In conducting this research, the cadets were also able to
map out various routes for accessing the property using
GPS data uploaded to a GIS map. On the whole, donorsponsored research has provided useful training in field
biology to cadets and contributed to our knowledge
of this newly acquired site. The students involved in
this project have been inspired to pursue an ambitious
new project to study animals on the site and link those
observations to their initial work on the flora.
“
Donor-funded research at the Faircloth property is having a significant
impact on our students and has allowed us to begin an ecological
research program at the site. The cadets have quickly grown to love these
muggy, snake-infested swamplands and keep volunteering for more
research activities there. This has become a service-learning project
where they understand that what they do impacts future research that
other cadets will conduct.
– Joel Gramling, Associate Professor
The Citadel School of Science and Mathematics
Several educational activities have occurred at The
Citadel’s research property over the past year. The
property, donated by V. Lee Faircloth, Jr., ’67, consists of
544 acres of bottomland forest habitat near Georgetown,
SC, including a stretch of over one mile of Black River
shoreline. Last summer, three cadets conducted a
wetland plant study to learn more about the floristics
and the hydrology of the site. These cadets were able
to collect data in the field, analyze the data in the lab,
and present their results at the 2014 Citadel Research
Conference, where they won first prize. Indirectly this
sponsored research has increased our list of plant species
found on the site and resulted in dozens of herbarium
specimens that will be used in teaching and research at
The Citadel.