University of South Carolina Beaufort students protect loggerhead sea turtle nests on Pritchards Island. (Provided by USC Beaufort)
BEAUFORT – The University of South Carolina was at risk of losing control of Pritchards Island research site, located off the southern end of the Palmetto State’s coastline.
Now, a year after securing funding in the state budget, the Beaufort campus of South Carolina’s largest college system is back to conducting research on the pristine barrier island, studying wildlife that ranges from loggerhead sea turtles, dolphins and red drum fish to diamondback rattlesnakes, shore birds and several threatened species of bats.
As a result, enrollment in USC Beaufort ’s marine biology program has surged from six students in 2020 to 116 today, biology professor Kim Ritchie told the SC Daily Gazette, ahead of visit by Gov. Henry McMaster to the Lowcountry university Wednesday.
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