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Recovery: USM
Research Lab moves Forward & Beyond after
Hurricane Katrina
Note: USMSFP Consortium member USM is updated
with this TV news report.
Katrina took out
five buildings at USM Gulf Coast
Research
Laboratory
in
Ocean
Springs.
Researchers say the lab is moving toward
a future that goes much farther than just
hurricane recovery.
It wasn't enough for USM researchers to
bring back every aquaculture study underway
before Katrina hit. The laboratory went a
step further and added the Red Snapper to
the tag and release program.
Jeff Lotz is the chairman of the Coastal
Sciences program.
"When you have the best facilities
it attracts the best people and certainly
the best graduate students."
At the Cedar Point campus, developing the
best facilities means rebuilding structures
there that were destroyed at the beach front
campus and constructing $40 million in new
research facilities. That includes the Aquaculture
visitors center set to open in mid September.
"Everybody that's been here they're
very versed in aquaculture center around
the county as well as around the world and
they say this is the finest marine aquaculture
center that they've seen," said Lotz.
There is also progress over at the hard
hit beach front campus.
GCRL director Bill Hawkins said, "We
have rebuilt our harbor. We are now able
to dock the boats. Some of the boats that
were over at Point Cadet are in our harbor
on this campus making it very easy for students
to board hererather than go over to Biloxi."
The main campus has two new green houses.
One replaces the one Katrina destroyed and
the other for an innovative study on native
coastal plants.
"In the research business that we're
in you can't stand still. You've always got
to be moving forward," said Hawkins. "That
was one of the really gratifying things after
the storm that we saw is how responsive that
all our faculty and staff and students were
to help account for the losses that we have
but also move their programs forward."
Officials expect some $40 million in construction
will be underway over the next five years.
By
Danielle Thomas
ABC affiliate WLOX-TV
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