Gulf of Mexico, here we come!
Howdy y’all,Â
We’re delighted you’re still reading about our 45th IAMSLIC Annual Conference and 29th SAIL Regional Meeting which is kicking off in 5 short day’s time!
We’ve been telling you a bit about the conference over the last few posts and if you’re happy to keep reading, we’ll keep telling…
Next Tuesday the 22nd October is our 3rd conference day and the organisers have been kind to us for this one. After an intense few days of networking, workshops and amazing speakers, we’ll be in for a treat in the afternoon when we jump on the fun bus and head to the Harte Research Institute.
To get us in the mood for visiting a busy research institute, Tuesday will open with a welcome by Dr. Robert W. Dickey, Director, UT Marine Science Institute, Chair, Department of Marine Science. Wow, Texas are really bringing out some of its best people to greet us
Continuing on with Texas’s best, we have 2017’s Conservationist of the Year Jace Tunnell. He is the director of the Mission-Aransas Reserve, was the president of the Coastal Bend Bays Foundation from 2016 to 2018. His conservation efforts include educating the public about plastic pollution, estuarine science, and protection of our natural resources.
Jace Tunnell
Jace will deliver a morning keynote to us on ‘Hurdles with Nurdles: A Gulf-wide Citizen Science Project’. Nurdle Patrol is a citizen science project lead by the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas. It is looking to gather information about where nurdles are located across the Gulf of Mexico, remove the nurdles from the environment, and create awareness about the nurdle issue to help find the source.
Nurdles are small plastic pellets and are the basis of everything plastic.
They look like food to animals, absorb toxins in the environment, and could be deadly to some animals. Jace’s keynote will discuss what a nurdle is, how they get into the environment, and what efforts are being made to reduce the number of pellets entering the waterways.
I think as library staff who work in Marine Science, this is a cause close to our hearts and we’ll be very interested on Jace’s hurdles with the nurdles!
Before we head away for the afternoon, we have an important workshop addressing on our very own IAMSLIC.
Jeanine Scaramozzino will be leading a workshop on Reimagining the Future of IAMSLIC. i can’t think of a better way to end the afternoon, then giving our input on how the future of IAMSLIC should shape up.
A short ride into Corpus Christi will bring us to the Harte Research Institute where we’ll hear about the Institute from Dr Larry McKinney, the Senior Executive Director, followed by a keynote address from Dr Paul Montagna. This keynote will address ‘What the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Taught us about the Deep Sea’. Given our in situ location, this should prove to be a fascinating talk.
The Harte Research Institute are one of our kind sponsors this year and we are extremely grateful. We can express this appreciation when we lucky delegates get to tour the facilities and see where all the magic (I mean science!) happens!
Of course our timetable is subject to change, but that’s all part of the fun (as long as shopping time, field trips, beach parties, banquets and boat trips are not eliminated!!).
