Southeastern Community College (SCC) offers two summer camps per year for three years to high school students in Columbus, Bladen, and Robeson counties—.one for rising ninth grade students and the other for rising 10th, and 11th graders.  Primary objectives of the camp are to: 1) develop scientific, mathematical, and investigative skills in high school students relative to invasive species prevention and control; 2)  begin to develop a Student Volunteer Corps for early detection and reporting of new invasive species in southeastern North Carolina; 3) inform students and the community of possible scientific careers in the natural sciences and 4) recruit students for the Environmental Science Technology and Invasive Species Management Training Programs at SCC. A major focus of the camps is training in identification and mapping of high profile and new invasive species in the Coastal Plain/Coast of the Carolinas. Daily field trips permit students to see the impacts of invasive species on a firsthand basis, and to utilize GPS and GIS mapping technologies to document and display critical habitats that are infested. Students collect and submit data on major invasive species within a certain radius of their homes to a project database.  Ultimately, records in the project database are submitted to regional and national databases.  Finally, a Saturday Seminar Series is offered in the fall, winter, and spring of the year following the camps featuring special topics.

Summer program with seminar series throughout academic year

Rising 9-11th graders in Columbus, Bladen, and Robeson counties

Rebecca Westbrooks, M.S.
Lead Faculty of Natural Resources & Community Service
Southeastern Community College
Environmental Science/Biotechnology
4564 Chadbourn Highway P.O. Box 151
Whiteville, NC 28540

Phone: 910/642-7141