Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant

05/28/2026

🤖🌊 Students are exploring the future of ocean science through hands-on blue technology at the USM Gulf Coast Research Lab's Marine Education Center.

The Marine Education Center, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant and Blue Robotics created a curriculum that introduces students to sonar technology, marine robotics, seafloor mapping and careers in the growing blue economy. Using the Blue Boat autonomous surface vessel, students gain real-world experience collecting and interpreting data on the water.

Read more in this week’s Team Blog by Marine Education Specialist Lacy Lindsey! https://bit.ly/3PtuZYf

05/22/2026

🌪️ What would you do if a tornado warning went off while you were driving in a city you’ve never visited before?

In this week’s Team Blog, Tracie Sempier shares her recent tornado warning experience and highlights why it’s important to always have a sheltering plan.

Learn tornado safety tips, why emergency alerts matter and how the VORTEX-SE Outreach and Engagement Team (The Weather Wise) is working with partners like US National Weather Service New Orleans Louisiana, US National Weather Service Mobile Alabama, BPSOS-Gulf Coast and many others to help communities prepare for severe weather across Mississippi and Alabama.

NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, National Sea Grant College Program

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Read Tracie's blog: https://bit.ly/3RVFSTb

05/14/2026

🦪 What’s causing sudden oyster die-offs in the Gulf? Researchers are working to find out.

In our Team Blog, Andrea Tarnecki of Auburn University Shellfish Lab describes three new projects that we are funding to investigate Sudden Unusual Mortality Syndrome (SUMS), which affects market-size oysters and threatens oyster farms in Alabama and Mississippi.

Scientists are studying:
🔬 Parasites
🦠 Bacteria and viruses
🌡️ Water conditions like temperature and salinity
⚓ Management strategies to reduce losses

The goal is to help oyster farmers protect their crops and strengthen the future of the Gulf Coast oyster industry.



Read about the research: https://masgc.org/article/new-research-on-oyster-mortalities-underway

05/14/2026

Today, Tracie Sempier, our resilience lead, was cooking up recipes, sharing food safety tips and teaching people how to use a butane camp stove during our disaster meal preparation webinar. It was her first time offering this class online!

She made orzo salad and pizza sandwiches - two meals you can make in the days after losing electricity. The webinar highlighted dishes you could eat in place of all those hurricane snacks!

05/12/2026

Visit a Friend – Stay Safe and Enjoy Some Company

🌧️ Don’t ride out the storm alone! Head to a friend’s sturdier home—stay safe, hang out, maybe even binge a stormy movie or two.

🌪️ It's time for a visit – If you're in a mobile home or high-rise apartment, a severe storm is no joke! Check weather alerts, and when the conditions worsen, head to your family’s home, ideally with a basement or secure structure. It’s the perfect excuse to catch up, share a meal, or play some board games while the weather passes. If you need to shelter, you can do so together, with less worry – for you and them! Safer and fun—what could be better?
Stay safe, stay connected – A visit to family offers both shelter and special moments.

Credit to Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

05/07/2026

🌱 This week’s Team Blog post by Eric Sparks of Coastal Conservation and Restoration Program highlights how native plants support coastal restoration efforts across Mississippi and Alabama.

The Native Plant Producer Network is helping meet demand for plants for restoration projects. The program offers training and starter materials to individuals, community groups and schools interested in growing the plants.

It also connects plant growers with restoration projects throughout the region.

Interested in growing plants yourself or with your students? Learn more: https://masgc.org/article/you-or-your-class-can-get-involved-with-coastal-restoration

05/06/2026

“Collecting details about discarded fish is difficult, but the fish you release still matter!”

- Marcus Drymon, Mississippi State University Marine Fisheries Ecology and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant

NOAA Fisheries and partners are using innovative methods to modernize Gulf of America recreational red snapper data collection. These projects are working to deliver faster, more efficient science.

04/30/2026

Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship applicants, here are some tips from the National Sea Grant College Program!

04/29/2026

Andrew Medhurst held a "Floodproof Your Home" workshop today at Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center as part of our Community Outreach and Strategic Training (COAST) Resilience Institute. He covered filling and placing sandbags; purchasing, preparing and using flood bags; elevating appliances and outlets; and more!

He's available to take the workshop on the road, so let us know if your group, workplace, homeowners association, etc., would like him to share these floodproofing tools and practices with them.

04/27/2026

Way to go, teams!