The Inaugural Coastal Experience Trip

I have spent this week preparing for--as the title suggests--our inaugural coastal experience trip. The coastal experience trip is a partnership between USM, Jackson State University, and Alcorn State University to provide hands-on field experience to undergraduate students from non-coastal facing universities. JSU and Alcorn are two Mississippi universities that are between three and four hours from the coast, so many of these students do not have the opportunity to conduct marine research or participate in coastal projects. Thanks to funding I received from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine's Gulf Research Program, I have designed a coastal experience trip that we are kicking off tomorrow, which will bring these students to do hands-on work aboard a research vessel and shoreside to increase participation and interest in marine and coastal sciences. Our activities range from collecting fish specimens and identifying them, hence this week's picture of one side of our field guide, collecting sediment samples, water quality samples with comparisons across different environments, beach sampling, and research talks from current USM graduate students and post-docs.

This may be the first time that some of our participants are stepping foot on a boat, touching a fish, getting in the ocean, and/or using some of the marine technologies we are bringing to collect data on this trip. While we recognize that we aren't able to conduct a full-scale research project in a few days, we are collecting some data on fish abundances and environmental quality at different sites which we can compare to previous collections and use for future coastal experience trips. We are also hoping to use this weekend to encourage students to consider graduate education or to consider joining a lab for undergraduate research opportunities. I will be going to JSU in a month to talk with the students more about getting involved in research and letting them know about paid research opportunities with us at USM this summer.

I think I am most looking forward to seeing these students interact with the samples we collect as they get to try out seine netting and get hands-on with fishes and invertebrates in the Mississippi Sound. Maybe we will see some dolphins or catch some skates, rays, or crabs, which are always a hit with students. Tune in next week for an update on how this experience went.

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