October 11, 2004


Living labs

Place that ignited rebellion now involved in scientific revolution

BY DANIEL CONOVER
Of The Post and Courier Staff
The vine-covered iron fence and security gate at the entrance to Fort Johnson is typically open and unguarded, but its silent message seems clear: government facility, stay out.

Behind that gate at the tip of James Island lies a corner of the Lowcountry few residents have seen. To most who've passed through it, Fort Johnson is little more than the place where anglers pick up state permits and licenses.

What's not immediately apparent is that this 90-acre campus represents one of the most significant marine science research facilities on the East Coast, home to multiple laboratories quietly conducting sophisticated experiments at the edge of Charleston Harbor.

It's a shady, quiet place on the outside, but step inside these buildings and the story lines emerge: federal scientists tracking down dangerous toxins, state fisheries managers fighting to save popular game species, marine geneticists deciphering riddles that could protect the shrimp harvest -- or point the way to cancer cures.

Occasionally, a motorist will drive to the end of Fort Johnson Road looking for the scant remains of fortifications that launched the American Civil War. There's a bit of irony in that: A place best known for igniting a 19th-century rebellion is in the midst of a quiet 21st-century revolution, a new way of thinking that is challenging conventional wisdom about how we manage science and changing the way we look at the marine environment.

At the headquarters of MUSC's marine biomedicine program, scientists at a conference table overlooking the jetties discuss a protein, found in the lungs of dolphins, that could save the lives of premature babies. In the renovated hospital that serves as the College of Charleston's marine biology lab, undergraduates examine shrimp gills for bacteria.

The state scientists at the Marine Resources Research Institute are up to their necks in marsh studies, sometimes quite literally. Across campus, federal chemists are working out solutions to laboratory problems that could unlock whole new lines of inquiry. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research have 54 research projects on their books.

And thanks to a new federal initiative, more researchers here are focusing on the profound and subtle relationships between human life and the underwater world.

People have been conducting scientific research at Fort Johnson since the mid-1950s, and most of the tenants have been on campus since the 1970s. But what strikes a visitor today is not just the number of scientists, but how many of them are working together. After decades of proximity and years of lean budgets, scientists at Fort Johnson have adapted, combining their efforts and resources into practically symbiotic relationships, trampling traditional turf boundaries in the process.

The centerpiece of that collaborative spirit is the Hollings Marine Laboratory, a $23 million, 78,000-square-foot federal facility where 130 scientists from all five partner organizations conduct experiments on state-of-the-art technology.

Research at the 4-year-old lab is managed by project, not by agency, a simple idea that is as unusual as it is bold, combining diverse disciplines and deep-rooted organizational cultures (See story above). A 30-foot stroll through the first-floor labs at HML passes a visiting scholar, a med school specialist in marine genomics and a federal expert on coral, not to mention at least a dozen lab techs and graduate students. Upstairs, top-flight chemists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology process experimental samples, regardless of whose budget is funding the work.

"Completed" in 2000, the lab still is under construction, with special bio-security labs and a new facility for large seawater tanks due to open soon. Office space is at a premium, and HML's hallways and alcoves are filled with makeshift cubicles. There are plans for an expansion wing.

The biggest news at HML in 2004 was its formal designation as one of three "Centers of Excellence" for the federal government's Oceans and Human Health Initiative. The idea: change the way the government funds and manages marine research by concentrating on ways the marine environment affects public health, and vice versa.

Much of the research already under way at HML falls under that description, and the special designation gives administrators cause to hope that federal funding will continue here long after the retirement of the lab's patron, U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C.

Meanwhile, state officials make it clear that no matter what happens in Washington, the Department of Natural Resources' mission at Fort Johnson will not change. Though heavily dependent on federal grants because of state cutbacks, scientists such as Marine Resources Research Institute Director Bob Van Dolah remain adamantly focused on the mission of protecting South Carolina's natural resources and coastal environment.

Van Dolah runs one of the more advanced state labs in the country, and its science program gives the department "instant credibility," said Robert Boyles Jr., the DNR deputy director for Marine Resources.

Much of that reputation arises from the collaborative science being conducted at Fort Johnson. "I don't think there's a campus like it on the East Coast," said Van Dolah.

Someday, the average Charlestonian might even know about it.


FORT JOHNSON AT A GLANCE

Fort Johnson takes its name from a gun emplacement built at the end of James Island in 1704. A rebuilt version of the fort played a role in the American Revolution, and a shell fired from the point began the bombardment of Fort Sumter. The federal government operated a quarantine facility at the site during the first half of the 20th century, and the 90-acre property was acquired by the state in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, it is shared by several different organizations:

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: The first scientific use of Fort Johnson began in 1955 when the College of Charleston converted an old quarantine hospital into a marine biology lab. Today, the college operates graduate and undergraduate programs through its Grice Marine Laboratory. Nineteen college employees work primarily or substantially at Grice, and dozens of marine biology students are involved in research at Grice and nearby state and federal laboratories.

S.C. DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES: DNR acquired the lion's share of the campus from the federal government in the 1960s and has served as the facility's primary landlord ever since. The cornerstone of its science program, the Marine Resources Research Institute, opened in 1972. Its research supports DNR's management and law-enforcement missions. In the late 1970s, DNR built a research facility and leased it to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which in the late 1990s leased an adjacent tract to build its Hollings Marine Laboratory. Because of state budget cuts, DNR now depends on federal grants to fund most of its research.

MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA: MUSC's history at Fort Johnson dates to the 1950s. MUSC acquired the "White House" at the end of Fort Johnson Road as the residence for its president, and the renovated structure today serves as its Marine Biomedicine and Environmental Sciences Center, an interdisciplinary program that coordinates marine research on topics with potential medical applications.

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION: A tenant at Fort Johnson since the late 1970s, NOAA's National Ocean Service continues to conduct research via its Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research. The center employs 140 people (including 15 at another lab) and operates on a $20 million budget. Most of its employees are actively involved in collaborative research with one of the other Fort Johnson partners.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY: A sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST creates and updates standardized procedures and references for scientists. The most recent arrival at Fort Johnson, NIST is housed within the Hollings Marine Laboratory.

HOLLINGS MARINE LABORATORY: Though designated as a NOAA lab and constructed in 1998-2000 at a cost of $23 million, HML was conceived as a multi-agency facility. The lab is run via a formal joint-operating agreement between all five Fort Johnson partners, and many of its most important management decisions are made by its multi-agency science board.


RESEARCH PROGRAMS

Here is a sampling of research programs, with collaborations in parentheses:

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources' monitoring and environmental research programs typically derive from direct support of resource management and stewardship. DNR scientists are the acknowledged experts on topics such as oyster beds, commercial and recreational fishing and long-term tidal zone ecology.

-- Hazardous Algae Blooms: What causes algae colonies to expand -- and what effects do those toxic blooms have on the environment? (HML)

-- Shrimp farming: Techniques developed by DNR scientists in Charleston and Beaufort show signs of making mariculture safe and profitable in the near future. (HML)

The College of Charleston's marine biology program produces between 30 and 50 bachelor's and master's degrees a year, involving students who learn by helping out on a variety of projects. Research by College of Charleston faculty is varied and flexible.

-- Sea turtle reproduction: One way of addressing declining sea turtle populations is to learn more about how these ancient creatures reproduce.

-- Bacterial ecology: What makes for healthy pluff mud? Understanding the complex relationships between marine and estuary species may begin with studies of bacteria in marine sediments.

MUSC faculty work downtown and in the labs of other Fort Johnson partners on research that combines marine science with medicine. Some of the most advanced science being conducted at the campus involves MUSC investigators, and its concentration on linking marine research and human health predates the federal government's new Oceans and Human Health Initiative.

NOAA's National Ocean Service lab integrates environmental studies and biomolecular research on an impressive array of topics. From biotoxins to marine mammal health and forensics, these federal scientists are leaders in a variety of fields.

-- Coral health: If coral reefs are sick, can the oceans be healthy? Ongoing worldwide studies are linking coral health to environmental degradation. Reefs might also provide clues about the history of global climate change. (HML, College of Charleston)

-- Ecotoxicology: What happens on land affects coastal ecosystems; ecotoxicologists try to trace those results back to their sources and eventually could change the way we work, build and farm. (HML)

NIST scientists develop the best, most reliable quality control, sampling and measurement techniques in the business.

-- Marine Analytical Quality Assurance and Specimen Banking: By storing tissue samples taken around the country in a liquid nitrogen, cryogenic deep freeze, NIST hopes to provide future scientists with the chance to spot environmental patterns across time.

The federally run Hollings Marine Laboratory is operated jointly by all five Fort Johnson partners, offering each access to state-of-the-art technology and multidisciplinary collaboration.

-- Marine genomics: Applying advanced DNA studies to everything from fish restocking to immunology offers opportunities for unexpected discoveries. (MUSC, DNR)

-- Better monitoring and assessment tools: How can government head off environmental disasters? By spotting them earlier and more specifically. (DNR, HML, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management)