Heroes of Conservation in Life & Death

The following words are from a speech announcing the winners of the Carroll A. Campbell Award at the 2021 South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series Awards Reception in October.

The Carroll A. Campbell Award was established to honor individuals who have shown a lifetime dedication to sport fishing and conservation in South Carolina. Numerous men and women, all pillars in our community, have received this special award since it was established several years ago. The two recipients of this year’s Carroll A. Campbell Award certainly spent a lifetime rising to the charge of this esteemed honor.

We’re immeasurably blessed that both of them are here with us today. One sits at a table surrounded by friends and loved ones who have stood by his side for up to nearly half a century. The other, in her infinite beauty, grace, and determination, is present in every corner of this very room. You won’t see her at a chair. Instead, her incandescent spirit glows in each conversation and in every warm embrace among Gov Cup friends and families.

Tonight we honor a partnership that helped shape the South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series into a beloved annual event. In order to do this duo justice, we’ll have to take a trip back to where it all started – back to the College of Charleston in the fall of 1973.

While Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On” took over the radio, Wally Jenkins found himself seated on a joggling board at the close of his first date with Nan Chipley. For those unfamiliar with this Lowcountry classic, a joggling board is a long, pliable board that is supported on each end by wooden stands. These springy benches are often seen on porches or in gardens, a pleasant way to idly pass the time. While getting to know Nan that evening, Wally learned that in addition to her career interests in marine biology, she liked music, birds, and ballet. As fate would have it, Wally would go on to spend the rest of Nan’s life learning about those interests as her devoted and loving husband.

Equipped for a life in marine science, Wally and Nan both found jobs with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources out at Fort Johnson. Their careers focused on fisheries research, with Wally specializing in mariculture and aquaculture. Via this work, he travelled all over the world with colleagues to discuss ongoing research and to participate in conferences. A few of those colleagues, all of which have far too many damning stories to share, are seated next to him right now. Later this evening, following a cocktail or two, I’d encourage you to press them for some side-splitting accounts from trips to Thailand and other distant shores. Meanwhile, following her work with shad, sturgeon, shrimp, and bottom fish, Nan went on to lead the Marine Fisheries Statistics Section. For reference, that’s the role Amy Dukes, who Nan mentored for years, currently holds today.

As the first woman to take on the leadership role of section manager, a critically important achievement, Nan paved the way for other women interested in fisheries. As you look to your Gov Cup team, you’ll notice three women standing before you. We’re here as a result of the fight championed by Nan and other female pioneers in the sciences.

Nan oversaw Gov Cup activities as the section manager and participated in numerous management and conservation boards and panels. She made significant improvements in fisheries and was a constant mentor for others, whether working with up-and-coming fisheries scientists or communicating science to young and curious school children, including sons Micah and Graham.

In 2006, much to the shock of everyone who knew and loved her, Nan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She battled the vicious disease for 15 months, later passing away in May of 2007. The Gov Cup family, SCDNR, and Charleston as a whole mourned alongside Wally and his two young sons. At that time, Wally had little direct involvement with the Gov Cup. He was only familiar with the Series through Nan’s experiences.

As Wally struggled to cope with Nan’s untimely death, he was offered a post that would help revive his bereaved soul. The position would oversee the Gov Cup Program and the Fisheries Statistics Section Manager. He may not have known it at the time, but there was healing in that offer. The Gov Cup brought the world of billfish to Nan. And Nan in turn sent Wally to us. We needed each other.

In this new role, Wally participated on numerous national and international advisory boards to encourage the conservation of billfish and other pelagic species. His passion for the conservation of blue water species did not stem from any personal interests. He actually had never been fishing offshore until a trip last year to Costa Rica. Instead, this passion was fueled by a desire to carry on Nan’s incredibly legacy. And so he did – he became a champion, a steadfast warrior, for billfish and tuna conservation.  I’m confident you’ve each personally experienced the benefits of those efforts.

So, 45 years after his first day with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, a record that I suspect he’ll hold for quite a while, Wally has retired. He’s done Nan proud, not only with his professional achievements, but also in his personal life. Wally found love again with Michele, a strikingly beautiful, honest, funny, and caring woman who also lost her first love, Ralph, the father of her children Walker and Tanner, to pancreatic cancer. Together, Wally and Michele have supported each other through countless trials, many of which I can’t even dare to comprehend.

So as I write this, 30 years old and virtually incapable of understanding what it feels like to live 45 years, let alone work somewhere for that amount of time, I’m floored by the breadth of work that Wally and Nan have contributed to our state. Billfish still swim off our coast because of them. We stand here as a family because of them. Despite the fact that we may have never before even been aware of it, we exist here amid the fabric of a legendary love, a love that brought decades of billfish conservation work to the front lines of the South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series. And for that, we are eternally and deeply grateful.

Congratulations to Wally and Nan Jenkins, our heroes of conservation, both in life and in death, for being the deserving recipients of this year’s Carroll A. Campbell Award!

The Teaser is a series dedicated to showcasing the stories of the Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series and its lively community. The Gov Cup was created several decades ago to encourage the conservation of ocean resources through the tagging and release of billfish. Learn more here.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on South Carolina Wild are solely those of the authors, and do not reflect official policies, positions, or endorsements of activity or products by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.