Rebecca Fanning grew up in West Ashley and, because both sides of her family owned homes on Sullivan’s Island, she spent her summers on the island. On April 9, she began work as the town’s first-ever director of resilience and natural resource management, completing a circuitous journey, both personally and professionally, that took her to Upstate New York, Austria, Russia, California and finally back to her Lowcountry roots.
Even as a child, Fanning was a birder, regularly visiting Magnolia Gardens and the Caw Caw Interpretive Center as well as the Maritime Forest on Sullivan’s Island. She also had what she called “a serious travel bug” that led her to head north following her high school years. She studied Russian and German at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York – she speaks both those languages – and lived in Austria and Russia before returning to the United States, working as a docent, trainer and cleanup site captain at the Marina Shorebird Nature Center in Berkeley, California.
“I decided I needed something more meaningful. I wanted to make a difference for my community and the planet,” she said.
That “something” was almost two years with Save the Bay in Oakland, California, where, among other duties, she played a role in two long-term salt marsh restoration projects. The Lowcountry beckoned, however, and Fanning answered the call, returning to the East Coast to attend Trident Tech for a year, then earning “two degrees for the price of one” at the College of Charleston – a master’s in both environmental science and public administration.
Her resume also includes stints with Charleston Harbor Tours; Magnolia Plantation; the Student Garden at the Stono Preserve; the Charleston Resilience Network; the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium; the Butler Conservation Fund in Andrews, South Carolina; and an internship with Robinson Design Engineers, where she wrote proposals, reports and manuals and conducted analyses for site design and plans for projects ranging from mitigation banks to municipal parks.
“I was so lucky I had that opportunity,” she commented, citing the company’s dedication to protecting the environment.
In June 2020, Fanning founded Community Hydrology, an entity aimed at encouraging people and organizations from Georgetown to Port Royal Sound to take small steps that collectively become big steps toward establishing ecological integrity. She said people who are concerned about flooding, rather than waiting for the federal government to act, can do things that work if everyone participates, such as rain gardens and tree plantings.
“When there are no plants, water says on the ground and that leads to flooding,” she explained. “We were empowering people to do small acts, which can have a huge impact.”
All this prepared Fanning for her position as Sullivan’s Island’s director of resilience and natural resource management, where she said her job will be “proactive adaptation to the increasing challenges we face, including flooding and the inevitable storms,” as well as “conserving and fostering appreciation for the Maritime Forest.” She’ll be studying new construction sites and providing input on landscaping that will reduce flooding and help control storm water runoff; review tree removal permits; advise the Tree Commission and the Town Council; and help implement the town’s Resilience and Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan.
Fanning’s reverence for the 200-acres-and-growing forest has not waned in her absence from Sullivan’s Island. She pointed out that among the many creatures that live in the forest either temporarily or year-round include is the painted bunting, which is easily recognizable by its blue, red, green and yellow color. The bird has thrived because the forest provides the perfect habitat, but, since it nests close to the ground, it also is susceptible to any animals that might be tempted by its eggs, including snakes, raccoons, possums and even armadillos.
Fanning, who teaches in the undergraduate Environmental Studies program at the College of Charleston, pointed out that according to author and professor of agriculture and natural resources Doug Tallamy, oak trees, a staple in the Maritime Forest, support 450 different species of caterpillars. And because their soft bodies provide an easily digestible form of baby food for young songbirds, the oaks and the caterpillars together help the forest’s avian population thrive.
She added, however, that plants that are not native to the forest can be a big problem. No one planted these interlopers, she noted. Birds ate their seeds elsewhere and later deposited them in the Maritime Forest.
“In a big picture perspective, it comes down to what plants are on the ground,” Fanning concluded.
