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Highlights

 
Red Tide Facts

Red Tide Facts

What is Red Tide? • Red tides are caused by the massive growth of tiny, microscopic algae, which is a type of phytoplankton in the ocean. • In Texas, microscopic algae named Karenia brevis often cause red tides. Massive growth of...
Whale Shark Video and Satellite Tags Help Scientists Understand Energy Use and Feeding Biology

Whale Shark Video and Satellite Tags Help Scientists Understand Energy Use and Feeding Biology

Whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean. Their large size is both a challenge and virtue when it comes to eating. Researcher have unraveled strategies that the sharks use to conserve energy. Credit: Wayne Osborne.Whale sharks, the world’s largest...
Red Tide Confirmed in the Port Aransas Area

Red Tide Confirmed in the Port Aransas Area

The fish kill, found today, at the north jetty is likely caused by red tide. Credit: Tony Amos.University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) scientists confirmed that samples from two different locations (Fish Pass and Port Aransas Ship Channel) had significant...
UTMSI Starts 2015 Academic Year with Two New Tenured Associate Professors

UTMSI Starts 2015 Academic Year with Two New Tenured Associate Professors

This fall, UTMSI is pleased to announce that Drs. Bryan Black and Zhanfei Liu have been promoted to Associate Professor. Both of these researchers have a tremendous amount of experience and are blazing new trails in their respective fields. Dr. Black...
The 3rd quarter newsletter is hot off the press

The 3rd quarter newsletter is hot off the press

Read all about the latest activities and events at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute: http://issuu.com/utmsi/docs/3rdquarter2015
Around Campus with Veril Barr

Around Campus with Veril Barr

We sat down with Veril Barr to talk about who he is and why he is a jack of all trades. Veril, the Landscape Services Supervisor, shows off one of the many battery operated nodes that helped get the irrigation system...
Study Quantifies Photooxidation and Biodegradation of Surface Oil

Study Quantifies Photooxidation and Biodegradation of Surface Oil

Scientists from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute assessed photooxidation and biodegradation rates on different hydrocarbon groups.   They found that photooxidation was the main driver for degrading aromatic hydrocarbons, and biodegradation was the key process controlling the degradation of...
Honey Badger wave glider weathers a storm

Honey Badger wave glider weathers a storm

Here's the wind field from a NOAA model captured on windyty.com. It's pretty impressive and also shows another storm sneaking up from the south. Honey Badger is at the pointy base of the teardrop. Credit: Tracy Villareal.Earlier this summer, scientists from...
Scientists, NOAA and Anglers Team-Up

Scientists, NOAA and Anglers Team-Up

Many species of fish in the Gulf of Mexico like this goliath grouper come together and form dense aggregations to spawn. Scientists will begin to compile existing data on these aggregations to get a better understanding of the fisheries, which can...
Student Spotlight: Matt Khosh

Student Spotlight: Matt Khosh

We sat down with PhD student, Matt Khosh, to understand why rivers are important and what it's like to work in the Arctic.    Matt Khosh Faculty Supervisor: Jim McClelland Research Area: River Biogeochemistry Please tell us a little bit about...
Microbes watch out, there’s a new doctor in town

Microbes watch out, there’s a new doctor in town

Dr. Brett Baker is the newest addition to the faculty at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute. Marine microbes include a very broad spectrum of microscopic organisms (microalgae, bacteria, archaea, protozoa, fungi and viruses). They are ubiquitous, inhabiting every niche...
Mission-Aransas Reserve has a new website

Mission-Aransas Reserve has a new website

The Mission-Aransas Reserve has revamped their website: www.missionaransas.orgAccess data, watch videos of facilities and programs, stay up to speed on the latest events, and checkout the facebook feed on the homepage. Enjoy!
Monitoring the Marsh

Monitoring the Marsh

Katie Swanson, Stewardship Coordinator for the Mission-Aransas Reserve at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, discusses the importance of marsh monitoring and how the data is used. To find out more information about what research and education the Reserve is...
Around Campus with Captain Frank Ernst

Around Campus with Captain Frank Ernst

Captain Frank Ernst is the captain of UTMSI'S small boat fleet and the Dive Safety Officer. Credit: Frank Ernst.We sat down with Frank Ernst for a chat about who he is and what it is like to be on and under...
Sea Cucumber Surgery

Sea Cucumber Surgery

Coastal Beaufort Sea with a view of the Brooks Range. Credit: Carrie Harris.Graduate student Carolynn Harris, shares her adventures aboard the research vessel Norseman II. You can follow Carolynn adventures at: https://carolynnmharris.wordpress.com/blog/ I spent the first week of August back aboard the Norseman II...
UTMSI Honors Advocates

UTMSI Honors Advocates

Three longtime advocates for The University of Texas Marine Science Institute were inducted into the Director’s Honor Society. The Honorable Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi, Mrs. Edith McAllister of San Antonio, and Ben Vaughan, III (not pictured) of Austin were honored...
Teachers on the Estuary

Teachers on the Estuary

Teachers, rear - Karen Lyssy, 8th grade; front - Laura Weaver, 11th grade, conduct water quality testing aboard kayaks on the Mission River. Credit: Nicole Pringle. This summer, 14 middle and high school teachers from 13 different Coastal Bend School Districts...
Student Spotlight: Kathyrn Thompson

Student Spotlight: Kathyrn Thompson

Kathryn collects a pinfish in a seine during the 2014 Estuarine Ecology class field trip to South Padre Island. Credit: Kathyrn Thompson.We sat down with Kathyrn Thompson this past summer to learn about her Semester by the Sea project. Semester by...
Researchers keep their cool in Alaska

Researchers keep their cool in Alaska

Ken Dunton, Susan Schonberg, Christina Bonsell, and Carrie Harris on the ship’s working deck in our standard working gear against a backdrop of ice floe. Researchers at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute are on the RV Norseman II sampling off...
Around campus with Jace Tunnell

Around campus with Jace Tunnell

Undergraduate students  Cypress Hansen, Eduardo Perez Vega, and Tricia Light sat down and talked to Jace Tunnell about being the Director of the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Jace Tunnell, director of the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve), gave the July...