GOM Exploration Teacher Workshops 2016
"Exploring the Gulf of Mexico Teacher Workshop" sponsored by the DEEPEND team happened on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016 at the NSU Oceanographic Center in Dania Beach, Florida. Sixteen secondary science teachers and the DEEPEND team started early at 8:30am and the teachers had a knowledge-learning packed day full of of background information and practicing activities to bring back to their classrooms. These teachers are invited to become one of our two teachers-at-sea this year aboard the Point Sur for our 2 research cruises exploring the deep waters of the GoM. Stay tuned to hear who gets selected to join us! See photos of the workshop on our outreach page.
2016 GoMRI Conference
The annual Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science Conference will be held in Tampa, Florida February 1-4, 2016 and will be attended by all DEEPEND PI's and many consortium members. A list of talks given by DEEPEND member cans be found here and the event schedule for the conference can be found here.
The 2016 conference theme, “One Gulf: healthy ecosystems, healthy communities,” will focus on opportunities to promote and sustain a healthy Gulf environment, communities, and economy, including new discoveries, innovations, technologies, and policies. A strong emphasis this year will be placed on the human dimensions of oil spill in addition to the ecosystem science research that has led past conferences.
New anglerfish species chosen as top discovery in 2015
DEEPEND researchers found three specimens of a new species of anglerfish, Lasiognathus dinema, at depths between 3,200 and 4,900 feet in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The website iflscience.com named the anglerfish as their #1 favorite species discovered in 2015. The video can be viewed here:
Anglerfish all have unique appendages extending from their heads that are used to lure prey. This new species has a particularly funky, fishing pole–like barbel on its noggin that also produces light.
“Finding this new species reinforces the notion that our inventory of life in the vast ocean interior is far from complete,” says study co-author Tracey Sutton, a marine ecologist. “Every research trip is an adventure and another opportunity to learn about our planet and the varied creatures who call it home.
DEEPEND Data Management presented at the OceanTeacher Global Academy conference
Dr. Matthew Johnston gave a seminar on DEEPEND data management and visualization at the OceanTeacher Global Academy hosted by Nova Southeastern University on November 19th, 2015.
OceanTeacher is a comprehensive web-based training system that supports Classroom training (face-to-face), Blended training (combining classroom and distance learning), online tutoring and online self-learning.
OceanTeacher has been developed as a training system for ocean data managers (working in ocean data centres), marine information managers (marine librarians) as well as for marine researchers who wish to acquire knowledge on data and/or information management. In addition OceanTeacher is being used for training in other related disciplines.
Dr. Johnston's talk was recorded and can be viewed here
DEEPEND research presented at the Fish at Night Symposium
DEEPEND research was prominently featured at the first international "Fish at Night Symposium" in Coconut Grove, Florida on Nov. 17-20th 2015. Dr. Tracey Sutton, Director of the DEEPEND consortium, was the chair for the Deep and Polar Sea (“Perpetual Night”) Fish and Fisheries session. Featured DEEPEND talks and presenter were:
Dr. Tracey Sutton - "Understanding Deep-Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics: A New Research Initiative in the Gulf of Mexico (DEEPEND)"
April Cook, MS - "What Have We Learned About the Diversity of Oceanic Fauna of the Gulf of Mexico After Deepwater Horizon? Initial Results of the Offshore Nekton Sampling and Analysis Program
Alex Marks, MS Student - "Reproductive Ecology of Dragonfishes (Family: Stomiidae), The Dominant Vertically Migrating Mesopelagic Predators, in the Gulf of Mexico"
Lacey Malarky, MS Student - "Faunal Composition and Distribution of Pelagic Larval Flatfishes (Teleostei:Pleuronectiformes) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Connectivity Between Coastal and Oceanic Epipelagic Ecosystems"
Katie Bowen, MS Student - "Pelagic Habitat Use by Juvenile Reef Fishes in the Northern Gulf of Mexico"
The full program can be downloaded here
Cephalopod International Cephalopod Symposium
Heather Judkins and Mike Vecchione are at the Cephalopod International Cephalopod Symposium this week in Hakodate, Japan presenting cephalopod talks related to the Gulf of Mexico diversity and vertical distributions of some highlighted groups as well as the changes of cephalopod taxonomy that have changed over the last 12 years in the region. They are excited to share findings with their colleagues about these exciting invertebrates!
New Anglerfish Discovered During Ongoing Research in the Gulf of Mexico
FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – They are some of the most interesting and unique creatures in the oceans – deep-sea life. Most people can identify a shark or sea turtle or whale, but many are shocked to see what a lanternfish or oarfish looks like. Deep-sea creatures can be down-right scary looking.
Adding to the list of deep-sea creatures, a Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography researcher recently found a never-before seen species from the deep waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Tracey Sutton, Ph.D., is one of NSU’s experts on deep-sea life and he teamed up with Theodore Pietsch, Ph.D. from the University of Washington to formally describe this new species of anglerfish.
Read more: New Anglerfish Discovered During Ongoing Research in the Gulf of Mexico
Alisha Stahl is our new Teacher at Sea
Alisha Stahl will join the DEEPEND crew aboard the MV Point Sur in August. Alisha will be live blogging from the ship - we wish her an exciting adventure! You can read more about Alisha and our Teacher at Sea program here.
