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Highlights

 
Derelict Crab Trap Roundup

Derelict Crab Trap Roundup

Every February, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department closes the bays to commercial and recreational crabbing for 10-days each February. This temporary closure enables a coordinated effort by agencies and organizations to remove derelict crab traps. Derelict traps can cause problems as...
Going to Bat for the Oceans

Going to Bat for the Oceans

June 8th was World Oceans Day and what better way to celebrate than to clean up the beach. The University of Texas Marine Science Institute and the Mission-Aransas Reserve partnered up with the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Texas Coastal Bend...
Port Aransas Ranks Near Top of Global Nature Challenge

Port Aransas Ranks Near Top of Global Nature Challenge

Port Aransas may be a small town, but we are mighty when it comes to observing and documenting our wildlife. This year, Port Aransas and Mustang Island competed in the fourth annual City Nature Challenge. Over 150 cities across six continents...
Earth Day is for the Birds

Earth Day is for the Birds

Since the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, this day has sparked hundreds of thousands of efforts to raise awareness about the nature that surrounds us. On today’s Earth Day, the Mission-Aransas Reserve at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute...
Ready, Set, Go - Global Nature Challenge

Ready, Set, Go - Global Nature Challenge

Citizen scientists have the opportunity to compete to see who can submit the most observations about nature. This is the fourth annual City Nature Challenge, and this year the communities of Port Aransas and Mustang Island can compete with counterparts over...
Communities Plan for Continued Conservation

Communities Plan for Continued Conservation

A hurricane or other natural disaster can cause large and multiple changes to parks and natural areas. After Hurricane Harvey ripped through the Coastal Bend, it provided a unique opportunity for community planners take a step back and implement strategies to...
Texas Plastic Pollution Symposium

Texas Plastic Pollution Symposium

Tuesday, October 30, 2018 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Del Mar Center for Economic Development 3209 South Staples Street Corpus Christi, Texas 78411 Poster session will be from 5:30 - 7 p.m. at the Texas Surf Museum (309 N Water St,...
Teachers on the Estuary

Teachers on the Estuary

This week, 15 science and math teachers from elementary, middle and high schools throughout Texas immersed themselves in an intensive training course in estuary ecology and Hurricane Harvey impacts to the environment. The three-day experience brought them face to face with...
Talking Trash

Talking Trash

If you're driving to Port Aransas this month, you might notice a billboard with a friendly reminder to recycle your fishing line. Researchers at the Mission-Aransas National Research Reserve are leading a $72,000 campaign funded by the National Fish and Wildlife...
Research Wins with a Golden Ticket

Research Wins with a Golden Ticket

Scientists at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute and its Mission-Aransas Reserve are the lucky recipients of a “golden ticket”. It’s not a giant candy bar, but to scientists it’s even better – a $1,650 instrument called the CR1000X datalogger,...
Community Supports the ARK

Community Supports the ARK

Sea Oats Group, developers of Cinnamon Shore, announced yesterday it has donated $10,000 to The University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas through its partnership with Texas Monthly for the 2017 Gulf Coast Show Home, which was open to the general...
Pitching in for Port A

Pitching in for Port A

The hurricane destroyed many homes and offices in Port Aransas, Texas. The offices and laboratories at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute were not immune from the destruction. There is no shortage of clean-up efforts that need to be done....
International Learning

International Learning

Earlier this spring Jace Tunnell, Director of the Mission-Aransas Reserve, helped 5th grade students from Shenzhen, China at BASIS International Shenzhen learn about environmental change processes occurring in estuaries. Earlier this spring, Jace Tunnell helped 5th grade students from Shenzhen, China at...
Working Together for Wetlands

Working Together for Wetlands

Students from the Fulton Learning Center stand eye to eye with a Whooping Crane at the Bay Education Center. Photo credit: Martha McLeod.In an environmental educator’s ideal world, more students would participate in mission-targeted, reserve field experiences that support what their...
NERRd’s Unite!

NERRd’s Unite!

Each year the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, which is comprised of 28 Reserves from all around the country, meet up in the fall, and typically at a different Reserve year to year. In mid-November this year we had our meeting...
Breaking Trail on the New Dunescape

Breaking Trail on the New Dunescape

Construction of the trails for the new “Dunescape” began last week. This project will restore about two acres of dune habitat, and provide the public access and education on the importance of dune habitats on our local barrier islands, such as...
It's Monarch Madness!

It's Monarch Madness!

Trinity Morgan, a 5th grader from Seadrift Elementary, leads the flock of Whopping Cranes in a mock migration. Trinity and here classmates were participating in Monarch Madness, an annual event hosted by Fennessey Ranch and many partners. REFUGIO, Texas – This...
Science and Art Collide in a Unique Contest

Science and Art Collide in a Unique Contest

Flour Bluff Intermediate school students competed in the Trash to Treasure contest in categories of Dia de los Muertos and Creative. The goal of the project was to teach children about the impacts of marine debris. The winning sculptures will be...
Lending Whoopers a Helping Hand

Lending Whoopers a Helping Hand

This is the fifth annual volunteer clean-up of the Refuge shoreline. Photo credit: Nancy Arnold, Rockport Birding and Kayak Adventures.This past Saturday, over 30 volunteers participated in the Annual Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Clean-Up. They help rid the shoreline and the...
A Decade of Research and Inspiration

A Decade of Research and Inspiration

Festival participants hunt for mud crabs among oysters at the National Estuaries Day festival and the Mission-Aransas Reserve's 10-year anniversary. This past Saturday, the Mission-Aransas Reserve celebrated its 10th anniversary on National Estuaries Day. The event was commemorated with a festival...