About: Program History
The history of the St. Catherines Island Sea Turtle Conservation Program is reviewed here within the context of the history of St. Catherines Island.
Gale A. Bishop began doing research on St. Catherines after a short reconnaissance visit in the company of Georgia Southern University colleague JoAnne Shadroui in 1986 to assess the potential for her to initiate research on the Island. The remarkable natural laboratory provided by the undeveloped island, the robust turn-key infrastructure provided by The St. Catherines Island Foundation, Inc., and the St. Catherines Island Research Grants Program administered through the American Museum of Natural History on behalf of the Edward John Noble Foundation proved to be an irresistible opportunity for Shadroui, who initiated a study McQueens Dune Field, and for Bishop, who initiated a study of modern Ghost Shrimp.
Studies of populations of Carolinean Ghost Shrimp on St. Catherines' beaches were followed by documentation of the distribution and accumulation of deposits of heavy mineral suites on St. Catherines' beaches (Bishop, 1990) and studies of the taphonomy of decapod crustaceans washed onto the beach. In 1990, while sampling Carolinean Ghost Shrimp populations with a Yabby Pump to study their life cycle and claw morphology, Bishop was assisted by biologist and science educator, Nancy Brannen Marsh. Upon watching GaDNR Sea Turtle Intern Tyronne Ragan "work" a nest on seaside Spit, Marsh suggested that this process would be a wonderful way to teach science content, scientific processing, and critical thinking to K-12 teachers in Georgia. Because of Bishop's history of teacher education through support of the Georgia Plan for Mathematics and Science Education (Title II), Bishop and Marsh discussed the possibility of developing an externally funded program based upon conservation of sea turtle conservation. This concept was then discussed with Island Superintendent Royce Hayes who recognized its potential to support the newly mandated GaDNR Index Beach Program to conserve sea turtles on all Georgia barrier islands. In 1991 two interns, Ming Lee and Susan, womaned the fledgling program through the nesting season.
A proposal was written to the Georgia Plan for Mathematics and Science Education for support of a new St. Catherines Island Sea Turtle Conservation Program co-directed by Bishop and Marsh. The initial proposal was funded in 1991 by the newly named Georgia Eisenhower Higher Education Program and has been continually funded since then by Eisenhower and its new designation, the Georgia Teacher Quality Higher Education program. The initial grant supported 7 pairs of teacher-interns on St. Catherines Island housed for two-week intervals in the Turtle House. This plan was soon modified to teach one two-week class with 14 participants as a group. Student input indicated that two weeks was too long, considering their normal family obligations, so the residency was reduced to 7-8 days with two pre-residency training meetings and a post-residency meeting. During the summers of 2002-2005 the Turtle House was assigned to the Wildlife Survival Center for housing their interns, so the Turtle Program worked out of Cabin 7.
Upon Bishop's retirement in 1999, Fred Rich was formally brought into the Program as the Principal Investigator required under Teacher Quality guidelines. Bishop became Director of the Museum of Geology in 2001 and brought graduate and undergraduate students into the program to act as interns and use the experience for their graduate study. Parts of two masters theses resulted from this effort.
Staffing of the Program 2001-2008
2001 Gale Bishop; South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
2002 Tim Pranger & Gale Bishop; South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
2003 Mike Knell & Gale Bishop; South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
2004 Mike Knell/Maggie Hart & Gale Bishop; South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
2005 Clint Collins & Gale Bishop; University of Georgia; Sociology Sophomore
2006 Gale Bishop, Hollis Stewart, University of Georgia; College of Veterinary Sciences
2007 Gale Bishop, Katy McCurdy (Ga. College and State University) and Alyse Eddy (Upper Iowa University)
2008 Gale Bishop, Katy McCurdy (Ga. College and State University) and Alyse Eddy (Upper Iowa University)
Theses with input from SCISTP
Hart, Margaret M., 2004, Toxichelys: taxonomic comparison and stratigraphic distribution during the Campanian Lower Pierre Shale of South Dakota, M.S. Paleontology, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, 109 p.
Knell, Michael J., 2004, Taphonomy and Ichnology of sea turtles from the Cretaceous Interior Seaway of South Dakota, M.S. Paleontology, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, 100 p.
McCurdy Catherine D., (2009), Potential biasing of hatchling sex-ratios in relocated loggerhead nests, St. Catherines Island, GA: A pilot study, M. S. Biology, Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville GA, xx p.
Eddy, Alyse C., (2009), Morphology and genesis of crawlways of loggerhead sea turtles, St. Catherines Island, GA, B. S. Environmental Science/Biology, Upper Iowa University.
When Fred Rich assumed duties as Director of the East-Central Georgia PRISM Center (and grant) in 2005, Kelly Vance assumed duties as Principal Investigator and became an integral part of the Program. Nancy Marsh, co-founder of the program, formally retired from it due to health problems in 2005. Lynne Burkhalter was recruited as Senior Mentor (2005) and Michelle Griffin and Hollis Stewart were recruited as mentors in 2006. The SCISTP was reassigned space in the Turtle House in 2006 and has worked out of that space since then. In 2008 a Chevrolet Pickup was assigned to the Program that allowed a more comfortable commute to a South Beach staging area where a John Deere Gator was parked for use during the summer. Construction began on new infrastructure in September of 2008.
The St. Catherines Island Sea Turtle Conservation Program is supported by a consortium of The Georgia Teacher Quality Higher Education Program (50%), St. Catherines Island Foundation, Inc., GeoTrec LLC, Georgia Southern University, and Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Supplemental grants have funded specific projects or operating support for the program, including Model Technology Program (1998), The Turner Foundation (1999) and The JST Foundation (1999).