Spring has sprung here at the Harte Research Institute and this semester has been just as full of growth and vibrancy as the season itself. As the weather has started to warm up, so have our events, our initiatives, and our outreach efforts.
In April, I was honored to take the helm as Senior Executive Director and continue working alongside our Chairs, research groups, and staff as we make a difference for the greater Gulf of Mexico. Our research was highlighted through in-depth ecosystem health report cards for the Texas coast, the Oyster Resource and Recovery Center was launched, and we were thrilled to welcome Texas Game Wardens and the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi for a fish identification workshop led by the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation.
As you read this, our team will have just wrapped up the second annual Sea to Screen Film Festival celebrating World Oceans Day. This year's films highlighted both marine habitats and fisheries from throughout the world, as well as the people who work tirelessly to keep them healthy.
Furthering our commitment to working with our international partners, the Student Workshop on International Coastal and Marine Management (SWIMM) conference also just wrapped up. This year’s conference took place in Cancun, Mexico, allowing researchers from multiple HRI disciplines to collaborate with colleagues from throughout the Gulf.
Of course these are just a few of the highlights and I hope you’ll read on to learn about even more of what we’ve been up to so far in 2023. Stay tuned, and thank you for your support of HRI’s efforts to advance the long-term sustainable use and conservation of the Gulf of Mexico.
Dr. Greg Stunz, Interim Senior Executive Director
Dr. Greg Stunz was named Senior Executive Director of HRI by Dr. Kelly Miller, President and CEO of TAMU-CC in April. Stunz has served as Interim Senior Executive Director since November 2022. Stunz first joined HRI in September 2007 as one of the founding chairs. In addition to his role as Senior Executive Director, Stunz is the Chair for Fisheries and Ocean Health, Director of HRI’s Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation, and a Texas A&M University System Regents Professor.
For the second year, HRI celebrated World Oceans Day to a sold out crowd through film with the Sea to Screen™ Film Festival. Sea to Screen, in partnership with the International Ocean Film Festival, took place on June 7 at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Corpus Christi. This year’s selection of films centered on the world’s fisheries, as well as the marine habitats, and people, that are vital to supporting them. Attendees were able to visit booths from area conservation groups before the films and enjoy free popcorn and a gift.
The Oyster Resource and Recovery Center, a $5.1 million workforce development award from the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality and managed by HRI, will provide training to those interested in oyster aquaculture to help support sustainable oyster production in Gulf states, particularly in Texas.
With funding from the Texas General Land Office, and by working with stakeholders from local communities, as well as with natural resource managers, HRI released the most in-depth assessment of the health of the Texas Coast to date, with report cards covering the Texas coast, along with four different bay systems.
HRI is proud to present our 2022 Annual Impact Review. In this issue, read about the past year’s research, our biggest events and happenings, meet the new faces that joined the HRI team, and much more.
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC), has been chosen among five other institutions to take part in the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program (GRP) Gulf Scholars Program. The Gulf Scholars Program is a five-year $12.7 million pilot program that will prepare undergraduate students to address environmental, health, energy, and infrastructure challenges in the Gulf of Mexico.
HRI was proud to recently host John H. “Crutch” Crutchfield, joined by his wife, sister, and brother-in-law, to celebrate the naming of the Prado del Mar, a boat used by HRI labs for research. In addition to the dedication of the boat, the family was able to visit with students who have received the Crutchfield Fellowship and tour HRI labs.
A revised and updated second edition of The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas by Kim Withers, Ph.D., the late Brian R. Chapman, Ph.D., the late Frank W. Judd, Ph.D., and late HRI Endowed Chair for Biodiversity and Conservation, John Wes Tunnell Jr., Ph.D., is now available from Texas A&M University (TAMU) Press. The new edition features additional research and information contributed by HRI Chairs Jennifer Pollack, Ph.D. and Michael Wetz, Ph.D., HRI Project Manager, Natasha Breaux, and former Baffin Bay volunteers Scott Murray and Jim Atkins., Ph.D.
HRI's Endowed Chair for Marine Policy and Law, Kristina Alexander, has a new digital publication where she'll break down the complexities of various legal topics.The first issue explores the pros and controversies surrounding desalination in the Coastal Bend.
Congratulations to Dr. Xinping Hu, HRI's Endowed Chair for Ecosystem Science and Modeling, for recently being promoted to a Professor of Chemistry at TAMU-CC. Dr. Hu joined HRI in September 2020 and focuses his research on a wide variety of topics including the effects of ocean acidification on coastal and marine ecosystems.
This year’s Student Workshop on International Coastal and Marine Management (SWIMM), and the Latin America and Caribbean Fisheries Congress, in Cancun spurred important conversations and connections with our collaborators from throughout the Gulf. The group attending this year’s conference are exemplary of our interdisciplinary approach to science, and our efforts toward creating a greater Gulf. Researchers attending included HRI’s international chairs, and those from HRI’s Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation, the Geospatial Sciences lab, the Community Resilience group, among others.
HRI was proud to host a fish identification workshop in March, bringing together the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi and Texas Game Wardens. During the workshop, researchers from the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation shared how to properly identify multiple offshore sportfish species that are often sought out by anglers in the Gulf of Mexico.
Dr. Dale Gawlik, HRI Chair for Conservation and Biodiversity, is part of a federal working group dedicated to recovering endangered whooping crane (Grus americana) populations. This team will work to update management actions which will help cranes reach their recovery population targets.
Assessments of Carbonate Chemistry Baseline and Potential Impact of Carbon Dioxide Addition to the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico
Exxon Biomedical Sciences
PI - Xinping Hu
Co-PI - Keisha Bahr
$147,969
Scientific Data Management and Repository Services for the NAS GRP
National Academy of Science
PI - James Gibeaut
Co-PI - Rosalie Rossi
$366,666
TX Copano Bay Oyster Reef Restoration
The Nature Conservancy
PI - Jennifer Pollack
$50,157
An Observational Study of Ship Channel and Shallow Bay Interactions and Their Influence on Sediment Transport, Mixing, and Water Quality in Corpus Christi Bay
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (Prime Sponsor: Dept. of Treasury)
PI - Katya Wowk
$159,418
Flood Risk and Vulnerability: Evaluating the Fiscal and Social Implications of Property Buyouts in Flood-prone Communities
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(Prime Sponsor: Dept. of Treasury)
PI - Katya Wowk
$159,475
AI-enabled Enterococcus Predictor for Texas Coastal Ocean Beach
Texas General Land Office
PI - Felimon Gayanilo
Co-PI - Sandeep Jilla
$105,000
AI-enabled Enterococcus Predictor for Texas Coastal Ocean Beach
Texas General Land Office
PI - Felimon Gayanilo
Co-PI - Sandeep Jilla
$105,000
Sediment Quality Assessment Survey of San Antonio Bay
Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust
PI - Paul Montagna
$416,817
Assessing the Risks to Ecosystem Health from Increasing Nitrogen and Phosphorous Levels in Lavaca Bay
Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust
PI - Michael Wetz
$454,162
Impacts of Transient Events on Ecosystem Resistance and Resilience Along the Western Gulf of Mexico Coast
Louisiana State University
(Prime Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
PI - Xinping Hu
$99,152
Developing Methods for Restoration of Cyanobacterial Mats on Wind-Tidal Flats
SpaceX
PI - Jennifer Pollack
Co-PI - Kim Withers
$261,212
Engaging Communities to Design Nature-based Solutions to Mitigate Climate-related Hazards (Refugio County TX)
National Fish and Wildlife Federation (Prime Sponsor: National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics)
PI - Katya Wowk
Co-PIs - Diana Del Angel, Chris Hale
$19,966
Ellis Chapman Project Manager III
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Oyster Resource & Recovery Center
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Rob McMillan Graduate Research Assistant Fisheries & Ocean Health
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Andrew Paske Director of Development Development
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Samantha Schiereck Graduate Research Assistant HydroEcology
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Edgar De La Garza Marketing Coordinator Communications
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Heather Montgomery Business Associate Support
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Melanie Ponce Graduate Research Assistant Coastal Conservation & Restoration
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Kalie Tovar Student Worker Coastal Conservation & Restoration
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Lesly Zarate Undergraduate Honors Intern Community Resilience
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