Just two weeks from the end of the semester, students taking EES 210, Surficial Processes class went on a field trip to coastal South Carolina to study Barrier Island ecosystem, coastal processes affecting them and the impacts of global sea level rise and human development on them. This weekend camping trip includes a ferry trip through the Cape Romaine Wildlife Refuge to uninhibited Bulls Island, and a kayaking trip through the salt marsh estuary to the severely eroded Morris Island.
Students witness first hand the natural coastal erosion processes acting along our coastlines by visiting developed and undeveloped beaches and observing the evidences for beach erosion and the many different ways coastal communities are addressing such problem. Stranded, dead trees on the beach (boneyard), oyster shells and estuary mud exposed on beach side, and a lighthouse that is off the coast surrounded by water are some of the most exciting evidences observed. Students and faculty discussed the causes of beach erosion and the effectiveness of commonly used methods of combating them.