Mother of pearl

“The oyster stirs, a silent plea,
To coat the grit, with pearly sea,
Layer by layer, a glistening coat,
A lustrous gem, the shell will tote.

With each caress, the nacre grows,
A shimmering sheen, the beauty shows,
A pearl is born, from pain and strife,
A treasure found, a precious life.”

(Excerpted from an artificial intelligence poem generated by a Google Search conducted Nov. 21, 2024, apparently based upon my search history.)

A speaker at an annual meeting of the Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS) once described the world’s field stations as a necklace of pearls adorning the Earth. His metaphor focused on the idea of places of enormous worth and beauty strung across the globe. But the metaphor opened up as I thought about it.

A pearl protects the soft tissue by encapsulating an invader in mother of pearl, or nacre. Nacre consists of aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate and the stuff of which coral reefs are made, and conchiolin, a harder material found in oyster shells.  Through its immune response, an oyster can transform a parasite into a thing of beauty.

Is a field station part of the Earth’s immune response to human invaders? Miners arrived in Gothic to feed off the Earth’s silver.  But with time, RMBL scientists have not only generated knowledge that informs how humans can reasonably inhabit the earth, but RMBL has fostered connections to the landscape that lead to active conservation. Our community has collaborated with landowners, public land agencies, and stakeholders to conserve the ecosystems around Gothic. A pearl!

This year the OBFS meetings were hosted by the Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, operated by Clemson University and known for supporting research on land use change, biodiversity, and water quality. The transformation from invader to pearl has been long and storied. Following removal of native American tribes, including the Sampit, Pee Dee, Winyah, and Waccamaw, in 1750 the preserve became a slave plantation. Bernard Baruch purchased the property in 1905, passing it to his eldest daughter, Belle Baruch, who set up a foundation to own and conserve the estate, including hosting the institute.

In perhaps one of the better OBFS talks in my 20 years, Zenobia Harper, artist and Director of Coastal Carolina’s Joyner Institute for Gullah and African Diaspora Studies, gave an overview of Gullah Geechee culture, which emerged from the west Africans that were brought to the Americas as slaves to grow rice, utilizing technologies developed in the central Niger delta. Despite such a complicated past, the Baruch Institute is now a place where scientists and community members come together to advance science, understanding, and community. Another pearl in the world’s necklace!

So, in the season of giving thanks, I tip my hat to students, scientists, and community members around the world who actively participate in the process of transforming grit into pearls. To learn more about what RMBL has grown into, see the adjoining summary entitled “RMBL by the Numbers”! And if you want to be part of making something beautiful (as well as get our print newsletters), make a donation to RMBL at this link or learn more about the world’s field stations here.