Dr. Heather Judkins, Co-PI, spoke with WTUL news at the GoMOSES conference in Tampa, Florida about deep water squid collected during the DEEPEND project.  Listen to the interview here and her strategy on how to uncover what role squid are playing in a 4000 square kilometer area off the Mississippi Canyon where sperm whales have not been feeding.

Christia Hewlett is a teacher at Sheridan Hills Christian School where she teaches Marine Biology and Middle School Integrated Science. She received her a Bachelor’s in Science in Biology and a certificate in Environmental Studies from Indiana University. She is currently finishing her twelfth year of teaching and is completing her M.A in Integrated Technology from Nova Southeastern University. In addition to her teaching, she enjoys learning about Florida ecosystems by participating in Florida Master Naturalist Program courses. She leads a school 4H club and enjoys helping students learn about science through hands-on learning. If she is not working she can be found enjoying Florida's National Parks, reading or spending time with her husband and daughter at the soccer field.

"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.

On February 16, 2016 our mascot, Squirt, turns one year old! It was on this date last year that he was drawn by DEEPEND’s animator, Stanton Broadway. Squirt has graced the cover of our education & outreach website, teaching modules, and is the star of educational cartoons on counter-illumination and dragonfish. You will see him appear on DEEPEND’s Facebook page, Instagram and you can follow him on Twitter!



 
Stanton Broadway is an animator, illustrator, and comic artist based out of Central Florida. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, Stanton is an art teacher by day and moonlights as a freelancer. He has been working on the DEEPEND project since 2014, becoming the artist that brings Squirt the glass squid to life. You can see more of his work at www.stanimated.com.