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Highlights

 
Have you Seen Bob?

Have you Seen Bob?

While Hurricane Francine was moving through the Gulf of Mexico, it passed over East Flower Garden bank and dislodged a Sofar spotter buoy that Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary staff refer to as Bob, due to his minion-like characteristics. The...
Marine Science Literature for Desalinization & Channel Deepening Projects

Marine Science Literature for Desalinization & Channel Deepening Projects

In July of 2018, the Port of Corpus Christi announced they were seeking a permit for a desalinization plant proposed for construction on Harbor Island in Port Aransas, Texas that would allow an average daily output flow of up to 95,600,000...
The Power of Code: No Fish Too Small

The Power of Code: No Fish Too Small

Fish about the size of your thumbnail, called cryptobenthic fish, account for more than half of the fauna within coral reef ecosystems. A newly released study in the journal Coral Reefs documents how researchers use network analysis to determine the relationship...
Advertisement for Open Rank Faculty Positions

Advertisement for Open Rank Faculty Positions

The Department of Marine Science at The University of Texas at Austin is built around research strengths in organismal biology, ecology, and (bio)geochemistry and seeks to fill three open-rank faculty positions in marine science. Individuals with strong records in phytoplankton physiology...
Fewer Abandoned Crab Traps Found This Year

Fewer Abandoned Crab Traps Found This Year

Every February, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department closes the bays to commercial and recreational crabbing for a 10-day period. This temporary closure enables a coordinated effort by agencies and organizations to remove derelict crab traps which continue to entrap and...
Lurking below the surface: unknown energy sources

Lurking below the surface: unknown energy sources

Hydrothermal vents and submarine volcanos can support abundant life, as shown in many nature documentaries. The same compounds from the Earth’s Mantle and Earth’s Crust that support the large tube worm colonies at vents are also slowly trickling through large areas...
Newly discovered bacteria and their proteins could advance our understanding of global nutrients

Newly discovered bacteria and their proteins could advance our understanding of global nutrients

The power of metagenomics strikes again. Marine microbiologists discovered five new bacteria phyla (four never described and one poorly described) from the ocean floor that contain an unusually large number of novel protein families. An international group of researchers led by...
Captain Ernst Honored by CBBF

Captain Ernst Honored by CBBF

Last night, Captain Frank Ernst was honored and received the Coastal Steward Professional award at the 2022 Coastal Bend Bays Foundation Conservation and Stewardship Environmental Awards banquet. Frank Ernst has been with the University as the small boat captain for 20...
Mystery No More – formation of refractory DON pool unmasked

Mystery No More – formation of refractory DON pool unmasked

In the oceans lurks a stubborn pool of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) that no one had a clue how it formed – until now. A recent study in the Geophysical Research Letters provides the first discovery of how and why this...
Texas Bays and Estuaries Meeting Returns to Campus

Texas Bays and Estuaries Meeting Returns to Campus

UTMSI was happy to host and bring back the 14th annual Texas Bays and Estuaries Meeting (TBEM) to its campus and the newly renovated Patton Center for Marine Science Education. After Hurricane Harvey damaged the visitor center, the meeting was held...
Patton Center for Marine Science Education Ribbon Cutting - Center opening to public this fall

Patton Center for Marine Science Education Ribbon Cutting - Center opening to public this fall

The University of Texas Marine Science Institute hosted a ribbon-cutting event on Saturday, Aug. 14, for the sponsors and donors who supported its newly renovated visitor center, now renamed the Patton Center for Marine Science Education, to commemorate contributions by Bobby...
Annual 8th Grade Brundrett Research Symposium

Annual 8th Grade Brundrett Research Symposium

Over the course of the academic year, 8th graders from Brundrett Middle School have been completing environmental sampling in Port Aransas, TX. With this data, they have been investigating research questions such as "What local area has the most nutrients; marsh or beach?" or "How does...
Water, water everywhere

Water, water everywhere

As the school year comes to a close we had the pleasure of hosting all of Brundrett Middle School students from Port Aransas in a Water Awareness Day. The event featured eight stations each with a special learning point about the...
Listening In

Listening In

A “Sounds of the Estuary” workshop was hosted by the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute last week on May 12th. The workshop featured presentations on soundscaping and bioacoustics research with a demonstration of field...
Marine Science News

Marine Science News

We're pleased to release the first quarter newsletter for 2022, the 28th issue. Click on the image below to read more about our discoveries, education programs, facility improvements, and upcoming events.    Click here to download a PDF copy.   
Ground Breaking Ceremony for Student and Scholar Housing Complex

Ground Breaking Ceremony for Student and Scholar Housing Complex

The University of Texas Marine Science Institute is pleased to announce the start and groundbreaking for our student housing project—the first since 1970. We want to thank Representative Todd Hunter, The University of Texas at Austin and the UT Board of...
Summer Science Registration is Open

Summer Science Registration is Open

UT Summer Science is an exciting, inquiry-based learning experience for youth entering 3rd through 8th grade. Throughout the week, participants will be immersed in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) engagements that take them outside of the classroom and...
Study reveals trade-offs between ecosystem resistance and resilience to tropical cyclones

Study reveals trade-offs between ecosystem resistance and resilience to tropical cyclones

Findings can help managers enhance coastal recovery and restoration efforts PORT ARANSAS – In a new study of the ecological impacts of hurricanes, an international research team, including four researchers from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, addresses a question that...
Vitamin Sea: Why Coral Reef Fish Eat Poop

Vitamin Sea: Why Coral Reef Fish Eat Poop

Did you know that Caribbean parrotfishes and surgeonfishes eat poop? A study released this week in Coral Reefs is the first to document and explain what may be driving this behavior. These abundant fishes are best known for the important role...
Cold Stun Turtles Get Released

Cold Stun Turtles Get Released

The recent cold weather event was not nearly as severe as the winter storm of 2021, but the cold temperatures still caused many sea turtles to become stunned. The Amos Rehabilitation Keep (ARK) at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute...