Charleston Laboratory - Charleston, South Carolina
Overview
NCCOS’s Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research (CCEHBR) includes research laboratories in Charleston, SC and Oxford, MD. In 1978, the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Laboratory at the University of Maryland at College Park, MD was moved to Charleston, SC through an agreement with SC Wildlife and Marine Resources Department (now the SC Department of Natural Resources). In 1998, the Charleston NMFS laboratory was transferred to the National Ocean Service, and the NMFS Cooperative Oxford Laboratory was joined with the Charleston Laboratory into the Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research. At that time, the research mission was expanded from one focused primarily on fisheries to the broader coastal ecosystem.
The Charleston Laboratory is co-located on a research campus of partners with the NCCOS/Hollings Marine Laboratory, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Medical University of South Carolina, and the College of Charleston’s Grice Marine Laboratory.
The Laboratory is also within a 90 minute drive each to NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserves in South Carolina at North Inlet-Winyah Bay and the ACE Basin.
Research
The Charleston Laboratory develops and uses field and laboratory studies to describe, evaluate, and predict the controlling factors and outcomes of natural and anthropogenic influences on coastal resources. CCEHBR/Charleston scientists are actively engaged in research to:
- evaluate and model how changing land uses caused by dramatic population growth is increasing contaminant loadings to estuaries and coastal waters. Scientists measure and predict impacts from varieties and combinations of point and non-point source chemical and microbial contaminants on the quality and condition of living resources.
- resolve complex and novel problems to reduce the impact of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their toxins on marine animals, human health, and the health of coastal ecosystems. Marine Biotoxins research is national, multidisciplinary, and state-of-the-art, addressing all classes of harmful algae in the U.S. and includes taxonomy and genomics, HAB growth and termination, toxin purification and structure determination, toxin transfer and adverse.
- assess health of bottlenose dolphin populations impacted by environmental and anthropogenic stressors, including response teams to assist in marine mammal stranding events.
- conduct surveys and complete assessments of the biota and contaminants in marine protected areas, such as Marine Sanctuaries and National Estuarine Research Reserves, in partnership with other NOAA, federal and state entities. These assessments help coastal managers and society better determine the proper balance of conservation and public use in these areas.
- perform lipid, DNA, protein and physical forensics analysis of trace material from marine mammals and fishes to support federal and state agents enforcing requirements to protect species covered under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and various Fishery Management Plans.
The Charleston Laboratory’s unique capabilities within NOAA include an estuarine mesocosm for single and multiple stressor challenges; a coral stressors challenge facility; case evidence facilities and controls for marine forensics investigations; and the use of nuclear magnetic resonance imagery to elucidate chemical contaminant and marine natural product structures in concert with the Hollings Marine Laboratory.
