{"id":17146,"date":"2017-05-03T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T12:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/?p=17146"},"modified":"2017-05-03T08:00:14","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T12:00:14","slug":"issaqueena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/issaqueena\/","title":{"rendered":"When Paths Converge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div id='fullscreen_slider_1'  class='avia-fullscreen-slider main_color   avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_one_fifth  avia-builder-el-first   container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><a href='#next-section' title='' class='scroll-down-link av-control-default' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue877' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/a><div   data-size='extra_large'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='16972'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='false'  data-bg_slider='true'  data-slide_height='100'  data-handle='av_fullscreen'  data-interval='5'  data-class=' '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id='fullscreen_slider_1'  data-scroll_down='aviaTBscroll_down'  data-control_layout='av-control-default'  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption='aviaTBperma_caption'  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment=''  data-min_height='0px'  data-stretch=''  data-default-height='100'  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-1 av-slider-scroll-down-active av-control-default av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-extra_large av_fullscreen   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 100%;' ><li  data-controls='aviaTBaviaTBvideo_controls' data-mute='aviaTBaviaTBvideo_mute' data-loop='aviaTBaviaTBvideo_loop' data-disable-autoplay=''  data-mobile-img='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Mom-Daughter-Forrest_016.jpg' class=' av-video-slide av-element-cover av-video-service-html5  av-hide-video-controls av-mute-video av-loop-video av-mobile-fallback-image av-single-slide slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-1' class='avia-slide-wrap ' style='background-image:url(\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Mom-Daughter-Forrest_016.jpg\");'  ><div class='av-click-overlay'><\/div><video class=\"avia_video\" poster=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Mom-Daughter-Forrest_016.jpg\" autoplay loop preload=\"metadata\" muted controls id=\"player_17146_80174600_775968580\" >\t<source src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Issaqueena-HeaderVideo2.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\" \/><\/video><\/div><\/li><\/ul><div class = \"caption_fullwidth av-slideshow-caption caption_center caption_center_framed caption_framed\"><div class = \"container caption_container\"><div class = \"slideshow_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_inner_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_align_caption\"><h2  class='avia-caption-title  '  itemprop=\"name\" >When Paths Converge<\/h2><div class='avia-caption-content  '  itemprop=\"description\"  ><p>A mother and daughter conduct<br \/>\nfloristic research at Lake Issaqueena<br \/>\n\u2014 more than 40 years apart.<br \/>\nBy Jim Melvin<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_1'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-17146'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_fullscreen  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><blockquote>\n<p>In late summer of 2011, Ryerson Pamplin sat in a campus office with a pair of advisers to discuss potential projects for her master\u2019s thesis in forest resources. Before the first ideas were even tossed about, Ryerson noticed a map of Lake Issaqueena in Upstate South Carolina glowing on a computer screen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>She nodded toward the monitor. \u201cMy mom was a botany graduate student here, and she did a master\u2019s research project for Clemson at Issaqueena quite a few years ago.\u201d<br \/>\nKnight Cox, manager of the Clemson Experimental Forest from 2003-15, appeared confused. \u201cDid you say, your mom?\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cYes.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWhat\u2019s her name?\u201d Cox said.<br \/>\n\u201cWilliam Pamplin \u2026 William, like a boy. She was named after her great-grandmother, who had the same first name.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cHold on a second,\u201d Cox said. And then he hustled out of the room, leaving Ryerson and her major adviser, Elena Mikhailova, to exchange puzzled glances.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1970_5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-17154 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/1970_5-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"181\" height=\"273\" \/><\/a>But Cox soon returned and handed Ryerson a thick booklet. On its faded green cover, in an old-fashioned manual typewriter font, was the title \u201cA Floristic Study of Lake Issaqueena by William Barnes Pamplin.\u201d It was dated May 1971.<br \/>\n\u201cThis was written by your mom?\u201d Cox said.<br \/>\nAt first, Ryerson could barely manage a gasp. Then, in a voice grown softer, she said, \u201cYes, this is my mom\u2019s work. I didn\u2019t know Clemson still had any copies of it.\u201d<br \/>\nNow it was Mikhailova and Cox\u2019s turn to gasp. But their surprised expressions quickly transformed to smiles.<br \/>\nAll three got it at once.<br \/>\n\u201cOhhhhhhhh, this is cool,\u201d Ryerson said.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>More than 40 years after William Pamplin had roamed and researched the forest surrounding Lake Issaqueena, Ryerson Pamplin would follow in her mother\u2019s footsteps for her thesis.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Literally.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_fullscreen  avia-builder-el-last  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><br \/>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- close content main div --><\/div><\/div><div id='fullscreen_slider_2'  class='avia-fullscreen-slider main_color   avia-builder-el-5  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth   slider-not-first container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><a href='#next-section' title='' class='scroll-down-link av-control-default' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue877' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/a><div   data-size='extra_large'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='16970'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='false'  data-bg_slider='true'  data-slide_height='100'  data-handle='av_fullscreen'  data-interval='5'  data-class=' '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id='fullscreen_slider_2'  data-scroll_down='aviaTBscroll_down'  data-control_layout='av-control-default'  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption=''  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment=''  data-min_height='0px'  data-stretch=''  data-default-height='100'  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-2 av-slider-scroll-down-active av-control-default av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-extra_large av_fullscreen   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 66.75%;' ><li style='background-position:top left;' data-img-url='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Mom-Daughter-Forrest_047.jpg' class=' av-single-slide slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-2' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><div class = \"caption_fullwidth av-slideshow-caption caption_center\"><div class = \"container caption_container\"><div class = \"slideshow_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_inner_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_align_caption\"><h2  class='avia-caption-title  '  itemprop=\"name\" >THE LAKE<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_2'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-17146'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-6  el_after_av_fullscreen  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><blockquote>\n<p>In the 1930s, during the depths of the Great Depression, the federal government hired hundreds of unemployed workers in South Carolina to develop what was to be called the \u201cLake Issaqueena Recreation Area.\u201d Under the supervision of Clemson University\u2019s George Aull, the laborers built roads, bridges, trails and picnic shelters. They also constructed a 25-foot-tall, 150-foot-wide dam to hold back the flowing waters of several tributaries, forming a 100-acre-plus lake named Issaqueena. The valley, now swollen up to 30 feet deep, had previously been part of the sloping bottomlands of Six Mile Creek.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Two decades after Issaqueena was born, a sister reservoir would join her, gobbling up tens of thousands of acres of land. Hartwell Lake was created to supply drinking water for the expanding population of the Upstate as well as provide flood-risk management, and one of its northernmost points reached all the way to the outside base of Issaqueena\u2019s dam.<br \/>\nLake Issaqueena, located about seven miles northwest of Clemson, eventually became a permanent part of the University\u2019s Experimental Forest, which currently covers 17,500 acres statewide. Relatively early in its existence, the recreation area suffered through rough times that included vandalism and neglect. During World War II, it was even used as a bombing range. To this day, shards of shrapnel are occasionally visible to sharp eyes.<br \/>\nIn its early days, Lake Issaqueena comprised much of the land that had been excessively farmed and eventually abandoned, leaving it sparsely wooded and poorly maintained. But over the decades, a forest arose and enshrouded the lake with a towering bulwark of timber. There were loblolly pines, white oaks and black cherries. There were flowering dogwoods, red maples and American ash. But perhaps even more impressive than the trees was the understory that thrived and thickened beneath the assorted canopies. Japanese honeysuckle, trumpet vine and butterfly pea wound around the timber. Mimosa and sunflower sprouted and spread. And last but not least, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Fairy Wand and Bird\u2019s-foot Violet added a wondrous palette of poignant color to the dominant browns and greens.<br \/>\nSouth Carolina\u2019s subtropical climate encouraged the birth of a diversity of plant species that most other areas of the United States cannot rival. An explosive menagerie matured into a botanist\u2019s treasure trove. Lake Issaqueena became a reflecting pool, as still and perfect as a painting \u2014 but less resplendent, perhaps, than its surroundings.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-9  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_fullscreen  avia-builder-el-last  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><br \/>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- close content main div --><\/div><\/div><div id='fullscreen_slider_3'  class='avia-fullscreen-slider main_color   avia-builder-el-10  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth   slider-not-first container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><a href='#next-section' title='' class='scroll-down-link av-control-default' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue877' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/a><div   data-size='extra_large'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='17151'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='false'  data-bg_slider='true'  data-slide_height='100'  data-handle='av_fullscreen'  data-interval='5'  data-class=' '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id='fullscreen_slider_3'  data-scroll_down='aviaTBscroll_down'  data-control_layout='av-control-default'  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption=''  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment=''  data-min_height='0px'  data-stretch=''  data-default-height='100'  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-3 av-slider-scroll-down-active av-control-default av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-extra_large av_fullscreen   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 66.7333333333%;' ><li style='background-position:top left;' data-img-url='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/Mom-Daughter-Forrest_026-1500x1001.jpg' class=' av-single-slide slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-3' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><div class = \"caption_fullwidth av-slideshow-caption caption_left caption_left_framed caption_framed\"><div class = \"container caption_container\"><div class = \"slideshow_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_inner_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_align_caption\"><h2  class='avia-caption-title  '  itemprop=\"name\" >THE MOTHER<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_3'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-17146'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-11  el_after_av_fullscreen  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-12  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-William-portrait.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-16975 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-William-portrait-e1493065520166-281x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"281\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-William-portrait-e1493065520166-281x300.jpg 281w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-William-portrait-e1493065520166-660x705.jpg 660w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-William-portrait-e1493065520166.jpg 689w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 281px) 100vw, 281px\" \/><\/a>In the fall of 1969, a 21-year-old woman \u2014 with the uncommon first name of William \u2014 joined Clemson\u2019s burgeoning graduate program in botany. Not yet married and then known as William Anne Barnes, she had recently earned her bachelor\u2019s degree at the University of South Carolina and had chosen to attend Clemson to pursue her master\u2019s. John Fairey, then a professor of botany as well as curator of the Clemson University herbarium, became William\u2019s adviser, and she his first-ever graduate student.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The pair decided that William\u2019s master\u2019s thesis would be a floristic study of the lands around Lake Issaqueena. And from September 1969 through December 1970, William and Fairey spent about four hours a day, three or more days a week, collecting specimens for the herbarium and cataloging everything from the most fragile of wildflowers to the stoutest of trees.<br \/>\n\u201cI remember the first time that Dr. Fairey took me out to Lake Issaqueena,\u201d William said. \u201cAnd I also remember the first plant he helped me identify. It was a Joe Pye weed growing on the side of the road that led to the lake, and I was entranced by its huge, puffy flowers.\u201d<br \/>\nThe Joe Pye weed would be followed by 268 more blooming plant species and 443 overall species. All told, William and Fairey would collect more than 1,100 specimens. And many of them remain in Clemson\u2019s herbarium to this day, carefully pressed, preserved and catalogued. Though now more than 45 years old, they look as if they might still be alive.<br \/>\nIt didn\u2019t take long for William to fall in love with Issaqueena. She reveled in the fresh, oxygen-engorged air. She roamed the labyrinth of trails like a daring explorer. Her first autumn in the woods unveiled a conglomeration of plants and trees whose scope was almost beyond her comprehension. She especially treasured her time spent in lush, moist coves, where she stood beneath pines, sugar maples and white ash and knelt to study ginseng, violets and trillium. It was often hard work, but that made it no less magical. The discoveries mounted, both figuratively and literally, much to the herbarium\u2019s benefit.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-17153\" src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-25-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-25-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-25-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-25-687x1030.jpg 687w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-25-470x705.jpg 470w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-25.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>\u201cWe would collect a bunch of specimens and bring them back to Clemson,\u201d William said. \u201cAnd if it was too late in the day, or we were simply too tired, I\u2019d put them in the refrigerator to keep them fresh. The next day, I\u2019d place one plant specimen at a time in a folded section of newspaper and write the date and place where it was collected. I also included the common or scientific name, if I knew it. If time was available, I used various texts with dichotomous keys, diagrams and pictures to determine the identification of the unknowns.\u201d<br \/>\nTo press the plants, the folded sections of newspaper were stacked on top of each other and placed between the wooden slats of the press, which consisted of two outer boards that could be squeezed together with straps. The tighter, the better. The press was then placed over heat for several days to dry out the plants.<br \/>\nOnce dry and correctly identified, the plants were turned over to the herbarium crew, which made certain that each specimen was glued on special paper for display and storage. A label that included the information William had written on the newspaper was attached to the edge of the display paper. Finally, these were stored in large manila folders in cabinets in the herbarium. This part of the research was time-consuming and tedious, but it paid off in the end by preserving the specimens.<br \/>\nWhether sweating in the heat, shivering in the cold, or being soaked by rain, the intrepid pair continued to toil. Once William started a job, she was the type who was driven to finish it. That way, there would be no regrets.<br \/>\nWilliam saw plenty of snakes and wild animals, but never deer or bear. She also never saw a beaver, but she did see a slew of chewed-off tree stumps, as well as a couple of the tireless creature\u2019s dams clogging up the numerous creeks that gurgled toward the lake. And not everything that William witnessed was a natural part of the forest. Several times, her sharp eyes seized on shards of shrapnel leftover from the WWII bombs.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/IMG_1282.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-17150\" src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/IMG_1282-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/IMG_1282-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/IMG_1282-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/IMG_1282-1030x686.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/IMG_1282-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/IMG_1282-705x470.jpg 705w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/IMG_1282.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The crowning glory of William\u2019s research was a \u201cline transect\u201d that ran from the road to the water\u2019s edge. A line transect is a tape or string laid along the ground in a straight line between two poles. Botanists use these lines to illustrate a linear pattern along which communities of plants intermingle and change. Fairey brought a chunk of metal he had salvaged from a piece of old farm equipment and pounded it deep into the ground next to the road. Then he and William tied the 214-meter-long line to the pole and manually extended it across a dead lagoon, flood plains and aquatic meadows before finally reaching the water\u2019s edge. During certain portions, they had to wriggle between thick tangles of brush, or crawl on hands and knees through mud as sticky as glue.<br \/>\nIn her thesis, which was published by Clemson in 1971, William went into exquisite detail about everything she had discovered growing within one meter of the line. There were hardwoods, floating-leaved species, moss, alder, river birch, silky willow, and grasses and herbs \u2014 dozens upon dozens of plant varieties all carefully documented by species and location. It was a grand and scientifically valuable mapping of the forest\u2019s splendorous biodiversity.<br \/>\n\u201cI never thought that playing around in the mud could be so much fun,\u201d William said. \u201cThe line transect was the favorite part of my research. And I was hoping that sometime in the future, a fellow botanist could repeat the transect along that exact same line and record whatever changes had occurred in both the flora and landscape.\u201d<br \/>\nIn 1970, during the height of her research, William Anne Barnes got married and became William Barnes Pamplin. She completed her master\u2019s at Clemson in 1971 and then became a life science teacher at Easley Junior High for a few years. In 1975, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter, and then later to a son. While her kids were young, she chose to become a full-time mom.<br \/>\nIn the summer of 1977, William received a call from Fairey saying that he wanted to publish a shortened version of their research in the form of a booklet that could be carried in the field. The booklet was titled \u201cA Floristic Study of the Shores of Lake Issaqueena, Department of Forestry Technical Paper No. 9.\u201d It was published and distributed in October 1977.<br \/>\n\u201cMy mother-in-law babysat for me so that I could come back to work with John Fairey and finish the booklet, which completed our first goal \u2014 helping the Clemson University community,\u201d William said.<br \/>\nWilliam returned to teaching \u2014 this time at Easley High \u2014 in 1982. And she spent the next 20-plus years enriching the minds of hundreds of biology students before retiring in 2003.<br \/>\nDuring this period, William and her family returned to Lake Issaqueena for hikes and picnics just a handful of times. As life\u2019s myriad demands took hold, her experiences with John Fairey faded into distant memory.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cLife has lots of challenges around every corner,\u201d William recently reminisced. \u201cAnd my own challenges certainly kept me busy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-14  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_fullscreen  avia-builder-el-last  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><p><div  style='height:30px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-15  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='color:#440900; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><h4>Professor John E. Fairey: 1940-2015<\/h4>\n<p>John E. Fairey, who mentored countless students of field botany and taxonomy during more than 30 years as a Clemson University professor and research scientist, died on Feb. 1, 2015, in Columbia, South Carolina. He was 74.<br \/>\nFairey, who mentored William Pamplin during their collaborative research at Lake Issaqueena, was curator of the Clemson University Herbarium from 1968-77 and played a critical role in maintaining the herbarium and preserving its contents.<br \/>\n\u201cDr. Fairey is the savior of our collection,\u201d said Dixie Damrel, who has been curator of the herbarium since 2008. \u201cThanks to him, it contains one of the largest and most important collections in South Carolina and is used by researchers in state and federal conservation institutions, by scholars and students, by Clemson Extension agents, by gardeners and even by artists. To me, the man will always be a hero.\u201d<br \/>\nFairey joined Clemson University in 1969 and retired in 2001.<br \/>\n\u201cDr. John Fairey was a professor to many, many students over the years,\u201d said Patrick McMillan, who preceded Damrel as curator of the herbarium, serving from 2001-08. \u201cMany of our state\u2019s wildlife managers and foresters remember his classes and field trips fondly. His kind, gentle and charitable ways gave him a charm that few will ever forget, providing a model for all of us to follow. He was instrumental in the nurturing of many botany students at Clemson, serving as a leader and father figure during his long and honorable career at Clemson.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div><br \/>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- close content main div --><\/div><\/div><div id='fullscreen_slider_4'  class='avia-fullscreen-slider main_color   avia-builder-el-17  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth   slider-not-first container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><a href='#next-section' title='' class='scroll-down-link av-control-default' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue877' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/a><div   data-size='large'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='17160'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='false'  data-bg_slider='true'  data-slide_height='100'  data-handle='av_fullscreen'  data-interval='5'  data-class=' '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id='fullscreen_slider_4'  data-scroll_down='aviaTBscroll_down'  data-control_layout='av-control-default'  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption=''  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment=''  data-min_height='0px'  data-stretch=''  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-4 av-slider-scroll-down-active av-control-default av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-large av_fullscreen   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 66.7961165049%;' ><li style='background-position:top left;' data-img-url='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/Mom-Daughter-Forrest_053B-1030x688.jpg' class=' av-single-slide slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-4' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><div class = \"caption_fullwidth av-slideshow-caption caption_right caption_right_framed caption_framed\"><div class = \"container caption_container\"><div class = \"slideshow_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_inner_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_align_caption\"><h2  class='avia-caption-title  '  itemprop=\"name\" >THE DAUGHTER<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_4'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-17146'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-18  el_after_av_fullscreen  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-19  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p><a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Rye-early-yr.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-16971\" src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Rye-early-yr-244x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"244\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Rye-early-yr-244x300.jpg 244w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Rye-early-yr-573x705.jpg 573w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATHS-CONVERGE-Rye-early-yr.jpg 731w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 244px) 100vw, 244px\" \/><\/a>William and her husband debated what to name their daughter. They finally settled on Ryerson, which was William\u2019s grandfather\u2019s and sister\u2019s middle name. Ryerson grew up to look remarkably like her mom. In fact, if you were to examine photographs of both women when they were in their 20s, you might not be able to tell them apart.<br \/>\nIn addition to their appearance, William and Ryerson had another thing in common: an unusual first name. But Ryerson\u2019s friends found a simple way around that. They called her Rye.<br \/>\nRye Pamplin loved just about everything the outdoors had to offer. She grew up in Easley and attended Easley High during the same time that her mom was a teacher there. This had its plusses and minuses. William often knew Rye\u2019s grades before she did.<br \/>\nThough Rye loved science and biology, she ended up pursuing a career in law enforcement, earning a bachelor of science in criminal justice at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg. After graduation, she became a police officer for a short while and then a forensic crime-scene investigator.<br \/>\nRye soon discovered that she was hyper-sensitive to the chemicals used by forensic officers. Too much exposure made her violently ill. \u201cAfter a couple of jobs in the field, I had to quit and find a Plan B,\u201d Rye said.<br \/>\nPlan B turned out to be a return to her outdoorsy roots. Now in her mid-30s, Rye would replace chemicals with fresh air, fingerprints with paw prints, blood with soil. In 2010, she was accepted into the graduate program in Clemson\u2019s department of forest resources.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In late summer of 2011, the revelation that would lead to Rye\u2019s master\u2019s thesis \u2014 and the eventual 2016 publication of a research paper titled \u201cMultitemporal phenological floristic analysis of the shores of Lake Issaqueena, South Carolina\u201d \u2014 convinced Rye that this time she had made the right decision. When she told her mom that she would be following in her footsteps, the entire family celebrated. William even admitted afterward that she had been silently hoping this might happen all along.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cOnce she went to Clemson, I can\u2019t lie and\u00a0say I wasn\u2019t thinking about it,\u201d William said. \u201cBut I wanted Ryerson to make her own way in life, so I kept my lips zipped. And in the end, it all worked out.\u201d<br \/>\nThough their research would be nearly identical in many ways, there were some dissimilarities. More than 40 years had passed since William had studied and collected specimens in the forests near the lake. Not only were the trees, plants and flowers different \u2014 either in variety or maturity \u2014 but the methods used by botanists to study plants had become more structured, complex and spatially oriented.<br \/>\nWith the expert guidance of Mikhailova and additional assistance from Clemson advisers Patrick McMillan, Christopher Post and Julia Sharp, Rye was taught how to use a natural community sampling method called the Carolina Vegetative Survey. While William basically walked around a large research area and noted what she found, Rye mapped out more than two dozen 20-by-50 meter plots and focused her research on them.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/PATH-CONVERGE-Rye3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-16966 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/PATH-CONVERGE-Rye3-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATH-CONVERGE-Rye3-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATH-CONVERGE-Rye3-529x705.jpg 529w, https:\/\/clemsonworld.wpenginepowered.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/PATH-CONVERGE-Rye3.jpg 675w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>\u201cI went out there at least four times a week, which was difficult because I was a student taking classes and also had a teaching assistantship for Dr. Mikhailova,\u201d Rye said. \u201cSo I did a lot of work on weekends. I\u2019d cover my entire research area at least once every month. And then I would do it all over again the next month. But even though I marked out a lot of large plots, I was still covering a much smaller overall area than my mom did.\u201d<br \/>\nRye used a GPS-enabled camera to record blooming plants, and her photographs were meticulously labeled and then stored on a Google website developed by Mikhailova. The photos still exist on this site and are frequently accessed and examined by Rye\u2019s successors at Clemson.<br \/>\nHowever, no matter how sophisticated the techniques, field research always involves plenty of legwork. Determining, measuring and marking the plots was tiresome in and of itself, much less studying and cataloging their contents. It took Rye from the fall of 2011 until the end of 2012 to finish her on-site studies.<br \/>\nDuring her long hours spent in the forest, Rye would occasionally feel a sudden urge to halt in her tracks and examine her surroundings \u2014 not as a scientist but as a lover of nature. She would stand beneath the trees and take a series of deep breaths, her mind and body growing exceptionally peaceful.<br \/>\n\u201cMy mother was always there with me \u2014 not in person, but in my heart. I brought a copy of her thesis with me to the lake every time I went there, and I\u2019d refer to it constantly. I would whisper, \u2018Mom, you did great things here. And it\u2019s an honor to be your daughter and to follow up on your work.\u2019 It felt like the trees were listening.\u201d<br \/>\nThough Rye spent most of her time in the forest, she also endured many evenings huddled in her office or at the herbarium.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-26B.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-17163\" src=\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-26B-675x1030.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"394\" height=\"637\" \/><\/a>\u201cAfter a long day in the woods, I would bring the specimens back to the University to identify them,\u201d Rye said. \u201cAnd I\u2019d have layers and layers of books all over my desk. When I found something that baffled me, I would go to the herbarium and bug Dixie Damrel. She and I would be trying to identify a certain plant by poring through old records. And lo and behold, we would find specimens by William Pamplin \u2026 William Pamplin \u2026 William Pamplin. How cool is that?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In retrospect, Rye had only one regret about her time spent at Lake Issaqueena. In reinvestigating her mom\u2019s research, Rye had hoped to also replicate \u2014 in the exact location \u2014 the line transect that William and John Fairey had worked so hard to establish and complete. Amazingly, she and Knight Cox were able to find the piece of metal farm equipment that Fairey had pounded into the ground back in 1970. And using fiberglass tape, Rye restrung the line. But when she returned the next day to begin recording the plant species that now grew there, she sank to her knees in disbelief. Overnight, a host of feral hogs had ravaged the entire area.<br \/>\n\u201cThose bastards messed up everything. They even ate my tape,\u201d Rye said. \u201cAnd they also ruined just about all the plants along the entire line, which was more than 600 feet long. To this day, it upsets me to think about it. That was one part of the dream that didn\u2019t come true.\u201d<br \/>\nDespite this setback, Rye finished her thesis and received her master\u2019s from Clemson in 2013. In the end, she had identified 203 blooming plants as compared to William\u2019s 269. This could be attributed to Rye\u2019s smaller research area as compared to her mom\u2019s. There were 149 common plant species blooming in both study periods, indicating that some were new and some were not found. The majority of plants bloomed earlier and longer in 2011-12 than in 1969-70. But it was unclear whether this was due to climactic variations, environmental changes or the differences in their data collection methods. Overall, Rye documented 208 species and hundreds and hundreds of specimens.<br \/>\nFor a variety of reasons, both natural and otherwise, plant species come and go. Some are driven into extinction by human intervention, never to be seen again. But both William\u2019s and Rye\u2019s projects resulted in comprehensive lists of flora that future scientists at Clemson can refer to when conducting their own research about the health and well-being of our plant communities. This, more than anything else, is their most valuable scientific legacy. And it\u2019s a legacy that will stand the test of time.<br \/>\nAfter leaving Clemson, Rye moved across the country and went on to work as a botanical biological science technician in New Mexico and California. However, she has recently returned closer to her roots, settling in Asheville, North Carolina, to be nearer to her mom and dad, who still live in Easley. Rye\u2019s experiences at Lake Issaqueena remain fresh in her memory.<br \/>\n\u201cThat time in my life still means a lot to me. When I was growing up, I would listen to mom\u2019s stories about going to Lake Issaqueena with John Fairey,\u201d Rye said. \u201cI remember her saying, \u2018He even bought me a proper pair of boots.\u2019 My mom has always loved plants, and she would teach me their taxonomic names when I was just a little girl. To this day, she still does it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-21  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_fullscreen  avia-builder-el-last  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><p><div  style='height:30px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-22  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='color:#440900; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><h4>Just how unique<br \/>\nis this?<\/h4>\n<p>When it comes to career choices, children sometimes follow in their parents\u2019 footsteps. But how unusual is it for a daughter to conduct scientific research that is nearly identical to her own mother\u2019s previous body of work?<br \/>\nNo one keeps statistics on things like this. But three people who mentored Ryerson Pamplin during her time at Clemson University said that her retracing of William Pamplin\u2019s research was unique, as far as they knew.<br \/>\nDixie Damrel, curator of the Clemson University Herbarium since 2008, worked closely with Ryerson in 2011-12, and also has intimate knowledge of the specimens collected by William in 1969-70.<br \/>\n\u201cI think it\u2019s so unusual and rare. I\u2019ve never heard of it before,\u201d Damrel said. \u201cI\u2019m so overwhelmed by what these two amazing women were able to accomplish, and I know it means a lot to the two of them. A floristic study of an area is like a snapshot that tells how a particular area or ecosystem was doing at a particular moment in time. Looking at the same area decades later lets us track any changes \u2013 good or bad \u2013 that occurred since the original survey. It is rare and important to be able to document these types of changes over time.\u201d<br \/>\nPatrick McMillan, who was curator of the herbarium from 2001-08 and is now director of the South Carolina Botanical Garden, said that his son Nic is a graduate student in the department of forestry and environmental conservation.<br \/>\n\u201cEven though Nic is following a similar career path to mine, he has never replicated any of the exact research projects I\u2019ve been a part of,\u201d McMillan said. \u201cFor this reason and many others, I think what Ryerson and William did was amazing.\u201d<br \/>\nElena Mikhailova, associate professor of soil science in the department of forestry and environmental conservation, was Ryerson\u2019s major advisor throughout her project. Mikhailova helped Ryerson identify, develop, organize and conduct her research.<br \/>\n\u201cTo me, this is a love story as much as it is a story about science,\u201d Mikhailova said. \u201cI was proud to play a role in it, but Ryerson and William were the stars.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div><br \/>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- close content main div --><\/div><\/div><div id='fullscreen_slider_5'  class='avia-fullscreen-slider main_color   avia-builder-el-24  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth   slider-not-first container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><a href='#next-section' title='' class='scroll-down-link av-control-default' aria-hidden='true' data-av_icon='\ue877' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello'><\/a><div   data-size='extra_large'  data-lightbox_size='large'  data-animation='slide'  data-conditional_play=''  data-ids='17159'  data-video_counter='0'  data-autoplay='false'  data-bg_slider='true'  data-slide_height='100'  data-handle='av_fullscreen'  data-interval='5'  data-class=' '  data-el_id=''  data-css_id='fullscreen_slider_5'  data-scroll_down='aviaTBscroll_down'  data-control_layout='av-control-default'  data-custom_markup=''  data-perma_caption=''  data-autoplay_stopper=''  data-image_attachment=''  data-min_height='0px'  data-stretch=''  data-default-height='100'  class='avia-slideshow avia-slideshow-5 av-slider-scroll-down-active av-control-default av-default-height-applied avia-slideshow-extra_large av_fullscreen   avia-slide-slider '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><ul class='avia-slideshow-inner ' style='padding-bottom: 57.2666666667%;' ><li style='background-position:top left;' data-img-url='https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/urbariumshoot-16-1500x859.jpg' class=' av-single-slide slide-1 ' ><div data-rel='slideshow-5' class='avia-slide-wrap '   ><div class = \"caption_fullwidth av-slideshow-caption caption_center caption_center_framed caption_framed\"><div class = \"container caption_container\"><div class = \"slideshow_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_inner_caption\"><div class = \"slideshow_align_caption\"><h2  class='avia-caption-title  '  itemprop=\"name\" >THE REUNION<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div id='after_full_slider_5'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right' style=' '  ><div class='container' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-17146'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-25  el_after_av_fullscreen  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-26  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p>In late January this year, William and Rye returned to their roots. At the herbarium, they were enthusiastically greeted by Dixie Damrel, who apparently harbored no ill feelings over how hard Rye had once made her work.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cRye used to look like she was wearing the forest when she came in here,\u201d Damrel said to William. \u201cShe left behind a trail of leaves wherever she went. But I\u2019ll say this about her: She left no leaf unturned.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Nor did William. Her specimens in the herbarium remain in mint condition. Rye\u2019s photographs are on colorful display on Clemson\u2019s special website. But her physical specimens have not yet been as carefully preserved as her mom\u2019s. Instead, they are packed in several airtight cases, still waiting to be pressed and labeled.<br \/>\nAt Lake Issaqueena, they meandered on some of the same trails they had explored during their research. Arm in arm, mother and daughter stood near the water\u2019s edge and admired the beauty of the lake. Later, they knelt to examine wildflowers.<br \/>\nThe adventurous pair \u2014 still so alike in appearance despite their difference in age \u2014 strode down a broken stone path to a wooden platform that provides a clear view of the Issaqueena Dam. With the sound of rushing water in the background, they began to talk.<br \/>\n\u201cI tried to stay away from botany,\u201d Rye admitted. \u201cBut apparently, botany is what I was meant to do. It happened kind of accidentally. But maybe it wasn\u2019t really an accident.\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cWell, honey,\u201d William responded, \u201clife is about the exploration, not the end result.\u201d<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.clemson.edu\/public\/experimental-forest\/\">Learn more about the Clemson Experimental Forest.<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.clemson.edu\/public\/experimental-forest\/maps.html\">Access maps of the Clemson Experimental Forest<\/a>.<br \/>\n<em>\u2014During the reporting and writing of this story, Jim Melvin was a media specialist for Clemson\u2019s Public Service and Agriculture and College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. He has since become the director of public information and marketing for the College of Science.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><br \/>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-28  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_video  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><br \/>\n<div  class='avia-video avia-video-custom   av-lazyload-immediate  av-lazyload-video-embed  ' style='padding-bottom:56.25%;'  itemprop=\"video\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"  data-original_url='https:\/\/youtu.be\/qKRq34EyO9U' ><script type='text\/html' class='av-video-tmpl'><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qKRq34EyO9U\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/qKRq34EyO9U<\/a><\/script><div class='av-click-to-play-overlay'><div class=\"avia_playpause_icon\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<div   class='hr hr-default   avia-builder-el-30  el_after_av_video  avia-builder-el-last '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A mother and daughter conduct floristic research at Lake Issaqueena \u2014 more than 40 years apart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[374,414,678,881,1238,1482,1753,2384,2386],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-17146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-biodiversity","tag-botany","tag-clemson-experimental-forest","tag-cw-spring-2017","tag-features-spring-2017","tag-herbarium","tag-lake-issaqueena","tag-research","tag-research-feature"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/04\/1500-ConvergePaths.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17146"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clemson.world\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=17146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}