News - DEEPEND Consortium

Data Manager Matt Johnston Attends Annual GRIIDC Conference in Austin

Dr. Matt Johnston, data manager for the DEEPEND Consortium, attend the annual data manager conference in Austin, TX August 31st - September 2nd. In line with prior years, the focus was on data submission, including the appropriate attribution statement and dataset reference in publications, and the one year timeline to stay in compliance with GRIIDC policy. Three GOMRI Research Board members were in attendance and there was much discussion on data compliance and how this is used by the board members as a yardstick for evaluating performance of the consortium as a whole and also individual researchers.

Presently, the DEEPEND Consortium has submitted 12 datasets. Eight of these datasets are now publicly available for download and four are in review by GRIIDC.

Joe Lopez and Cole Easson Present at the Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting

Drs. Joe Lopez and Cole Easson presented a paper titled "Pelagic microbial community dynamics in northern Gulf of Mexico" at the Ecological Society of America, Annual Meeting in Ft Lauderdale, Aug 7 - Aug 12, 2016

The conference had very strong microbial ecology component, across many different biomes. Cole and other NSU students attended helpful, in depth workshops emphasizing the use of R and statistics.

Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists

Four DEEPEND scientists presented their work at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in New Orleans, LA July 6-10, 2016. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Dr. Sylvia Earle gave the keynote address during the opening plenary during which she emphasized the need for research in the deep sea, specifically mentioning the Gulf of Mexico.

Blazing Mako Tournament

The DEEPEND Consortium had an interactive outreach booth at the Blazing Mako Fishing Tournament’s Conch-servation Village. The booth was staffed by DEEPEND graduate students and scientists who shared their knowledge about the deep-pelagic Gulf of Mexico with the fishermen and general public attending the event. The booth included several games for participants to play where they learned about light attenuation in the ocean, bioluminescence, and about animal adaptations to the deep sea environment. Participants won prizes for playing including stickers, postcards, t-shirts, and glow in the dark anglerfish tattoos! Keep your eye out for our next event – it could be somewhere near you!

Dates – Jun 18-19

Location- Islander Resort, A Guy Harvey Outpost, Islamorada, FL

Website: http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/blazing-mako/

If you can know of an event where you would like to see a DEEPEND booth, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!

Sport Fishing Magazine Features DEEPEND

25 Deep-Sea Creatures That Will Creep You Out - These predators from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico range from the astonishing to the macabre.

WHAT IS DEEPEND?

This deep-sea gallery contains images that some might find disturbing. The creatures in it may look like visions stolen from nightmares of the demented, but to be sure, all exist on planet earth. Animals from the eerie to the ethereal in appearance live in a cool, dark world as alien to us as the surface of Venus. Yet it is filled with life, and finding out and cataloging “what’s down there” in the black depths of the Gulf of Mexico is one of the missions of the consortium known as Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico (DEEPEND).

Read the entire Sport Fishing Magazine article here.

Journey to Planet Earth: Dispatches from the Gulf

On April 29, 2016 ADDOMEx hosted a screening of “Journey to Planet Earth: Dispatches from the Gulf” on the Texas A&M University at Galveston campus. This documentary investigates the environmental health of the Gulf of Mexico six years after the Deepwater Horizon blowout in April 2010. The documentary was followed by a panel discussion with researchers who are studying impacts of the oil spill. There were three panelists (from left to right, Dr. Ron Eytan (DEEPEND), Chris Hale (Sea Grant), and Dr. Peter Santschi (ADDOMEx)), approximately 50 attendees, and lots of fantastic questions and comments. All three organization set up booths in the lobby outside the screening room so that guests could learn more details about each group before and after the event.

World Oceans Day Festival

On June 8th, 2016 two DEEPEND members from Texas A&M University at Galveston attended the first annual World Oceans Day Festival and Art Contest in Galveston, Texas in collaboration with ADDOMEx (another GoMRI consortium). World Oceans Day is the UN-recognized day of celebration and action for the ocean. This year Artist Boat is hosting a community celebration in Galveston at Stewart Beach. The DEEPEND booth showcased DEEPEND's mission as well as exciting fish and invertebrate samples from the Gulf of Mexico!

Creep into the DEEPEND: Deep-Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico

The Oceanscape Network at the Oregon Coast Aquarium has joined forces with WhaleTimes Inc. for an exploration of the deep sea featuring the DEEPEND consortium. The 2016 exploration will run from June 6 to 10 on both the Oceanscape and Whaletimes websites. Mark your calendars to this exciting virtual exploration to the deep sea!