Number 35| May 2022

Gunter Library News
"Gunter Library News" is the monthly e-newsletter highlighting current events and happenings at the Gunter Library at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, University of Southern Mississippi.
Gunter Library  - GCRL Website

Resource of the Month:

Open Educational Resources (OER)


Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that may be freely used and reused at no cost. Unlike fixed, copyrighted resources, Open Educational Resources have been authored or created by an individual or organization that chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights. In some cases, that means you can download a resource and share it with colleagues and students. In other cases, you may be able to download a resource, edit it in some way, and then re-post it as a remixed work. How do you know your options? Open Educational Resources often have a Creative Commons license that describes how the material may be used, reused, adapted, and shared.   

Open Educational Resources

In the summer of 1947, the inaugural class marking the official start of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s (GCRL) Summer Field Program (SFP) was held at Magnolia State Park in Ocean Springs. Sponsored by the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, the program consisted to two classes of students who sat on benches at wooden picnic tables shaded by live oaks. Over the last 75 years the SFP has become a rigorous undergraduate program supported by modern classrooms with laboratories, several research vessels, a curated specimen museum, and a research library.

With classes held at Magnolia State Park in Ocean Springs, scientists and students labored under primitive conditions. “No air conditioning, no fans, no refrigeration of any sort except the cafeteria. Much of the class work in botany and parasitology was done on large wooden tales under the oak trees.”


The photo above shows students in 1947. Below is the Bulletin for that first summer's program here at GCRL. 

Welcome 2022 Summer Field Program

Students and Faculty


On May 30, the newest group of students arrive on campus to start the first summer session. Two in person courses have new instructors.

·        Oceanography, with new instructor Betina Brockamp

·        Shark Biology, taught by Jill Hendon

·        Cetacean Behavior, with new instructor Rachel Walker

·        Coastal Restoration, taught by Patrick Biber

·        Barrier Island Ecology, taught by Christy Philipoff


Online courses the first summer session include

·        Marine Mammals, taught by Christiana Wittmaack

·        Marine Animal Behavior, taught by Ginger Fleer


Gunter Library Summer Hours

(1st term)

M-Th 8 am to 9 pm; closed noon to 1 pm and 5 pm to 6 pm,

Friday 8 am to 5 pm

Sunday 2 pm to 9 pm closed 5 pm to 6 pm

Begins June 1 and ends June 28

New Books Added to the Collection


Marine mammals, dune restoration, pancrustacea are just a few of the subjects in the cornucopia of new books which have arrived at Gunter Library as the academic year comes to an end. 

GCRL Virtual Science Café -

Sliding Sideways into Science: My Journey to GenSea and the Blue Economy


May 31, 2022 - 6:00 PM

Join us either via Zoom, Facebook Live, or in person in the Caylor Auditorium on the 703 East Beach at Halstead Road campus. Refreshments provided in the Caylor Building lobby.


Zoom information: 

When: May 31, 2022 05:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://usm-edu.zoom.us/j/89257943263?pwd=MF1lkWa07RBj7fLGrmSNdbPB64kJnc.1

Passcode: 01216885

Tara Skelton

GenSea

Director of Communication & Curriculum


With a background in public relations and education, Tara Skelton has engaged in science communication extensively throughout the Gulf of Mexico blue economy since 2008. She joined GenSea, a new workforce development program to promote technical coastal careers in Mississippi, as Director of Communications & Curriculum in January 2022.

“What can I do with my marine science degree?” Many young people steer away from their passion for the ocean in college because they think it’s not practical. They could not be more wrong. Technical jobs in the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s blue economy sector are surging and will only increase over the next decade. Tara Skelton’s vantage point from working in science communications for multiple organizations since 2008 showed her a myriad ways one can put that marine science degree to work. In Skelton’s new role with the GenSea, she lets members of Gen Z know they can follow their hearts and make a good living—all without ever leaving Mississippi. 

Facebook  
If you missed any of our Zoom GCRL Science Cafes or prefer to attend the event via Facebook Live, visit our Marine Education Center’s (MEC) Facebook page at the link below.
MEC Facebook Page
"Like" the GCRL Science Cafe Facebook page for more information about upcoming Science Cafe events.
Check out the GCRL Science Café Webpage

Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
703 East Beach Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

Joyce Shaw, Head Librarian - 228-872-4213