Coastal Carolina University
EN-9: Community Partnerships

HANDS Community Garden- a new grassroots organization founded in 2012. The organizations focuses on sustainable gardening in the Booker T. Washington district of Myrtle Beach. Student volunteers participate in clean-up of the site on a regular basis. Members of the Civic Engagement staff serve on the Board of Directors. DHEC, Conway Parks & Recreation, L.W. Paul Living Farm, Global Awareness Project, Girl Scouts of Eastern S.C., Kareteam Sanctuary, Myrtle Beach State Park, SC Cares, The Mitney Project, Waccamaw Animal Rescue: CCU partners to support all of the non-profit agencies listed above. This is done through formal recognition as a community partner with whom the Office of Civic Engagement works and sends volunteers.

Winyah Rivers Foundation-Waccamaw Riverkeeper Program is a grass roots non-profit organization concerned with protecting the watershed of Winyah Bay. The Waccamaw Riverkeeper focuses on the Waccamaw River, but as part of the Winyah Rivers Foundation will conduct work on the other rivers of the Winyah Bay Watershed as well. The partnership provides students and community members with the educational, legislative and advocacy tools necessary to protect the Winyah Bay watershed; and ultimately the interdependent businesses, government entities and private stakeholders who benefit from clean and healthy Waccamaw River. Staff and administrative support are provided by the University and the program offices are hosted in the Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies facility on campus. Because the program is hosted within the College of Science, university stakeholders such as students, faculty, and administrators are recruited through the regular daily functions of the College. Faculty actively utilize the program as a supplemental teaching tool for their courses, thus creating a deeper engagement among the stakeholders. The dynamic relationship with the College of Science further influences the organization’s ability to institutionalize policies that actively benefit the community, such as the sustainable use water resources so as to promote the health of the watershed.

Coastal’s Department of Marine Science offers an exceptional opportunity for field experience in Biology of Sharks at the Bimini Biological Field Station (BBFS) in the Bahamas. The course features lectures, discussions, analysis o¬f research papers, frequent field trips, video presentations, and personal encounters with several species of large, actively feeding, and free-swimming sharks. Lectures focus on broad aspects of the biology of sharks, including: diversity, evolution, anatomy, physiology, behavior, ecology, fisheries, captive biology, conservation, and biomedical uses. The majority of the academic work will be field-oriented. This fieldwork will introduce students to research techniques used at Coastal Carolina University and BBFS, where research on sharks has been ongoing for over 20 years. Before leaving for Bimini, students will participate in a number of classroom activities (lectures, discussions) focused on introducing them to the biology of sharks and their trip to Bimini. We will take a half-day research cruise on the R/V Coastal II, during which we will set several experimental shark longlines. Any sharks captured will be identified, measured, sampled for DNA, and tagged and released. After a short but rigorous training session and observing the experienced Coastal Carolina University shark team set and retrieve the longlines and handle the sharks, students will be given an opportunity to do the same.