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AGNEW began to wonder after seeing a pine branch that
had fallen in a storm. “Contemplating on the
ART needles blowing in the wind made it apparent that
the only way to capture the true ‘forest experience’
W hat does a forest “feel” like? Charlie was to use parts of it to create art,” he says.
Agnew, associate professor of Art The result is several pieces of art Agnew
and director of MGA’s Peacock Gallery, created using bark, leaves and pine needles as
one part of the process to build layered surface
textures on canvas. “I attempt to imply the notion
of the forest floor, where debris from past seasons
has collected.”
Agnew’s work in this series has been
displayed at Mercer University and the Am-
persand Guild Hall in Macon, in addition to
MGA’s own Peacock Gallery. You can see addi-
tional photos at www.facebook.com/fspgallery/
posts/10154484789053448.
BIOLOGY Among many other things, they looked at
whether Hydrocotyle bonariensis is an important
Assisted by students in his Biology Directed component of the barrier beach environment at
Studies classes, Dr. Thomas Hancock, that specific location and to what extent they use
assistant professor of Biology, recently asexual versus sexual reproduction in establishing
began a study focused on the life history strategy and maintaining themselves there.
of Hydrocotyle bonariensis (dune pennywort) at “A better understanding of native dune plant
Fort Fisher State Recreation Area. Fort Fisher is survival and adaptation to current conditions
a barrier island system located along the south- provides insights into how barrier island eco-
eastern coast of North Carolina. Barrier islands systems might respond to future stresses such as
are considered a physically controlled, harsh development and climate change,” Hancock says.
environment with blowing sand, high substrate Hancock presented results at the 2016 Botani-
temperatures, low nutrient availability, high sun- cal Society of America conference. His students
light, salt spray and salt water overwash via storm presented results at the 2017 North Carolina
waves. Only a small, select suite of plants can Academy of Science annual meeting and are
tolerate this harsh environment. submitting findings to the Journal of the NC
To address a set of specific research questions, Academy of Science.
Hancock and his students established a series of
five transects along a 12 kilometer stretch of Fort HANCOCK
Fisher perpendicular to the shoreline. Along these
transects, multiple random one-meter square
samples were taken four times over the course of
a year in each of four habitat areas. Hancock and
his students collected Hydrocotyle bonariensis
plants (roots, shoots, leaves and reproductive
structures) for lab analysis.
10 MIDDLE GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
