Session Details 
Explore a Seashore
You may download a flyer describing the fall 2012 sessions. Specific up-to-date schedule information for sessions is available here.
Have a suggestion for a new topic? Contact Jessie Kastler.
Art and Science on Horn Island
The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s Marine Education Center and the Walter Anderson Museum of Art work together to provide an experience in classroom and field that illuminates both the natural beauty and the natural history of Horn Island. This session invites us to use all of our senses and both sides of our brains to enhance our experience of Horn Island’s wild ecosystem.
Participants should bring any art supplies they would like to use on the island.
Participants should bring any art supplies they would like to use on the island.
- Friday, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
GCRL Marine Education Center
Scientists describe processes that have formed the Horn Island we see today, while artists introduce ways to observe the island creatively with emphasis on techniques used by Walter Inglis Anderson. Museum staff will engage different experts each time the session is held to focus on various modes of interpretation (paint, camera, etc.). - Saturday, 7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
GCRL Harbor
Board one of GCRL’s research vessels for a cruise to Horn Island. This first few hours on the island take advantage of morning light for an artist’s workshop. Later, we shift our focus to scientific observation and data collection with a variety of sampling techniques to explore the flora, fauna and even sediment of the island.
Itinerary Registration Form [pdf files]
Attention teachers: 0.8 CEUs available upon request.
Debris Free Seas: Small Steps, Huge Impact
What is marine debris? What does it have to do with me? What can I do to go green? Everyone asks themselves these questions, and our educators are here to help. Come on out to the Gulf Coast Research Lab’s Marine Education Center for a two-day trash adventure on February 10 and 11, 2012. Trash is our business and, unfortunately, business is good. Come out and do your part; small steps have a huge impact.
- Friday, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
GCRL Marine Education Center
We will focus on common marine debris found in the Mississippi Sound and Gulf of Mexico waters, to explain the repercussions of this land to water pollution and propose some simple solutions that can lead to a much cleaner environment. We will make going green easier than learning your ABCs. - Saturday, 7:45 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
GCRL Harbor
We'll cruise aboard the Sea Explorer to beautiful Deer Island where we will remove debris and hunt for shark teeth! We will bring the debris we collect back to the GCRL and sort, identify, and weigh it. This data will help us determine the sources of debris on Deer Island and help prevent further damage to our beautiful coast.
Itinerary Registration Form [pdf files]
Attention teachers: 0.5 CEUs available upon request.
Human Diseases from the Coastal Ocean
Are there dangers in the coastal waters other than sharks and stingrays? Should we worry about the tiny creatures we can't even see? What are Vibrios and viruses? How can we determine that our seafood and beaches are safe?
Find the answers to these questions and ask your own questions at the GCRL Marine Education Center's two-day learning adventure. You'll move from the classroom, to the beach, and on to the Pathology Laboratory at Cedar Point. Marine microbiologist Dr. Jay Grimes will help you explore the fascinating facts behind those sensational news stories and sort reality from rumor. As a bonus, you'll enjoy our fall weather during a walk on the beach while conducting hands-on water quality testing.
- Friday, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
GCRL Marine Education Center
We will discuss healthy coastal ecosystems and safe and a sustainable seafood supply. Dr. Jay Grimes will introduce us to beach monitoring procedures and provide us with a background on marine pathogens. - Saturday, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
GCRL Marine Education Center, East Beach, and Pathology Lab at Cedar Point
We'll spend time on East Beach learning about the field data collection and testing for water quality. After a picnic on the GCRL grounds, we'll move indoors to the Pathology Laboratory at Cedar Point to see the analytical side of things. Where else can you walk on the beach on Saturday morning and then do genome sequencing in the afternoon?
Bus transportation to and from Cedar Point is provided.
Itinerary Registration Form [pdf files]
Attention teachers: 0.6 CEUs available upon request.
Insights into Parasites of the Mississippi Sound
They creep, they crawl, they might eat us all! Do you know what your food eats or what eats your food before it reaches your plate? Explore the Mississippi Sound food web on a trawl trip aboard a research vessel with GCRL scientists to better understand the connections between people and the food they consume. Dare to up the icky ante during this weekend devoted to identifying parasites in coastal critters and gaining insight into the top of the food web.
- Friday, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
GCRL Marine Education Center
We will focus on parasite research being conducted at GCRL and how it pertains to the food web, how they can serve as environmental health indicators, and highlight their interesting lifecycles. - Saturday, 7:45 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
GCRL Harbor
Participants will spend the morning on a GCRL research vessel collecting marine organisms by trawling. After lunch, we will learn how to extract and identify common parasites found in the fish and invertebrates collected that morning from one of GCRL’s research scientists. It's sure to be a field day crawling with parasites!
Itinerary Registration Form [pdf files] Flyer
Attention teachers: 0.7 CEUs available upon request.
Shark, Shores and a Whole Lot More
Find your inner Chondrichthyes in this two-day program full of shark facts, anatomy, behavior, and exploration in the lab and on the water. Participate in ongoing shark research at the GCRL! Take a bite out of the mystery of the Sound. Join us for an experience of a lifetime while making a contribution to science.
- Friday, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
GCRL Marine Education Center
We will focus on shark research being conducted at GCRL, how to properly handle sharks, practice how to tag sharks and review the data sheets that we will complete the following day. - Saturday, 7:45 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Meet at the GCRL Harbor to board GCRL research vessel.
We will spend the day fishing for sharks with hand lines and rod and reel. We will identify, weigh, measure, and tag sharks.
Itinerary Registration Form [pdf files]
Attention teachers: 0.8 CEUs available upon request.
Weathering the Storm
Prepare for the hurricane season by increasing your understanding of the coast of Mississippi during this Saturday program. Consider how local habitats respond to seasonal storms and long term changes in sea level. Explore the resilience of your community using internet simulations. Visit a Biloxi community where professional architects and planners are helping residents live close to nature for the benefit of both. Learn the answers to these questions:
- Why must coastal residents be resilient?
- How can we co-exist with a dynamic environment?
- What have we learned from natural disasters in the past that can help us better prepare for the future?
Itinerary Registration Form Flyer [pdf files]
Attention teachers: 0.5 CEUs available upon request.