The Coliseum

This week, the lab took a trip to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum to attend Bays and Bayous 2024. This smaller conference focuses on scientific research in the northern Gulf of Mexico and its estuaries and bayous. We heard wonderful updates from researchers across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and talked with scientists from NOAA, USGS, and state agencies. While I didn't present any work at this conference (the submission deadline was before I started my job at USM), I did get to hear about some really interesting work and see my contributions to our modeling efforts. One of the plenary speakers spoke about the harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie in recent years and it was cool to see the northern U.S. represented, even if he is a professor at an unnamed Ohio university.

I participated as a professional judge for student presentations, so I had the chance to connect with graduate students and undergraduates whose research ranged from microplastics in bivalves to pouring plaster molds to evaluate crab behavioral responses. While I only took on 4 presentations for my judging responsibilities, I know one judge who evaluated 18 presentations during the two day conference. USM was also really well represented in both student and faculty presentations. Of the research team I am a part of, I think I was one of only two team members who did not present, which means there were seven presentations focused on our work with the Mid-Breton Large Sediment Diversion, the Bonnet Carre Spillway openings, and habitat suitability research.

While I didn't present any research for this conference, our lab is attending another conference in a few weeks, where we will all present research ranging from microplastics shifting ecosystem functions to modeling the effects of freshwater diversions on oysters, fish, and fisheries. That conference will be slightly larger and will span research from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, as the focus is the Gulf of Mexico and its estuaries, but on a larger scale. Although I don't have pictures from this week's conference, I will be sure to snap a few at the next conference.

I will not be writing a blog next week, so stay tuned for two weeks from now, for one of the final blogs of the Fall 2024 semester!