Number 30| December 2021
Gunter Library News
"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.
Resource of the Month:
New Website for Gunter Library
Our resource of the month for December is the newly mounted Gunter Library webpage. Our webpage is the last of four webpages be created and posted by University Libraries (UL) for each of the four UL libraries—Cook and Gulf Coast Libraries, Special Collections, and Gunter Library. Included on the site are buttons which link to the Coastal Sciences Research Guide and Aquila (which hosts GCRL’s journal “Gulf and Caribbean Research”). 
GCRL Science Café Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Sea Monsters and Sleep Disorders, Bats and Bagpipes, and Beer and Bees the GCRL Science Café has become a beloved local forum for science, science literacy, and good times. Since the first program held at the GCRL Dining Hall on August 30, 2011, “Sea Monsters: Myth and Mystery,” 93 GCRL Science Cafés have captured the best of science from anthropology to zoology with a little fun, frog calls, and fungus, along the way.
During the pandemic shut down, the GCRL Science Café pivoted to a virtual program with the assistance of the Marine Education Center (thank you, Megan McKenzie) which hosts the recorded events on their Facebook page. Because the programs are virtual, presenters do not have to be local or within driving distance of Ocean Springs. We have featured Dr. Al Walker, a marine mycologist who received her PhD in Coastal Science from USM, who spoke about the mushrooms of Mississippi, and Jace Tunnell, the director of the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve) at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, TX who spoke about nurdle and plastic pollution in the Gulf of Mexico. https://www.facebook.com/USM-Gulf-Coast-Research-Labs-Marine-Education-Center-168453786538965/videos/?ref=page_internal
Over the years we’ve had some great partnerships including the Pascagoula River Audubon Center who provided us with presenters who spoke about local birds and birding opportunities and Ocean Springs Municipal Library whose Friday lunchtime knitting class created a beautiful, knitted series of coral reef seascapes which was showcased in a Science Café about Gulf of Mexico deep water coral reefs. After being on display at the municipal library for several months, it moved to the lobby of the Caylor Building, home of Gunter Library which is responsible for managing the GCRL Science Café. http://www.misslib.org/resources/Documents/MLarchive/ML2018Summer.pdf
Not only have the Cafés been a favorite evening out for Ocean Springs citizens, but they provide a venue for USM graduate students to talk about their research and it is an activity that engages with our undergraduates during the Summer Field Program. While we love reaching out to a broader virtual audience, we look forward to when we can meet in-person again and enjoy some Coffee Fusion, a long-time sponsor, cookies and coffee. We are most grateful to Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium who has sponsored the GCRL Science Café since March 2014.

Some notable "top 10" lists:
10 Science Cafe's with the highest attendance
  1. The facts about vibrio - 131
  2. Things that go bump - 82
  3. Shallow water phantoms - Manatees - 71
  4. Monarchs and Milkweeds - 67
  5. Little Monsters of the GOM - 65
  6. Jellyfish in the GOM - 61
  7. Bird Migration - 61
  8. Student Research Spotlight - 60
  9. The Science of Beer - 59
  10. A life among the dolphins - 59
10 most "offbeat" Science Cafe subjects
  1. Body snatching/Cadavers
  2. Lighthouse lenses
  3. Cybersecurity
  4. Beer making
  5. Bagpipes
  6. Dirt Eating
  7. Sleep Disorders
  8. Tiny Houses
  9. Aztec Goddesses
  10. Alpaca Husbandry
10 Science Cafe presenters who were GCRL Staff or Faculty
  1. Harriet Perry
  2. Jim Franks
  3. William Hawkins
  4. Ervin Otvos
  5. Robert Leaf
  6. Frank Hernandez
  7. Jessie Kastler
  8. Chris Snyder
  9. Michael Andres
  10. Jessie James
10 Science Cafe presenters who were students at GCRL
  1. Johnny Shelly
  2. Jaime Smith
  3. Kathleen Hameon
  4. Christian Hayes
  5. Allison Walker
  6. Zac Lane
  7. Rachel Mugge
  8. Leah Morgan
  9. Beth Jones
  10. Nickolas Murphy
Here are some of our great flyers that wonderfully talented graphic designer Diana Reid has created for us over the decade:
Gunter Library student worker

MyKayla Rhodes is a work study student who worked at Gunter Library during the Fall 2021 semester. Originally from Columbus, MS, Mykayla moved to Ocean Springs in 2017. She was awarded an AA from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and is currently a history major with a library and information science minor at Southern Miss. MyKayla’s goal is to work in archival management or in a library archive. She is an accomplished musician who plays clarinet and sings. We hope to have MyKayla join us for the spring 2022 semester. 
Food collected for
North Bay Civitan Club

Gunter Library partnered with the North Bay Civitan Club to support its food drive to restock the pantry at Gulf Coast Ministries in Gulfport. On Saturday, November 20, the nonperishable food was delivered to the 12th annual Gobble Wobble, the North Bay Civitan Club’s fun run and food collection event at the west end of the Biloxi Bay Bridge. Club members, volunteers, and fun run participants donated nearly 1000 food items. This was the fifth year Gunter Library has hosted a collection box for this food drive. GCRL staff members Martha Brown and Becky Hardgrove arranged for a member of the GCRL family to be awarded with a Thanksgiving basket as part of this program.

Picture: Oliver Kuttner, North Bay Civitan Club member, is shown with the food collected at Gunter Library for the Club’s annual food collection. 
Upcoming events
Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting
May 14-20, 2022
Grand Rapids, MI 


 Proposal deadline for JASM is September 24
86th Annual Mississippi Academy of Sciences Meeting
March 31- April 1, 2022
Biloxi Convention Center Biloxi, Mississippi
Rescheduled Science Cafe -see new date!
If you missed any of our Zoom GCRL Science Cafes or prefer to attend the event via Facebook Live, visit our Marine Education Center’s (MEC) Facebook page at the link below.
"Like" the GCRL Science Cafe Facebook page for more information about upcoming Science Cafe events.

Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

Joyce Shaw, Head Librarian - 228-872-4213