Madilyn Fletcher sees her recent appointment as director of the School of the Environment--after 10 years at the helm of USC's Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences--as a natural migration through the state's waters.

Her initial focus was on coastal marshes and estuaries and now, with the School of the Environment, is moving upstream into the Palmetto State's watershed.

"Water quality and resources are going to be major issues for South Carolina for quite a long time to come," Fletcher said, "We need to understand better how to maintain and improve the quality of what we have."

While the School of the Environment is concerned with many other issues besides water quality, it is water that will likely draw major attention in coming years. This year's legislative funding for the Congaree Water Initiative gives the University the resources to devote serious attention to one of the Midlands' most important rivers, as well as other South Carolina waterways.

"The $2 million appropriation with its $500,000 recurring funding will enable us to establish an environmental genomics laboratory in the new public health research center and hire several new faculty members," Fletcher said.

As many as five new faculty members could be recruited with the recurring funds; Fletcher is hoping for a diverse set of scientists and scholars who, together, would produce a strong cluster of initiatives and teach both undergraduate and graduate courses. The focus on the Congaree is a natural for the School of the Environment, she said, as the Innovista research campus migrates toward the river.

The provost's office also has approved a faculty cluster hiring through the Faculty Excellence Initiative that will recruit a new faculty member in environmental law and another in environmental economics. Several School of the Environment associate faculty already have foundational strengths in biology, chemistry, engineering, geography, as well as the liberal arts.

The future environmental genomics lab also will be a magnet to faculty with strong genomic research skills, Fletcher said. The lab will serve the University's entire research community--not just the School of the Environment--and could develop methods for detecting genetic alterations in freshwater species.

It's no secret that fish and other aquatic organisms are being altered by pollutants in our waters," Fletcher said. "Our genomics lab could help us study the indicators of this damage and to understand how contaminants are affecting organisms. It could serve as an early warning system so you don't have to wait until catastrophic changes happen before you know there's a problem."

Looking ahead, Fletcher believes the School of the Environment's overall foundation is strong, thanks to the steady direction of Bruce Coull, the school's long-serving and now-retired dean.

"Bruce did a wonderful job in building new partnerships on and off campus," Fletcher said. "The Rasmussen Foundation funding, the initiation of the Sustainable Universities Initiative, West Quad, the Environmental Advisory Committee--the list goes on.

"I'd like to see us further enhance our research and scholarly portfolio on environmental topics," she said. "We're a unit without walls, so all kinds of interdisciplinary projects are possible."

The advisory committee that recommended the School of the Environment's move to the College of Arts and Sciences also recommended the formation of new undergraduate degree programs in the school. Fletcher wants to move at a deliberate pace, assessing the interest--both from students and potential employers--for bachelor's degrees in environmental studies, as well as the demand for teaching resources the degree programs would require. "We need to craft our curricula and apply faculty resources to maximize the opportunities for environmental learning at USC," Fletcher said.

10/06