Projects funded by Alliance’s public-private partnership Gulf Star
UNITED STATES, June 12, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Gulf of Mexico Alliance is pleased to announce 13 new and ongoing projects that will make a positive environmental and economic impact on the Gulf coast as part of its Gulf Star Program.
The projects are:
• Community resilience assessment and implementation
• Supporting interns conducting offshore microplastic sampling
• Understanding reddish egret habitat use
• Exploring new techniques for early detection of Vibrio bacteria
• Reducing urban litter in local waterways
• Stewardship of coastal bird rookeries
• Advancing regional data sharing for coastal management
• Implementing a youth ambassador program
• Coastal resource management internship program
• Educating the public through social media
• Leading a marine debris education program
• Citizen science monitoring and public education
• Planting marsh grasses for green infrastructure
These projects are funded by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s Gulf Star Program, a unique public-private partnership that leverages contributions from both agencies and businesses to address priority issues specific to the region. The Gulf Star Program is one of several methods the Alliance uses to fund projects co-developed by the five Gulf states. These combined efforts support healthy beaches, clean waters, productive ecosystems, and thriving coastal communities across the Gulf of Mexico. The shared impacts from these projects are made possible by our 2024 Gulf Star partners: Hess; Equinor; 1PointFive; CITGO; Shell; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program; Oxy; Motiva; Clean Gulf Associates; Freeport-McMoRan; Valero; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; and the five Gulf states.
“We believe that working together to address regional issues brings exponential results,” said Laura Bowie, executive director for the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. “Our success is built upon the strength of our collaborative formula and our Gulf Star projects are only made possible by the shared vision of our partners.”
All projects funded by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance accomplish actions identified in the Governors’ Action Plan for Healthy and Resilient Coasts IV, signed by the governors of the five Gulf states. The Alliance leverages public and private funding, including the Gulf Star Program, to support work that benefits from our regional, collaborative approach. In total, the Alliance has funded over 160 projects across all five Gulf States since its inception.
Learn more about our work and view the 2023 Gulf Star Program annual report on our website at GulfofMexicoAlliance.org.
About the Gulf of Mexico Alliance
The Gulf of Mexico Alliance is the Regional Ocean Partnership for the Gulf of Mexico, focused on enhancing the environmental and economic health of the region through increased collaboration. Our network includes over 165 participating organizations from state and federal agencies, tribal governments, communities, academia, non-governmental organizations, and industry. Working with these partners, we address priority issues such as coastal community resilience; data and monitoring; education; habitat; water quality; wildlife and fisheries; and marine debris.
https://gulfofmexicoalliance.org/
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2024 Gulf Star Project Descriptions
Information for each project is listed below:
Project Title: Community resilience assessment and implementation
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Lead Institution: City of Corpus Christi
Project Partners: Harte Research Institute, Halff
Project Description: Work with community leaders to assess and identify vulnerabilities using the Coastal Community Resilience Index. Implement projects that improve resilience to storms and other hazards.
Project Title: Supporting interns conducting offshore microplastic sampling
Location: Biloxi, Mississippi
Lead Institution: Mississippi State University
Project Description: Understand where microplastics are in the Gulf of Mexico by collecting samples during offshore cruises and providing hands-on internship opportunities to students from diverse backgrounds.
Project Title: Understanding Reddish Egret Habitat Use
Location: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas
Lead Institution: Texas State University
Project Description: Combine information on tidal flat habitat and reddish egret movement to help scientists prioritize important locations for conservation and restoration.
Project Title: Exploring new techniques for early detection of Vibrio bacteria
Location: Fort Myers, Sarasota, and Pensacola, Florida
Lead Institution: Florida Institute of Technology
Project Partners: University of West Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, New College of Florida
Project Description: Use cutting-edge science and AI to create a model that predicts when bacteria might be present in coastal waters and oysters before conditions become unsafe for people.
Project Title: Reducing urban litter in local waterways
Location: Houston, Texas
Lead Institution: Galveston Bay Foundation
Project Description: Install “litter gitter” devices to capture and remove litter from Houston-area waterways before it goes downstream into Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Project Title: Stewardship of coastal bird rookeries
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Lead Institution: Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program
Project Description: Engage volunteers to protect and monitor 20 coastal bird nesting sites around Corpus Christi, Texas. Install protective signs around key rookery sites to limit disturbance by people.
Project Title: Advancing regional data sharing for coastal management
Location: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas
Lead Institution: Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Project Description: Support continued expansion of the Gulf of Mexico Open Data Platform (GOMOD) to make it easier for users to discover, explore, and access mapping data for the Gulf of Mexico region.
Project Title: Implementing a youth ambassador program
Location: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas
Lead Institution: Gulf Reach Institute
Project Description: Train young adults from diverse backgrounds in conservation, stewardship, and science communication and then implement a citizen science project in their local community.
Project Title: Coastal resource management internship program
Location: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas
Lead Institution: Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Project Description: Coordinate internships that provide undergraduate students from backgrounds underrepresented in coastal science opportunities to gain hands-on experience at state agencies across the region.
Project Title: Educating the public through social media
Location: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas
Lead Institution: Gulf of Mexico Alliance
Project Description: Encourage people to learn more about the Gul of Mexico and take simple actions to make a difference through social media campaigns and messaging.
Project Title: Leading a marine debris education program
Location: Tampa, Florida
Lead Institution: Florida Aquarium
Project Description: Reduce marine debris by engaging students in the classroom, leading local clean-up events, and creating art using collected debris.
Project Title: Citizen science monitoring and public education
Location: Galveston, Texas
Lead Institution: Galveston Bay Foundation
Project Description: Understand marine debris impacts on bottlenose dolphins that live in Galveston Bay through citizen science surveys; educate the public about dolphin safe fishing practices.
Project Title: Planting marsh grasses for green infrastructure
Location: Flour Bluff, Texas (Corpus Christi)
Lead Institution: Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Project Partners: Texas Sea Grant at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Mississippi State University
Project Description: Restore coastal salt marsh while giving local high school students hands-on experience in STEM-related career opportunities.