Sally Palmer is the Communications Coordinator for The University of Texas Marine Science Institute. She received a bachelor of science in marine biology from the University of Rhode Island and earned a masters degree in marine science from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001. Prior to her position handling communications, Sally served as the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve Manager. She also has research experience with benthic ecology, hypoxia, and ecosystem dynamics. Since 2006, Sally has help secure over $16 million in funding for administration, research and construction of educational facilities.
The northern Alaska coast is losing up to 1.3 square miles of land every year to the sea which is equivalent to the area of Central Park in New York City. This loss of land has a dramatic impact on local...
The University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) is very pleased to officially reopen its marina. The marina was created in the 1950s to facilitate easy access to the Gulf of Mexico and local bay systems. The marina serves the Institute’s...
2020 was a year to remember and we hope that you are all well. Please click the image below to view the Marine Science News, 4th Quarter edition of 2020.
Microplastics and plastic pellet contamination in local bays received national attend last year when petrochemical company Formosa Plastics agreed to pay $50 million in the largest-ever settlement of a lawsuit linked to the federal Clean Water Act. A portion of that...
The 2021 UTMSI Public Lecture Series is virtual and combined with the new Texas Science Festival. Free and open to science enthusiasts everywhere, the Texas Science Festival (Feb 16 - March 26) is a celebration of discovery and learning. Registration for...
A new study in Organic Geochemistry shines light on how sunlight likely changed Deepwater Horizon oil chemically and potentially made it more toxic and longer lasting. When the Deepwater Horizon well blew in 2010, it spewed 4.9 million barrels of crude...
This year is the 18th year that the Coastal Bend Bays Foundation hosts its Annual Conservation & Environmental Stewardship Awards Banquet and UTMSI is honored to have two recipients of the awards: Kristin Evans, Education Coordinator for the Mission-Aransas Reserve, and...
Greetings,
The weather is supposed to be cool this weekend, but the science continues to heat up. We have many exciting discoveries and news. Please click the image below to view the Marine Science News, 3rd Quarter edition of 2020.
It has been known for the last decade that zinc plays a critical role in reproduction in mammals, but a manuscript released today in Scientific Reports describe the first ever recorded evidence of a zinc spark in fish. A zinc spark...
Study reveals that Weddell seals primarily use sight to find obscure breathing holes
Until now, no one knew how Weddell seals navigate the ice-covered waters to locate breathing holes. Finding their way back to a breathing hole under the Antarctic ice...
Where does plastic in the ocean go? Marine chemist Dr. Zhanfei Liu, Professor at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute seeks to provide the answer. In an announcement today, by the National Science Foundation, Liu was one of the researchers...
Greetings!
We hope that you are all healthy and doing well. Click the image below to view The University of Texas Marine Science Institute’s newsletter, 2nd Quarter edition of 2020.
Seagrasses are some of the earth’s most productive habitats producing a significant fraction of oxygen to the atmosphere. The exact amount of oxygen is unknown because present day techniques lack the sophistication to measure oxygen. A new interdisciplinary endeavor at the...
The heart of the red snapper fishery is the Gulf of Mexico and their populations have fluctuated throughout the decades. Efforts to manage the fishery and the popularity of the fish has resulted in a large volume of research dedicated to...
Fatty acids are essential to life, and almost every animal needs to get many of them from their diet. As such, they are great biomarkers to figure out who is eating whom in animal populations. In a new thematic issue released...
The long-standing rules for assigning scientific names to bacteria and archaea are overdue for an update, according to a new consensus statement backed by 119 microbiologists from around the globe.
Bacteria and archaea (single-celled organisms that lack cell nuclei) make up...
In Texas and throughout the South, Southern Flounder are a favorite among anglers and seafood enthusiasts. The bad news is Southern Flounder populations across the South and Southeastern U.S. have been in decline since the 1970s.
One man has taken on...
Students throughout the country have had to change the way they learn, including Semester by the Sea undergraduates at the Marine Science Institute. This year’s 2020 cohort of 16 students were forced to halt their research and finish their lessons by...
Scientists at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas have discovered that just like humans, the nutrients that are passed from a mother fish to her offspring can change the way her offspring develop and make a...
Archaea are quite possibly the most abundant and diverse life on planet, but why haven’t you heard about them? The little-known world of archaea gets a big spot light with a new review in Nature Microbiology, released this week by lead...