MASGC Project Impacts

Thousands of K-12 students increase their environmental literacy through direct instruction from Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant educators

Relevance:

Experiential educational opportunities engage, increase environmental literacy and improve critical thinking and other science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills for K-12 students. Student experiences, which address coastal issues, integrate learning new skills and provide experiential field or lab activities relevant to coastal habitats, increase student understanding of the need to conserve coastal habitats, ensure the sustainability of coastal resources and make responsible decisions concerning coastal resources.

Response:

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported environmental education centers (Discovery Hall Programs (DHP), the Environmental Studies Center (ESC) and the Marine Education Center (MEC)) offered on-site, virtual and classroom-based education programs for K-12 students and their teachers in Mississippi and Alabama. On-site programs were offered year-round and included educational standards-focused school-year classes, summer camps and drop-in programs. Programs focused on traditional coastal natural history and ecology and included Sea Grant focus areas and current issues, such as marine debris, climate change, coastal resilience and fisheries.

Results:

More than 37,600 K-12 students participated in programs at the three Sea Grant-supported education centers. Pre/post-testing of a subset of students participating in school year experiential programs indicated significant increases in content knowledge (specific to the program being offered) (DHP: p<0.001, n=1,622; ESC: p<0.001, n=423). Although multi-year data is not available to document impacts for participating students, research has shown that more environmental awareness does correlate positively with attitudes and action in environmental stewardship.

Recap:

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported education centers increased the environmental literacy of more than 37,600 K-12 students through education programs focused on coastal ecosystems. (2022)

Internships and work opportunities at education centers result in employment and career guidance for high school and undergraduate students

Relevance:

Part-time paid positions and internships for high school students provide valuable experiential learning opportunities and development of essential job skills. Paid internships that provide meals and housing for undergraduate students allow on-the job training for specific careers within an equitable environment.

Response:

The three Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported education centers offered a total of 13 different paid internships, summer counselor positions and work opportunities for high school and undergraduate students at their respective workplaces. Interns, counselors and students worked directly with youth, assisted in curriculum development, participated in and communicated with the public at outreach events, and became more familiar with northern Gulf of Mexico organisms and ecosystems. 

Results:

The summer work experience in environmental education resulted in one summer intern, with an interest in and some classwork in education but lacking credentials, being employed as a science teacher by a high-needs school in rural Alabama. Other individuals participating in work and internships reported that the experience gave them more confidence or direction in their choice of careers as well as increased knowledge of inhabitants of and issues facing the Gulf of Mexico.

Recap:

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant-supported training allowed intern to receive a teaching position in science at a high-needs high school in Alabama, despite not having a teaching degree. (2022)

Sea Grant-funded teacher training leads to creation of recycling, cleanup programs in three local schools

Relevance:

Plastic pollution has a tremendous impact on local waters. This workshop provided educators with background knowledge needed to teach students the skills for appropriate responses to plastic pollution in their everyday lives and to make better decisions as adults.

Response:

The Sea Grant-supported Environmental Studies Center hosted a workshop for 21 teachers from 9 schools participating in the coastal ecology classes. Teachers were given a guided tour of the Mobile Recycling Center to observe and understand how plastic pollution is processed in Mobile County, Alabama. Teachers also heard two guest speakers who talked about issues with pollution in the community and ways to incorporate recycling programs within their schools.

Results:

In response to the information provided at the workshop, two teachers implemented a plastic bottle recycling program within their classrooms, and one teacher implemented a community clean-up day through the Love Your Community organization with 12 student volunteers cleaning up trash on roadways surrounding the school. As a result of these programs, awareness of the implications of plastic pollution in our coastal ecosystem was increased within the student population of Mobile County, Alabama.

Recap:

A teacher training led to the development and implementation of two recycling programs and a cleanup program, which raised awareness of the implications of plastics pollution, in Mobile County Public Schools. (2022)

Research-based restoration suitability event informs oyster restoration investments and management

Relevance:

The oyster populations in coastal Mississippi have been decimated in recent years due to a confluence of adverse environmental factors. The populations are so low that there is no longer oyster harvesting in state waters. State agencies, such as the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, have access to restoration funds to help the oyster populations recover and wish to apply the best available science to their decision-making process.

Response:

The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium collaborated with the Mississippi-based RESTORE Act Center of Excellence, which had invested in research to better understand the Mississippi Sound. MASGC developed and led an event in which researchers shared their latest findings with resource managers and focused on specific restoration sites the resource managers were interested in restoring.

Results:

The discussions at the event influenced the resource agencies decisions on prioritizing specific sites for restoration investments. Without this event, it is likely the research results and latest scientific discoveries from these projects would not have been considered in the site prioritization process.

Recap:

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant led an event that collected input from researchers to identify the feasibility of restoring oysters on historical reefs, which state agencies used to inform where to invest millions of dollars in oyster restoration funds. (2022)

Scientific team estimates 118.5 million red snapper in Gulf, three times previous NOAA estimate

Relevance:

The U.S. Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery stock assessment is hindered by a lack of robust data. To address this need, a $12.5 million research program, was launched, and Congress made available $10 million in funding for a 2-year research project designed to independently estimate Gulf red snapper abundance using best available technologies.

Response:

A team of 21 leading scientists from 12 institutions designed and implemented a large-scale population survey to independently estimate the abundance of age-2+ red snapper in the northern Gulf across 3 habitat types, 3 depth zones and 5 regions on the continental shelf. They sampled natural reefs, artificial reefs and uncharacterized bottom and within 3 depth strata. This last strata turned out to be very important as it was estimated to harbor a majority of the fish, due to its sheer size. The Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant programs, led by Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant funded the research.

Results:

The scientific team estimated a total of 118.5 million red snapper. The regional breakdown was: Texas, 22 million; Louisiana, 17.4 million; Alabama and Mississippi, 8.5 million; Florida, 70 million; and Pipelines (Gulf-wide), 0.5 million. This abundance estimate was nearly three times the previous NOAA Fisheries estimate, and it showed that while red snapper predominate the natural and artificial reefs, there is a large relatively unaccounted for population of red snapper found throughout the undefined bottom. New catch advice was generated using updated estimates of absolute abundance for red snapper derived from the Great red snapper count.

Recap:

Researchers estimated there to be 118.5 million red snapper in the northern Gulf of Mexico using a multitude of common and novel sampling techniques. (2021)

Sea Grant Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Science Outreach Team resources are being used to train the next generation of oil spill responders

Relevance:

From 2014-2021, the Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Team worked with audiences from multiple sectors - including emergency response, academic research and the oil industry - to connect the latest oil spill science to people who needed answers. These target audiences expressed a strong desire for outreach publications tailored to their interests along with increased opportunities to interface as a group and find ways to more effectively work together prior to another major oil spill.

Response:

The team developed more than 50 outreach publications addressing topics of interest to the emergency response community. Additionally, the team partnered with local, state and federal oil spill response leaders to host a workshop series for these audiences. The events included input sessions and featured representatives from the oil industry, federal, state, and university researchers. The events focused on sharing respective roles and challenges faced during oil spills, discerning needs and providing a place to network and collaborate.

Results:

The workshops and input sessions brought together over 200 attendees, positioning the Oil Spill Science Outreach Team as a trusted resource, a catalyst for engagement and a community connector. The National Oil Spill Control School, an oil spill response course in the Canary Islands, the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement requested and used the team's publications. In addition, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team facilitated a HAZWOPER training that provided annual certification for 24 emergency responders in Florida.

Recap:

The Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach team acted as a catalyst for engagement between scientists, emergency responders and the oil industry by hosting seminars, organizing workshops and training, providing resources and sharing publications that were incorporated into trainings for the response community. (2021)