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American White
Pelicans migrate to the Texas Gulf coast this fall after spending the summer in northern
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
As oil spill fades, GMF looks towards future
October 2010 - As the specter of the Macondo blowout/spill fades
into history, the science community can now focus on assessing the true
facts of the environmental impact based on scientific investigation. The
implementation and completion of
 these investigations will take time. It
would be interesting to conduct the same type of rigorous analysis of
economic impacts. No doubt individuals and businesses were negatively
affected; but at the same time tens of billions of dollars were and will
continue to be pumped into the affected areas. Some lost money and some
made more money than they would have under natural conditions. This
information would be instructive as we try to develop strategies for sustainability.
The Gulf of Mexico Foundation continues to grow and expand its programs to
greater areas of the Gulf of Mexico community. Working with the EPA Gulf
of Mexico Program, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Habitat Conservation and
Restoration Team (HCRT), and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration we hosted the first of three
international workshops to address issues of
environmental sustainability.
CONTINUE READING PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE |
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CONSERVATION / RESTORATION
GMF helps restore marshes, takes lead role in conference
November 2010 - GMF's
Ryan Fikes and Suraida Nañez-James took an
active role in this year's
Restore
America’s Estuaries (RAE) National
Conference held in Galveston November 13-17. The two GMF staff members
lead restoration events, guided field sessions and built partner-
GMF Science & Spanish Club students and partners from Marathon Oil Corporation volunteered to help restore
marsh habitat in Galveston this fall as part of
the Restore America's Estuaries National Conference. PHOTO: Ryan Fikes/GMF |
ships in the event, which drew thousands from all over the US. The events kicked off on Saturday
when more than 100 individuals planted Spartina (Cord Grass) in West
Galveston Bay. As part of Texas Parks & Wildlife’s ongoing restoration
efforts in the area, participants helped to restore vital marsh habitat
for nesting birds and nursery habitat for fish. Taking part in the
event were GMF Science & Spanish Club Network students and employees of GMF
partner Marathon Oil
Corporation. The following day Fikes,
Nañez and project partners Nicole Ekstrom (Artist Boat) and Pat Kirk (Terramar
BCIA) guided conference participants on a tour of West Galveston Island,
showing them past and present efforts of the Gulf of Mexico
Community-based Restoration Program. That afternoon, participants were guided
by kayak through the marshes of Galveston Island State Park, where
volunteers had conducted marsh plantings the day before. The
focus was on the tremendous post-Ike recovery efforts made
on West Galveston Island and on the community
support that made it possible. The conference proceedings
took place over the final three days of events, when GMF staff presented posters, surveyed stakeholders at the Foundation's booth, and
moderated conference sessions. GMF is already planning to take an
active role in the 2012 RAE conference to be held in Tampa, Florida. |
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HCRT hosts International Integration Efforts Workshop in Veracruz
October 2010 - The first International Workshop on Integration Efforts took place in Veracruz, Mexico, October 14-15
and was organized by GMF and the Habitat Conservation Restoration Team (HCRT) which it
coordinates for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. During this workshop
representatives from both the US and Mexico worked side by side to
identify ways to work more
Members of several Priority Issue Teams attend roundtable
discussions in Veracruz at GOMA International
Workshop.
PHOTO: Ryan Fikes/GMF |
closely on issues that stretch beyond their respective national boundaries. In its team
efforts, HCRT has endeavored to include professional scientists,
resource managers and other stakeholders from both the US and Mexico.
Funding from the EPA Gulf of Mexico Program has helped to make this
possible, along with the assistance of Dr. Cuauhtemoc Leon of Mexico,
who has served as the team's liaison between the two countries. The workshop
made great strides to
establish a direction forward to tackle a few of the issues at
hand. Future workshops will address potential collaboration efforts for policy, funding,
land use planning and technology. As a result of the gathering, two
working groups are determining needs and potential pilot projects.
The Habitat and Environmental working group will focus on environmental
education, sediment management and sea level rise, while the Policy and
Management working group will focus on bilateral efforts that take into
consideration the sociopolitical context of both countries and their
differing legal frameworks. |
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GMF partners with HRI in measuring ecosystem's value to humans
GMF is partnering in an effort to measure the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans.
PHOTO: GMF |
December 2010 - Ecosystem services, the benefits ecosystems provide to
humans, are the focus of collaboration among the GMF,
Harte
Research Institute (HRI) for Gulf of Mexico Studies, and the Habitat
Conservation and Restoration Team (HCRT) of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance.
The project area encompasses Galveston Bay, Texas, where HRI Endowed Chair for Socio-economics
Dr. David Yoskowitz will lead the study.
Researchers will first identify the primary services tied to the area's
ecosystems and will then assess their value using either currency or non-monetary metrics. The results of a nearby GMF/HCRT
sea level rise modeling project will dovetail
with this effort. Scientists will estimate changes in ecosystems
due to sea level rise and evaluate the impacts on human wellbeing - information
which can guide those in decision-making and planning roles. The GMF
and the HCRT have conducted sea level rise modeling projects around the Gulf of
Mexico but are primarily focused on advancing the science to support
better conservation and restoration decisions. This interdisciplinary
approach should prove meaningful both to resource managers as they
prioritize habitats and to coastal communities which benefit from these
natural systems. |
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Community-based Restoration Partnership celebrates 10 years
November 2010 - Seven new habitat restoration projects have been selected to receive funding through the Gulf of Mexico
Community-based Restoration
Partnership (GCRP), a program that has been coordinated and administered
by the GMF since 2001. In its tenth year, the GCRP will
Oyster shells
stockpiled at the Port of Corpus Christi will be used to restore a
reef through a new 2011 GCRP projects.
PHOTO: Harte Research Institute |
contribute more than $480,000 to support projects that aim to restore vital coastal and estuarine habitats for living marine resources in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Basin, while simultaneously engaging local communities through hands-on involvement. Projects for 2011 include oyster reef, mangrove, shoreline, marsh and hydrological restoration initiatives. Since 2001 the GCRP has funding nearly 80 habitat restoration projects, restored more than 2,500 acres of habitat, leveraged nearly $6 million in funding, and has contributed countless volunteer opportunities for students and community members. GCRP
grants are made possible by funding from the NOAA Restoration Center and the EPA Gulf of Mexico Program. |
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EDUCATION
Fall field trips connect Science & Spanish Club students with nature
December 2010 - Students in the GMF's
Science & Spanish Club Network (SSCN) continued
their field-based experiences this fall, gaining a better
understanding of the physical world and the
associated human impact issues. On November 13, students partnered with
Marathon Oil Corporation employees on a wet chilly morning to
transplant hundreds of Spartina (cord-grass)
GMF Science & Spanish Club Network students kayak in Mesquite Bay
along the Texas Coast during a field trip this fall to Aransas
National Wildlife Refuge. They also received training in archery and
birding.
PHOTO: Richard Gonzales/GMF |
plants in a restoration
project near Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island in Texas (related article). On the same day two SSCN
schools boarded the Skimmer with
Captain Tommy Moore at Fulton Harbor and to observe and photograph 32 adult
Whooping Cranes and 11 chicks along the wetlands of the
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. On December 11, three
more SSCN schools repeated the trip. Later that day Sinton students
conducted a shoreline cleanup on Matagorda Island and received hands-on
environmental education training on Whooping Crane habitat from US Fish and Wildlife Service
educators. On November 29 (and again on December 16) SSCN students
and the Welder Conservation Leadership Club traveled to the Rob and Bessie
Wildlife Refuge for training in nature photography, capturing images of javelinas, white-tailed deer, insects and birds.
Fall's cooler temperatures can’t keep these busy students out
of the field, and they have more trips planned throughout the winter. All field
trips were made possible by the Texas Coastal Management Program's Cycle 15 Grant Program. |
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Reaching out to teachers in Texas at science conference
November 2010 - With more than 7,000
educators attending this year’s Conference for the
GMF Project Assistant Suraida Nañez-James, right, gives a teacher printed material about GMF's summer workshops.
PHOTO: James R. Jones/GMF |
Advancement of Science Teaching (CAST) November 11-13 in Houston, Texas, the
GMF connected with teachers from all over the
state of Texas. GMF Project Assistant Suraida Nañez-James and
Coordinator James R. Jones teamed up to
present a workshop to promote the Foundation’s teacher training cruises,
Down Under Out Yonder (DUOY) and Intracoastal Waterway Wetlands Cruise (IWWC).
They also talked with teachers one on one and distributed information on GMF and
its educational opportunities for teachers and their students.
“The conference was informative and the teachers were very engaging.
They were thrilled to hear that we offered such hands-on field training
in wetlands and coral reefs. So, we are hoping to get a large amount of
applicants for this coming year’s DUOY and IWWC expeditions.” Nañez-James
said. |
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Distance learning at Youth Leadership in Stewardship Conference
November 2010 - More than 150 students, faculty, presenters and
guests attended the 6th Annual Gulf of Mexico Youth Leadership in
Stewardship Conference on November 6 in Aransas
Science & Spanish Club Network students communicate with scientists from Canada and Puerto Rico via distance learning
technology at the leadership conference.
PHOTO: Carrie Robertson/GMF |
Pass, Texas. The students attending were all members of the GMF's
Science & Spanish Club Network. During the
morning students watched a giant TV screen to communicate in real time
with scientists at Wood Buffalo National Park
via web cameras. The main topic of the discussion
was the endangered Whooping Crane which winters nearby at Aransas Pass
National Wildlife Refuge. Wood Buffalo in Canada is the summer home of the
only naturally migrating Whooping Crane flock. The students also asked questions
to and learned from a scientist living along the mangrove-strewn shorelines of Jobos
Bay, Puerto Rico. During lunch, SSCN Project Coordinator
Richard
Gonzales announced the regional winners of the
Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Research Roundup and
recognized three schools as Best of Country in the "Watershed
Water Quality" competition. The afternoon breakout sessions highlighted
terrestrial and aquatic robotics demonstrations conducted by Mood High
School Robotics Teams, telerobotics by the Welder Wildlife Refuge,
Surfing 101 by the Corpus Christi Surfriders Chapter, and Sea to Space
to Sea robotics research conducted by GMF partner
Oceaneering. The leadership conference
was sponsored in part by the Coastal Management Program Grant Cycle 15
and NOAA. |
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STAFF
GMF supports local conservation awards, attends banquet
November 2010 - GMF is proud to be an annual supporter of the
Coastal Bend
Bays Foundation's (CBBF) Conservation and Environmental
Excellence Awards which are presented to outstanding citizens,
educators, companies and organizations that have had a positive impact
on the natural resources of this area along the central Texas coast. In
2006, GMF Project Coordinator
GMF staff members at the CBBF's
Conservation and Environmental Excellence Awards Banquet at the Texas State Aquarium on Nov 18. The GMF shared a table with
former Texas State Senator Carlos Truan and his wife Elvira.
PHOTO: Carrie Robertson/GMF |
Richard Gonzales
was honored with a CBBF award for his work with the GMF's Science &
Spanish Club Network. At this year's event held at the Texas State
Aquarium, GMF staff members
shared a table with former Texas State Senator Carlos Truan and his
wife, Elvira. Sen. Truan has been a longtime supporter of both higher
education and of natural resource conservation and preservation in the
Coastal Bend. The CBBF works to support conservation efforts, as well as
communication and education about the natural resources and coastal
habitats of the Coastal Bend. Proceeds from the banquet help support
those efforts throughout the year. |
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