Benjamin Flo and Mitchell Wimberley, both senior biology majors at Coastal Carolina University, are doing their part to save endangered plants in Horry County. Barely keeping ahead of the bulldozers, the two students spent the fall semester digging up like pitcher plants and sundews in the area near the Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve as the on-again, off-again construction battle over International Drive continues.

Guided by biology professor Jim Luken, the students have been working on an independent study project involving the rescue and relocation of carnivorous plants to a new Botanic Bank at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA).

The purpose of the project is to save those rare plants that would otherwise be destroyed by development and relocate them to a safe site where they can flourish. The Botanic Bank, a two-acre tract of land provided by the HCSWA, is located near the proposed path for the new International Drive.

Since the spring of 2015, Luken had been searching for undeveloped land that could lend itself to student research and projects. After talks with Danny Knight, director of the HCSWA, it was determined that two acres at the recycle facility on Environmental Way off S.C. 90 would be a good spot as the acreage is composed of former wetlands that are home to many endangered plants. All carnivorous plants tend to be relatively rare due to the unique type of habitats they require in order to grow: wet, open, nutrient poor and subject to frequent fire, according to Luken.

"These are very important wetland areas found in South Carolina that are home to some rare species of plants. Sarracenia oreophila (Green Pitcher Plant), Drosera (Sundew), Dionaea muscipula (Venus Flytrap) and Orchidaceae (Wild Orchid) are some of the rare plants that may be destroyed in the paving project of International Drive," Wimberley wrote in his research paper on the project. Construction of the 5.6-mile four-lane highway has been on hold pending the outcome of a court battle between environmentalists and developers.

After he graduates this semester, Wimberley, who is from Durham, N.C., plans to pursue a career in environmental consulting, conducting wetland delineations, plant inventory and other environmental tasks. Flo, who is from Conway, plans to apply for the Master of Art in Teaching program at CCU, hoping to teach high school biology. "I eventually want to be a professor, but teaching high school is a good start," he says.

The internship program will continue, Luken says, as long as there are students interested in doing the fieldwork.