Join the COAST Team
Community Outreach for Accurate Science Translation
WLOX Story and Video, January 23, 2013 - "Gulf Coast Research Lab recruiting 'citizen scientists'"
Three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill many questions remain about the impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Mississippi Sound and its fisheries. Scientists at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah, Georgia, are exploring how oil and dispersants affect the growth of commercially important blue crabs and ecologically important grass shrimp. They are recruiting commercial and recreational fishermen, seafood industry professionals, naturalists, teachers and other interested members of the public to work on the project and help share results.
Join the COAST Team to learn how science works by participating in scientific research. You will assist scientists working to advance our understanding of how oil and dispersant might change grass shrimp and crab molting. 
Equipped with this experience you will become a resource to your community and share your expert knowledge to ensure your neighbors and colleagues understand how recent research is changing our understanding of oil impacts and Mississippi Sound ecology.
How will COAST Team Members contribute?
- By learning at GCRL in Ocean Springs
- Three days exploring ecology, crab and shrimp biology, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and ways to share information with the public.
- Three days working with scientists in the lab and field.
- Session dates:
- March 9, 2013
- March 23, 2013
- April 13, 2013
- April 27, 2013
- May 11, 2013
- May 25, 2013 (half day)
- By sharing new awareness with the public through a group outreach event and individual presentations.
- June 1, 2013 - COAST team members will participate in a half-day program of presentations and demonstrations for the public will be held at The Mary C. in Ocean Springs.
- COAST team members will make at least one individual presentation to a local group during 2013.
For More Information & Registration
February 14, 2013 - The COAST program is fully subscribed; no additional registrations are being accepted.
Contact Aaron Lamey in the Marine Education Center at Aaron.Lamey@usm.edu or 818-8861 for further information. A registration form is available here.
