, unguided, but just trying to deal with it.
Absolutely. The NERRs, as their name suggests, are much more than just reserves or just state-owned land. It's a "research" reserve. And so there's a lot of good science going on. And hopefully people can learn more about the reserve system and what they do.
Adam: Oh yeah. It's a great system and as I said, it serves a very valuable purpose and fulfills a good role, niche, as needed. I think we do a very good job of it, so that's, getting that message out it's important.
Definitely. I guess to finish us out, what is one piece of advice that you'd like to give to anyone interested in pursuing a career in conservation or environmental education?
Adam: Well, I always say, it's changed since then but when I did internships, you did it pro bono, you did it for maybe some scraps of bread. But internships not only help you find what you want to do, they get you kind of in the system and known. People like to hire people they know, proven bodies. And part of that, you have to get noticed as an intern, in a good way. So I know, doing this for a long while, I only remember the really good interns and really bad interns. So get noticed in a good way, have a good work ethic, and be excited about something, be willing to learn. Be excited about learning your craft, I mean you're starting now, but really kind of learn as much as you can about it. And you'll do fine. That's my best advice, get your foot in the door. Put your heart and soul into an internship or summer job or whatever. And good things will happen because as I said, when I used to hire a lot of sea turtle interns, I always hired people who had proven themselves in the field and I knew or were good people. Because you know, a resume and a grade doesn't necessarily tell you everything about a person. But you know we call the references, they know them personally, and it's gold. So have developed good work ethics.
Absolutely. And there's a lot of internship experiences and opportunities within the the NERRs which is great. So you just got to get out there.
Yeah, obviously, as I said, I want to produce more scientists and that's one of the best ways to do it.
(interviewing Adam Mackinnon, Education Coordinator)
The Sapelo Island Reserve has school programs covering topics ranging from coastal chemistry, to marine mammals, to shorebird conservation. What is the importance of getting out in nature and getting hands-on when it comes to fostering stewardship?
Adam: What I've always found is that people only really truly care about things that they can kind of see, touch and feel. I mean you can't- you can get a little bit from reading and watching documentaries. But unless you have a personal experience, you know, you're not invested in the environment. So not as willing to protect it. So I think it's very important. Plus, you know, one of my big goals here, with students is- I'm a scientist by degree, and I think it's very important for us to create more scientists, I think not many kids want to be scientists anymore. Having kids my own kind of changed my perspective on things. And I really kind of found that, as a mission, I want to create some scientists. So this gives me an opportunity to make that happen. I want them to be inspired and excited about science and I've actually had a couple of students come back and say that they got into science because of experiences out here. So that makes me feel good. I mean, I say this: to see a right whale is fun, but to get these kinds of hands-on experiences is just as cool.
You have around 24 years experience working with the Department of Natural Resources. As an endangered species biologist by trade, how do you incorporate your experiences into education programs on the reserve?
Adam: So one of the big things that it does is gives me instant credibility with the audience. So it's always good to be an expert. If you've been around for that long, you just build up a ton of knowledge and so you can answer questions that are asked directly. You don't have to say "I don't know" or you know, "I'll figure it out later". Plus when you're trying to tell a story, you know, education is all about telling stories, you have that firsthand account. I got to disentangle a 60 ton right whale, several of them. I got to work with shorebirds, you know, all these cool things. I used to tell our teaching intern, they would get so aggravated when people kept coming up and asking them the same question over and over, I would tell them, you know, the giving the answer to that question may be the most important thing you do in your whole career. So I think that's one really good thing, that in all this experience, you can actually make that moment where you actually can translate all that effectively and enthusiastically. So I think that's one of the most important things we do.
Absolutely. Do you have a favorite program that Sapelo Island offers to guests?
Adam: That's a hard one. So we do so many things. We have to do public tours here because you just can't drive up to our reserve, you have to go on a bus and it's a big island. We have a 400 acre Hog Hammock community. But I think anything in this field is good/ is fun for me. I love seining because it's just like Christmas, you know, you never know what you're going to find in that seine net, maybe it's sharks, rays, and everything in-between. I've gotten into hydrophones a lot lately. So it's kind of cool to look at. But stuff like that. You look at our program list, and I mean I offer so much, but generally teachers want that "I want it all" one, the whole island package. So we do a little bit of all of it, but I love being in maritime forests. I'm really at home there. I love actually kind of telling people about not just the ecosystem, but how things are used medicinally or how people used to eat these things, you know, and it's fun. It's good, the most hands-on stuff you can get. I love it. And I love microscope work. And so I got a whole lab full of microscopes. We kind of take what we do for HAB monitoring, the harmful algal bloom monitoring, and kind of translate it for students. So then I bribe them. So I have certain things like on our dock fouling if they find a spider, sea spider, you know, or a dinoflagellate, they get a shark's tooth. So we're making it, make it a game. So I love those things. I geek out on those kinds of things. So anything field experience, that can be very general, but any time I've been outside, and get to be with the kids or in the lab. That kind of stuff. I love it. Love it.
You've mentioned how the community is changing, just like perhaps the island is changing in the aftermath of some of these flooding events. What has that looked like over the past few years coming back from those events?
Adam: So you know, the last time Georgia got hit by a hurricane was 1898. It was pretty devastating, but no one's been around since 1898. So we don't have that institutional memory. And then, so we had Matthew come through. That was a wake up call. There wasn't wind of it. And Irma came and even though that was far away from us, it flooded large portions of this island. The [Hog Hammock] community was underwater and one of their main churches was underwater. My lab was underwater. I mean, not much but then after that I heard so many people say "well, wow we finally got hit by the big one and it wasn't that bad". So that kind of shocked me. So we constructed a surge pole display out front, and this surge was very much at the bottom of the pole. But we put a topic for "what if Katrina hit us?", what it would be, and it's obviously just shocking and it's kind of visuals, I think is what we really try to do. And then, you know, I do a lot of climate change talks. But if we take these events, and we've learned to create a tapestry of change in the coast and what we can and cannot do, or should and should not do to prepare for it, it's reality. It's reality, especially when this year, we've already had one down by you guys. (Note: I was in Naples, FL for an internship when interviewing Adam for this project, and at the time, early June 2022, we had just experienced a tropical storm)
Yeah, yeah, Florida just got hit by a tropical storm and there might be another one on the way so it is definitely feeling very real down here in Georgia and in Florida.
Adam: I lived in Orlando, and then I lived in Boca for a while and remember, "oh, it's just a tropical storm". You- some of the most deadly storms in history were tropical storms. It's just this complacency. So just trying to keep people educated and ready for that stuff. It's really kind of a big paramount stuff that we do as an agency.
And one of the ways that we can educate people and collect some data related to this is through the system wide monitoring program, which is a NERR system initiative. The Sapelo Island Reserve participates in this, what sort of applications does this data have within the reserve and beyond?
Adam: SWMP is essential to everything we do out here, whether you know it or not. So, so we have about 17 to 19 different institutions come here to do research. So it's a place-based place to research. It's not like you go here and go out, you come here to do research, which is guess is one of the hallmarks in the history of science, it's where modern ecology was invented out here, but...so SWMP, all these people that come, you know they have research projects, whether it be short term or long term, they don't need to go and collect that data. SWMP already has that data. SWMP could be a great canary in the coal mine. It can tell you things are happening before you actually physically see them happening to the environment. Just an incredibly powerful tool. And I always tell like students you know, all is life here. All the parameters that you look at in SWMP dictate not only what life is here but the abundance and distribution of all this stuff, it's dictated by those things in SWMP. So, even though I always say it's not the sexiest part of science here, it's one of the most essential parts of science that's out here because I say all life here is hinged on all those parameters, right? Now, you know, we've talked about pH as being logarithmic- those little tiny changes matter a great deal. And we've tried to, with the kids, replicate things on a different scale, using electronics to be efficient and more, you know, teen appropriate, I guess. They like electronic things. Just try to introduce and get them comfortable with this stuff because that's what... I mean, a lot of educators are uncomfortable with SWMP. But I think it's cool to me, I love it. And I have no problem sharing that passion. I get excited about SWMP.
It is exciting because like you said, some of the smallest changes can mean the biggest difference. Just a point off of pH can drastically impact calcifiers.
Adam: You know, if you're a shellfish one point is huge. If you're a coccolithophore or a pteropod, that's the difference between life and death, you know, when when go move the decimal point. And I mean if you're- a 10% reduction in pteropods is a 20% reduction in salmon, that's a direct relationship and that's based on ocean acidification, which is through SWMP, so it even has economic implications, you know, because we have a big shellfish industry here. Those things matter. And hypoxia events matter when you're a mussel. That's one of the things we research out here, it's hypoxia and mussel. So these things matter and SWMP is a way of explaining that and help, you know, deal with these kinds of situations. I love SWMP.
Me too! Are there any other new and/or interesting research projects currently underway on the reserve?
Adam: So one cool thing we've started doing is estuarine fish monitoring projects. We go out in the skiff and do an otter trawl, and that's mainly for juvenile fish. But just to have that baseline, and SWMP is gonna tell us some of this data, but then the fish, the abundance and distribution of these fish populations are really going to tell us a lot. We have a researcher looking at biomass and how biomass has changed and it's hard to see because you can't really tell from year to year but on the reserve we've lost 30% of our biomass in the past 30 years and you would never know that. And SWMP helps explain that too. But it's just... these things are really kind of critical to habitat and humans, you know, because they're all linked. That's basically why you should care about these things.
Absolutely.
Adam: And also, one of the cool things that I've been involved with over the years is PCBs, and they're actually involved with humans and dolphins. So we had a phenomenon down in Brunswick just south of us. Pretty much, every firstborn dolphin to a new mother died because we had a Superfund site called LCP that was producing PCBs and it bioaccumulated in mullet and got eaten in mullet. And, you know, at .01 parts per million, PCB starts affecting humans negatively. And we had one season catch of mullet with practically 12 parts per mil. So no wonder these babies were dying because you store all your toxins in your fatty tissues and when you become pregnant and metabolize all that, your breast milk is just basically toxic and those calves can't handle it. So I always like to point out, young women? You literally are what you eat. And I think that's a really important message to send through this research, even here too, since smoked mullet is part of the cultural institution out here on Sapelo. You have a funeral, wedding, everything in between, you're having smoked mullet.
So research at the reserve is currently being conducted by representatives from several institutions including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech to name just a few. How do these students and professionals work alongside reserve staff?
Adam: So it's a great collection of people. That said, for the most part, we don't try to duplicate too much stuff, so we coordinate with them regularly. We kind of assist them if we can, we partner with them. But for me, really my job is to know what they're doing and deal with effectively translating that to different audiences. That research background I have enables me to kind of speak their language and trust me a little bit so I can pass it along and kind of... I don't believe in dumbing things down too much to students. I'll give them the high but then I'll give them the low too. I never want to not give them the good stuff. But we do work with I mean, I work with my equivalent over there. So he's a researcher who did a lot with dolphin acoustics. That's how I got the idea for the hydrophone. So we work with them quite often if we can, but as I said for most part, they're really separate people.
What makes Sapelo Island different from other National Estuarine Research Reserves? What draws students out here or scientists looking to do research?
Adam: Well, I guess one that's more obvious, we're one of the few reserves where you gotta take a dang boat to get out here. That's like at 4:30. But as I say, it's common when students come up here, that boat ride kind of makes it seem like you're going to a different planet, it sets the tone for the day. It's an adventure when you get out here, so that for the students that's a plus you know, we have an island. It's the fourth biggest barrier island in Georgia, as you can see on the map. But it's a huge island with basically a total population of 70 maybe if you count the so many people in the community plus, you know, researchers that are here. It's a big island, it's a big wilderness, I won't call it wilderness, but a natural state, and that's pretty unique to have so much land and protect it. You know, if you look at our whole coast, 14 barrier islands, you're going to get to four of them as a private citizen. You get the ferries, but it's a pretty... this stretch of coast is one of the most natural coasts that we have on the Eastern Seaboard. So that's kind of interesting. You know, we have this human history out here. It's unique. So I always say Sapelo's one place that has evolved, you can go to different places to find a little bit of everything, but we have all the research history from Odum, you know, basically establishing modern ecology out here to you know, we have a Native American shell ring on north end that dates back 4500 years. We had the Spanish, the French, English all out here. You have the Gullah-Geechee community. So you have this whole human element to this place. It's just a pretty unique merging of many different things that, so you don't have to- you go one place you get all these different experiences, you just choose and that's often one of the hardest things is choosing which one to focus on. There's so many things out here that are worth looking at. I mean just going to that little community, as I said, it's probably the last intact Gullah-Geechee community on the East Coast that's on a barrier island. Most of the ones that are off barrier islands, they kind of, I won't say they've... it's more of a homogeny over there so they really preserve more here. Although I will say there's not many people that can speak fluent Geechee or Gullah anymore. But it's- the culture is still alive. We have a culture day out here. So these are pretty neat things that Sapelo has.
What issues are currently of the greatest concern to the Sapelo Island NERR and how is the reserve working to address them?
Adam: I mean, obviously, it's the same for everybody, it's climate change. You know, I said we had these storm events, you know those are obviously huge kind of acute events where there's more chronic...or things that are coming up like ocean acidification, we have big shellfish industry here. So how do we deal with these things? We have to investigate the best management practices. So it's nice that we have other institutions here. And we go to the university or DNR or even the community and have different voices that we can represent on these issues because it all affects people differently. You know, so historically, they're fishermen and shellfish guys. And so they see the change, you know, a lot of the forest is dying because it's all under inundation. So they see these changes visually. They see how what they catch is changing, you know, things warm up, we have the black mangroves just across the border. We have about a third of all the salt marsh in the country. South Carolina has more than us but between two of us we have most of it and at least in Georgia, it's kind of slowly and surely taking over this black mangrove if trends continue. So these sort of affect everything we have here, so we're not willing to have the ecosystem be outwelled. And so if you change this environment, it's going to have a huge effect. So we, we're worried about these things, and we won't have this happen in my lifetime but I've seen change in like you know, just my 24 year career. We're starting to get, we have Atlantic mangrove fiddler crabs up here we have mangrove tree crabs we have even the Cardisoma, the giant blue land crab spotted here. So these things are happening. So we have to chronicle these events. I don't know that much we can do about it. There's some things. So invasive plant species, invasives that are kind of part of this climate adaptation, we need to kind of deal with. Those are some big issues. Big issues.
Those are definitely big issues. How can listeners support the reserve? Are there any ongoing citizen science projects that they can be a part of or anything else they could do to help?
Adam: So that's always tricky when you're shored by a ferry, you can't just drive up, but we do a lot of picture posts, which are great way of again, it's not research for the sake of research, but it adds to the story. You know if you're trying to tell a story about change, picture posts are great and these are, any public can go and post it. So these are places they can go, but you have to be here, you have to get to the island, so we do most of our stuff, our citizens science stuff through our Friends group. If you've never heard of Friends, you can come out here whenever to do projects. They do beach slope monitoring, you know, basically with PVC and a rope, and you'd think that'd be very inaccurate. We measured against our trusty LiDAR, and it's pretty close. But it goes back a long time. So we have this great history of our beach slopes being monitored by our Friends group. They've done native bee surveys for us and kind of manpower stuff that you know, it's stuff we don't have the time for or, you know, the ability to do. They help us a great deal on those kind of things and then, obviously to help us out on any kind of public events on the mainland. So these big festivals. We have we have something called "CoachFest" that brings in 10,000 people for this event. And trying to man a SINERR tent just with us, it's hard, and they really fill that void and help educate because they know our story. So they really help us a lot in those kinds of things. And not only that, you know, it's hard to take in money as a state agency sometimes so they can be our, our kind of go-between. So when we do teach workshops, those teachers have to write a check to somebody, it's hard to write check to SINERR, so they write to Friends and they hold money for us and so we kind of put it back into the programs that way. So they make life so much easier for us. But again, citizen science that they do we couldn't do otherwise, and that's the only way we can really do a lot of citizen science is through that Friends group.
What is your favorite thing about Sapelo Island or maybe a favorite experience that you've had on the reserve?
Adam: First thing, my favorite thing's the food! I just like having this big backyard and I'm a science geek, you know, I'm a self-professed nerd and I love being... there's so much science out here. I can't get enough. There's so many cool projects going on and so many at any given time that there's... you never get bored if you love science out here. It's everything from studying grasshoppers in a marsh to you know, blue carbon to all these, you know, energy flows. We even have an eddy covariance flux tower. It has a fine scale CO2 detector. I mean, these things are cutting edge and set for so many different years. We have Indiana University, midwestern universities come here. So you get the perspective of all these different sorts of scientists. We had a guy that studied moss out here. And so I got to hang out with him and come to find out that you know, Sapelo, this little island, has 1000 different moss species. Tells you about how many diverse habitats we have, diverse ecosystems, just on these barrier islands, so if you're a nerd, a nature nerd, you get exposed to these things. It's, it's awesome. I love it.
Do you think that there are any misconceptions that the public has about the NERRs?
Adam: If they know what the NERRs are! I think one of the biggest ones I've come across is that the NERRs were created by NOAA to help basically "create" climate change, to create the idea that there's climate change induced by people. I think that's changing and I know that the younger generation is going to definitely not going to buy that. But just overcoming old stigmas like that with federal government, you know, having a hand in NERRs. People are naturally kind of leery of, of data and we're trying to make people understand what good science is versus bad science, right? You know, good science is really hard. There's a lot of rigor to it. I can design experiments getting exactly the answer I want, but that's not good science. Just trying to make them realize that the NERRs is good science. So trying to dispel that myth that NERRs is part of that conspiracy. That we actually do produce high-end, quality science and we do a heck of a lot of good for communities, research and everything. Everyone's been affected by what we do out here in a positive way. Trying to make people realize that and not let them think about this big brother or federal government in their backyard, like tell them what to do or, or what we do is going to effect what they have done. Like, shut down fisheries or something. Like I did a lot of sea turtle work and people will say "well you must not like shrimpers" and I say "no, I mean a shrimper invented the turtle excluder device". You know? So they're essential, we work with them. So just trying to try to dispel those kinds of myths which are unfounded, unguided, but just trying to deal with it.
Absolutely. The NERRs, as their name suggests, are much more than just reserves or just state-owned land. It's a "research" reserve. And so there's a lot of good science going on. And hopefully people can learn more about the reserve system and what they do.
Adam: Oh yeah. It's a great system and as I said, it serves a very valuable purpose and fulfills a good role, niche, as needed. I think we do a very good job of it, so that's, getting that message out it's important.
Definitely. I guess to finish us out, what is one piece of advice that you'd like to give to anyone interested in pursuing a career in conservation or environmental education?
Adam: Well, I always say, it's changed since then but when I did internships, you did it pro bono, you did it for maybe some scraps of bread. But internships not only help you find what you want to do, they get you kind of in the system and known. People like to hire people they know, proven bodies. And part of that, you have to get noticed as an intern, in a good way. So I know, doing this for a long while, I only remember the really good interns and really bad interns. So get noticed in a good way, have a good work ethic, and be excited about something, be willing to learn. Be excited about learning your craft, I mean you're starting now, but really kind of learn as much as you can about it. And you'll do fine. That's my best advice, get your foot in the door. Put your heart and soul into an internship or summer job or whatever. And good things will happen because as I said, when I used to hire a lot of sea turtle interns, I always hired people who had proven themselves in the field and I knew or were good people. Because you know, a resume and a grade doesn't necessarily tell you everything about a person. But you know we call the references, they know them personally, and it's gold. So have developed good work ethics.
Absolutely. And there's a lot of internship experiences and opportunities within the the NERRs which is great. So you just got to get out there.
Yeah, obviously, as I said, I want to produce more scientists and that's one of the best ways to do it.
SINERR Website sapelonerr.org/