The Center for Coastal Ocean Science (CCOS) will host research and education programs to explore the interface of land, sea, and civilization to characterize and identify attributes of sustainable coastal ocean health, human health, and related socio-economics. CCOS will engage universities, government, and industry in research that explores chronic and acute natural and anthropogenic impacts on marine and estuarine environments.

The existing facility needs some major renovations, including but not limited to new HVAC, general repair of plumbing, new instrumentation, and new tanks with associated flow through systems.

Cost estimate for renovation and equipping facilities with research infrastructure is $6 million.

Conducting fish research often requires the right vessel for the job. Dr. Brad Erisman’s work on spawning aggregations is dependent on the ability to go far offshore in search of these massive and picturesque spawning aggregations.

The University of Texas Marine Science Institute has an offshore research vessel (R/V Pursuit), but needs to be retrofitted to meet the demands of offshore use. The Pursuit is a 30-foot offshore boat with two 250-HP engines, walk thru transom, dive platform, cabin and head. It currently needs two new 250-HP engines, new electronics (such as radar, VHF radio, etcetera), and canvas side curtains.

Cost estimate for retrofitting is $60,000 and for an entirely new vessel is approximately $250,000.

Housing in a small tourist community on a barrier island has always been a challenge. UTMSI has struggled for years to accommodate the housing needs of our students and visiting scholar who carry on our education and research mission. This project will develop adequate student housing on existing University land at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute campus in Port Aransas, Texas.

Current student housing at the UTMSI campus in Port Aransas is very limited, aged (40+ years), and insufficient to accommodate student and visiting scholar housing needs. This significantly limits our student acceptance and collaboration opportunities. Long-term rental housing in Port Aransas is scarce and is priced well beyond student means. It is particularly difficult to find housing for graduate students and post doctoral fellows that have families. This project would develop four single person cottages, five two-person cottages, and five duplex cottages and related infrastructure on the UTMSI campus to accommodate our student and visiting scholar needs.

Cost estimate for this project is $3.7 million. This project can also be phased by unit.