At nearly 27,000 acres, Congaree is easily one of the largest floodplain old growth forests left in the U.S. It is home to numerous “champion trees”, trees of such immense size and age that they may be the largest living trees of their species; we were able to measure and rank some of these trees.  The floodplains, resting in the shade of 400 year old Bald Cypress groves, are home to a vibrant ecosystem of birds, amphibians, fish, reptiles and mammals.  The floodplain routinely floods, leaving a beautiful maze of trees to canoe or kayak through.  All of this land was protected by concerned citizens until 1976 when it finally became a national park.  Under the protection of the National Parks Service much of this land has been conserved and managed responsibly for the benefit of biodiversity. 

The National Park Rangers are divided into various teams managing different aspects of the park, including water management, botany, and even specialists who focus on feral boar invasion, and the supposedly extinct Ivory-billed woodpecker.  The various roles and career niches of the National Parks service, from the interpretive rangers who run guided tours and monitor the wildlife to interpretation to education and emergency services, were discussed in depth .   There are many internships and training opportunities in the various areas of the National Parks Service that were discussed, great opportunities for anyone interested in conservation and land and wildlife management positions as well as environmental education. 

There are miles of trails and boardwalks for visitors to hike along through the marshy landscape.  The park was transformed by the shifting river deposits as it migrated across the park over the past few thousand years.  Various geological and ecological studies have been performed on this park because of the pristine nature and great hardwood forests, providing a great opportunity for anyone wishing to study those subjects and was perhaps the reason that the park was preserved by citizens of the area until half a century ago.

Dr. White and Quinc Gonzales measure the width of a massive tree in the swampy terrain to determine if it could be a champion tree

Evidence of the woodpecker population of Congaree National Park. Research has been performed to identify the species of woodpeckers feeding at these trees concerning the beak width of common woodpeckers in the region and the critically endangered Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

The majority of Congaree park is floodplain, home to massive Bald Cypress trees anchored to the marshy soil by their "knees".

Beautiful 5-lined Skinks and anoles crawl along Congaree National Park in the thousands. Beautiful to some, "just a lizard" to others.

 Visiting the Angel Oak was an impressively humbling experience. The Oak (Quercus Vrginiane) stands a towering 65 feet tall has a circumference of 25.5 feet and shades an area of 17,000 sq. ft. This 400 year old tree has impressive numbers, but it’s not until you stand underneath its canopy and navigate the twisted spiders of its limbs that you feel her weight and resilience. Admitting I had to stop and attempt to draw this angel before me, even at many hundreds of yards away the full extent fell off the paper, and at my vantage point I was also in perfect line to capture my fellow tree hugging friends circling the tree and playing under its branches.

Seeing this long-standing example of life sustaining against the odds has a certain breathtaking presence all of its own, but adding in that this particular region of South Carolina is prone to fire and hurricane commands respect of the oak’s winning within nature.

Orangeburg Memorial

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Cleveland Sellers. Dr. Sellers was an important leader in the civil rights movement. Before going to South Carolina we got to learn about the Orangeburg Massacre from history professor, Wes Dick. The Orangeburg Massacre was a new topic to most of the people in the class, which was amazing because 3 students were killed and around 30 injured. The injuries happened during a riot where the students were protesting the segregation of the All-Star Bowling Lane. In the midst of those injuries was Cleveland Sellers. Dr. Sellers was later arrested, and convicted, for starting the riot(eventually pardoned).

Students at the memorial for the victims of the Orangeburg Massacre

During our time with Dr. Sellers he explained what had happened during the Civil Rights Movement and the strategies of organizing people within the movement. One of the things that impressed most us, was how much Dr. Sellers had accomplished in his life. He was influential in the Civil Rights Movement, obtained a PhD, and is now the president of Voorhees University. Also, his demeanor was very calm, but yet exciting. During Sellers talk, he did not seem bitter about the past but really wanted it to be a learning experience for future generations. Sellers also noted there is still problems in the state of South Carolina that need to be addressed. Overall, it was a great experience to listen to a firsthand witness of a historical event and a predominate leader within the Civil Rights Movement.

After lunch, Dr. and Mrs. Vornakis set us up with a tour of Charleston. Our tour guide knew a lot about the history of Charleston and was very excited to get the chance to share it with us. The town was concentrated with very old buildings, many dating over 200 years old. For being quite old, the buildings looked to be in pretty good condition. The housing types were uniquely named, called Charleston Single House’s. The buildings’ design was tailored to keep it cooler during the day. They were one room wide and had a side piazza (porch), which opened up the house to the side yard. The idea of having fewer walls within the home is that there would be more airflow through the room. Most of the remaining single houses were in a neighborhood with an interesting history. When the town was under siege by the Union most of the wealthy plantation owners left their homes, which eventually became occupied by soldiers and the lower class. The neighborhood is now a very rich area. This shift from wealth to poverty then back to wealth was an interesting history and it was quite amazing that the houses have survived this long.

Students in Charleston

Students at the ACE Basin

During the trip we visited the Ashepoo, Combahee and South Edisto (ACE) Basin, which is a part of the National Estuary Research Reserve (NERR) Program. This is one of 27 located along the U.S. coastline. The ACE Basin is approximately 350,000 acres with about 140,000 of undeveloped public and private land. The basin contained a variety of habitats ranging from hardwood forest to tidal swamps. The ACE Basin hosts a variety of different functions including research, outreach and education, hunting, and bird watching; this place literally had something for everyone. It was interesting to see all of these different functions at one location that, from the sounds of things, actually worked well together.  The ACE basin was a more managed area that used techniques like controlled burning and changing the water level, with rice trunks, to control the water level of the habitat. The land of the ACE Basin was also very interesting because it varied with multiple owners. To protect their private land, the owners could receive a tax deduction if they put an easement on their land that would prohibit future development. At first a lot of the students felt this would lower the housing value by putting these restrictions on them. However, the people at the NERR station explained that because the surrounding area was becoming developed that this area would stand out and possibly increase housing value. The Basin also had the remains of the old south because most of the lands were former plantations. Also, slaves originally dug one of the canals we looked at out. Overall, the area was very interesting because of the cooperation between public and private to obtain the common goal of protecting the environment.

Looking across a portion of the ACE Basin