Dr. Nico Wienders, a research faculty member in the Florida State University Department of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Science, led an expedition onboard the R/V APALACHEE to launch a sailbuoy that will traverse the Gulf of Mexico over the next two months, gathering data that will help us understand how the oil moved from the Macondo well to the shorelines of states bordering the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, from Louisiana to Florida.
Member of the FSUCML Board of Trustees, Arthur Stern III, challenged his fellow board members to raise over $10,000 to fund scholarships for the next few years for graduate students conducting their masters or doctoral research at the FSUCML. They met their goal, and then some, resulting in an announcement going out to students to submit proposals.
Our newest faculty member, Dr. Sandra Brooke, is in Norway right now observing the impact of drilling discharges on larvae of the coral Lophelia pertusa. This is a small component of a large project funded by The Research Council of Norway to investigate the effect of drilling muds used for oil and gas extraction on Norwegian cold-water corals, specifically Lophelia pertusa. The project is a collaborative effort led by Dr. Thierry Baussant from the International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS) and includes several scientists from the US, Norway and the Netherlands.
Join us in welcoming our newest faculty member, Dr. Sandra Brooke. As a coral ecologist, she has worked around the world, from England to the Cayman Islands to Virginia and back to the UK, identifying sensitive coral reefs and informing policy decisions about management and protection of these coral reef ecosystems. She also works to ensure adequate enforcement of regulations so that sensitive ecosystems are truly protected.
We would like to congratulate Ms. Ashley Carreiro on being the 2013 recipient of The Matt Beard Memorial Undergraduate Marine Research Scholarship. This special award is given to the student who embodies all that Matt exemplified as a student in the Certificate Program in Marine Biology and as a member of the Academic Diving Program community.
On Friday evening, January 25, 2013, at 5 PM EST the R/V APALACHEE rounded Dog Island and sailed into the channel here at the FSUCML lab. Staff members and scientists waited anxiously for her to dock and jumped onboard to have a look around. This vessel exceeded our expectations, thanks to the dedication of Geo Shipyard, Inc. A special thanks, as well, to Dejong and Lebet Marine Architect, who worked with FSU scientists and colleagues at the National Marine Fisheries Service to help us design the vessel we all wanted.
You are invited to a special tribute to honor Dr. Bill Herrnkind "aka" Doc on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at the Challenger Learning Center in Tallahassee. Doc will receive the Tallahassee Scientific Society 2012 Gold Medal. Doors will open at 6 for a one-hour free reception featuring heavy hors d'oeurves and a cash bar. Presentation of the Gold Medal will be at 7 p.m. in the IMAX Theater. Then Doc will talk on his career in science: "Marching Lobsters and Climbing Snails: How Provocative Phenomena Generate Inquiry in Science and the Classroom." Please invite friends, colleagues and students. Membership in Tallahassee Science Society (TSS) is NOT necessary. Non-members can consider joining at the event. You can see more details at the Tallahassee Scientific Society website. There should be plenty of parking at the Kleman Parking Plaza.
Our First Annual Whatever Floats Your Boat Regatta was a bigger success then we could have imagined. We had a grand total of seven boats enter the race and approximately 75 people in attendance. The weather was perfect and the boats all fared surprisingly well (with only one threatening to sink!). The event went so well that we plan to hold another one next year. Everyone was extremely creative with their design and use of materials, so we're excited to see what people come up with next year! In the meantime we're gearing up for our Biennial Open House in April so get ready for another fun-packed FSUCML-hosted event!
The Deep-C Fisheries Ecology Team (Dr. Dean Grubbs, Dr. Chris Koenig, and Dr. Felicia Coleman) are offshore conducting research from the shelf-edge to the deep sea onboard the Florida Institute of Oceanography's research vessel, the RV WEATHERBIRD II. In between the all day and all night longline and trap sets, the cataloging of specimens, and everything else that goes along with a vigorous field program, they are taking turns writing a blog that appears on the Deep-C website and will continue on their trip from 8-17 October 2012. Check back often to find out what's going on.
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) recently released the latest food advisory for fish caught in Florida’s freshwater rivers, lakes, and streams; estuarine waters, and marine waters. Pregnant or nursing mothers should be particularly careful about which fish and how much they consume. Pay close attention to the amounts of fish that can be consumed over a given period of time (there is an additive effect) and to those fish that should be avoided altogether.
