Right now, late spring is upon us. The days are getting longer, and the temperature is inching up. Many coastal Mississippians of all ages are currently sitting at their desks at school or work, looking out at the blue skies and dreaming of getting out on the water.
If you are a middle or high school student in the area, it’s time to quit wishing and go fishing, because the Gulf Coast Research Lab’s Marine Education Center (MEC) is bringing back in-person camps this summer. We will also be hosting our first in-person teacher trainings since 2019. I couldn’t be happier for the opportunity to get folks out on the water with our scientists to learn about the coastal environment they call home.
Some summer camps are returning
After a year that was way too quiet on our beautiful campus, my staff will host its first in-person camps beginning June 14 with Shaggy’s Angler Camp. This camp offers kids a chance to literally spend a week out fishing as they learn about coastal saltwater habitats and the fishes who live in them. USM’s Center for Fisheries Research and Development (CFRD) scientists go along, teaching the campers about fish biology and behavior and, most importantly, where best to find them, both inshore and out past the islands. Campers also learn how to catch their own bait and how to clean and cook what they’ve brought home.
During the weeks of June 21-25 and June 28-July 2, Sharkheads Shark Fest, one of the MEC’s longest running and most popular camps, will return. Our counselors always say, “Why watch shark week on TV when you can live it?” Shark Fest offers a chance to participate in ongoing CFRD research about our area’s apex predators. Campers work side-by-side with scientists on USM School of Ocean Science and Engineering research vessels to catch, tag and release area sharks from multiple species.
At the MEC, we have approached our COVID-19 response with extreme caution, choosing not to host any in-person camps the summer of 2020 and limiting interaction at the center during the school year. As we open up, our campers’ safety will be of utmost concern. We will expect everyone to mask up inside, and camps will be filled at half their normal capacity. In addition to giving kids more space to socially distance on board our research vessels, it means that campers will have more direct access to the researchers and educators joining the program.
Workshops for educators also return
We will get back to our mission of educating educators this summer as well, hosting three professional development workshops for teachers over the course of the summer. The first two programs, Bayous to Beaches from June 9-11 and Service-Learning in Community Resilience from July 7-9, will be for 7th-12th grade teachers. The first group will go aboard the Miss Peetsy B to study area water quality, focusing on bacteria pathogens that can lurk unseen in runoff. The second group will work as teams to explore neighborhood flooding and consider factors that increase community resilience to it. The final workshop, Changing Coastlines from July 21-23, will teach teachers about coastal ecosystems, including beaches, marshlands and upland subtidal habitats, and how storms and sea level rise impact them.
My first year leading the MEC was 2020. It was a wild ride to make a transition to virtual interactions with student and teachers. This year, we are offering one of the virtual camps we developed last year, The Art of Marine Science, a collaboration with the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. But all of us at the MEC have a spring in our step as we prepare to have our campers and teachers join us on campus for fun-in-the-sun learning in June.
To learn more about the Marine Education Center and to register for camps and workshops, call 228-818-8095 or visit our website.
Meet the author
Jessie Kastler, Ph.D.
Director, Marine Education Center
Jessie Kastler leverages Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant funds and grants from other agencies to produce and implement education programs at The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research... Read more
Phone: 228-818-8090
Email: [email protected]