Current Research Projects
Environmental Cooperative Science Center (ECSC) Partnership:
The NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center (ECSC) was established in 2000 with a mission "to develop the ecological and socioeconomic tools to conduct integrated assessments of ecosystem health in support of coastal environmental decision-making, and to educate a new generation of environmental scientists in the NOAA-related sciences, particularly from under-represented minorities."
The core principles of the ECSC are: 1) enhance the scientific understanding of human interactions with the coastal environment, including the development of tools, such as conceptual models and integrated assessments, to understand the response of coastal ecosystems and communities to human activities and stressors, and the development of metrics to characterize critical system attributes and evaluate ecosystem health; 2) increase the number students, particularly from under-represented minority groups, in the environmental, coastal, and oceanic sciences by training students and expanding the capacity of faculty from ECSC member institutions to participate in NOAA-related research; 3) improve the scientific bases for coastal resource management; 4) facilitate community education and outreach relating to the function and significance of coastal ecosystems.
Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is partnered with Jackson State University, a minority serving institution located in Jackson, Mississippi. Research is centered on one of five thematic areas: 1) Integrated Assessment in Support of Environmental Decision Making, 2) Integrated Social Sciences, 3) Ecological Processes and Indicators of Ecosystem Health, 4) Geospatial Analyses and Data Development, and 5) Education and Outreach. Current research foci include: submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), water quality parameters and nutrient analysis, and bacteriological and chemical contamination. Additional ECSC projects at Grand Bay include creation of a conceptual model and a hyperspectral remote sensing flyover.
For more information:
ECSC Website:
Jackson State University Website:
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Christina Watters
ECSC Coordinator Grand Bay NERR 6005 Bayou Heron Road Moss Point, MS 39562 christina.watters@dmr.ms.gov |
Michelle Williams
ECSC Program Manager Florida A&M University 1515 Martin Luther King Boulevard Tallahassee, FL 32307 michelle.williams@famu.edu |