|  GCOOS Provides Environmental Intelligence for Critical Regional and National Issues The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) partnership has a 10-year history as an operational system providing near-real time environmental intelligence on from 1900 on 319 stations necessary to address critical regional and national issues, including shipping, oil and gas, and national security. Read more about how the GCOOS Regional Association (GCOOS-RA) is helping to address these public needs at http://gcoos.tamu.edu/?p=9259. GCOOS-RA Letter of Intent Update Thanks to all who submitted Letters of Intent (LOIs) from the next five-year funding of GCOOS. We received 36 LOIs and the review committee has been working hard to review and rank them. PIs should be hearing from us shortly for any modifications requested.
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| Stephan O'Brien of the University of Southern Mississippi shows students underwater video from ROVs & AUVs. |
GCOOS-RA Staff and Partners Help Students Celebrate Earth Day in the Gulf of Mexico GCOOS-RA staff and partners helped students celebrate Earth Day 2015 throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Two events, in particular, at Bay Point Elementary in St. Petersburg, FL, and at Pontchartrain Elementary School in Mandeville, LA, generated lots of enthusiasm for Earth sciences amongst students, teachers, and parents. Read more about these great outreach and education events at http://gcoos.tamu.edu/?p=9223. Vote for the Marine Science Literacy Team! The Marine Science Literacy Team has been selected for the final round of the Gulf Coast Innovation Challenge in Florida. Your votes determine the award winners. The Marine Science Literacy Team features GCOOS-RA member Nature's Academy and GCOOS-RA Outreach and Education Lead, Dr. Chris Simoniello. Check them out and vote at http://www.gulfcoastchallenge.org/entry/marine-science-literacy-team.
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| A Bay Point Elementary School student tests out the launcher. |
3, 2, 1....Launch! Dr. Chris Simoniello Hosts Mission Space Event More than 300 Bay Point Elementary (BPE) students and family members participated in "Mission Space", a family science event hosted by GCOOS-RA Outreach and Education Lead, Dr. Chris Simoniello, in partnership with the BPE Parent Teacher Association. The festival, held in conjunction with the school's annual science fair, was a huge success thanks to the generous support of GCOOS-RA partners from the University of South Florida College of Marine Science, Florida Sea Grant, and NOAA Southeast Regional Fisheries Office. Read more at http://gcoos.tamu.edu/?p=9248. Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal Research and Monitoring Update The program, project descriptions, and presentation PDFs from the Gulf of Mexico Marine Mammal Research and Monitoring Meeting, held 7-8 April 2015 in New Orleans, LA, are now available and can be accessed on the Marine Mammal Commission's website at: http://www.mmc.gov/gom/gom_meeting.shtml.  To access the program and project descriptions, scroll down to the second paragraph below the dolphin picture to access the link, or go directly to the document at: http://www.mmc.gov/gom/gom_mtg_pp_desc_041315.pdf. To access the PDFs of the presentations and posters, scroll down to the next to last paragraph on the meeting website to access the link, or go directly to the website with the PDFs at: http://www.mmc.gov/gom/gom_meeting_presentations.shtml. A report highlighting key outcomes of the meeting should be available in the coming months. Working groups are forming to work on research, monitoring, and analytical priorities to be included in a marine mammal "action plan" for the Gulf of Mexico. To date, working groups will focus on Abundance, Distribution, Stock Structure, Habitat Use, Technology Development, Effects of Acoustic Disturbance, Monitoring Compliance with Mitigation Measures, and Economic Importance of Marine Wildlife Tourism. For more information, contact Vicki Cornish with the Marine Mammal Commission at VCornish@mmc.gov.
GCOOS Chapter in Coastal Ocean Observing Systems 1st Edition is Coming Soon! This book, being published by Elsevier in July 2015, provides state-of-the-art scientific and technological knowledge in coastal ocean observing systems, along with guidance on establishing, restructuring, and improving similar systems. Edited by Yonggang Liu, Heather Kerkering, and Robert H. Weisberg, the book is intended to help oceanographers understand, identify, and recognize how oceanographic research feeds into the various designs of ocean observing systems. In addition, readers will learn how ocean observing systems are defined and how each system operates in relation to its geographical, environmental, and political region. The book provides further insights into all of these problem areas, offering lessons learned and results from the types of research sponsored and utilized by ocean observing systems and the types of research design and experiments conducted by professionals specializing in ocean research and affiliated with observing systems. The GCOOS-RA chapter, by Chris Simoniello, Stephanie Watson, Barbara Kirkpatrick, Michael Spranger, and Ann E. Jochens, focuses on the efficiency and effectiveness of one comprehensive observing system in the Gulf of Mexico providing many societal benefits. Look for the book in July at http://store.elsevier.com/product.jsp?isbn=9780128020227.  FAA Selects Mississippi State University (MSU)-Led Team for National Unmanned Aircraft Systems (AUS) Center (from MSU Press Release, 8 May 2015) The Federal Aviation Administration has selected a Mississippi State-led team to operate a new National Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. MSU is leading the coalition of academic and industry partners that will launch a new era of commercial unmanned aircraft research, development, and integration into the nation's airspace. On Friday, 8 May 2015, the FAA announced that MSU's Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) will operate the new center. Congress has charged the FAA with developing rules regulating commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and the new center will play a key role in that process. The center of excellence will provide the agency and industry with research to maximize the potential of commercial unmanned systems with minimal changes to the current system regulating manned aircraft. ASSURE will form teams between its member universities, government agencies and industry partners to address both government and commercial UAS challenges. "This world-class, public-private partnership will help us focus on the challenges and opportunities of this cutting-edge technology," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "We expect this team will help us to educate and train a cadre of unmanned aircraft professionals well into the future." Read more at http://gcoos.tamu.edu/?p=9276. Update on Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Jubilee in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, 13-17 July 2015 The University of Southern Mississippi(USM)-led CONCORDE Consortium for River-Dominated Coastal Ecosystems continues to plan its AUV Jubilee for the Northern Gulf in July. USM held an introductory webinar 14 May 2015. Read more about the GoMRI-funded CONCORDE at http://gcoos.tamu.edu/?p=8927. |
