Sea Lab Notes

•  Dr. John Dindo and the Plant Ops and Housekeeping Staffs recently planted 1000 slash pine seedlings in the Maritime Forest on the beach, behind the DISL classrooms.  This forest was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge as wind and salt water soaked the trees.

	(Left to right) Shaun Jenkins; Alma Bryant teacher Lynn Stewart; Alex Callister; Darrel Wright; Gabriel Denton; DI Sea Lab Educator Hazel Wilson; DI Sea Lab Executive Director Dr. George Crozier.

•  Four seniors from Alma Bryant High School were chosen as this year’s Ocean Student Summit representatives from the Alabama coast.  Marine Educator Hazel Wilson mentored and accompanied these students as they traveled to Washington, DC to present their research to executive and congressional officials on restoration of oyster reefs and the importance of the watershed system. 

•  DISL Foundation Executive Director Freda Roberts reports that fundraisers Cocktails with the Critters and Water Planet were both great successes.  “Not only did we get to meet the talented and gracious National Geographic photographer David Doubilet,” she says, “but we raised over $70,000 for the Foundation’s mission to support the programs of the Sea Lab.”

•  Next time you take the Mobile Bay Ferry, take a look at the graphic panels on “Energy from the Sands of Time.”  Designed by Robert Dixon, these panels were donated by the DISL to the Ferry to educate travelers on the natural gas extraction process.

•  The Underwater Exploration Exhibit, funded by MS-AL Sea Grant Consortium, has opened at the Estuarium, and it’s a hit!  Especially popular is the joy-stick operated Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) that made it’s debut on Discovery Day, April 14.  Kids of all ages are fascinated by the technology that make deepwater research possible.

	Staring in fascination, visitors love the ROV in the Gulf tank (photo: Mary Kate McKenna/NOAA)

•  Dr. George Crozier recently received the Mobile United 2007 Green Award for lifetime achievement award for commitment to environmental excellence.  He, along with Dr. John Dindo, also received a $4,000 from ADCNR Coastal Section for a coastal policy intern; funds are also for benches to grace the Estuarium’s outdoor space.

•  Dr. John Valentine has been named Co-chair of the Mobile National Estuary Program’s Science Advisory Committee as well as a Member of their Executive Board.  Dr. Valentine recently received $65,000 from NOAA-NURC for Marine Reserve Effectiveness in Restoring Coastal Food Webs: A Multitrophic Assessment Using Special Protection Areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, with Derek Blackmon, Dr, Ken Heck, and Dr. Brad Peterson.  He also received $150,000 from NOAA-CIAP for Assessments of Hurricane Katrina Impacts on the lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta.

•  Retired DISL faculty Dr. Will Schroeder was honored in Washington, DC by the Department of Interior for his work with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program’s Deepwater Program: The Archaeological and Biological Analysis of World-War II Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico.

•  Graduate student Kate Sheehan was recently awarded a $200 Marc Dresden travel grant to attend the meeting for the American Society of Parasitologists this June in Merida, Mexico.