GOMA’s Education and Engagement Team focuses on public relations, expanded partnerships, and other actions to involve their members as well as those in the other five Teams.

The Education and Engagement Team has one overarching goal:

  • Engage and educate people to become stewards who enhance the environmental, ecological and economic health of the Gulf of Mexico

The GOMA Education and Engagement Team is led by the State of Alabama, but has active participation from all five Gulf States and federal agencies working in the region, as well as academia, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Learn more about the focus areas and actions of the Team in Action Plan III.

The GOMA Education and Engagement Team meets every quarter or as needed via conference call. It hosts 1 in-person meeting a year that coincides with the annual All Hands meeting. The Team has three working groups that correspond with their Action Plan III focus areas. The coordinator handles logistics with support from team members (meeting agendas, notes, and facilitation).

2018 Winter Meeting

The Education and Engagement Team will be hosting a Winter Meeting at the Weeks Bay Reserve in Fairhope, Alabama February 27-28, 2018. Our tentative agenda includes GOMA HQ and EE Team updates, tourism industry sector panel discussion, and working group activities. Register now. Download this EE Winter Meeting Document for more details on the meeting. Contact your Team’s coordinator for more information.

Meeting Goals:

  • Review GOMA & EE Team Structure
  • Review GOMA HQ & EE Projects Underway
  • Engage new Industry Partners in a Panel Discussion on shared issues related to tourism.
  • Work within the working groups on pre-determined actions
  • Discuss potential All Hands agenda topics

Tuesday, February 27th 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm

GOMA Headquarters Updates
Education & Engagement Team Project Updates
Industry Engagement Panel Discussion
Evening Social

Wednesday, February 28th 8:30 am to 12:00 pm (3:00 pm optional)

Day One Recap
Working Group Breakout Activities
Report Outs and Team Next Actions

Summer 2017 Photo Competition – Winning Images

Funding Opportunity 

None at this time.

New! Gulf Star 2017 Awards

  • Watershed Monitoring with Underserved High School Students | Mobile Baykeeper This project provides classroom and hands-on training to teach students at LeFlore High School in Mobile, Alabama about issues impacting water quality, training them in water monitoring, and empowering them to become active environmental stewards.
  • Video Case Studies  | Mississippi State University Television Center and Dauphin Island Sea LabOutreach videos highlighting coastal community resilience and marine debris projects, emphasizing success stories and providing inspiration for other coastal communities Gulfwide.

Gulf Star 2016 Awards

  • Tracking Trash | Dauphin Island Sea LabThe goal of this project is to educate middle and high school students and teachers about the marine debris problem in coastal Alabama; show students how technology can be used to study a problem, and develop an engineering/solution-based mindset and instill a sense of stewardship for their local waterway. Shared project with the Marine Debris Cross-Team Initiative.
  • Marine Debris Education & Prevention | Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary ProgramThis project will engage high school and college students in the data collection and monitoring of marine debris and sediment microplastics on a private beach in Louisiana.  Students will spend one day per quarter in the field researching, collecting, and analyzing marine debris data and preparing action items to stop it at the source. Shared project with the Marine Debris Cross-Team Initiative.
  • Marine Debris Dash | Ocean HourThis project works systematically to clean up specific shores in northwest Florida, collecting debris and tracking the items on the NOAA marine debris tracker.  Using the data, this project will work with local businesses and government officials to curb their incidence on the shore. Shared project with the Marine Debris Cross-Team Initiative.
  • Plastic Free Gulf Coast in Mississippi | Gulf Coast Community Design StudioThis project aims to reduce the use of single-use plastic in the three coastal counties of Mississippi and provide data showing this reduction. Shared project with the Marine Debris Cross-Team Initiative.
  • Microplastics Citizen Science Project | Mississippi State UniversityThe purpose of this microplastics project is to demonstrate the type and location of degraded microplastics. This grant is a citizen science project where sediment and water samples are collected and processed for microplastics, then integrated into an existing visualization tool.  The data collection and visualization tool is already being used by Florida Microplastic Awareness Project and is being expanded to marine debris programs in other Gulf states. Shared project with the Marine Debris Cross-Team Initiative.
  • Urban Youth Conservation Corps | Limitless Vistas, Inc.This project increases awareness of the losses and degradation of coastal habitats caused by invasive species.  This project also educates and trains students in conservation field techniques that can be used to pursue jobs in the conservation industry and/or generate interest in seeking environmental or conservation college degree.

Team Tools and Publications

  • Environmental Education Listserv - To join the Environmental Education listserv send an email to lyokel@disl.org and put the text "GOMAEEN Listserv" in the subject.
  • Coastal Training Workshops - A unique regional collaboration designed to deliver relevant information to key stakeholders on issues related to the ecological and economic health of the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers - A network of learning centers at aquariums and marine educational facilities across the Gulf, sponsored by the Coastal America Foundation.
  • Smart Yard, Healthy Gulf Campaign - A public education campaign designed to reduce fertilizers entering local waters by helping people make responsible lawn fertilizer decisions.

Team Chair

  • Angela Underwood, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Team Coordinator

Team Meeting Information