About the Program

Peter Kingsley-Smith

MRRI Assistant Director and Shellfish Research Section Manager, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

Address: Marine Resources Research Institute (MRRI), South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412
Phone: 843.953.9840 (office), 843.655.8763 (work cell)
E-mail: kingsleysmithp@dnr.sc.gov


Education

Ph.D., 2002, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Wales, UK
B.Sc., 1998, Marine & Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK

Research Interests

  • Population assessments of bivalve and crustacean shellfish species in support of sustainable management and to direct on-the-ground restoration efforts
  • Installation and evaluation of oyster- and natural fiber-based living shorelines aimed at addressing erosion, increasing coastal resiliency, and creating structurally-complex nearshore habitats
  • Ecological studies of aquatic, marine and estuarine invasive species, with a focus on invertebrates, to better understand species life histories, changes in distribution, and pathways of introduction
  • Application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based approaches to natural resource assessments

Current research projects

  • Community-based living shoreline creation in the urbanized watershed of Charleston County, South Carolina, USA to support habitat resiliency and ecosystem services [NOAA-NMFS Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Grant].
  • Monitoring of recently created living shoreline to inform regulatory decision-making by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (DHEC-OCRM)
  • Crustacean research and fishery-independent monitoring program to address significant management questions [SC Saltwater Recreational Fishing License Funds]
  • Assessing the spatial extent and condition of state-managed shellfish grounds using small, unmanned aerial systems [SC Saltwater Recreational Fishing License Funds]
  • Assessing natural mortality of South Carolina intertidal oyster reefs; investigating the health of oyster reefs in South Carolina by conducting a statewide summertime assessment of oyster disease prevalence; improving quantitative assessments of the status of South Carolina's intertidal oyster reefs by using small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) technology; increase the footprint of intertidal oyster reefs created using re-purposed and/or alternative settlement materials (Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Act Funds)
  • Determining the relative importance of coastal habitat types to horseshoe crab reproduction and migratory shorebird foraging in South Carolina [USFWS State Wildlife Grant]
  • Investigating dispersal of the invasive red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and its effects on the distribution and status of native crayfish populations [USFWS State Wildlife Grant]
  • Assessment of the distribution of the island apple snail, Pomacea maculata, to in West Ashley, South Carolina; Hybridization, gene flow, and introgression between native redeye bass and introduced Alabama bass; Optimization of an eDNA tool for the detection of invasive northern snakehead (Channa argus) and bullseye snakehead (Channa marulius); Investigating WSSV introduction pathways as a threat to native crustacean species; Potential hybridization of the invasive red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) with its sister species the eastern red swamp crayfish (Procambarus troglodytes); Is the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) a vector for the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) [USFWS State and Interstate Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan Program]
  • Crustacean research and fishery-independent monitoring program to address significant management questions [SC Saltwater Recreational Fishing License Funds]
  • Assessing the spatial extent and condition of state-managed shellfish grounds using small, unmanned aerial systems [SC Saltwater Recreational Fishing License Funds]
  • Assessing natural mortality of South Carolina intertidal oyster reefs; investigating the health of oyster reefs in South Carolina by conducting a statewide summertime assessment of oyster disease prevalence; improving quantitative assessments of the status of South Carolina's intertidal oyster reefs by using small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) technology; increase the footprint of intertidal oyster reefs created using re-purposed and/or alternative settlement materials (Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Act Funds)

Publications

  • Sasson, D. A., Chabot, C. C., Mattei, J. H., Kendrick, M. R., Brunson, J. F., Huber, J. H., Kasinak, J.-M. E., Puckette, P. T., Sundin, G. W. and Kingsley-Smith, P. R. The American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, spawns extensively in salt marshes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, in review.
  • Kingsley-Smith, P. R., Tweel, A. W., Johnson, S. P., Sundin, G. W., Hodges, M. S., Stone, B. W., Sorg, G. D. and Sanger, D. M. (2021). Evaluating the ability of constructed intertidal Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs to address shoreline erosion in South Carolina, USA. Journal of South Carolina Water Resources, in review.
  • Carnegie, R.B. S.E. Ford, R.K. Crockett, P.R. Kingsley-Smith and E.M. Burreson. (2021). A rapid phenotype change associated with increased virulence caused a historically significant marine disease emergence. Scientific Reports 11:12872.
  • Julien, A. R., McGlinn, D. J., Tweel, A. W. and Kingsley-Smith, P. R. (2020). Associations between nekton assemblages and ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa) patches in a South Carolina salt marsh. Southeastern Naturalist 19(1):44-60.
  • Underwood, E. B., Darden, T. L., O’Donnell, T. P., and Kingsley-Smith, P. R. (2019). Population genetic structure and diversity of the invasive island apple snail, Pomacea maculata (Perry, 1810), in South Carolina and Georgia, USA. Journal of Shellfish Research 38(1):163-175.
  • Duermit, E. Shervette, V., Whitaker, J. D., Kingsley-Smith, and P. R. & Wilber, D. (2017). A field assessment of claw removal impacts on the movement and survival of stone crabs, Menippe spp. Fisheries Research 193:43-50.
  • Stone, B. W., Hadley, N. H. and Kingsley-Smith, P. R. (2013). Evaluating the potential growth advantage of triploid Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in South Carolina, USA relative to commercially cultured diploid native stocks. Journal of Shellfish Research 32(3):647-655.
  • Kingsley-Smith, P. R., Joyce, R. E., Arnott, S. A., Roumillat, W. A., McDonough, C. J. and Reichert, M. J. M. (2012). Habitat use of intertidal Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs by nekton in South Carolina estuaries. Journal of Shellfish Research 31(4):1009-1021.
  • Kingsley-Smith, P. R., Harwell, H. D, Kellogg, M. L., Allen, S. M., Allen, S. K. Jr. Meritt, D. W., Paynter, K. T. Jr. and Luckenbach, M. W. (2009). Survival and growth of triploid Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791) and C. ariakensis (Fujita, 1913) in bottom environments of Chesapeake Bay: Implications for an introduction. Journal of Shellfish Research 28(2):169-184.
  • Kingsley-Smith, P. R., Richardson, C. A. and Seed, R. (2005). Growth and development of the veliger larvae and juveniles of Polinices pulchellus (Gastropoda: Naticidae). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 85:171-174.