Serving the upstate metropolitan region of South Carolina, the Watershed Ecology Center (WEC) encourages watershed awareness through education and community outreach. The Center places special emphasis on watershed conservation, water quality, and the study of organisms living in the area encompassed by watersheds.

Educational Programs:
Founded in 2001, under the direction of Dr. Jack Turner, the Watershed Ecology Center continues serving students in K-8th grade by providing quality, hands-on science programs funded in large part by the Spartanburg County Stormwater Office, Spartanburg Water Systems, Startex, Jackson, Duncan, Wellford (SJWD) Water District, Greer Commission of Public Works (CPW), Blue Ridge Water District and the Tyger River Foundation.

Each year the Center contacts more than 20,000 public, private, and home-schooled students in our supporting water district service areas, offering a variety of water-related, grade-specific programs correlated to the South Carolina College and Career Readiness Standards.  These programs are updated annually to meet the needs of our target student population.

For the most up to date program list visit https://bit.ly/WEC_PG

Community Outreach:

Adopt-A-Stream – The Center offers Volunteer Certification Workshops for citizen scientist water quality monitors following protocols established by SC DES and approved by the EPA.

Rain Barrels – Through a partnership with the Coca-Cola Bottling Co Consolidated and the Watershed Ecology Center, rain barrels and low cost installation kits are provided to Spartanburg County residents at workshops throughout the county.

Summer Camps – Camp Discovery offers students going into grades 1-6 a week of fun, games, experiments, craft projects, and hands-on activities with artifacts and visits from animals from the Center.  Camps are located on the USC Upstate campus and run from 9am to 12 noon.  The WEC website contains the dates and topics for each year's camp.

Community Events – The WEC participates in community events such as Earth Day celebrations, Lake Robinson Day, and Discover Your Watershed which are designed to highlight environmental issues and strategies in a fun and inviting way.

Storm Drain Marking – To help raise community awareness of non-point source water pollution, the Watershed Ecology Center has been marking storm drains county-wide, with the message that anything going down the storm drain will flow into a nearby stream or other body of water.

Community Outreach Series – The WEC provides a selection of watershed-related programs for any group, club, organization, or Home Owners Association in Spartanburg County, free of charge.

Academic Support – Each semester, the WEC works with Education majors at USC Upstate to give preservice educators experience in teaching and utilizing hands-on methodology.

For more information about any of the programs at the Watershed Ecology Center contact us at email wec@uscupstate.edu, or call 864.503.5728.