"Gunter Library News" is the monthly e-newsletter highlighting current events and happenings at the Gunter Library at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, University of Southern Mississippi. |
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Resource of the Month:
National Weather Service
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Be ready for hurricane season. Today you can determine your personal hurricane risk, find out if you live in a hurricane evacuation zone, and review/update insurance policies. You can also make a list of items to replenish hurricane emergency supplies and start thinking about how you will prepare your home for the coming hurricane season. If you live in hurricane-prone areas, you are encouraged to complete these simple preparations before hurricane season begins on June 1. Keep in mind, you may need to adjust any preparedness actions based on the latest health and safety guidelines from the CDC and your local officials.
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Other important sources of information while preparing for hurricane season, USM's Eagle Alert system - www.usm.edu/police/eagle-alert.php as well as the GCRL Hurricane Preparedness Plan which will be distributed by the GCRL Director by email when deemed necessary.
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Welcome 2021 SFP Students |
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Welcome Summer Field Program Students and Faculty!
May 24 is the start of the 74th summer that classes have been offered on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and affiliated with the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. This summer has two five-week sessions with two classes each session offered in-person and two online. To provide superior service to our summer students and resident library users, Gunter Library increases its open hours during the Summer Field Program: Monday-Thursday, 7:30 am to 9:00 pm, Friday, 7:30 am to 5:00 pm, and Sunday 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
In the summer of 1947, the inaugural class marking the official start of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s (GCRL) Summer Field Program (SFP) was held at Magnolia State Park in Ocean Springs. Sponsored by the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, the program consisted to two classes of students who sat on benches at wooden picnic tables shaded by live oaks. Over the last 70 years the SFP has become a rigorous undergraduate program supported by modern classrooms with laboratories, several research vessels, a curated specimen museum, and a research library. The SFP has 63 affiliate colleges and universities from 18 states whose students can take 12 hours over 10 weeks. In 2021, the education programs at GCRL have grown to include pre-K thorough 12, the SFP, and graduate study in The University of Southern Mississippi Division of Coastal Sciences/School of Ocean Science & Engineering.
With classes held at Magnolia State Park in Ocean Springs, scientists and students labored under primitive conditions. “No air conditioning, no fans, no refrigeration of any sort except the cafeteria. Much of the class work in botany and parasitology was done on large wooden tales under the oak trees.” (Walker, 1974).
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This photo shows SFP students in 1947 |
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SFP students in Dr. Kastler's class in 2019 |
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Gulf Coast Historical and Cultural Exposition |
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On Saturday, May 1st, USM School of Library and Information Science practicum student Alesha Lindsey staffed the Gulfport Historical Society table at the Gulf Coast Historical and Cultural Exposition held in Biloxi. Ms. Lindsey is shown here speaking with a table visitor about the Society and the table display featuring a picture by Willis Valle and information about the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad engine #428. Ms. Lindsey, a graduate library student, is one of two students being supervised and mentored by Gunter Library head, Joyce Shaw.
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SAIL/Cyamus Joint Conference |
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Gunter Library is virtual host for the upcoming SAIL/Cyamus Joint Conference. SAIL and Cyamus are two of the six regional groups that compose the International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers (IAMSLIC), an organization of librarians and information professionals involved in all aspects of aquatic and marine sciences and their allied disciplines. SAIL includes libraries from Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America, west to the Mississippi River, central Canada, Bermuda, Bahamas, Caribbean, eastern Mexico, and Panama. Cyamus covers the West coast of North America and Hawaii. Head of Gunter Library Joyce Shaw is program chair with a committee composed of 10 librarians from both groups.
The conference is scheduled for May 19 and 20.
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Larval Fish Conference
June 24 - 26, 2021
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American Elasmobranch Society/Joint Meetings of
Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
July 21 - 25, 2021
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Mississippi Academy of Sciences 85th Annual Meeting
August 5 -6, 2021
Biloxi, MS
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National AFS Meeting
November 6-10, 2021
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CERF Conference
November 8 - 11, 2021
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Upcoming virtual GCRL Science Café
Marsh Restoration: If you build it, will them come?
Monday - May 24, 2021 6 pm central
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Presenter: Emelia Marshall |
Emelia graduated from GCRL in Spring 2021 with her Masters in Coastal Sciences and is now working as a lab technician at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama where she manages living shoreline projects around Mobile Bay.
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Coastal Mississippi is surrounded by near shore and offshore islands that provide necessary functions such as protection from strong storm events, nursery for juvenile fish, successful commercial fisheries, tourism and recreation, and more. Since the 1970s, Mississippi has experienced an accelerated rate of erosion due to impact from natural disasters and anthropogenic construction. In response, a surge of restoration projects sought to improve the health of these islands by creating marshes with sediment from dredged material, typically from local shipping channels and harbors. This study evaluated the success of restoration efforts on Deer Island, MS by comparing the invertebrate and nekton abundance at 2 restored sites of different ages with a natural reference site. Benthic marsh consumers, such as fiddler crabs and periwinkles, play a huge role in cycling nutrients between plants and sediment, and support higher order predators such as marsh birds and commercial fish. Our findings on Deer Island will allow us to better understand the restoration progression coastal Mississippi and highlight the important question: “If you build a marsh, will consumers actually return?”
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"Like" the GCRL Science Cafe Facebook page for more information about upcoming Science Cafe events. |
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Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
Joyce Shaw, Head Librarian - 228-872-4213
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