MARINE INSTITUTE:

(see Appendix 1 for details of scientific findings):

The affiliation of the Foundation with The University of Georgia resulted from an invitation, extended by R.J. Reynolds, to propose a program to utilize certain of the island’s resources. A committee composed of George Boyd, Eugene Odum and Donald Scott prepared the proposal for establishing a marine biology laboratory. The primary objective of the laboratory was intended to be basic research into the biological productivity in the coastal waters and marshes of the region.

By July 1953, funds were made available to cover operating costs, field and laboratory facilities, and housing. Use was made of existing facilities. Families were housed in the apartments on the eastern side of the central quadrangle, and the elaborate dairy barn was gradually converted into laboratory space.

This was no conventional barn. It had hot and cold running water and steam heat. The ground floor boasted a tiled milk laboratory and a photographic darkroom and the second floor housed a movie theater with seating for a hundred people. At first, only one room was air-conditioned and it was used as the instrument room (the instruments being a balance and a colorimeter). The challenge for the first staff members were how to improvise with what was available to them, and how to approach the concept of broad-scale, field-oriented ecology. They had boats, ingenuity, a small amount of equipment, and generally, a great deal of enthusiasm. This combination of circumstances led to much of the preliminary research being observational, a search for the means to qualify and quantify this complex environment.

In addition to the basic support from the Sapelo Island Agriculture and Forestry Research Foundation (as it was originally entitled), by 1956 all the research faculty had applied for, and received, National Science Foundation grants.

As the new faculty settled in and developed their programs, a parallel and complementary group from the main campus in Athens also came to the laboratory. This was composed of senior faculty such as Eugene Odum and Donald Scott and their graduate students, who spent their summers or other available time researching their specific areas of interest.

By 1957, the upper floor of the laboratory was dedicated, providing flood-free laboratory space. More sophisticated analytical instruments were obtained with Atomic Energy Commission and National Science Foundation grants, and the first isotope tracer work commenced, allowing more accurate tracing of nutrients through complex systems.

Richard Reynolds and the Marine Institute hosted the Salt Marsh Conference in March 1958. Support was provided by the National Science Foundation which was, at that time, interested in promoting interdisciplinary workshops on specialized subjects. The fifty-five participants included the faculty of the Marine Institute and a complement from the University of Georgia, with input from participants from other maritime states, Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The discussions ranged from geology to hydrology, physiological stresses, production and the role of saltmarshes as historical records.

While questions relating to productivity, energy flow and phosphorus cycling were being addressed, another gap in the basic knowledge of the system became obvious. This was its geology. Geology is a science which puts everyday measurements into a time frame. No longer is a day, a season, or a year the major consideration; instead, the accumulation of years becomes the focus of enquiry. Discrepancies between the short-term and long-term then become clues to hitherto unsuspected or unconsidered disturbances. So it was, in the early 1960’s that a geology group was recruited.

This led, in 1966, to the Marine Institute hosting a field trip of the Geological Society of America. Thus an opportunity was provided for the Sapelo geologists to interact with a large group of geologists from the south-eastern states, demonstrating to, and discussing their research finding with, the participants.

In 1964, the Conference on Estuaries was held on Jekyll Island. The initial planning was subsidized by the Sapelo Island Research Foundation and financially assisted by many other sponsors. The final product of the conference was the book “Estuaries”, edited by George Lauff and published in 1967 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This multidisciplinary volume remains the classic work on estuaries.

The Marine Institute also hosted the Oyster Culture Workshop in 1967, to discuss the potential for rebuilding the oyster industry in Georgia.

Much of the biological research had elucidated the interactions which occur in a healthy saltmarsh/estuarine environment: the roll of detritus (the remnant of Spartina decay); the excretion of organic and inorganic matter by a variety of animals and plants; the subsequent use of excreted materials by others in the food web. This information and that provided by the geologists on the stability of the sea island/saltmarsh system became of vital public interest when a large industry wished to strip mine marshland for phosphate. The “Conference on the Future of the Marshlands and Sea Islands” was held at the Cloister on Sea Island in October 1968 to discuss the problem from many aspects. By showing that the proposed venture was neither economically nor environmentally sound, a commission of experts from The University System of Georgia provided the Governor and the legislators with the input which resulted in a strong marshland Protection Act in 1970.

In December 1976, the State of Georgia purchased nearly 5,000 acres on the south end of the island from the Sapelo Island Research Foundation for $4 million. Half of the funds used were State and half were Federal. The purchased land, together with part of the R.J. Reynolds Wildlife Refuge in the area of the Duplin River, was then designated as the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Sanctuary, the second of a series of National Estuarine Sanctuaries which fall under the aegis of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington. The only land remaining, which is not State-owned, is 434 acres occupied by the residents of the Hog Hammock community. The Marine Institute’s leasehold since the 1976 State acquisition occupies the area within the sanctuary south of the road leading from Marsh Landing dock to Nannygoat Beach, including all the Marine Institute buildings, residences and the Main House.

By July 1978 (F.Y. 78-79) The University of Georgia Marine Institute had become a line item in the State Budget.

In 1979, recognizing the needs for a coherent program theme and a progression into new scientific fields, the Marine Institute initiated an institutional level program to investigate the phenomena associated with coastal “outwelling”. Outwelling was established as a concept in 1967 and refers to the major export of organic matter from the estuarine marshlands and the subsequent enhancement of nearshore productivity. However, the reality of this concept and its mechanisms, if real, have been seriously questioned for several years. The new programs are aimed at clarifying all aspects of these processes. Because of similarities in programmatic purpose, the Marine Institute hosted a joint meeting with the University of South Carolina’s Belle Baruch Institute in 1980. This very successful meeting should be the beginning of continued cooperation and collaboration between the faculties of the two Institutes.

The Sapelo Island Research Foundation continues to provide part of the annual funding for the Institute covering essentially all faculty salaries. Recently the Foundation has also considered and funded specific additional research programs (beginning in 1980).