Charleston Natural History Society

09/01/2026

SEPTEMBER LECTURE:

Folly Beach Turtle Watch

Monday September 7th
6-8pm
James Island City Hall
1122 Dills Bluff Rd,
James Island, SC, 29412

Sea Turtles: A Remarkable Journey

For 100 million years, sea turtles flourished. But as human populations grew and spread, sea turtles encountered their greatest threat. For centuries, sea turtles were hunted for food, harvested for their eggs and shells, and even pursued for sport. Today, they are among our coast’s most beloved and carefully protected wildlife.

Join Dave Miller of the Folly Beach Turtle Watch (FBTW) as he shares what he has learned during 11 years on the turtle team. Using historic and local photographs, diagrams, a few videos—and, he promises, only a couple of graphs—Dave will take you through a season on Folly Beach, from investigating nesting crawls and protecting nests to rescuing hatchlings and conducting nest inventories. And yes, he’ll show a nest boil!

Along the way, Dave will explore our changing relationship with sea turtles, the threats that nearly overwhelmed them, the conservation efforts that helped turn the tide, and what decades of nesting records and modern DNA research are revealing about these extraordinary animals.

It’s the remarkable story of where sea turtles have been, how far they’ve come, and the challenges that remain.

Dave Miller
Dave spent 40 years in transfusion medicine – 23 years on active duty in the Army running blood centers and hospital blood banks; and then 18 years in the American Red Cross as the director of the Charlotte National Testing Lab. Dave and his wife Kathy retired in 2016 and built their forever home on Folly Beach. Dave has been a member of the Folly Beach Turtle Watch team for 10 years and is the current Folly Beach SCDNR permit holder. Since retiring Dave has sponsored 37 consecutive quarterly Folly Beach blood drives collecting over 1,500 pints of blood. Next blood drive is October 14

And we can’t wait to share this year’s banner results!! 🎉🎉🎉

08/13/2026

Attention animal lovers who are also good listeners and hard workers!

08/06/2026

Did you know that the rat poison used to control rodents can also harm the wildlife that helps keep rodent populations in check?

Second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) can remain in rodents long after they're exposed. When owls, hawks, osprey, foxes, bobcats, and other predators eat poisoned prey, they can suffer deadly secondary poisoning. These products can also pose a serious risk to pets.

The good news? There are safer, effective alternatives. Simple steps like sealing entry points, using snap or electronic traps, reducing food sources, and supporting natural predators can help manage rodents while protecting the wildlife that makes Mount Pleasant such a special place.

By choosing wildlife-friendly rodent control methods, we can all help protect the incredible animals that call the Lowcountry home.

Learn more about rodenticides, their impact on local wildlife, and safer alternatives at: https://www.tompsc.com/1647/Rodenticides

08/04/2026

Thanks everyone who came out tonight to our special lecture ! Special thank you to SCDNRs diadromous team Bill, Lily, and David for the spectacular presentation! ! If you’d like to contribute to sturgeon awareness month, you can by purchasing a very cool tee-shirt-

https://hwf.marketlink.co/products/sturgeon-moon-perfect-tri-tee/903460

If you need to report a washed up sturgeon you can here-

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/1ce4d9a73a634daa8e74aa9215f6f03b

08/01/2026

Don’t forget our upcoming lecture Monday August 3rd! We have a special guest speaker from SCDNR on sturgeon awareness.

Sturgeon Awareness Month!!!!

Monday August 3rd
6-8pm
James Island City Hall
1122 Dills Bluff Rd,
James Island, SC, 29412

Come on out for a special August lecture to celebrate Sturgeon Awareness Month!

We are honored to have South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Diadromous Fishes Coordinator, Bill Post, provide an overview of the Department’s program, and to have Diadromous Fishes Project Biologists David Hood and Lilly Graham give us an update on the work they are doing on the Great P*e Dee River and Santee Cooper Lake Systems to protect and conserve these important resources.

Bill Post:
Bill has thirty plus years of experience as a fisheries biologist and manager for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. As the Diadromous Fisheries Coordinator, he is responsible for the States’ management and research for American shad, blueback herring, American eel, Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon. Currently, he oversees numerous projects related to the effects of dredging in both Charleston and Savannah Harbors, as well as other studies focusing on potential impacts caused by hydroelectric operations and dams. Bill also served as South Carolina’s Technical Committee representative for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for shad and river herring and sturgeon.

David Hood:
David has been working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resource’s Diadromous Fishes Section for ten years. His current role as a lead field biologist involves managing extensive hydroacoustic telemetry arrays in both the Winyah Bay System and Edisto River. Work in the Winyah Bay System has led to collecting supporting evidence for dual spawning (spring and fall) for Atlantic sturgeon in the Great P*e Dee River, as well as describing those respective habitats. Efforts in the Edisto River are primarily focused on population dynamics to help provide evidence for a natal population of shortnose sturgeon in that river basin.

Lily Graham:
Lily has worked with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resource’s Diadromous Fishes Section since 2023. As a project biologist, her work focuses on collecting population data and investigating the potential impacts of hydroelectric projects on Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon in the Santee Cooper System, including the unique landlocked population of shortnose sturgeon in Lake Marion. She oversees the development and management of a hydroacoustic telemetry array that monitors fish movement throughout the system, including upper portions of the Congaree River near Columbia, all the way down to the Atlantic Ocean. Future work on this project involves translocating shortnose sturgeon between river systems as a means to help restore the original Santee River population.

07/16/2026

Sturgeon Awareness Month!!!!

Monday August 3rd
6-8pm
James Island City Hall
1122 Dills Bluff Rd,
James Island, SC, 29412

Come on out for a special August lecture to celebrate Sturgeon Awareness Month!

We are honored to have South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Diadromous Fishes Coordinator, Bill Post, provide an overview of the Department’s program, and to have Diadromous Fishes Project Biologists David Hood and Lilly Graham give us an update on the work they are doing on the Great P*e Dee River and Santee Cooper Lake Systems to protect and conserve these important resources.

Bill Post:
Bill has thirty plus years of experience as a fisheries biologist and manager for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. As the Diadromous Fisheries Coordinator, he is responsible for the States’ management and research for American shad, blueback herring, American eel, Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon. Currently, he oversees numerous projects related to the effects of dredging in both Charleston and Savannah Harbors, as well as other studies focusing on potential impacts caused by hydroelectric operations and dams. Bill also served as South Carolina’s Technical Committee representative for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission for shad and river herring and sturgeon.

David Hood:
David has been working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resource’s Diadromous Fishes Section for ten years. His current role as a lead field biologist involves managing extensive hydroacoustic telemetry arrays in both the Winyah Bay System and Edisto River. Work in the Winyah Bay System has led to collecting supporting evidence for dual spawning (spring and fall) for Atlantic sturgeon in the Great P*e Dee River, as well as describing those respective habitats. Efforts in the Edisto River are primarily focused on population dynamics to help provide evidence for a natal population of shortnose sturgeon in that river basin.

Lily Graham:
Lily has worked with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resource’s Diadromous Fishes Section since 2023. As a project biologist, her work focuses on collecting population data and investigating the potential impacts of hydroelectric projects on Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon in the Santee Cooper System, including the unique landlocked population of shortnose sturgeon in Lake Marion. She oversees the development and management of a hydroacoustic telemetry array that monitors fish movement throughout the system, including upper portions of the Congaree River near Columbia, all the way down to the Atlantic Ocean. Future work on this project involves translocating shortnose sturgeon between river systems as a means to help restore the original Santee River population.

05/18/2026

Jenny McCarthey Tyrrell with Audubon South Carolina is looking for help monitoring Painted Buntings and Eastern Bluebirds this spring for the Climate Watch survey!!!

Go to Audubon.org/community-science/climate-watch to learn how to participate!

https://vimeo.com/268020183

This is "Audubon: Climate Watch 2018" by Audubon.org on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

05/12/2026

Still a few spaces left in our May monthly walk!

On Saturday, May 16 Nicole Marie Pettinelli will lead us on a birding walk at the Edisto Nature Trail in Jacksonboro, SC. This is a 1.5-mile, easy loop on property that is owned and managed by Smurfit Westrock. The trail winds through areas of mature pine, mixed hardwoods, and cypress/tupelo forest. Several interesting historic landmarks are identified along the trail, including the King’s Highway, an old railroad tram and the site of a phosphate mining operation. There is also a short spur trail, the Pon Pon Spur, which takes visitors to an overlook on the Edisto River.

Spring migration should be well underway by the time of our trip. The Edisto Nature Trail is one of the best places in the Lowcountry to see and hear Kentucky and Swainson’s Warblers, and if we’re lucky, we may observe one or
both species. We should also see (and hear) a variety of other songbirds, including Veery and Hooded, Northern Parula, Prothonotary, Worm-Eating, and Yellow-throated Warblers. There is a chance we may see White Ibis, Wood
Storks or even a Swallow-tailed or Mississippi Kite circling overhead. Broad-winged Hawks are sometimes seen or heard here, too.

This trip is limited to 20 participants. If you feel unwell, or are experiencing symptoms such as coughing, loss of smell or taste, or fever, PLEASE STAY HOME! Bring food and water, your birding gear, and dress for
the weather (insect repellant is also recommended). The trail has numerous board walks to assist in traversing potentially wet areas. Footwear appropriate for wet locale hiking is recommended.

For those who wish to carpool, we’ll meet at 7:30 AM in the Food Lion parking lot at the intersection of US Hwy 17 South and SC 165 in Ravenel, SC (6323 Savannah Hwy, Ravenel SC 29470). Otherwise, you are welcome to meet
the group at 8:00 AM at the trailhead parking lot (17038 Ace Basin Pkwy, Jacksonboro SC 29452).
This will probably be a half day trip, but participants are welcome to stay longer if they wish. If you plan to attend, please register with Nicole Marie prior to May 16 at [email protected] .

04/06/2026

TONIGHT!! 🐬
6pm James Island Town Hall