On Wednesday, April 24, 2013, history was made! The Academic Diving Program (ADP), consisting of Alex Chequer, Sonja Bridges, and a few of their students, was accompanied by the Marine Field Group on the very first dive taken from the R/V APALACHEE. They traveled from the lab to K-Tower and it was a sight to behold with the clear blue skies above and calm, blue waters below. The dive platforms worked out perfectly. This was just the first of many dive trips to come from the R/V APALACHEE. The ADP plans on utilizing it in many of their future dives.

On Saturday, April 20, 2013 the FSU Coastal & Marine Lab hosted its Biennial Open House. This year is no different in that the event was a huge hit. The activities included touch tanks, scavenger hunt and crafts for the kids, oyster tonging, silent auction, tours of the R/V APALACHEE, tons of displays from the scientists on their research, as well as outside organizations, and much, much more! We had a total of 1038 people come through and everyone seemed to be really enjoying themselves and learning something. Thank you to everyone who came out and for those of you that contributed to the silent auction, sponsored our event, or volunteered your time! We can't wait to see everyone again in two years at our next Open House.

WPBT2's Changing Seas "Creatures of the Deep" documentary will be premiered at the FSU Coastal & Marine Lab's Open House on April 20, 2013. This episode features FSUCML scientists, grad students, and technicians conducting Deep-C related research on the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep sea creatures in the Gulf.

On Friday, March 22nd at 5:30 pm FSUCML staff and Vice President for Research, Dr. Gary K. Ostrander, welcomed FSU administration, board members, and guests to the dedication of the R/V APALACHEE. The night was filled with mingling, food, and fun. After a speech by Dr. Ostrander and another from FSUCML director, Dr. Felicia Coleman, the R/V APALACHEE was officially christened and is ready to take the seas!

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.