Gayanilo Speaks at 'Fishackathon:Sustainable Fishery Challenge'                             Felimon Gayanilo Felimon Gayanilo, Systems Architect working on our GRIIDC and GCOOS Data Management projects, was invited as a speaker and mentor to the first ‘Fishackathon: Sustainable Fishery Challenge’ sponsored by the Department of State (http://www.fishackathon.co/). Five areas (Silicon Valley, Boston, Baltimore, New York and Miami) participated in the event that started June 13, and participants used the whole weekend to design, develop and present a prototype of their products. Mr. Gayanilo was hosted by Venture Hive in Miami (http://miamifishackathon.splashthat.com/) with other fisheries experts in the area that had experience working in developing countries. The Secretary’s Office of Global Partnership announced two winners of the event through a Google+ Hangout event (https://plus.google.com/events/c7r9c9325uu26gr1i3id5aav7v8). The challenges presented to participating software developers were to resolve issues related to implementation of fishing regulations in Ghana and data collection of captured fishery in the Philippines. Mr. Gayanilo, the author of the FAO-ICLARM Fish Stock Assessment Tools (FiSAT; see http://www.fao.org/3/a-y5997e/), a software package that is still in used in a number of developing countries, focused his talks on how data are lost in situations such as those experienced in developing countries. The intent of the talk was to present areas where technology can be introduced to minimize data losses and improve data collection in either collecting statistical data for management of the resources or in monitoring the implementation of fishing regulations.

CMGL GRIIDC Team Attends Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference in Mobile Alabama For the second year in a row, Harte Research Institute scientists, students and staff attended the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Sciences Conference. The conference, held from January 26th to 29th in Mobile, Alabama, brought international researchers together to share new scientific results related to the impacts of petroleum pollution and stressors on marine and coastal ecosystems. Plenary and scientific sessions facilitated interdisciplinary discussions to promote the goal of the conference: collaboration, integration and synthesis of results from post-spill investment in science. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), housed by the Harte Research Institute, had a major presence at this year’s conference. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), housed by the Harte Research Institute, had a major presence at this year’s conference. The week kicked-off with the session “Data Management and Informatics Supporting Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and Ecosystem Science”, chaired by 3 members of the GRIIDC Advisory Committee, including Harte Research Institute’s Dr. Fabio Moretzsohn, and one NOAA partner. During this session Felimon Gayanilo, the GRIIDC Systems Architect, offered attendees insight into attitudes towards data sharing through his presentation “Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative Dataset Lifecycle: Early Lessons”. To promote data sharing and display new features of the GRIIDC data management system (DMS), the GRIIDC staff managed a help-desk style display booth throughout the conference. Interactive displays and outreach materials at the booth generated discussion among researchers and GRIIDC staff regarding challenges and opportunities for data sharing. Additionally, GRIIDC staff supported scientists by helping participants register for GRIIDC DMS accounts and, once registered, helping researchers identify and submit datasets to the GRIIDC DMS. On the final day of the conference, the GRIIDC hosted an Advisory Committee meeting. Attendees included GoMRI Research Board Members, GoMRI Research Consortia data managers and GoMRI funded researchers. The meeting, led by GRIIDC’s director Dr. Jim Gibeaut, provided participants with updates about the current status of the DMS and outlined plans for future development. Discussion topics regarding future requirements of the DMS focused on interoperability with other systems, database meta-analysis, enabling future data synthesis and data-sharing. GRIIDC is responsible for developing a data management system to store data generated through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). By attending this conference GRIIDC was able to discuss and promote data management with researchers to help ensure a data and information legacy that promotes continual scientific discovery and public awareness of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Additional highlights of Harte Research Institute’s presence at the conference include: Dr. Paul Montagna presented the poster: “Monitoring Deep-sea Benthos in Response to the Deepwater Horizon Blowout in the Gulf of Mexico”. His PhD student Travis Washburn gave the oral presentation “Linking Deep Sea Ecosystems to Human Well-Being”. Dr. Fabio Moretzsohn presented two posters at the meeting: “Better Access to Gulf Researchers, Resources and Biodiversity Information for Improved Disaster Preparedness” and “Building Capacity and Decision Support for Risk Assessment and Marine Biodiversity Conservation in the Gulf of Mexico”. His research assistant Maria Rodriquez presented the poster “Key indicator species, Rangia cuneata, in the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve: a preliminary assessment of abundance and distribution” Dr. Carlota Santos from the HRI Socio-economic research group gave the oral presentation “Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (GecoServ): a one-stop shop for Ecosystem Services Valuation Literature”. Dr. David Yoskowitz organized and co-chaired the session “Socio-economic Analysis of Ecosystem Change: From Baselines to Catastrophic Events”. At a subsequent session Dr. Yoksowitz gave the oral presentation “Resilience of Ecosystem Services and Coastal Communities”.

CMGL Students Participate in the Texas High School Monitoring Program By: Melinda Martinez                 MS students, Michael Rittenhouse and Melinda Martinez, assisted Tiffany Caudle from the Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, on Friday, January 31st to engage students from Cunningham Middle School in coastal research through the Texas High School Coastal Monitoring Program.   Figure 1. Michael Rittenhouse with middle school students measuring the wave period by counting waves at a certain point for 10 seconds. Photo credit: Melinda Martinez. Students were able to apply scientific procedures to measure beach morphology and learn about beach processes, shoreline mapping, and beach profiling on Mustang Island, TX. Students began the beach survey at a permanent stake located in the back dunes and measured elevations every 1-2m along a transect perpendicular to the beach to the shoreline. Beach profiling tools included an emery rod, metric tape, and a hand level. Beach processes measurements and observations were made for wind and wave direction, wind speed, wave height and period, types of waves, width of surf zone, and longshore current speed (Figure 1). Beach processes tools included a floating device, measuring tape, stopwatch, portable wind meter, and compass. Students were also able to map both shoreline and vegetation line using a handheld GPS to record the location of these features while walking.  Figure 2. Tiffany Caudle drawing a general overview a beach profile in the sand. Photo Credit: Melinda Martinez. The students were able to participate in actual research and enhance their coastal science education while providing useful data for the program to monitor coastal processes (Figure 2). These measurements are compared to previously taken data to provide the rate of shoreline change.