Public school student participants in this first cohort were from Long Beach, Vancleave, Biloxi, Hattiesburg and New Orleans, Louisiana. NGI and the Mississippi Aquarium plan to offer the program twice a year to public and homeschooled students. Instructors from the Mississippi Aquarium were Lauren Fuller, education program analyst, and Lizzie Whigham, lead education specialist. MSU faculty and team members also serving as MSU-SEAS teachers include Jamie Dyer, an associate NGI director and professor of meteorology and climatology, and Gray Turnage, an NGI invasive aquatic species researcher and assistant extension professor.

“The idea is that through exposure to real-life scientific sampling techniques and locally relevant lesson content, we can remove the shadow of classroom learning and spark an interest in the sciences that will impact not only their future educational choices, but also their life-long interest and hopefully their career pathways,” he said. Program organizers and education experts said another program priority is to practice one of the main tenets of modern educational theory, the concept of experiential learning, in which students are engaged when learn by doing.Īdam Skarke, an NGI researcher and MSU geosciences assistant professor, introduced the students to the many components of marine hydrogeology. There students were immersed in hands-on activities which included collection of marine scientific data, water quality samples and seafloor sediment, and identification of various marine species, as well as invasive aquatic plants. Swetman oyster schooner, the sixth- through 12th-grade students and NGI faculty and staff sailed to the National Park Service Barrier Islands and anchored at Horn Island. “By giving students access to this kind of learning, NGI and the Mississippi Aquarium is making its research relevant to the students who will become the stakeholders and citizens of the future.”Īboard Biloxi’s Glenn L. “We believe an engaged and informed public is a great partner in the effort to protect the Gulf of Mexico’s environment,” said Jonathan Harris, Northern Gulf Institute outreach director. Through an innovative program, MSU-SEAS, or Science and Education at Sea, 27 public and homeschooled students recently were the first cohort experiencing a hands-on marine excursion, learning positive behavioral practices that promote sustainable choices in safeguarding the Gulf of Mexico’s marine ecosystem. (Photo by Jonathan Harris)īILOXI, Miss-Mississippi State’s Northern Gulf Institute is partnering with the Mississippi Aquarium to turn the state’s Gulf Coast into an outdoor laboratory, giving local middle and high school students new knowledge and appreciation for their connection with marine life and the environment. Northern Gulf Institute Associate Director Jamie Dyer discusses the differences between land breeze and sea breeze with area students on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

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