Freshwater Ecology Complex

Public Outreach & Events

Part of the FEC’s mission is outreach in the Pee Dee. We offer a number of outreach events throughout the year.  So far these have included kids summer camps, nature film viewings, pond management workshops, and our annual World Water Day celebration.  See details of upcoming events at the link below.

building
lake

Public Access

The FEC features about 1 mile of hiking trails and fishing access several days a week.  Public access is only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, sunrise to sunset.  Fishing is free, but you need both a SC fishing registration as well as an FMU fishing registration.  We also request you fill out a creel survey card when done fishing (available online or at the trail kiosk).  Our students are learning how to manage our lake, just like the DNR would, and these survey cards are an important part of that.  Detailed fishing regulations, fishing registrations, creel surveys and a trail map are available at the link below.

Classes

The FEC is dedicated to training the next generation of natural resource professionals. To that end, the facility and surrounding property will host a number of FMU classes beginning in Spring 2022. These will include:

  • Intro to Environmental Science
  • Fisheries Science and Management
  • Wildlife Biology
  • Ecology
  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Entomology
  • Herpetology
  • Ichthyology
  • Vertebrate Zoology
  • Invertebrate Zoology
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Toxicology
  • Photography

…and others coming soon!

Working with FMU faculty, students will also have the opportunity to conduct research projects at the facility.

Research

The FEC focuses on issues related to freshwater and ecology in the Pee Dee Region. Current projects include:

Improving Atlantic coast striped bass fishery

PI: Jason Doll (FMU)
Co-PIs: Jason Marsik (DNR) and Jeff Steinmetz (FMU)

Tracking recovery of the Waccamaw River fish community following Hurricane Matthew

PI: Jason Doll (FMU)
Co-PI: Jason Marsik (DNR)

Acoustic biodiversity monitoring

PI: Nathan Harness (FMU)
Co-PI: Jeff Steinmetz (FMU)

Herpetology survey

PI: Jeff Camper (FMU)

Upcoming Events

Staff and Faculty

  • Dr. Doll Jason C.
    Dr. Jason C. Doll Associate Professor of Fisheries Biology, Coordinator of Environmental Science Program Jason.Doll@fmarion.edu Phone843-661-1481 Departments
    BiologyFreshwater Ecology Complex
    OfficeLSF 204I
    Additional information

    Dr. Jason Doll is an Assistant Professor of Fisheries. His area of research is quantitative fisheries ecology. He currently has active projects evaluating fisheries induced evolution in Lake Michigan yellow perch; population dynamics of striped bass in the Great Pee Dee River; age and growth of long-nose gar and catfish in the Great Pee Dee River; modeling microcystin toxin in a highly eutrophic system in Ohio; and freshwater mussel population dynamics in western North Carolina. Dr. Doll has published 35 peer reviewed manuscript in scientific journals including Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, Fisheries Research, Journal of Great Lakes Research, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Science of the Total Environment, and PLoS One.

    Dr. Doll is active in the American Fisheries Society where he is the Chair of the Electronic Services Advisory Board and co-chairs the Center for Fisheries Technology and Collaboration. Dr. Doll maintains certification through the American Fisheries Society as a “Certified Fisheries Professional”.

    Dr. Doll is also involved in the “fishR Core Team”, a team of fisheries scientists that develop and maintain several popular statistical packages used by fisheries managers across the globe.

    Prior to joining FMU, Dr. Doll was a post-doctoral research associate at the Quantitative Fisheries Center at Michigan State University and received his Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Ball State University.

    Learn more about Dr. Doll’s lab and research.


    Jason Doll
  • Dr. Gower Drew B.
    Dr. Drew B. Gower Assistant Professor of Biology Drew.Gower@FMarion.edu Phone843-661-1899 Departments
    BiologyFreshwater Ecology Complex
    OfficeMSB 301A
    Additional information

    Education

    Ph.D. Civil & Environmental Engineering - Princeton University

    M.S. Geosciences - University of Wisconsin (Madison)

    B.A. Environmental Science - University of Virginia

    Courses Taught:

    ENVR 101 Introduction to Environmental Science

    ENVR 201 Water Quality and Water Resource Management

    Research Interests:

    I am interested in hydrological prediction, groundwater-surface water interactions, environmental sensing, and the ecohydrology of Carolina <span class="outlook-search-highlight" data-markjs="true">B</span>ays. If you’re a student interested in any of these areas, please come by my office to talk.

    My dissertation research looked at the functioning of water distribution systems in central Kenya. I have also worked on projects related to agricultural yield forecasting, groundwater mapping, and colloidal transport. Prior to my career in academia, I worked as a project manager for the US Forest Service Office of International Programs and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso.


    man smiling
  • Dr. Steinmetz Jeffrey A.
    Dr. Jeffrey A. Steinmetz Professor of Biology, Director of the Freshwater Ecology Center jsteinmetz@fmarion.edu Phone843-661-1404 Departments
    BiologyFreshwater Ecology Complex
    OfficeMSB 201E
    Additional information

    Personal website

    Research Focus: Aquatic Ecology

    Courses Taught:

    • Biology 103: Environmental Biology
    • Biology 105: Introduction to Life Science
    • Biology 202: Vertebrate Zoology
    • Biology 308: Aquatic Ecology
    • Biology 402: Terrestrial Ecology
    • Biology 411: Ecology
    • Biology 413: Biological Research Methods

    Research Interests: I am interested in behavioral, population and community ecology, as well as conservation biology. If you’re a student interested in working on any of the projects or areas listed below, come talk to me!

    My thesis work focused on the effects of avian predators on the behavior, population dynamics and community ecology of stream fish. Other projects have included alarm calling in yellow-bellied marmots; various water quality projects; GPS/GIS work in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia; physiological responses of fish to avian predators; community-based research projects; monitoring frog populations as a regional coordinator of the North American Amphibian Monitoring Project; zooplankton biodiversity in South Carolina lakes, and biodiversity of aquatic systems in Ecuador.


    Photo of Jeffrey Steinmetz

Contact Us

Address

3742 N. Williston Rd.
Florence, SC 29506

FEC Campus Map

Location description

Near the intersection of I-95 and S.C. 327 (north of the main campus)

Departmental Phone:

843-661-4470