Timeline Stories

Location: Navarre Beach, FL

Planting for Protection

A Day for the Dunes was an educational event hosted and sponsored by Navarre Beach Marine Science Station (NBMSS), Dune Doctors, and Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center. Local marine and coastal conservation groups put together educational stations with interactive lessons about coastal and marine ecosystems and led a beach cleanup. Under the guidance of Dune Doctors and high school students from NBMSS, roughly 500 community members planted 1,350 sea oats on Navarre Beach dunes. Read more about the event.

Location: Seagrove Beach, FL
Planting for Protection

We held a Planting for Protection event with Seaside Neighborhood School. Planting for Protection is Dune Doctors’ educational initiative to teach children and the general public about the importance of coastal resiliency. The event empowers teenage students by training them in sea oat installation. In turn, these teens help elementary students install sea oats and understand dune restoration.

Location: Orange Beach, AL
Client: Commercial
DMP™ Phases Implemented: P1

In 2010, Dune Doctors was tasked with cleaning and stabilizing the bare areas on Romar Resorts’ dunes. Invasive species like Camphor Weed were colonizing the dunes and crowding out the dune-building vegetation. We extracted the dead plant material and weeds then pruned the sea oats’ flower stalks to encourage growth. Click here to learn more about invasive plants that can disrupt your dune ecosystem.

Location: South-Eastern Texas
Client: Government
DMP™ Phases Implemented: P1

Have you ever seen a wooden post grow leaves? At a project for Mcfaddin Texas Refuge, one of the posts we installed did just that! At Dune Doctors, we like to joke that anything can grow on a Texan beach because of how nutrient-dense the soil is. In 2000, we stabilized the park’s sandy beach and dune system to protect wetland and coastal prairies from saltwater intrusion.

Location: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Client: Commercial
DMP™ Phases Implemented: P1, P2, P3, P4

Heritage Dunes Subdivision has been with us since the beginning of Dune Doctors. By implementing all of our recommendations, they accreted over $180,000 worth of free, crystalline sand. During Hurricane Sally, their massive root systems, which have had almost 20 years to grow, protected their dunes from erosion. In fact, there was little to no damage to their dunes. Read the case study for Heritage Dunes.

Location: Destin, FL
Client: Commercial
DMP™ Phases Implemented: P1, P2, P3, P4

Throughout the construction of the 1900 Ninety-Eight building, the contractors staged the materials on the beach. Once the building was completed, Dune Doctors was tasked with sifting the sand to remove any leftover debris and adding new sand to sculpt a new dune. To help build further protection, Dune Doctors installed a row of sand fence to initiate a new protective berm. Shortly after installation, Hurricane Michael made landfall. We predicted the wave action would impact if not destroy the project. However, the fences outlasted the storm and captured two feet of fresh sand. Read the case study for 1900 Ninety Eight.