This award provides renewed funding for the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence - Gulf of Mexico (COSEE-GOM) with administrative offices located at the University of Southern Mississippi's Marine Education Center and Aquarium in Biloxi, MS. The proposal includes subcontracts to Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, Mississippi State University, and the University of Florida. COSEE-GOM makes extensive use of the expertise of regional marine educators as interpreters of ocean and coastal marine science research. PI's will provide a variety of professional development institutes for formal and informal educators and will evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts. Professional development institutes include a two day workshop for researchers and informal educators, a five-day workshop for teachers and researchers followed by ten days of interactive website instruction, and a "Teachers-to-Sea" opportunity for teachers to work with a variety of research equipment while aboard a cruise on the U.S. Navy's Hydrographic Survey ships. Institutes will be held in each state on a bi-annual basis. Funding for this project is provided by the NSF Division of Ocean Sciences and by the NSF EPSCOR program.
