Oyster shore strengthens Sapelo Island

Nik Heynen, Distinguished Research Professor of geography in the University of Georgia’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and friends hit upon an ingenious idea to tackle waste in an Athens industry and arrest the effects of sea level rise on a Georgia barrier island.

Tyler Leslie and Hunt Revell had worked at the popular downtown Athens seafood restaurant, Seabear.

Working at an oyster bar, Leslie and Revell were aware of the high volume of empty oyster shells accumulated every night. They began discussing a way to repurpose the shells to cut down on waste. They traveled with Heynen to Sapelo Island to do farm work. Not long after, during a conversation with Maurice Bailey—who lives in the Gullah Geechee community of Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island—they realized, with the help of UGA College of Engineering Professor Brock Woodson, that the shells could be used to help restore coastal ecosystems.

Sapelo Island—home to several UGA research programs, including the Cornelia Walker Bailey Program on Land, Sea, and Agriculture, which Heynen co-directs with Bailey—was the perfect place to start.

“We realized that sea level rise is starting to inundate some of the fields we work in and recognized that these oyster shells could be used to try and push that water off the land,” Heynen said.

What started with one local restaurant has grown to 28 over the last four years, collecting shells from Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, and soon Brunswick.

In addition, UGA and Georgia State University students can apply for a paid internship with the program, integrating environmental stewardship and community engagement. Heynen said students from different disciplines come together for the project, from arts to ecology.

It was also the first project to receive funding from the Birkley Heynen Environmental Foundation, a small grants program founded by Heynen and named in honor of his son that supports environmental initiatives along the Georgia coast.

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Image: Over time, new oyster reefs grow naturally as larvae settle and multiply. The reefs provide habitat for marine life, reduce shoreline erosion, and slow inland flooding caused by sea level rise. (Photo by Rinne Allen)