Michaux Center Future Education Programs

Tidal Influences

Students will be transported to SC-DNR for overview of the facility and introduction to the ongoing research.  After lunch, students will board the Discovery, a 40' pontoon vessel, and ride the incoming tide to Riverfront Park.  Along the way, they will stop at pre-designated stations to sample the water quality, physical properties, sediments, plankton, and benthos.  On a post-cruise visit, students will analyze samples and enter data into database.  The same stations will be visited each program. This program will offer a mentoring component as well with college students accompanying each trip to teach high school students.

Beach Profiling

High school students assist college students with beach surveys on Sullivan’s Island and Folly Beach.  These surveys, when conducted several times/year, will measure the changing topography and erosion patterns through time due to coastal processes. Students will then develop web sites and databases for the two, significantly different, barrier islands.

Estuary and Tidal Creek Monitoring

With the help of trained mentors, students will paddle up into Noisette Creek and into a short stretch of the Cooper River at Riverfront Park, taking water quality data and samples along the way.  These samples will be analyzed and compared with other data collected previously and a database will be developed for program that will inform with creek restoration efforts. This paddle will coordinate with Creek Day and other sampling from the Noisette Creek bridges and the fishing piers at Riverfront Park. 

Ocean Awareness Day

OAD is a week-long summer workshop for teachers put on by Centers for Ocean Services and Education Excellence (COSEE) that introduces a variety of hand-on activities for teaching marine science. After returning from the workshop, a teacher will work with the Center to put together a workshop in North Charleston for other teachers to pass on the knowledge acquired.

The Spirit of South Carolina

This day-long research cruise combines the Spirit’s impressive nautical program with scientific study. As with other programs, students will collect samples in the Cooper River. However, the Spirit is a tall ship replica which will allow students to learn more about navigation and nautical fundamentals than on any other cruise Michaux offers.

Transects

An oceanographic research program for undergraduate students, Transects includes a research cruise and semester-long laboratory course. Students spend 5 days at sea collecting samples along the continental shelf off of South Carolina. Following the cruise, students enroll in a semester long course during which they participate in collaborative and independent research. At the completion of the program, undergraduates will present their results at professional meetings and to North Charleston high school students.  They will also publish their work and create web resources to help students and the public understand research taking place on a local level. Click here for more information.