09/01/2026
What do birds and marshes have to do with international and cultural learning? Chair of International Studies Dr. Blake Scott’s grant-funded initiative ties them together and has grown into a large community project featuring ecological restoration, on-campus clubs, historical land marking, student internships and more.
The B.I.R.D. Project - the Bird Island Research Directory - explores the Carolina Lowcountry’s bird islands as places shaped by transnational history —of birds, people, and a changing coast. Funded by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grant, the project is a collaboration of university and state partners including the Department of International Studies and Environmental and Sustainability Studies at the College, in addition to The Coastal Expeditions Foundation, the M.A.R.S.H. Project, and the South Carolina Office of Resilience. By connecting sites like Deveaux Bank, Crab Bank, and Bird Key–Stono to the larger networks that link the South Carolina Coast with the Caribbean and South America, B.I.R.D. brings together history, ecology, and storytelling to understand how species and communities move across borders - and how those movements shape the places we call home.
Pictured here is the B.I.R.D. Project’s recent Crab Bank excursion. Photos by Mary Kathleen Photography.
