Spring brings many things to the Tallahassee area – gorgeous blooms, mild weather, and Florida State University’s commencement weekend! Two exceptional students, Aaron Ridall, now newly minted as Dr. Ridall, and Armando Barsante Santos, also newly minted as Dr. Barsante Santos, have successfully defended their doctoral dissertations and will walk the stage this weekend! The FSUCML is so proud of Aaron and Armando, and we cannot wait to watch them continue to have a positive impact on the future of marine science. Congratulations, Aaron, and Armando!

Last month, members of the Grubbs lab traveled to the Florida Keys, in collaboration with members of the Bimini Biological Field Station, for routine smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) sampling.

Dr. Sandra Brooke, Dr. Josh Breithaupt, and Dr. Dean Grubbs were among the many scientists who contributed to the "Results and Impacts of the First Decade of the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program" report. This report covers a variety of fields and projects within Florida in the aftermath of the BP Horizon Oil Spill.

The marine sciences would not be what they are today without the significant contributions of five integral Black scientists – Ernest Everett Just, Roger Arliner Young, Joan Murrell Owens, Evan B. Forde, and Ashanti Johnson.  Picture credit: C+R Research

Erin is an undergraduate student that has been conducting research in Dr. Breithaupt’s lab. Erin has been chosen to represent FSU and her undergraduate Honors in the Major project at the 2024 ACC Meeting of the Minds at Notre Dame in April!

Congratulations to our 2023 Matt Beard Scholarship Recipients - Adin Nahoa Domen and Rachael Best! This award is given in memory of Matthew Beard, an FSU student who intended to make the conservation of corals his life's work. The award is given by the FSUCML, with advice from the FSU Diving Control Board, to the student who best embodies all that Matt exemplified as a student of marine science and as a member of the FSU scientific diving community.

Last month, members of the Grubbs lab traveled to the Florida Keys to look for smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata), in collaboration with Bimini Biological Field Station. This trip was one of many routine sampling trips made by Grubbs lab members multiple times per year to monitor the presence of one of Florida’s Critically Endangered species in the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park.

The Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory and St. James Bay Golf and Pickleball Resort had another successful Play for the Bay Benefit Golf Tournament on Friday, October 13th. Fourteen sponsors and twenty-seven teams helped raise over $22,000 for FSUCML graduate students.

FSUCML alumna, Dr. Abbey Engleman, recently published a paper, "Dead but not forgotten: complexity of Acropora palmata colonies increases with greater composition of dead coral" in PeerJ! Dr. Engleman was actually Dr. Sandra Brooke's first Ph.D. student at FSUCML! Dr. Brooke is a co-author of this research as well.

In summer 2023, Dr. Daniel Okamoto and his lab made their annual cruise into Gwaii Haanas with a team of divers and researchers.