The Nature Center here at Brays Island offers a unique and fascinating glimpse into the natural wildlife that surrounds us each day. The rooms are filled with artifacts and pictures that tell the story of Brays Island, as well as numerous wildlife specimens—both preserved and live exhibits—that call it home.
For the last 14 years, our onsite naturalist, Bruce Lampright, has walked owners through nature paths, educated us on the wildlife that surrounds us, and showed us a new or elevated love for the natural inhabitants of Brays Island. Upon his retirement, Bruce has been showing our new naturalist, Jake Zadik, the lay of the land.
We sat down with Jake to hear about his career experience, passion for nature and what he’s most excited about in our unique landscape.
Q: What is your background in nature?
A: I’m originally from Connecticut and graduated from the College of Charleston with a double major in Biology and International Studies. Post-graduation, I embarked on a career as a natural history interpreter and have been an educator for the South Carolina Aquarium, the Kiawah Island Nature Program, and Charleston County Parks.
In 2018, I also co-founded and provided programming for the South Carolina Partners of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation group (SCPARC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving and educating about South Carolina's reptiles and amphibians.
Q: What have you learned about our landscape since coming to Brays?
A: The owners and I have been so fortunate to have Bruce here. He’s shown me some hidden pathways that would’ve taken me years to find. It’s been great to build off his strengths and 14 years of experience in this unique environment.
Since each home is surrounded by wild habitat, there’s so much to explore - 5,500 acres to be exact. Brays offers such diversity of habitats, from upland sandy soiled habitat, swamps, ponds and more that house a variety of species.
I have a fascination with dragonflies and insects and I have to say that Brays has stood out as having one the largest diversities of dragonflies of anywhere I’ve worked in South Carolina. And the birds - they’re so diverse here!
Q: What are you most excited about?
A: Exploring the vastness of this habitat! I’m so passionate about promoting nature within a community and helping people build a personal relationship with their surroundings. Weekly nature walks and events at the Nature Center here offer a perfect opportunity for that.
I’m looking forward to creating some new focuses in the Nature Center as well - incorporating research and technology in a new way. As a resource hub for owners to identify nature around them, the Nature Center houses live animals, nature artifacts and lots of information. Nature here is quite vast, so I’ll be working on some exhibits and the flow of how our owners interact with the exhibits.
In addition to his career, Jake assists in a wide variety of field research projects throughout the Lowcountry and abroad and has coordinated the development of citizen science projects that are used globally. He is also an accomplished wildlife photographer and published writer. He is a passionate naturalist who constantly seeks ways to better understand the beautiful habitat that surrounds us each day.