Marine and Environmental Sciences News

Designed for Discovery
May 19, 2025

Five civil engineering students took their design from blueprint to bayside, planning an outdoor classroom on Aloe Bay for marine and environmental sciences students. ...

Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Christopher Blankenship testifies before House subcommittee.

Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Mentioned on Capitol Hill
January 30, 2023

Christopher Blankenship's House testimony includes South's contribution to water and seafood quality in the Gulf of Mexico. ...

Delta Drawn
October 20, 2023

Ben Raines shares a devotion to the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, "America's Amazon," as South's first environmental fellow and writer-in-residence. ...

Aerial shot of property donated to the University of South Alabama by the USA Foundation.

'Living Laboratory'
September 6, 2023

The University of South Alabama Foundation has gifted more than a quarter mile of bayfront to the University, opening additional access for teaching and research. ...

University of South Alabama graduate students and researchers survey red snapper south of Dauphin Island in the summer of 2021. Dr. Sean Powers, director of the Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, is to the far right.

5 Things to Know about Red Snapper
May 25, 2023

As the red snapper season begins, researchers at South's Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences offer insight on one of Alabama's most popular game fishes. ...

Student in Stokes School of Marine & Environmental Sciences department examines sample under microscope.

Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Lands NASA Grant
May 15, 2023

This funding will support the development of technical computing content for the University's marine science labs. ...

South Seamester
April 18, 2023

Living and studying on Dauphin Island, four marine science undergraduates get more than their feet wet during the University's first Semester by the Sea. ...

Stokes Gift $2 Million to Marine and Environmental Sciences
March 3, 2023

The USA Board of Trustees passes a resolution renaming the School the Angelia and Steven Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences. ...

Sunset, glass artwork by Matthew Patterson from his Catalysts series

Wanted: Gulf Scholars
December 13, 2022

A new research program at South will select students from diverse academic disciplines for community and environmental projects. ...

Laia Munoz works in USA Marine Sciences fisheries lab complex

South Cuts Ribbon on New Fisheries Lab Complex
November 15, 2022

South students and faculty now have access to state-of-the-art equipment and processing technology to monitor local fish populations. ...

Matthew Hodanbosi, a marine sciences Ph.D. student at the University of South Alabama has been selected as one of 86 John A. Marine Policy Fellows. He will begin his fellowship in February working in Washington D.C. with government officials.

South Ph.D. Student Receives Marine Policy Fellowship
August 4, 2022

Matthew Hodanbosi has been named one of just 86 recipients of the 2023 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program. ...

Professor of marine sciences Dr. John Lehrter, on a vessel off the Alabama coast in 2021, is leading a study to arrive at a baseline for water quality along the Alabama Gulf Coast. “At a really fundamental level, this project is about going out, very frequently, and trying to get the pulse of state water quality. Where are the places we have to worry about, and what are the places that have good quality?”

Marine Sciences Professor Wins $3.1 Million Water Quality Grant
July 11, 2022

Dr. John Lehrter and the University of South Alabama School of Marine and Environmental Sciences will lead the three-year study of water and sediment quality along Alabama' s Gulf Coast. ...

Captain Brett Falterman of Fish Research Support displays a conventionally-tagged greater amberjack before releasing the fish off the coast of Louisiana. Photo insert: Each of the small, colorful conventional tags will display a unique five-digit number and a telephone number to call to claim a $250 reward. (Photos courtesy of Dr. Michael Dance, Louisiana State University and Dr. Marcus Drymon, Mississippi State University.)

Greater Amberjack Count
June 28, 2022

USA professor is leading a federally funded project that could have significant implications for commercial and recreational fishing. ...

Dr. Sean Powers, right, professor and director of the School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, walks the halls of the school's renovated 20,000-square-foot campus facility at its dedication last year.

Majors Added in Marine Sciences, Environmental and Sustainability Sciences
March 25, 2022

The two new undergraduate degrees in the School of Marine and Environmental Sciences complement the school's existing programs in research and graduate education. ...

Dr. Sean Powers, professor and director of the School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, walks the halls of the school's renovated 20,000-square-foot facility. “We have an international reputation. We want to bring new students to South,” he said.

School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Dedicated
December 2, 2021

New academic and research programs are expected to follow as South increases opportunities for students and faculty. ...

Dr. Brandi Kiel Reese has been named an early-career fellow by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The fellowship comes with a $76,000 award that Kiel Reese plans to use to support graduate students and provide paid internships for undergraduates.

USA Associate Professor Named Gulf Research Program Fellow
November 17, 2021

Dr. Brandi Kiel Reese becomes the second South faculty member honored by the Gulf Research Program in as many years. ...

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announces at an October 15, 2021 press conference that $41 million dollars from Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 will fund 17 separate projects around the State. South’s project, the Healthy Ocean Initiative, will receive $2,018,880 of that total.

School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Receives $2 Million Grant
October 25, 2021

Governor Kay Ivey's office and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources distributes the federal funding. ...

An underwater camera on a remote operated vehicle in the Gulf of Mexico captured this school of greater amberjack near a pyramid deployed by the State of Alabama to provide fish habitat.

Tracking Amberjack
August 25, 2021

South leads a 'Dream Team' of Gulf Coast researchers in an $11.7 million greater amberjack study that could have significant implications for commercial and recreational fishing. ...

Dr. John Lehrter, associate professor of marine science, pilots a boat through Mobile Bay, where he and graduate Chris Mikolaitis took water samples to measure the health of its marine ecosystem.

Bay Watch
July 29, 2021

South marine scientists monitor environmental trends throughout Mobile Bay in a multi-year program that seeks to prevent decline of oysters, blue crabs and spotted sea trout. ...

Merritt McCall's duties with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources include building, seeding and monitoring oyster beds in state waters. she recently earned her master's degree in marine science from the University of South Alabama.

The World Is Her Oyster
July 1, 2021

Marine scientist Merritt McCall turns her experience at South and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab into a fisheries job with the state of Mississippi. #MyFirstJob ...

Cory Quint, 2020 President of the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo and Crystal Hightower, senior research lab manager at the University of South Alabama School of Marine and Environmental Sciences.

Supporting the School of Marine and Environmental Sciences
March 25, 2021

The Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo and the Coastal Conservation Association Alabama each donate to the newly-established school. ...

A recent economic impact analysis conducted by the University for South Alabama Center for Real Estate and Economic Development determined that DISL generates an overall annual economic impact of $56 million for the state of Alabama, and $54 million to the lower Alabama region.

DISL Delivers $56 Million Economic Impact to Alabama
March 16, 2021

A recent study conducted by the University of South Alabama finds the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to be an economic powerhouse. ...

Plans for South's School of Marine and Environmental Sciences call for additional faculty, renovated classroom space and new academic programs. “The school capitalizes on our strategic location on the Gulf Coast, and allows us to expand opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students,” said Dr. Andi Kent, interim provost and senior vice president.

South Launches School of Marine and Environmental Sciences
March 15, 2021

Plans call for new undergraduate and graduate programs to complement the existing degrees that have been offered by the department of marine sciences. ...

Dr. Ronnie Baker, an assistant professor of marine science at the University of South Alabama, holds a grouper off San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos. When he returns for research, Baker plans aims to identify coastal nursery habitats for fisheries species.

South Dives Into Galapagos Research
January 5, 2021

USA's collaboration with partners in Ecuador and on the volcanic archipelago grows with a focus on research and global engagement. ...

Dr. Ronald Baker, assistant professor in the department of marine sciences co-authored a paper on salt marshes that was published in Science magazine's November 6, 2020 issue.

DISL Researcher's Work Published in Science Magazine
November 24, 2020

A November 2019 meeting at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab led to a report on salt marshes published in esteemed scientific journal. ...

Marine Sciences News Archive

Designed for Discovery May 19, 2025

Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Mentioned on Capitol Hill January 30, 2023

Delta Drawn October 20, 2023

'Living Laboratory' September 6, 2023

5 Things to Know about Red Snapper May 25, 2023

Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Lands NASA Grant May 15, 2023

South Seamester April 18, 2023

Stokes Gift $2 Million to Marine and Environmental Sciences March 3, 2023

Wanted: Gulf Scholars December 13, 2022

South Cuts Ribbon on New Fisheries Lab Complex November 15, 2022

South Ph.D. Student Receives Marine Policy Fellowship August 4, 2022

Marine Sciences Professor Wins $3.1 Million Water Quality Grant July 11, 2022

Greater Amberjack Count June 28, 2022

Majors Added in Marine Sciences, Environmental and Sustainability Sciences March 25, 2022

School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Dedicated December 2, 2021

USA Associate Professor Named Gulf Research Program Fellow November 17, 2021

School of Marine and Environmental Sciences Receives $2 Million Grant October 25, 2021

Tracking Amberjack August 25, 2021

Bay Watch July 29, 2021

The World Is Her Oyster July 1, 2021

Supporting the School of Marine and Environmental Sciences March 25, 2021

DISL Delivers $56 Million Economic Impact to Alabama March 16, 2021

South Launches School of Marine and Environmental Sciences March 15, 2021

South Dives Into Galapagos Research January 5, 2021

DISL Researcher's Work Published in Science Magazine November 24, 2020